titan1978

The whole thing annoys me because they just do these paternity reveals and they don’t really lead to more story. I would have brought on Serena, play wanting his share of the money (and maybe ultimately proving he is Mac’s but not Don’s or leaving as it stands now I could go either way). She would have been the cash influx at Deception, not Sonny (which has gone nowhere so far). Cody is just kind of there, and he’s being wasted. Give them something to do!

They can both get it as far as I am concerned.

I don’t think I ever saw self loathing played better on any show than Judith Light did as Karen. Even when she was nearly out the door her Karen is always haunted. Also- Larry Wolek was a stone cold fox, and very watchable as a genial, nice person. He never comes across as boring to me in everything I have seen.

I was going to post something similar! I love every second I have seen of Nancy Pinkerton’s Dorian. Strasser has said she was a fan of Pinkerton’s work on OLTL, and I also see where she brought some of that cunning and added her own flair for dramatics and as you said, that sense of humor. Strasser’s Dorian got to revel in the money and status that Pinkerton’s killed to get her hands on. It is fascinating how one major story turn can provide decades of story on these soaps. Much like the Katherine/Phillip/Jill affair on Y&R, Dorian/Victor/Victoria really was an engine that provided. And like Y&R, the shows were always better when they mined those relationships between Dorian and Viki/Jill and Katherine. Dorian sure was all up in every bit of Victor’s illegitimate children stories. Tony in the 70’s, Tina in the 80’s. And somewhat tied to Todd in the 90’s through Blair. Thanks for finding these and posting them @Vee!

When you watch the show, it’s pretty clear Frank keeps Finola Hughes in story. It helps her character is based in the action/adventure days and Hughes looks great. They have not been as consistent with lead story for any other women on the show except Ava, Carly, and Willow for five+ years or longer. Alexis drops out for months at a time until this year. Sam was nonexistent. Liz was sidelined. Maxie was sidelined. Tracy was underutilized. Laura should be used as much right now with Lulu, Lucky, and her serial killer brother, as she was when they used her to prop Esme. We saw her more when they were trying to save Heather. It’s so noticeable. I do wonder if the rumors of her mother dying recently were true if Genie asked for a reduced workload.

Thank you for posting, such a lovely tribute.

Mac had a very full life of adventuring before he hit Port Charles and that should have been enough to build Cody around. It has barely been mined at all. The use of Dominique was another one of those throwing an older character’s name into the current show without any basis in history we watched or any connection to today. See Jackie Templeton, Jagger, Paul Hornsby, Jimmy Lee Holt for Todd Manning part 3, etc. Especially egregious was trying to create moments between Holly and Robert by using flashbacks from her 1991 return where they were not together. I think one of them originally aired when Anna was missing and Robert was going after her, shortly before TR left. I thought Holly and Sasha did have good scenes and had good chemistry. I don’t hate Sasha as a Scorpio. I hate how they got there when logical windows exist. To me the issue is that they have no intention of writing a meaningful story for Holly, Robert, or Mac. So they went the easy route to try to make the people they do want to write for have ties (Sasha and Cody). Korte was there when Guza/Riche used Genie’s idea that Laura had a child while she was kidnapped by the Cassadines. As we all keep saying, she should know better.

It’s funny you mention him, because after watching that clip the thought I had was would GA have made a good Buzz on GL? That Nadine and Buzz could have been a ton of fun to watch.

I really enjoyed him on GH. He was fun as Jagger’s boxing coach, bickering with Felicia about the sexist gym, and was gold with Tracy. I have really fond memories of Marco.

In one of her interviews with Michael Logan he asked about bad material and Jane said it’s her job to make it work, and she doesn’t judge the story. And Tony Geary in one of his interviews said they were sitting around before taping started and he said how bored he was. Jane replied don’t worry, Luke isn’t. She gets it. JE has had many periods of spotty/bad writing, and she never appears as anything except fully engaged as Tracy. I know Genie Francis has her detractors, but to me she always shows up too, even in bad stories. I don’t see her onscreen phoning it in when she plays Laura. Both of them sat through Geary doing bad work. The last couple of weeks have been fun to watch, and Tracy is a huge reason why.

She was so comfortable with Riche that she pitched the idea of Monica having breast cancer, and Riche and Labine loved the idea and they all told the story beautifully. That scene with Monica and Alan where she shows her scars to him and asks if he still wants to sleep with her and he says he would love to was so poignant and memorable. Stuart Damon also got to do wonderful work in that story.

The sad truth is that the Luke pairing kept the Quartermaines onscreen during the mid-2000’s, especially the later part. After AJ was killed, then Alan, they didn’t give them much to do beyond harping on Tracy, Luke, Dillon and Lulu. That and killing Emily, another reason for Monica to be heartbroken. Luke however had many story lanes happening through most of that time.

Sad news, he was still quite young. I remember liking him, he had a lot of charisma on DAYS.

Jane won some soap award and profusely thanked Gloria Monty for what she had done for GH and her character, when Riche was in place. I recently saw the clip, maybe a soap opera digest award? IIRC Jane chose to leave the show. In recent years she has been complimentary of Monty without holding back on her failings in treating people poorly and manipulating to get what she wanted onscreen. Her return to GH in 1996 being ongoing is the first I have heard of this. Tracy was forced on the show to establish her again before taking over The City. There was no long term story planned, just the three week stint, and it was mandated by the network. This is such an important distinction. When she came back the first time in 1989 there is so much joy in Lila’s voice when she says Tracy! She was a fully rounded person. I grew to love John Ingle as Edward. I cannot imagine David Lewis, especially at that time, playing the Ward backstory believably. But Lewis was so good in scenes with Tracy. You really got their dynamic more with him, the simmering anger he has towards her. Not just the disappointment, outright anger. And Tracy was the one that was most like him and better suited for ELQ than Alan. Only original recipe Edward Quartermaine would be upset his son became a doctor.

I feel the opposite. Because if he was not incapacitated we would not have gotten Drew manipulating the issue. Michael being injured gave us Nina trying to play mediator and being upset that Willow gave all the credit to Drew. Carly and Sonny vs Willow, Drew, and Tracy. And Jason making decisions based on more than just what Carly wants, including leaning into the Q family. The swing back to Alexis wanting to protect Sam’s child against Drew. And Willow being willing to stand against Carly and Sonny. And this is all before we get to pregnant Sasha. Everybody confronting Willow or Drew has been very entertaining to me. This is the kind of messy, complicated stuff we should have been seeing for months. It could be written with more complexity, but this is truly IMO the best material this team is capable of. Much like what happened with Nina and Mulcahey too- I don’t even like the characters at the center of this, Willow or Drew, all that much. But this is good soap.

Pretty much everyone was watchable and doing good work. Even the duds like Jenny were better than the flops we got as the decade closed.

The thing with the Quartermaines and Michael was a little more nuanced when it was happening. The Q’s were shady AF, especially Edward, Ned, and to an extent, AJ. Edward had just let Laura be put in jail to protect Justus, Ned lied to cover up for AJ instead of him taking responsibility for Jason’s accident, and Monica was soon to be in an affair where Dorman was murdered and she was a credible suspect, and near the time Michael was born Alan was addicted to pills. The Q family was not adjusting to Jason’s new persona. He even told them all he sees in their eyes is the pain at him not being Jason Q, he needed to get away from them and they were stifling. Jason Morgan had legit reasons to want to be away from them. To stick it to Tony, Carly said the baby was Jason’s. And both of them felt the Q’s would take Michael away from Carly if they knew the truth (and they would have). And Carly was doing crazy stuff that would have gotten Michael taken away. And Jason was in too deep because he loved Michael as his own son. I am not saying that Sonny isn’t dangerous and that they didn’t choose a worse path-they did. Even Guza had Jason and Carly coming to that realization when Michael went to jail and was raped. But the Q’s were not as cuddly as they became as strictly comedy relief in the 00’s, and the writing for Carly, Jason, and Sonny was better before 2000. As it stands today, I am happy to see the show circle back to this with Jason now having had a lifetime of experience with the mob and violence getting to Michael.

What crack me up is that we have had a couple of interviews with them, but zero when Korte and Mulcahey were named. Valentini really did not want him there.

I really felt for Ellen Holly during that part of the OLTL book. Bob Woods was so complimentary of her, and IIRC called AB a maniac. That’s pretty telling, even above Holly’s descriptions. I had forgotten all about that Joss, so thanks for that reminder lol. They do look miserable! But look who plays their parents.

I am so glad Jane decided retirement was not for her, and FV agreed to bring her back on her terms (no more stuffy suits, and her natural hair).

It sucks because he was playing easy charm so well, and it was working. I have to be honest, I was kind of dreading Michael’s children (and us) being put through a custody war. I was close to dropping the show for awhile because I had my fill of it when the show revolved around fighting for baby Michael for a decade. But the inclusion of Tracy has made it actually watchable. Add to that Drew being pure scum and I was actually entertained. Hats off to Cynthia Watros- her clear disappointment at Willow running to Drew when she was solving the problem, and General attitude towards him is great. If Nina has to be here, this is a great way to utilize her.

I agree. I like to see them when they are posted, but it’s not my place to demand how anybody grieves. The tributes are lovely to see here (especially those on Twitter since I personally will not support Musk), but we should have zero expectations or demands. Those in LA are also in a unique experience because the fires are still very real and ever changing. I lived through a wildfire that took out entire blocks less than a mile from my house, and was even closer to where I worked. We were in the be ready to leave at a moments notice alert for over a week. It was exhausting living on high alert and fearful. This fire has been so much worse! Celebrities owe us nothing unless they choose to share it. Chronically online people really do need to detox from their devices.

One of my favorite Monica stories was her affair with Sean (when he was still shady) and together they swindled the family money away from them. It lead to the Q family living above Kelly’s, and eventually Lila’s pickle relish recipe. It was highly entertaining, and Leslie got to play sexy, vengeful, and then also show her regrets and guilt about helping Sean. Even in that scene with Lesley Webber, it’s heightened but neither of them are over the top. Monica comes across as vicious, but not histrionic like a modern version would be played. I know as a longtime viewer of the show I will miss Monica’s often cynical and sarcastic point of view.

When Willow was a teacher and Stafford still played Nina she was pretty good at giving it back. And Stafford is not subtle. Willow would make a better bitch than ingenue.

Yes I did mean Trina/Spencer!