titan1978

Damn. I’m 10 episodes behind, went to catch up on Hulu, and they have replaced Howarth with Laura Wright on the title card that plays when you start the show. It’s been Howarth (and has annoyed me) for years. ABC is done with him.

Look at the ratings, and look at what I am sure was a decent contract. If ABC got involved, they made the right decision here, no matter how much Frank loves him. Something needs to change, and this is hopefully the first of a few things (Easton next). It is funny everywhere else I visit with soap commentary online people are always so into Roger Howarth. Not Easton so much though. I do agree that his soap career is based solely on what he did during his first run as Todd. He never hit that high note again, even when he came back to OLTL the first time. Interesting. I preferred Holroyd by a mile.

It never made sense to me back when they did it! Thankful they didn’t go the rumored original route of Rick having molested Laura, but this was almost as bad. She’s so visceral! It’s a shame they made her into such a tragic character by killing off her whole family. Monica had teeth, and the best version of her had an edge. Leslie almost slapped the bun off her head.

Those pop songs often benefited greatly from soap exposure- especially if it was a supercouple theme. From the distasteful success of Rise immediately after Luke raped Laura to the other songs mentioned that were not gross. I used to love those end of show montages of various couples in love or longing for each other. About Monty’s first tenure on GH- even though Bell was the gold standard for a modern version of the traditional Irna style, he had respect for Monty and what she was doing. As late as his joint interview with Claire Labine in the 90’s about structuring a show, he spoke highly of Monty. For me, I think the show worked best at that time during both of PFS’s tenures as HW with Monty. They didn’t get along, but they got the execution right. Strong writer who understood and also accepted the pace and style Monty was going for. I have said this before around here- I think the issue was everyone trying to copy GH. It was already not traditional- the family was the workplace, not like other traditional soaps. Another silly 1980’s trend- the influx of international accents! Robert Scorpio created a craze! All of a sudden every soap had a main character with an accent! Possibly Eric Braeden deserves some credit too! All these small towns had one!

Leslie slapping Monica will always be my favorite. I didn’t even see the full original episode until the last few years. But the 35th GH anniversary special showed it with Denise Alexander’s commentary and I have been a fan ever since. Starts about 6:20 minutes in. ”What about love Monica?” I just think it’s produced in a way that heightens the whole soapiness of it- the dialogue, the close ups, the actual slap that it seems like Monica truly felt. Hell even the 80’s lip gloss. Fun.

Another 1980’s trend not mentioned yet was the increasing importance placed on the star more than the character. Really popularized by Monty on GH, but in use on other soaps in the 80’s too. Monty stopped anything but short term recasts by 1981ish, and when someone left the character was gone, and the show moved on. Heather Webber was the last major recast during her tenure that I can recall. The celebrity of soap actors exploded.

Huge difference seeing her in a zoom reunion and onscreen performing.

I think she would have fit right in back in the Bill Bell era too- she has qualities that I think worked well with his writing. How exciting to see her again, looking so great.

I will never forgive the GH team at the time for that story. The foundation of the show needed Emily, Georgie, and I would include Cooper and Logan here too. They should have been used in years of story. Instead there was a giant hole that they kept trying to fill for 20 something’s for a decade. It kept the focus squarely on Sonny/Cary/Jason, and then just supplanted Michael as the younger character to build off of. Plus Garin Wolf and JFP’s ending fell flat. And I am aware that the actor playing Logan was a problem on set, and the original killer. Doesn’t change how I feel- they had a set of characters worth building on. Instead they just continued with the idea the show was going to be cancelled within 10 years so let’s just keep dismantling instead of building.

Yeah I don’t think anybody was telling Bell what to do. The only time his hand was fixed was the whole 1 hour thing. Bill Bell was very complimentary about what Gloria Monty did at GH. In that joint interview he did with Claire Labine he clearly was familiar with the GH style and Luke & Laura. It would not surprise me if he just wanted to run some adventure through the show. I never felt Y&R had slipped into a GH clone as much as DAYS did.

The overall misogynistic vibe the show was mired in. The fact that Ric didn’t really pay for what he did. I remember thinking Liz was missing her brain quite a bit. But that cliffhanger is one of my all time favorites on GH. I would put it right under the Labine era shootout with Brenda in the shower/Laura’s house/Stone and Robin outside the Club on my list of favorite GH cliffhangers. Clink/Boom being number 1. The original story was whimsical, which suited Lila. Plus it was wrapped up in Sean and Monica’s affair. The Tracy revisit was stupid and not fun to watch at all.

GH-Casey the Alien. Introduced Faison, dealt a little with Anna’s past as a double agent and grief from losing Duke. It was implausible but as a kid I enjoyed it. GH- The Panic Room. As much as I didn’t enjoy what the show was at that point, or what Liz had become, her seeing Carly was a thrilling cliffhanger.

For a very brief time during Wendy Riche’s EP tenure there was an outside ambulance entrance. They just don’t film there anymore. They also used to have more of a traditional ER area, it looked different than the other hospital sets. I think both are visible when BJ is wheeled in after the accident.

I’m still going to hold out hope that if we ever see Vanessa again that Rena will also come back, even if just for a brief visit. I love Lois but she really doesn’t fit currently as a long term character. Not in the capacity she would deserve. And I would never wish a pairing with Sonny on her.

Her voice breaking at the end really hit me emotionally. Lovely tribute, and by all accounts so far Tyler had meaningful relationships with many cast members.

That’s awesome!

This is just devastating news. I loved him as Nikolas. I had such an instant crush on him as soon as he arrived on the show. He held his own right away with Genie, Tony, Stephen Nichols and Jonathan Jackson. His scenes with Genie were always so incredible back then, the complexity and subtext was always right there. I have spent years hoping he would maintain his health and sobriety and live a happy life- even if we never saw him again onscreen. I sincerely hope ABC/General Hospital has a grief counselor on set to help these folks. I can’t imagine, such a hard year.

It is wild to see the same tactics repeat themselves as far as the media coverage goes. All the same stuff happened with the WGA, and it backfired.

Sonny the art collector all of a sudden. Ridiculous. The shape of the windows? I think that has stayed the sam from Sean/Tiffany through the current version. And yes, Jason (now Sam and Dante) lived across the hall. Except now Sonny’s door is reoriented in such a way that it doesn’t seem possible. Does anyone remember when they shrunk down the original set and repainted it, and Mo (jokingly?) complained in an interview about it? Was a fire the story reason, I can’t recall.

A huge part of the problem currently from the actors is the WGA was so organized compared to SAG-AFTRA striking by themselves. By all accounts they communicated better, they had stronger strike captains who kept people motivated and rotating to new spots, and they waged the public relations battle against the studios like a masterclass.

He must look like a giant to him compared to all the other shorty actors on the show.

What the WGA accomplished seems even more incredible next to how the more famous actors are behaving. Lots more public questioning of their Union and the negotiating strategy, making public statements through the media and online, and a seeming willingness by many to compromise on behalf of the studios. The Halloween costume thing is silly. However, I see the point the Union was trying to make. And the public doesn’t seem to be shaming the actors as much as they did on behalf of the writers. I know people are tired, and there is a lot going on in the world. But the studios wouldn’t have any money without the talent in front and behind the scenes. They deserve their share. And again- they have these public shareholder meetings where they tout more and more profits. And they just keep raising the price on us too to keep the profits going up. Also- the egos amongst actors must be harder to deal with than the writers were. I don’t envy anyone on the SAG-AFTRA negotiating team.

I love reading Michele Val Jean’s comments and memories from working on Labine’s writing team. She was incredibly collaborative and really knew how to fine tune things. The scenes are also loooonnnngggg during Labine’s run. They really help to build character and give everyone a piece of the pie. To this day no piece of media has broken me as much as Stone’s storyline.

Those top line stars will do anything to avoid picketing! I’m kind of joking but it is funny that after a week solid of pressure for them to hit the lines they cough up millions to help their union members beyond the immediate crisis. And who knows if they even have the support of their other top line peers to make this happen. Still doesn’t deal with the studios not wishing to share in their windfalls and also the AI topics.

IIRC Tracy was in cahoots with Jax on a takeover attempt. In real life it was to springboard Jane onto The City as Tracy, per the network.