titan1978

Refused to film his last scenes and the massive unfollowing make me think that there were some BTS issues happening. It’s also very unprofessional. I hope the role is recast, really hope Tyler gets a chance.

I’m really impressed by Alley Mills. Considering how fast they shoot now, it’s fun to see layers coming through her performance. I have not really enjoyed zany Heather antics since the character was reintroduced in the 2000’s. I preferred Mattson’s earlier characterizations, more of a schemer than insane, certainly capable of awful things. Mills gives her a menacing edge which is pretty fun the watch. It feels like more of a bridge between the wounded, needy person she started out as and the outright maniac she has been more recently.

When the writing is there Jordi can be very hot. I’m not sure he has ever really blown me away as an actor. But hot and charismatic can be fine on daytime, just not as Nikolas. I always default to how much can they hold their own against Genie? Because if she is on the show, that’s the baseline Nikolas needs to meet.

I don’t like him any more than the next person, but what does him being gay have to do with his hack writing?

They really put Jesse through it. Maybe the most tragic character in the show’s history, although Stone is a pretty close second for me. I would love to see episode counts for Emily and John Beradino from those early years. Really sad that she didn’t end up with any surviving kids to help anchor her in later years. Although I did enjoy when Jesse was sort of the stern but loving mother to younger nurses and doctors at GH. Of course she also had numerous health issues in real life. Was she ever taken off contract? I know Rachel Ames left for a period of time in the early 1980’s due to lack of story.

I would love to see Tyler make a return to the show. Not just for the history and the connections he has with Liz and Laura- he and Maura really had a spark together that was darker than what Marcus can pull off. It is a little odd to unfollow everyone and still keep your page up.

She is a well paid actress past the age of 40 who is on one of the last 3 network soaps. While not as valued as she should be, using her to prop the OLTL refugees and her kids have given her more substantial material than Sam has seen in years. Do I think that kind of a team player with her fanbase should be used the way she is-no. I’m sure she has times when she isn’t happy with the story. But I can see why she would stay. I can’t remember who wanted her out, I only remember when JFP fired her and then had to reverse course. Which I assumed back then was 100% one of her budget cuts of a character that she finds boring. The fact that they said it was due to lack of story and then suddenly they had story for her made me think back then that it wasn’t Guza. Someone remind me of the second time they tried to fire her? Along those lines- does anyone know the bts reasons why the show stopped capitalizing on the Liz/Jason/Sam stuff? It had a rabid fanbase and they just dropped it. Soaps don’t usually do that unless something happened.

And the setting was largely the hospital. You had to have tragedy happening worthy of all those tears in the pill room and hallways!

Liz has so much to explore. What a waste if this was it. She has also had many failed marriages and had affairs. They have so much to deeply dive into. I am not one of those fans that think every piece of history has to be addressed at all times. So Jeff not having a scene with Monica discussing their former marriage doesn’t bother me all that much, even if LC had been available. It is important to know that history, but sometimes it feels like constant strip-mining and fan service to mention all these little details onscreen without it having roots in characterization today. Like a list of facts and a wink at longtime viewers. Which Ron C did plenty of and most of the time I hated it. What would have been great is if he had a scene with Monica (the only sane person who was there back then and had a real relationship with him, not Laura or Scotty who were essentially kids) and they talked about just how difficult being in Port Charles was for him. He had nothing but failed and traumatic romantic relationships, a rough start to the relationship with his father and his brother was killed here, not to mention all the Stephen Lars drama and that pain in the ass Anne. You can say all that in a brief scene and give him some agency to have deeper conversations with Liz about there being more going on than just the surface, and stupid current plot about Finn.

I do not even enjoy or watch B&B, but I have been anxiously awaiting them knocking Y&R from the number one spot. At least they are trying to go for it still, and when I watch Y&R it’s just so lifeless. Classic era Y&R might have been slower and a little old fashioned, but it was never lifeless.

GH- I thought Genie did a fantastic job during the horrible Rick Webber storyline, and so did Tony. Especially in the scenes where Laura remembers and starts to unravel. He almost looked sick that he couldn’t keep it from happening, and she was near panic trying to remember it fully. I have this issue quite a bit with Guza. I hated the stories he put the characters through. But they were usually well written and acted, even if I hated the premise. Like the Nikolas/Liz affair. JJ knocked it out of the park with all his anguish and the confrontations, even if it also ruined Lucky. There were several excellent moments on AMC when Erica kidnapped Maria’s baby and that was maybe the worst Erica story of all time!

I almost listed Joan Collins as Alexandra Spaulding and pretty much most of the end of Rauch’s tenure, before Conboy arrived. Loved Ben Reade and Marina too, before they destroyed him. When it comes to casting, I think DAYS was really solid, especially with their younger leads for almost the last 20 years. Nick Fallon, Gabi, Will (chandler), Ciara, Stephanie, Tripp, Chelsea, Melanie (although I know many hated her), JJ, both Abby’s, Alamo, Eli…the list goes on and on. So many characters that were well cast even if the writing wasn’t always the best. Frank Valentini wishes he had found that kind of talent for his bland younger cast on GH. I loved Sam as a vixen, and Liz with Jason at that time was great too. There was so much fandom intensity that GH really missed out on with Liz/Jason/Sam!

I get that. I prefer Eileen’s Ashley overall, but I adored Brenda’s version. I enjoy Ashley vs Nikki more with Eileen too- she has the right kind of edge to really be an equal with MTS and it gets nastier with her in the role. Brenda had a softer approach, Ashley more mature. I agree that her with Brad would have been excellent.

Like many of us have stated, soaps have not been at their best since the tail end of the 90’s, but especially from 2000 to today. Poor creative decisions, bad HW teams, network interference being especially noticeable on screen, cancellations. The list goes on. What has happened n the last 20+ years that you love? Major moments, returns, casting gone right… AMC- I am especially thankful for the return of Angie and Jesse. They just fit right back in and gave the show a real spark in not so great times. AMC & OLTL- while the experiment was not successful, the PP versions of both shows were entertaining and demonstrated there is life there if explored properly. GH- with JFP and Guza gone, the show has welcomed back so many favorites, especially in the last decade. It has been a joy to see Anna, Robert, Laura, Felicia, Lucy, and others that have been included again. And Brenda’s epic first return early in the 2000’s was the most watchable period of the show under Guza since his first year as HW. I also felt Lulu was cast well and I miss JMB in the role (I know others do not enjoy her). Y&R- for a period of time, they had something special with MM as Hilary.

AMC- I have to say Dimitri, never cared for Jackson. I wish I could see more of her with Tom though just because he was such a cutie. Erica having many husbands seems very in character for me, others not so much. Especially when you get into recent offenders. GH- Bobbie had four husbands and almost a fifth with Jerry Jax. Jake will always be my favorite. Days- how many times has Lucas been married? At least 4. Sami will always be my preference. Y&R- I really prefer Victor with Ashley, but I can’t say that was always the right fit for her. I liked Brad more for her.

While checking out @JAS0N47FB posts about the Horton Ornaments, I wondered is there an in-story origin of their creation? Did the kids make their own, was Alice the one making them for years? Has it ever been stated on the show who makes them for the characters?

Did they ever reveal who Jennifer Smith was talking to on the mysterious phone call at Luke’s funeral? Or was that yet another dropped storyline/thread?

There is no denying they were older and expensive in a time when all the daytime network people seemed to care about was young demos and budget. I do think Viki fared better because they didn’t really try to make her glamorous, and her character had more qualities that played towards others. She was great in her own storyline, but she also worked as a utility player crossing over with others- her family, friends like Karen Wolek, the Banner, etc. Erica was always so self centered, and I think the show forgot how to use her. She had a lot of growth in the late 80’s-mid 90’s, and then they would regress her again only she got more shallow each time. I also think Slezak has more range and the show wrote towards that. The only thing I credit JFP with in a positive light was recognizing Slezak was being pushed too far off the center stage, and re-investing in her character.

In hindsight, does Jeff Webber qualify from GH? When he left the show he was involved with 3 women- Heather, Diana (rip) and Anne. He was previously married to Monica, had a baby switch storyline, his wife went crazy, Diana was murdered and he was revealed to be Steve Hardy’s son. Not to mentionAnne was finally willing to lose her virginity to him (but didn’t). He almost went through as much as a comparable soap heroine.

I was thinking about GH under Monty, and to me the it girls were Lesley (at first), Laura, Holly, and Anna. I don’t feel like Felicia or Bobbie ever made it to that place, even though both were frontburner the entire time and always had love interests. They were still the A group of characters, just not in the way those four were. Same with Monica. On ATWT, MC and HBS’s Margos were to me, but not Dolan.

Bo Brady always sticks out to me on DAYS, he was given so many relationships and traits right away. His military background, he is the one that took Steve’s eye. His tense relationship with Roman, while having a very fond relationship with Marlena. His tense relationship with Doug while he and Hope were falling in love. He’s Victor’s son by affair, he had popular pairings with Hope, Carly, and Billie. He was classically rebellious but also a really good guy. You could almost connect everyone on the show with lasting ties to Bo at one point for about a decade. I think he was ultimately the most important Brady family member as far as impact on the whole canvas. on GH while Jason was always a lead after the accident, it wasn’t until Guza started centering things more around him in the mid and late 2000’s that he truly became the main guy. And then Dante arrived and he was basically on every day until Guza was fired. This is interesting because I could list tons of women on soaps that were the it girl or main focal point in very lasting ways. But with dudes it’s not as easy.

Hard to argue with the Victor Lord/Irene fallout. It also gave us Tina as a Lord and gave Andrea Evans so much great material to play with. Days- the Roman/Marlena/John affair is almost a total turning point on several fronts. It cements Sami as not just troubled, but scheming and vindictive in a way she hadn’t quite reached yet before that, which plays out for decades. It destroys Roman, and leads to the desecrator and possession stories, which created a storytelling style that dominated Days for almost 20 years. And it led to John and Marlena being together. GH- Left Handed Boy/Frank Smith led to the show focusing on more action oriented storylines that were completely away from the hospital. By the mid 80’s GH was much more umbrella storyline and action focused than it had been, and that continues through today. Not to mention the near constant presence of the mob in Port Charles- Smith, Mr. Big, Duke and the Jerome family, Sonny. Even Labine, while more grounded, wrote several action oriented events/stories.

I know we all crave soaps using history, but sometimes it’s best left in the past. Hello Paloma.

And he has the actors invested in the pairing and the fanbase! Even the original Trina retweets and comments on stuff. It’s so stupid. It is especially ridiculous that Joss is always in story.

I kind of saw that annoyance towards the greater Q family. Her actual unit, especially with Jason Q and Alan (and Monica to a good extent) seemed much more solid. The sarcasm seemed more pointed towards the group fighting and Edward being a blowhard, AJ and Ned being shady.