titan1978

Sad news, I have fond memories of her on GH.

Why would he want to play Jason Q? He did that before and it was a dead end. He didn’t even become popular with the audience until Jason Morgan. I mean look at Drew, the more he is like what this hybrid Jason would be, the more they sideline him. Both with Billy Miller and Ryan Lavery. And yes, this has been the rumor for years.

Personally, without characters like Alan, Monica, Emily, and Edward, or even Robin, Jason Q is irrelevant. It’s too late for this to have deeper meaning.

That’s a nice bump for GH. And the show was very watchable last week.

I will be curious to see if they can show continued growth by the summer, once PM/EK’s work has been airing for a few months.

As much as I have enjoyed Jason’s return so far, I have to say my FF button got a workout on Monday’s ep. So the new regime clearly has some work to do, but I am optimistic that they are up to the task. Monday also felt more like leftover material of the prior team minus the Jason stuff. It felt more choppy too.

The Jason umbrella storyline is working. But eventually other stories need to be told for the other characters.

48 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

For my GH/DAYS fans how long did it take you to accept Mansi as Kristina? She’s still my favorite Abby and despite how people feel about her Lexi was the Kristina I watched with Sonny and Alexis so it’s hard for me to watch Kate at times.

I like Mansi, loved her on DAYS. I’m still having some trouble with her as Kristina, for the same reason. Same with Molly. But I think if they give Mansi some material to work with she will fully win me over eventually. As for Molly…none of the recasts have worked for me.

Well we know from Genie Francis that ABC ended her time on All My Children, even though the show wanted to keep her. And the network told her flat out that they wanted her only as Laura on GH, which pissed her off and she refused for about a year. So ABC knew Bill wasn’t working and wanted Tony to play Luke. And Tony wouldn’t be Luke back then without Genie as Laura.

I think Labine had the right idea- the action is grounded with the return of Frank Smith and the mob, followed by vying for control of that territory after he was killed. 

I was at the perfect age as a young teen when Karen/Jagger/Brenda/Jason/AJ started getting played. I loved all those characters back then.

As we have discussed before, Monty had the right idea. She just went about it all wrong. More grounded stories and characters were needed. But she threw too much out too fast for the audience. I think if she chose better writers it could have worked. Marland and PFS both wrote more grounded material that she produced incredibly well. I also think a different actor playing Bill would have helped. Nobody wanted Geary back as another character except maybe Geary himself.

I watched entire scenes with Dex, Joss, Michael and Willow. That’s how much I am giving this new material a chance. And I was at least interested enough to not FF. The stuff I had a hard time sitting through were the scenes with Nina, Alexis, and the columnist, and Curtis and his father.

This is the most emotionally invested I have seen Steve Burton in ages as Jason. The scenes with Carly were actually moving. Makes me wish Robin was here too.

This is my first time seeing the aged up Rocco and I like the actor. Smart to have Genie Francis and Laura Wright in those scenes with the teenagers. I hope Lulu is on her way home soon.

I am holding out hope that Ava is up to something. I don’t have the stomach to watch Sonny and Ava fall in love.

Rhonda Wexler is one of the most annoying characters of all time on GH. But I still think it makes sense and her strange combo of overprotective and also negligent resonates, I’ve known many people just like her.

24 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

The Bell’s only profit from their stake in Y&R now, they are no longer pulling the strings or creatively involved. William J. Bell must be rolling in his grave that his legacy soap ended up that way, but it is what it is.

CBS could definitely tell the Bell’s when B&B is up for renewal to, “sell us your shares in Y&R or B&B’s ass is a goner.” Not saying it would happen, but they have leverage and especially if it’s true that they want to maximize their profits through ownership of the shows. 

The other alternative is the Bell’s sell their Y&R shares entirely to Sony and get out of the business entirely if B&B is cancelled. There’s nothing left for them in Y&R, but they could just use it as a stable cash cow. 

Does Corday still have his tiny percentage of Y&R?

51 minutes ago, Vee said:

You called this similarity - I was surprised and pleased they showed an actual flashback to Sonny shooting Dante yesterday.

I was too! It’s part of what made me nervous for him.

11 minutes ago, Khan said:

I know what you mean.  First, Patrick Mulcahey returns to GH as HW; and now, MVJ's developing a brand-new, African-American-focused soap opera in conjunction with CBS, P&G and the NAACP.  It's sort of like witnessing "The Sun Also Sets" coming back from the dead, lol.

“A guy at my tennis club said it should be called The Sun Also Sucks!”

8 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Music to my ears. re: the beats. But good to know that you noticed the pace shift, too. 

 

 

It’s not Guza pace- it’s moving too fast for that. Even sped up Guza it would have been Friday at the earliest before Sonny  saw evidence of Jason. He didn’t even get sent to the PCPD and have to wait for Diane to get him out while he railed about Dante. But it’s clearly more thought out and they are showing so many emotional beats that should be played.

Thanks to Grey’s Anatomy and Robin being a doctor, during the 2000’s we had a robust hospital again. Hopeful for them to build that back up. Nothing against Portia. And I know this is a budget and scheduling limitation. But someone like TJ could not possibly be near their guarantee. 

When you watch older stories/episodes, there is no substitute for Dr Hardy, Bobbie, Tony, Monica and Alan etc being the doctor to tell you your loved one is in critical condition. Patrick/Robin, Epiphany, etc also made that seem serious.

I appreciate they are playing the beats out. It’s almost like a soap again. It’s still accelerated, but it’s there.

And the strange cutting and editing isn’t happening yet. There are times, especially in the last couple of years, where it often felt like you missed something because it got cut or they just decided to blow past the details to keep the plot moving.

I didn’t realize just how much I dislike Nina until those scenes today. And I used to like Chase, but he is struggling in these scenes that actually have some weight to them.

I also hope we rebuild the hospital staff. Just Portia and a bunch of day players does not work. We need a sense of familiarity there. Isn’t Willow a nurse, or did she not finish school? 

There is so much diverse talent out there just waiting for a chance on a show like this. BTS and in front of the camera.

There is no point in creating a new soap unless they plan to be as modern and groundbreaking as they used to be in the days of Nixon. And I don’t mean ignoring the traditions of the genre. I mean taking a real risk again with story and characters, not just treading water with the most generic storytelling to least offend.

1 minute ago, Errol said:

What I find most interesting about The Gates, besides P&G being back in the game, is that we have never truly had a "showrunner" for a daytime soap since maybe William J. Bell for Y&R/B&B. And, I don't ever recall five executive producers for a daytime soap opera. So, this seems different. Modern. In a good way.

It does add some promise- it’s not just the same recycled names and titles.

What exciting news! How cool for MVJ too. The involvement of P&G is what truly shocked me. I never thought they would pull a Hello Barbara!

I was wondering where she was. I actually like her on the show, so hopefully Terry is utilized better.

39 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

I can appreciate a nice moment like Sonny’s predator past being explained for what it really is. But, what does any of it mean though? They’re never going to have Sonny admit who he really is or suddenly make him the town pariah for it. 

This show will always have the underlying narrative that Sonny (and soon Jason) are the town heroes, and law enforcement and everyone else who begs to differ are in the wrong ultimately.

Korte was there when they were moving Jason into the central character role and Sonny was being called out for his emotional damage. It started with the ill conceived Emily relationship and really became an issue after Claudia, Michael’s stint in prison and rape, and original Dante stuff. They have headed this way before, even if it was Carly and Jason realizing their mistakes in letting Sonny control their lives. At times I wondered if Guza was going to have them go after him. The tone shift was so noticeable.

Do I think that is where this is headed? No. But Sonny not being the town grandpa figure would be welcome and it is possible we get that.

Just Dante laying there shot juxtaposed with Olivia talking about him with Sam is already classic GH to me. I am totally invested and concerned about Dante.

Stakes that matter was high on my wishlist for the new HW team. In one episode they made me more invested than I have been in ages, because I believe the danger and the emotional fallout. And I don’t even like Dante with Sam!

Jagger having a point of view, even if I don’t agree with some of it is also welcome. It’s also just nice to see someone tear into Sonny.

Chase really dragged down those scenes on the dock. It’s pretty bad when Joss and Dex are acting circles around you.

Jagger always had a savior complex, first with his siblings, then with Karen. His resentment here makes total sense to me.

As someone that watched the show when Sonny arrived, I do not agree that Sonny used Stone to rehab his image. Luke did more of that than Stone did. They got rid of Frank Smith together, and Luke opened the club with Sonny (the very same club that used to have Karen stripping in it). And truthfully, Brenda did too. All that happened before Stone’s illness and death.

He didn’t become Saint Sonny until the 2000’s. I get that this is not what Jagger thinks.

I want Sonny to pay just as much as the next person. But if you follow the logic that exists in Port Charles, Sonny is a mob boss that doesn’t run drugs and keeps worse things at bay. I’m not arguing the logic here, or the stupidity. I’m just saying that is what the show presents. So I understand Laura and Anna not going after him. I do not agree that they would be friends with him and so chummy though. But I get the looking away a little.

26 minutes ago, carolineg said:

 

Watching this made me remember how much I loved Jason and Robin and there was a time SBu did not annoy me. 

He had way more dimension before he left the show the first time. Jason Morgan smiled, he rolled his eyes, he loved Robin very deeply. He was cocky, had an attitude, and also played out more emotion and empathy.

Things really changed in the 2000’s.

11 hours ago, Vee said:

Scott and Amy sounds insane but def something they'd do back then.

In other news, we've all talked up Crystal Carson as Julia before and how much we enjoyed her rolling with the changes in the show. These scenes with her after Brenda's 'death' in '98 (timestamped below) are really good work from Carson, I haven't seen them since they aired. I'd forgotten the montage of all the empty locations around town.

Another neat little moment earlier on in this video at the Q mansion that's just for me: Evil Katherine silently and grimly snuffing out the candle on the cake after they hear the news about Brenda.

 

Something Riche’s GH really captured well was a sense of melancholy, under all her head writers. Characters sitting with their feelings, sadness but not hysterics. Those long scenes filled with characterization. And Brenda really was connected across the canvas at this point.

I do remember thinking at the time no body plus no real funeral - they are really telegraphing she is welcome back at any time.