titan1978

The sucker punch was one thing. The total domination was ridiculous. When you poke around online, mostly on Twitter, the amount of Sonny fans appalled at this writing makes me scratch my head. Did they watch the show before the last 10 years? This isn’t that far off from how Guza wrote him. Volatile, unlikeable, quick to violence. This is very much Sonny to me, just older.

Nina selling the hotel was one of the big changes that I felt was handled really well. She took it over on an impulse and to annoy Carly. Without Sonny, annoying Carly isn’t as much fun for her. And they established in a handful of scenes how badly she was doing running it, and how little fun it was bringing her. I also feel Nina I has been great under the new writers. Watros is really energized by the material, and it shows. Sonny being so protective of Gio would make more sense if he had been introduced even a few days earlier. Instead we meet him, he talks to Dex, and Sonny goes apeshit.

I first saw the show in reruns on TBS I think? So as bad as the last couple of seasons could be compared to the others, I fell in love with the show near the end. I have a lot of fondness for characters like Paige, Anne, Nick and Claudia. I met Abby in the final episodes, and she quickly became a favorite. Then it all started over again and I got to see it from the beginning. There is not period of the show that is unwatchable to me. Sure, some are better than others. From the back half of season 3 through season 7 is a real golden period for me, starting with Gary cheating on Val with Abby. I cannot wait for this to hit streaming!

Well KMc was making no bones about her desire to leave at the end of her contract. She wasn’t happy about Robin’s AIDS medication being tampered with as a plot point during the Lisa Niles story, and was in general just ready for her next chapter to become a director. We had our chance but JFP and Frons didn’t want Sri Rao on the main show. She preferred someone she could control, much like Frank. It got her fired though.

To add to what @Errolis saying- the current head of Disney keeps making waves by making statements that they might try to unload ABC, and they just announced how much they have cut in development for linear tv. We are not in a broadcast friendly environment with Disney/ABC.

What always got me was Guza could do emotional material that was sad but not misery at one point. Laura waking up for the wedding anniversary was a month of very wonderful story. While it had a sad ending, it wasn’t the same kind of sad the whole show fell into. I finally got Anna back on GH and she was reduced to an Eli Love groupie. For me, the pairing of JFP (who has no problem killing off beloved characters), Guza, and Frons was just too much. A different EP could have maybe helped balance that out a bit, and I wouldn’t have been so inclined to stop watching during those days. I will never deny he and his team were strong writers. They were. I just didn’t enjoy what they concentrated on all that much.

Yes. Twice in like two years, only won because Spencer rigged something (because god forbid she did it on her own). Was she ever re-elected? And the fan outrage is the only thing that got her a contract and story. I think that’s when she got her penthouse apartment set too. He coasted for me for years after how good his 1996 and most of 1998 were. I just kept waiting to see that guy again. Glimpses during events like Brenda’s first return, the Metro Court and Scrubs/refocus on the Hospital. But nothing like his earlier runs.

What pisses me off is that the show still has core GH characters and they are barely given stories. But Roger Howarth and Michael Easton have been shoved down our throats until the last 7 months or so. I finally enjoy Nina, and Ava is at her best when she is up to no good. Both credit to the current writing team. Laura, Liz, Dante, Alexis, hell even Sam are all on contact and they give them crumbs or stories about other people in the last year. Trina and Portia- both capable and neither one being used in an actual story. Liz had to deal with a story about her own history being hijacked first by Franco and then another one by Finn. I am fed up. And if the ratings continue to erode through the summer months, I have no doubt Frank will protect his budget by getting rid of someone the audience of this show actually likes. But not one of his faves or besties. Also- did it not seem like Liz and Aiden were headed towards a bullying story? And that the PC law was this close to charging Sonny for beating up poor old Cyrus? More abrupt drops like all this job hopping. I am reminded of times when Chris and Dan actually were on to something and it got derailed by FV- it happened at least twice in the last 5 years.

For all the talk about how boring it has been (and I am not denying that it lacked action), did any of you watch during the latter half of Guza? It was miserable people being miserable between sweeps months, doing essentially nothing. While being explored nearby daily (look at the episode counts!), Sonny, Jason and Carly had very little evolution during that entire decade. The changes that did come were due to Carly recasts, and eventually the arrival of Dante as a fourth lead with the same counts. The scripts were better back then, it had more depth. It had entertainment factor during sweeps, but that was it for me. At least some of these people smiled and for once Sonny was being treated like the monster he is.

I have been fully acknowledging the faults of what has been onscreen. But I keep seeing this narrative that he was just a brilliant script writer, and a failed HW. He was helping to steer the overall ship at SB, GL, and GH and B&B. Part of his stint on GH in the 90’s was as Associate Head Writer. He was also more than just a scriptwriter on Guiding Light before becoming a HW. I’m not saying Head Writer was the correct role for him. But I am saying he wasn’t just writing scripts all this time. He had roles in shaping short and long term story, pitched ideas that became stories, etc. His best gifts might lie as script writer and editor, I will never deny his talents there.

I know to take what the cast says with a grain of salt. But I also think their praise of the scripts was true- what they were doing before had to feel like a factory more than ever. At least they briefly had a factory that gave them some better day to day material to work with. I am just so irrationally disappointed.

I’m just now on Wednesday. I think everyone looks great, including Lois. Kristina’s dress may not be very flattering, but it’s a popular style currently. Brooke Kerr looks fantastic. And Jordan cannot act but she can work an outfit. I am so glad we have Rena here for this. Like many days for the last few months, I find I am watching whole scenes with people I would normally ff through. There is so much character and connection going on, it’s easy to enjoy. The community and heart on display is something I have missed on a soap for a long time.

Steve shuffling those bags and clipboard around that small warehouse is depressing already.

It’s just us here @Errol! Go ahead and spill. I can keep a secret! How dare you!

I said in the GH thread earlier what I was hoping to be true- that they would try to make this work for the good of the show. And if it was power plays I assumed PM would quit. Quit or fired, here we are. If FV wanted to play those games, then he is a fool. Because more of the same from before is not going to lure in lost Nielsen viewers. They have risked the show on letting him have control he doesn’t use appropriately. If he did, Liz would be onscreen more, same with Dante and even Sam. His instincts were killing the show slowly, and now it has taken an actual hit and he more than likely played a part. I’m so upset with how this has shaken out.

I agree more and more. Look at the stalled Jason story. The story that was so great it lead to Korte getting the HW slot and the old ones fired. Where is that story? It’s hardly been played.

Well damn. Korte solo is never going to last. Nor is that the right decision, I think we and the consistently eroding audience has suffered under the Carly show enough for 25 years. Those ratings bumps that saved the show came more from the Robin story than anything Carly has done since the Metro Court Crisis. I feel like PM quit, not the other way around. Hopefully we get some statements. As I said in the main GH thread, if there was a power struggle going on I felt he would just quit. You know what makes me the most pissed off? The show has people that need to be used that the audience loves, has forever, and Valentini keeps them on the fringes or used them for propping his favorites. Liz and Dante I’m starting with you! My hope was finally the show would have GH characters again.

I agree. I’m sad things didn’t work out because the characters finally had personality in their scripts. I see so many similarities to Sally Sussman returning to Y&R. All of a sudden it felt more like Y&R. She just didn’t have anything for them to do except be more in character. No story engine. If someone was paired with them who was a great driver of story, I think this would have ended differently.

I’m bummed that this didn’t work out. The scripts were so much more interesting. The show just needed someone who was better at plotting stories to work with them IMO. I am not certain Korte is in the correct role. But time will tell. Any word on if he decided to quit or was let go? I cannot imagine him staying if he was not getting close to what he was promised or wanted. Makes the rumors of a power struggle seem much more plausible than they did earlier this week.

I’m excited to read your posts about this period of the show!

I was wondering the same thing. But the first photo does resemble the shy, dark haired little girl that played Lulu as a baby. As she got older she barely spoke and seemed really shy to me. Anna telling Carly to be as smart as she (Carly) thinks she is now one of my favorite telling Carly off scenes ever.

Please and thank you! Of all the characters on the show, if Laura wrote an honest book about her life story it would be riveting! Her childhood with the Vinnings and Lesley finding her is already fascinating, and that is all before she starts accidentally killing people and married her rapist.

That’s why I don’t think BTS is the backbiting power struggle these online folks say it is right now. Because he would just walk. This is somebody that was retired and hadn’t even worked on the show in decades. Hell, he spent more time writing at B&B than he did at GH! He absolutely prefers short, plot driven stuff he can chop up inside episodes and cut and paste into other episodes as is needed. More dialogue also means more possibility of errors, which means more takes. He moves the cameras around more than the show did when it was very dialogue heavy back in the day, so I’m sure that is a challenge too. I’m not saying FV loves this. I’m just saying I don’t think there is this epic war happening. Why wouldn’t Mulcahey just quit?

Longer scenes is nothing new to FV on GH. When that hack Jean Passanante became HW with Altman, she slowed the lightning RC pace down. She talked about it in interviews too- the show was going to have longer scenes and more character development. She was a terrible HW, but that team did slow the pace down and the scenes were longer. It seems like a such an online soap complaint disguised as insider information to me. What is the one concrete thing we know as viewers is directly from this HW team? Longer scenes and better dialogue. It’s the only place to hang their hat as being PM and EK’s faults. I have said from the beginning of these changes that Varni is clearly more invested if not also more involved. He started talking about the show more. Roger Howarth was let go. When the Burton coming back stuff started, didn’t he make a post about the show getting back to its GH roots, working to lure back an audience not currently watching enough? The slapdash primetime special was very much more of an introduction to the show at that moment than much of the retrospective we were expecting. PM was shocking, not just because of his retirement but also because he has never been one of Frank’s people. If there is a war going on, that causes the show to suffer. And one thing I know is that Korte and Valentini love GH, neither one wants the show to suffer. What I am seeing is a messy transition, both the stylistic change and the rush to put new writers in place while scrapping months of story. It takes time to get that going, and if they were smart we would be seeing more of characters we love helping this transition along. For instance- I could have enjoyed that Sasha learns to cook episode more if it also had Liz and her boys talking about their lives and the Jason situation.

I agree 100%