titan1978

I think Ben was a great addition to the show, and I missed him when he is gone. But I prefer Gary with Abby, and Val with Ben. As much as I love the push/pull of Gary and Val, I am okay with them not being together.

This is why I am more in favor of something like the memorial for Kristoff St John. I want Bobbie to be remembered, but I really want Jackie to be remembered too. That way we might have recorded statements from former cast mates and they can play a clip of them from the show in character.

I just had to google Karpov and I still don’t remember that one at all. And so was watching them because it was during the Kate storyline. The Balkan was a waste of everybody. You had good actors there, Brenda, and the story was so lackluster. Even the boyfriend she showed up with and breaks up with was a waste.

That period of GH is such a love letter to misogyny. All this talk about Faith and Alcazar just reminds me how Guza would create a worse mobster than Sonny or Jason for short periods of time, then move on to the next. Alcazar, Faith, Manny, Claudia and Anthony, The Balkan…am I forgetting anyone else? It was like 10 years of this kind of storytelling. Some were more fun than others.

Nancy Lee Grahn is going to have so much weight on her shoulders that day to make this work.

As obnoxious as I find Steve Burton, Jackie was such an excellent guest on his podcast with Bradford. I’ve read interviews with her for decades and I really felt like I got to know her history pre-GH in a way that I never had before on her episode. She lived an exciting life and she really took those opportunities. The Hollywood Reporter posted a story about her, it’s full of errors, but there were some great quotes. I love that JZ described younger Bobbie as an opportunist, and respected that she always was intelligent. Her death is receiving more publicity than I would have imagined- GH really still has a stranglehold on pop culture from their heyday. She’s trending, the tributes are moving and vast. She was a soap icon for being warm, gracious, and a great actor. I also love whatever messy person at HR decided to shade JFP in the tribute, which Jackie really handled with class. In 2001, Jill Farren Phelps came on as a producer at General Hospital, and Zeman’s screen time declined as the show shifted away from Bobbie storylines. “[Phelps] wasn’t interested in the character,” Zeman told We Love Soaps. “She wanted to have other characters come on and fill that place and as a producer that is her prerogative. I certainly had a good run as Bobbie. I have nothing to feel bad about or complain about. It was a long, fabulous time.” The show must do a tribute. And I would love a goodbye for Bobbie, but also one for Jackie. I’m sure Tony Geary would do something for that, even if it is a recorded message from the Netherlands. With as many Carly’s and former lovers as possible!

I’m just heartbroken about this. One of the characters who was deeply flawed and the audience got to see evolve over her tenure. Unlike a lot of soap’s reformed bad girl types, Jackie always kept Bobbie’s fiery personality. She had a hair trigger and was always passionant. She just grew out of her more vindictive traits when she started to love herself. She’s so well set up by Marland and Monty, and JZ was wonderful in the role. This one I was not expecting right now and it’s just so sad.

It was Austin doing the investigating that just did not work for me right from the start. I also thought many of their ideas were good and that the show was finally allowing people to have brains again. But it got derailed pretty quickly. I also agree that while GH has had its share of over the top lows-David Grey and Casey the Alien come to mind- for some reason I think of it as more realistic than DAYS. And GH had an actual Alien.

That’s the problem with nothing but horrible people as the point of view characters. What hasn’t Carly done? And for that matter, what hasn’t Ned done? Ned used to be a rat bastard under a charming personality. Not as ruthless as Tracy, but he could hold his own. It’s like everyone all of a sudden remembers what Ned used to be like 20 plus years ago. And Drew is possibly walking around waiting for his Manchurian Candidate moment if they want to go back to his brainwashing storyline. And Nina is awful too! These people can all go to jail! It reminds me of himbo Austin coming back on DAYS during MarDar and being a forensic accountant. The most boring criminal investigation and business story of all time. Until this one.

That jump being improvised is some old school, classic super-couple stuff that I haven’t seen a soap truly pull off in ages. The fact that they are bringing that extra feeling to the characters hasn’t happened in a long time as far as I can remember.

Lois would have done plenty of sh!t talking of Edward. He was a lovable rascal, but the guy did many dastardly deeds. And often pitted his family against each other. Trying to protect the family in not so open ways was the exact reason Lois left Ned! What this needed to get the reactions we are seeing was if Ned had been secretly dealing with the Valentine mess and they kept walking in on meetings and overhearing him, thinking he was up to some stuff he absolutely would have done in the past. At least give us a reason for a misunderstanding. Build to it!

I also hated Ned then! If Peter Reckell wants to jump ship he would be welcome breaking up Laura and Kevin.

Agreed.

Roger and Holly remains the exception to me because the show never revolves around Roger as an anti-hero. Other characters that are mostly good are not thrown under the bus to make Roger into something he was not. Roger was allowed to have all the layers- he was sexy, loyal in his way, complicated, and capable of loving relationships. But he was also the same Roger that raped Holly and wrecked havoc on Springfield more than once, and that edge never left. And thankfully for GL they treated him and those relationships carefully (especially when the show was written well). Todd and Luke were morphed into leads, Luke really became the hero. But they were both treated with less sensitivity than Roger. It is sometimes wild to remember not only Marty’s rape and trial, but also Todd stalking Nora and attacking Luna. And then he just ends up the town smart-ass.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but Kay Alden was on staff of B&B during the last strike when she chose to go fi-core. She hasn’t been an active staff member of any writing team for years as she is retired. So who would expect her to come out of retirement to scab write at this stage of her life? I love soaps- but I do think the writers should show solidarity with their union and not cross picket lines.

On a much more superficial note, Drew really should be more subtle with the eyebrow tinting. With the shape of CM’s face those brows are serving Sam the Eagle every time I catch a glimpse while fast forwarding through most of his scenes.

When I saw this heading I was sure it was an announcement that both magazines were shuttering.

Nothing but solidarity from me for these folks striking. The transparency issue alone needs a resolution, let alone all the rest of their very reasonable requests. I hope the studios start to get a little nervous by all the solidarity, especially with other union contracts up soon as well, and stop the rhetoric and stupid statements.

What a wonderful typo on my part. If the squishy shoe fits…

Which is tradition- I often felt that way during Guza/JFP. Valentine has been a failure for me as soon as his backstory with Anna and Alex started being told. This is supposed to be a big bad Cassadine, and instead he is a quivering mess. JELL-O on legs.

Things really changed onscreen after the story where Laura first wakes up from her coma. Geary plays that whole story like the Luke we knew, his emotions for Laura are all on display, even if he does care for Tracy. He soured on it completely after that. I wonder if it was at all related to the constant questions he got in interviews about Luke cheating on Laura in regards to Ethan. He hated people telling him how Luke would react or behave. I think several of us agree he morphed Luke into Bill Eckert over his last decade on the show. Genie is where she belongs now- in the center of the action. We just need Lucky and Lulu back to cement it. Nikolas can stay in a coma for a bit. I can’t imagine anyone enjoying a pitch by Higley.

And yet, Frank or someone at ABC or both tried to make her recurring (with no major story in mind) a few years ago. And she rightly said no. It’s only because the fans of the show/Genie fans tore FV and ABC apart for months online that they brought her back and use her like they have since. I still say it was JFP more than Guza that kept her away during the 2000’s. Because Guza used to love to write for her. As awful as the Rick Webber story was, it was one of the first ones introduced when Guza/Pratt came back. And it centered on her more than Luke, just like the Nikolas story.

Because I have so little visual reference in my memory for GH before Monty, reading these recaps I keep having to tell my brain Tracy (not Q), Jeff (not Webber), Denise (not Alexander). It’s so cool to have all these details.

Marci would be a great Lulu. And I can already imagine her having chemistry with Dante and Laura. Someone make this happen! And we can steal Dan F (I’m not even trying with the name) anytime.

She used a cane for many years too. It’s always great to see Lila when she was more in the thick of things. And original Edward was such a fun rascal bastard. I love JI and the Mary Mae story, which I can never imagine David Lewis in. But nobody played the pain of his relationship with Tracy better than David Lewis. When she left in the early 90’s he almost breaks your heart looking out the window. And he was much more fun and wiley than the blowhard he becomes under Ingle.