titan1978

This is soaps 101 to me. A story like this should be used to build more story, or climax already going story in a big way. Instead it interrupted everything and it’s just going to end. The only future is Tracy getting to say Monica gave it to me for years?

I will just go ahead and say it- I’ve never really loved Wally Kurth as Ned. Even at his most calculating it never suited him as much as romantic comedy and more emotional material with romantic partners. He’s a good actor, but I have always thought Ned should have been more ruthless. The gatekeeper stuff didn’t help, because he always played it like he was put upon. Making him more of a fixer, like a Quartermaine Olivia Pope, capable of really skirting the line would have been better. Plus all his major relationships are drama dead ends. Of all the Q’s, Ned ending up with a scheming gold digger to vex him, Tracy, and the family was something that could have kept him relevant. Olivia and Lois look down on the family, Jenny was a nothing character, and Alexis was just more interesting at the time and clearly not going to be endgame. Ned should have had at least a slight glance at the situation before just accepting it and also backing Olivia.

Part of why Melaswen felt like it was tacked on to me was because it seemed very much like an afterthought. It didn’t seem very James Reilly at all, nothing major was happening there for quite a while.

I can’t remember which murder Marlena was revealed as the killer, but it was fairly late in the game IIRC. I wonder if that was the original intent, because we know that Francis knew she was coming back and didn’t have her contract suspended like the others did. Maybe the Marlena angle was also added when they backtracked. Although I was glad that Maggie, Jack, Abe and Doug were spared.

I am actually disgusted with the end of this Monica story today. I especially disliked Olivia and Brook Lynn. The fact that none of them even voiced a slight irritation with Ronnie is just stupid. Also they are laying it on a little thick for poor Ronnie.

The problem is they only fight with Tracy. It’s a united front against her. The Quartermaines used to fight amongst each other, even if they had a common enemy. The fights used to land on several characters, even if it was only about one of them to begin with. Which would spilt the group up so it didn’t feel like they were only fighting with one person. Even if he was mad at Tracy, Edward would usually land on Ned too, and or AJ, or both. Monica might fight with Tracy but she usually took a jab at Alan too. It felt more balanced.

And Martin doesn’t work for me because the show has been walking the line with him forever. He isn’t nasty enough for this, especially after just a few weeks ago being so disgusted by Drew’s antics. I did wonder after all is said and done if they have a scene with Tracy doing what Ronnie asked for in the beginning. To tell her about Monica, and have Ronnie tell her about young child Monica. It would be a nice payoff for the conversation she had with Lucy about sharing those memories, show her continued growth, and let things down with Ronnie in a believable way instead of just letting her go back home and it was all for nothing.

I have to give them credit for the last few days. Those scenes between Lucy and Tracy hit just the right notes, playing on history, their own dynamics, the intelligence of both characters and showed Tracy’s growth. As @DRW50said, Rory played that scene with genuine affection and warmth. I actually was moved when he said Monica left the house to her. It’s a touching tribute to the history of the Quartermaine family, and Jane’s importance to the show. Gio calling them his family was also a nice scene. I also liked Laura’s scenes with Sidwell. I agree there are problems with her support for Sonny but this is GH and that’s just not going to change. So within the universe they exist in, it was nice to see her stand her ground with Sidwell, and hopefully this means she will be included in that story. Britt working with Dalton and Sidwell ties things together nicely. All the Brad talk makes me a little nervous, because I think his time has passed and if he comes back it’s yet another person taking time away from the actual players.

I would go further and say when Brenda was originally there as a thorn in Karen’s side the show let Vanessa play vulnerability and not just a straight up vamping vixen, which judging by Levinson’s work on GH and background I have seen on what type of character they wanted as a rival she was supposed to be. And pretty soon we got Brenda’s character established and it just made that younger set stronger. They let them both have something to do.

You can just tell how much DT likes working with Genie. He practically glows when Curtis is in scenes with Laura. Much like Sprina, they have inadvertently struck gold with Gio/Emma. Both good actors, both decent characters with good ties to the canvas. And once again just sitting there. I truly do not get Valentini’s favoritism. Joss has nearly always been in story and in relationships. It’s been a decade, and other young women have languished while they keep throwing everything at her. And I don’t hate the actress, or Joss really. But she’s not growing an audience enough to justify all the time devotion. Sprina had actual, organic fans that were vocal and performers that played into it, giving the show free publicity. It’s the same mindset that wasted all that time on Easton and Howarth. Other actors might have made those roles worth it!

The way I remember it was he didn’t like Todd being romanticized. He didn’t want to play anything that involved Todd being sexy, or that leaned into Todd not being at the very least an anti-hero. He, like Tony Geary, were disturbed by fans screaming rape me at him, or in the fan mail he got. I appreciated that about him at OLTL. He fought to honor that original story as best he could for all his runs.

After being so disappointed by GH for what felt like a long time, Riche and what she was doing hit the right spot to lure me in as a teenager. I was little but remembered the episode when Frisco pulled the hat off Felicia, and loved them whenever I could watch. So for Riche to put so much focus on Felicia, truly chilling Ryan, and Mac who was very sexy at the time, was gold to lure me in. Then to add Karen/Jagger/Brenda/Jason/Robin, and my family getting a VCR I could set to record!

Which sucks, because that one note was often part of her characterization before to good effect. She could seem cold and calculating at times. It played into her past as a double agent, and the losses she had endured. It also worked well with Duke because you got to watch him basically smolder his way past her defenses. She was different with Robin, but still reserved. I think you can make the argument that she has been through so much and should have more access to her emotions. But I would prefer her showing joy more than just crying all the time. Anna cries more than Laura does these days and that just feels wrong to me!

I recently watched this storyline, and I found it deeply disturbing. The acting was pretty incredible (even Lucy was not as boring as later on when I first saw her). I hate what happened to Nadine and how it had so little impact because her body wasn’t found for months. The Loving Murders was a fun watch during the pandemic, not as easy to find the whole thing now. I also enjoy that puppet killer story on Edge of Night. Edge has a lot of chilling stories. I was hooked back then! I watched the first couple of months of the show and just found it bland. That story lured me back in, and it was a blast! Didn’t ATWT do some horror movie rip off with Maddie, Luke, and Noah? They even shot on location. I just cannot remember the details. Was this when Noah’s dad was trying to kill them, or have I mixed something up? I was thinking about finding the original Ryan story on GH earlier this week. I might rewatch that. The later story after Ryan was dead and Felicia was being stalked by Kevin who was having a mental breakdown was pretty good too.

Mr. Big? I kid, but it’s been a long time.

That’s the problem when you are writing the show to hit twists all the time, and don’t care about the details. These are not stories, they are events. During Guza/JFP, I often felt the wheels spinning between sweeps events. The difference was the scripts were much stronger and were designed to illuminate the characters, the words also had specificity. They didn’t just skip over the details either. The problem then was there is only so much I care to watch Sonny/Jason/Carly talk about Michael and their issues for close to a decade. For all his faults, when Pratt was there with Guza, it didn’t seem as boring between events. Because Pratt likes juicy too, and with his horrible antics there were still actual stories compared to what we have now. Now they are generic Pratt style, all twists, no substance. He at least threw you a carrot in his bag of candy.

Although I am not watching the show anymore, I am interested to see what the new characters and story on Y&R will do for the ratings. Because all those ABC transplants and this club storyline seem right out of JFP’s tired old playbook. Which can be successful, but it’s a different time, and the show overall is not that strong. Or at least it wasn’t the last few times I tuned in recently.

I think this time there was more going on. In one of his rant posts around the time his last scenes aired, he replied to someone online that Frank (or he said they, I can’t remember if he got specific) doesn’t like humor on the show anymore. Now there is a lot to parse there- was Kin wasting time with the precious schedule by ad-libbing and trying to add character to generic stuff? Does FV actually not like the show to have any humor (minus snark from Britt and others)? A combination of both? But I do think whatever went down that time really did leave Kin with the idea that his services were no longer needed at all, not just right at that moment. Valentini also doesn’t like the cast speaking out about complaints. And Kin posted every time he didn’t have scenes to film for a month or so.

And on that list, Portia, Britt, and Willow are the only ones in actual stories. Isaiah is adjacent to Portia. And none of them are in stories involving the actual hospital. I know this is a simple thing, but when the characters would gather at the nurses station for their messages, to pick up charts, talk about whatever big story was happening, etc, it felt like they worked at the hospital more than it does now. Portia does most of her work in her office, Willow lurking (when’s she’s there), and Britt fighting with people. I think this is the worst the hospital has ever been represented. Even in other down periods, you still had Bobbie as a front burner character and she was shown at the hospital. Even earlier in Valentini’s run they at least knew to keep the hospital in play. If they treated Liz this way, it would be better!

Miranda is such a blank slate that you really could do anything with her. This would have been so much better!

Cody’s mother being Dom is just another example of shallow nostalgia they throw at longtime fans. Since they killed Cyrus and Laura didn’t even get to do it, what was really the point of her birth father’s other children? Jagger? Jackie Templeton being Chase’s mother? The return of Pickle-Lila, twice? Jimmy Lee Holt’s dead and here is his soon to be dead son Austin? The visits and references to Loving’s Corinth? Re-naming Jake’s the Floating Rib? Mentioning Erica Kane? Ava Jerome’s mother being Delia? It’s history used in the most shallow way possible, and I hoped when Ron left it would go away but instead I think it got worse!

She was Bill Bell’s protege at DAYS, for a long time before he left for Y&R. He isn’t exactly know for being weak minded. I think she is a very complex person, and what happened to her at DAYS after he was gone probably made her very angry. And that’s before she starts battling with Monty. As far as when they recovered storywise, by 1983 they had Holly firmly in place and her story with falling in love with Robert while Luke was presumed dead, that year had who killed Susan Moore, Bobbie with DL Brock, Jimmy Lee Holt and Celia’s arrival. The DVX storyline was described as convoluted so they were not out of the woods yet. But other than the spy stuff, the show backed away from the more outlandish plots like cursed swords and freezing the world. And the year ends with Laura’s return and Luke leaving with her. For me, the show may still be very watchable, but the stories don’t get good again until Pat Falken Smith returned in 1985. She created Anna, her backstory with Robert, Robin, and the show has actual stories again.

Just because he was falling in love with Carly doesn’t mean he lost his nature. He is an opportunist, needed a young woman that had a reasonable, natural cover for an assignment. And she was looking for revenge, and compromised herself, making her an even easier target. She’s a tool for him to use. He code switches when he is with Carly. I think the writers are not thinking this deeply, but to me the person with Carly is the mask, and the Brennan that recruits Joss, forcibly recruits Jason, and is the man Anna and Valentin warn against is the real guy.

June Lockhart has passed away. She was perfectly cast as a relative of Felicia. I also loved her on Nick at Night on Lassie and Lost in Space. She had an interesting career!

I would take any time with Brenda!