titan1978

I never understood the popularity of Erica/Jack. Erica was never going to be satisfied, that’s the nature of her character. Alan was much more the marrying type. He did have another affair and some flirtations, just not as major as the ones you listed. A nurse maybe after Susan Moore? And he liked them from the wrong side of the tracks- Lucy, Rhonda, even Susan to some extent.

Well, maybe resting was my gentle way of saying get rid of. Plus in theory there could always be a return if they had kids or a story to play, just maybe not the central role they used to be in. I think @NothinButAttitude makes a great point. These newer characters are so poorly developed that they have zero chance of taking the center stage. So we have characters like Nick Newman on Y&R that have been written forever as if they are in their mid 20’s. They even killed Cassie off to help perpetuate this, and she was a viable character for telling stories as she grew up. And his parents have often been written as if they are dealing with life issues a perpetual 45 year old would face, instead of letting them mature story wise. B&B did successfully create a new generation of characters and center the show around them. But by all accounts Brad Bell has made them almost unwatchable by churning them through too much story.

It does suck when there is viability and story still to be told. But I agree with him that sometimes it is time to move on. This is an interesting example, because to me, if I take over DAYS as a HW, I would walk in the door knowing that Hope will need story, and if I am not interested in her (or let’s say Marlena), then I am not right for the job at that show. Not that they should dominate the show like they once did, but they should be used and have stories of their own still. I remember being shocked when they killed John Black off and let Drake go in the late 2000’s. But what we got for Marlena was really compelling, especially her anger. And then they brought him back once again with altered memories, and they had a renewed dynamic. It opened them up for me. The show dumped them both shortly after for budget reasons, and I missed their new dynamic playing out. Diane Jenkins on Y&R is a great example of a character that has been rested several times, and easily helps jump start things when they bring her back. And I think that has worked best for her character.

There has been a lot of debate on the GH monthly threads about the show needing to trim their cast. My question- Is it always a bad idea to cut a long term set of characters? We saw so many terrible cast cuts in the 90’s and 2000’s and beyond, that many of us bristle at the thought of cutting veteran casts. We know all the main culprits- Maureen Bauer, Frankie Frame, Alan Q, the majority of the Winters/Barber family on Y&R, etc. But is it always a bad idea? When I look at shows like AMC in the early 90’s, was it wrong to rest Ellen and Mark? Nina and Cliff? Jeremy? Chuck and Donna? Tom Cudahey? On GH, I think it ended up being the right move when Tristan quit, because the stories we got for Robin without Robert and Anna were some of the best of the decade. People often mention folks like Don and Neil Curtis just disappearing on DAYS. Was there really enough left for them to do to be on contract and vital to the story beyond just audience fondness? I remember loving Delilah, and tolerating Rafe on OLTL. They were another set of characters that slowly faded out. Many of those characters had made room for others that were now mainstays. Would I trade Natalie on AMC or Hailey to keep others in story instead? When is it okay to rest long term characters?

Monica Quartermaine did prefer other doctors. Jeff, Alan, Rick, Pierce, over other men she had affairs with like David Langston and Sean.

I think there should be a way to keep more of her edge. We will see if she intends to blackmail Finn to get help. I like how she feels very much rooted as the head of the Quartermaines, and I have enjoyed her mellowing and acknowledging how much her edge cost her. She’s the only one left from her childhood family, she survived her resentments and her father’s emotional and intellectual neglect. I love that Jane decided retirement wasn’t for her, and came back with a new sense of calm to how she plays Tracy. I have enjoyed the last two weeks. I even enjoyed Sam, and that has only happened before when she went full on vixen! I just read two great hypothesis online about Carly’s reactions to what Sam was saying- Change Jason (or keep him!) for Sonny and protecting Carly for Brenda. If either of them left everyone behind, including their kids, and she thought they were dead, and it was to protect Brenda? Carly would be scorched earth on everyone. We would be seeing some truly old school reckless Carly for that. All Sam has done is tell her how living like this is hell when you have decided the danger is not as important as your family and peace of mind. And then call her out for caring more about Jason always protecting her for her own choices over his family. i never thought we would see scenes like these ever again. Even Korte must have thought it was worth knocking Carly and Jason down a bit.

He suffers from too many cops in the same age range (I know he is a FED). I would rather have any investigation happening by a man on this show as it stands right now being a story for Dante. You know, the good actor with ties to the current canvas! I hate this show sometimes, and thinking about the decade+ suffering through many characters that were pointless while they left people to just languish on their cast drives me nuts! And I am not anti new character! But Franco and Finn and Peter August and Nathan etc were in one story after another and Dante is just there, being wasted. Nina and Willow and Sasha etc, yet Liz only has play if her current man is the focus. Blerg!

It has been interesting to watch how his impact- scenes about something, more beats being played, characters with a point of view- has slowly been dissipating. It feels very much like we are nearly back to the GH that was in play before, but with a little more care being placed in the actual words people are saying. It is nowhere near what it was for the first 6 weeks he was there. But it is better and resonates more, as if PM did bring something out of their scripts and they are trying to keep some of it there. He may still be credited, but that influence is much lighter in the last few weeks. Even Gregory’s funeral is nothing like the depth we got when Dante was shot. Those scripts were old school. it is still more consistently watchable, even though I think his fingerprints are not all over the scripts and certain characters anymore. Nina has already lost a bit of the spark she had been given almost immediately upon his arrival.

They really wasted that actor on Brennan. He and Finola have an interesting dynamic, and his reaction to Jagger suspecting her as part of Pikeman was great. I see no reason to keep Brennan because this story needs to have a strong culmination and some dead weight taken care of. But as another character, even a shady one, I think he could have lasted and fit in well. Sam laying into Spinelli and coming unglued at Jason protecting Carly being what the FBI has on him was excellent. I have never enjoyed Sam more. Much like Nina, this writing team has given some life to neglected characters by giving them specificity and even the littlest depth. It would be interesting to see actual growth from Carly, and she takes that information Sam is obviously going to spill to her and turns herself in. Let Diane/Alexis take the case. And acknowledging that once again their toxic relationship is actually ruining Jason’s relationships in order to protect her. He is making those choices, and she loves always being his person. I keep coming back to this but the show wasting people like Rebecca Herbst and Nancy Lee Grahn is very apparent when they actually give them something to do. Both of them are still compelling. NLG has really been connecting with her scene partners and the emotion of the various stories she is part of. Her scenes with Finn were so good. I have always liked her, but seeing her get to actually play something with depth has made her incredibly watchable again.

Well this is a Bell show. Bill hired his son to write, his daughter-in-law to write, and Lauralee was a dominating character on Y&R for a long time. And at the start was very green and driving story 3 to 4 days a week.

I do not think the show has spent nearly enough time on Sam’s reasoning and Danny since the first month Jason was back. I have never been a Sam fan. However, The reason her feelings/what she said to Carly resonate more with me than what Carly thinks is because Jason is still being shot at. Sonny is still in the mob. Carly is still involved enough that she is trying to insert herself into the Pikeman situation, and would get in the middle of it all in a heartbeat. The three of them have essentially not changed. Sam has. Sam is married to a police officer who has always kept a wall up a little bit where Sonny was concerned. Danny is rebelling, Sam is afraid of not only for his safety but of having her whole life be a constant danger again. Carly doesn’t care about any of that, Carly is ride or die no matter what it means to her family. She tried to take over Sonny’s territory with Jason a couple of years ago. She is always going to believe that Jason will keep them safe, even if history has proven that doesn’t always happen and comes at a cost. If we take the show at its own internal logic, Sam Is an example of someone deeply ensconced in Sonny’s world that decided she didn’t want to be anymore. And that would mean keeping her kids away from Jason too. We finally get these characters having a point of view again that puts them at odds with each other. Natural conflict based on history is so rare on a soap now. I like Jason way more than Sam, always have. But I agree with what she is saying and why. I also think Liz has not shown the same type of growth when it comes to Jason that Sam has. And so it makes total sense to me that Liz would encourage Jason/Jake to work on their relationship. His return started with Dante in critical condition for weeks. I know the show is choppy and drops things too much due to contract guarantees. But there is a direct line for me from Jason’s return to that conversation.

1000% Them becoming friendly was bizarre, and contributes to the overly genial and generic feel the show had. No matter how much time went by, Erica and Brooke were not friends. There was always an edge. They were not lifelong rivals their shows revisited like Dorian and Viki or Katherine and Jill. But they remained strained. Sam and Carly did not have to be actively enemies. But there should always be the edge/tension. Jason and Carly were admitting out loud when Michael went to jail that Sonny was not a better choice than the Quartermaines. They also stayed where they were out of loyalty. Their loyalty to Sonny/each other cost their children a lot. Even now, Carly is very angry with Sonny and they are not close like they used to be. But she still has a pull towards protecting him.

The way FV likes to keep things under wraps makes me think the return (for now), isn’t BC. Because this would piss him off in the past.

There is also the real possibility he is visiting/taking a meeting. His public reaction with these posts has been enough to generate interest in him returning (not from me, but the attention seeking has been noticed). And keeping that up only helps him get back on the show, up to a point. This is Frank, and he doesn’t like that kind of attention too much, for too long. But look at the interest both BC’s and NAC/Gio’s posts have gotten them and the show this past week. GH would be so lucky to have anyone talking about them this much and it’s not just hate posting and complaints. Many of us say this often, but if ever there was a time to bring back Vanessa, lock her in to a 2 year deal with generous time off, it’s now. Also- whatever happened to the possible writing team switch? We are pretty much nearing Korte solo in the credits.

YouTube came though. I just found an episode from July 1980, and Scotty is on trial for the death of Luke Spencer. Lee is defending him, and they think Luke drowned when Scotty punched him off the yacht. This episode also had credits, JB, EM, Denise Alexander, then Rachel Ames. So Lesley was credited higher than Audrey, even though Audrey has been there longer.

I see NAC has been hanging out with Gio recently. I wonder how they became acquainted? Guess the return possibility pool has a new front runner?

I recall that making the rounds back then too. They had taken that one scene of Laura and Lucky visiting the attic with Robin in the early 90’s and tried to build a story out of it. I think her leaving changed a lot of what was planned. Was it Rick’s affair or Scotty, and was it Bobbie or did she think it was Bobbie? I hated what it was, but I have no doubt that both Genie and Denise would have done excellent work if the story had been that Rick molested her. Like a lot of what Guza did when he returned under JFP. I may not have liked it, but I bet it would have been scripted and acted well. I hope they continue to give Liz scenes with their sons. It’s always compelling and really suits her.

I would really like a candid interview with Bob Guza about his time at GH. Every era, from scripts with PFS and Monty to every run as HW. And someone asking the real questions. Starting with- What was your working relationship with Riche like? Who made the demand to kill off Alan? According to Michele Val Jean it wasn’t Guza. Was there really supposed to be more between Dante and Brenda than shown that Vanessa nixed? What was the original plan for Laura when Guza/Pratt took over that was allegedly changed when Genie quit. Also why didn’t Laura return in any lasting way? How much did Guza hate Courtney? As much as the fans or no?

From what I have seen, and most of it is closer to the end of her time on the show, her Heather was the center of the schemes but somehow convinced herself that these were things happening to her, not ones she created herself. It is an interesting take, it reminds me a bit of what Sami was like in her first couple of years under Reilly at DAYS. It really comes out a lot when she has scenes with Alice. Mattson’s Heather, even early on with her sanitarium friend, is much more calculating and self aware. That only grows after Jeff divorces her and takes Steven Lars. All this Heather/Alice talk reminds me how much I love Susan Moore too. I understand why they killed her, but I also wish she had been able to pop in over the years and make Alan and Monica miserable and complicate things with Jason. Does anyone that watched back then know when exactly Scotty leaves the show for the first time? I don’t have a clear idea for what happens with Scotty after he punched Luke off the boat and sent L&L on the run. I have seen most of that era online, but I’m having a hard time remembering his exit, or how long he stayed after the punch before leaving.

She was not. There is that anecdote from Tony Geary about Monty bringing her to actual tears for a scene by being abusive to her. And I found an interview online where Mary disagreed with how Monty wanted her to play things, and they did not get along from then on. They did try to get her back for Diana Taylor’s murder and Jeff’s exit, to wrap the story up. She declined. This has added to my opinion that Heather was supposed to be the killer all along, and they changed it because Monty like Mattson.

That sounds amazing! Thanks for everything you have done so far posted here. Those of us not old enough to experience the show back then are grateful for the new insights your research has given us!

IIRC that was when I noticed what an ass Greg Vaughn had. He was always hot, but the blocking of that scene really drew attention to it. I also forgot about this! When she was actually let go, I thought she was probably expensive and JFP/ABC needed to cut the budget ASAP. Vanessa had been expensive, JJ wasn’t cheap, and the show blew those returns and didn’t get the ratings they thought were going to come. Same with all their wasted time with James Franco.

They really put Becky through it. And I have never understood why. By all accounts, especially back then, she was professional not one of the problem children on set. Didn’t complain about her scripts or ridiculous pairings either. And she was legit a fan favorite. I mean her fans saved her job!

I vividly remember Rachel Ames describing them as the couple that should have been together, and never was during that great 35th anniversary special. I recall reading on this site an interview with Jackie Smith from way back where they credit another writer I had never heard of with creating the Quartermaines (at least Alan), and helping the stories during the Monty/Marland. I think there must have been a lot of creative input happening by the incoming team before they were credited. Which is something I have seen on GH since. The transition between Labine/Guza and Guza’s late 1997 return were all preceded by him not being credited but by the show being set up how he wanted it as HW. Possibly also when Monty came back, there are a couple of weeks of shows that are way more her style before her relaunch than the prior regime. And we saw it this year with Korte/Marland.

His actual enthusiasm for the job shows in his scenes. He’s got a lot of personality that I have to imagine is coming from him, not just the scripts. If Bob Guza was HW that kid would be a goner from Finn’s addiction.