carolineg

Yeah, your time frame sounds completely accurate. I was more curious about what GH execs knew when they recast Molly. As in were they just alerted by HP's people that HP was in an accident or did they know the seriousness of the accident and her arrest? I am just wondering if they cast Kriegel with the intention of it being only a few days on short notice or if they knew it was going to be a longer stint. The way HP described the issue on her social media truly makes me wonder if she thought this all would fly under the radar and the press wouldn't find out. Obviously it did and that is the case now, but I do wonder if HMK was cast as good enough in a pinch or truly the best they could find (even on short notice). Due to how similar she looks to HP I would think the former not the latter.

I am also wondering if the show is waiting to see how everything with HP works out before committing to HMK. If she completes rehab and her legal obligations I wonder if the show would bring her back. I know that's not a popular sentiment here, but I am curious how many viewers truly know what is going on or even about the accident.

Did the show ever explain why Belle was defending Talia? Isn't that weird since Paulina/Chanel are her clients and also hypocritical because she hates Sloan for harassing Paulina/Chanel lol? Since it's Belle I am going to assume the show did not bother to explain. Johnny really needs a haircut. I think there is so much potential with Johnny/Chanel/Tripp/Wendy/Talia, but right now everyone is so boring. I am glad Tripp is being assertive, but Wendy has lost a lot of the original spark that I liked about her. If the show wants us to think Paulina and Julie are BFF they should probably show them together more than once a year. @AbcNbc247The Abe story is ridiculous, but I assume James Reynolds is just happy to get a story.

I get your point. I do think the best way to make this story work is to play it slowly. I already think Kate Mansi is doing a pretty good job and I actually really liked Lexi. I would also say that I did think Haley was capable of a lot more than she got as well. As an audience member I am willing to give the show some leniency of this story. I am not even particularly invested in another baby story, but I would just feel bad for everyone else involved if the entire thing was scrapped. I am curious about how much GH knew about HP's arrest before the news broke and if HMK was ever meant to be more than a stand in for a few episodes. I think that casting needs to be sorted out before the show moves forward with the story.

Agreed. I think it would also be unfair to Mansi, NLG, TB, et all that were going to get a good, meaty story. TJ and Kristina have been waiting for years for this! I would rather they find a more suitable, permanent Molly recast than get rid of the whole story. It's not ideal, but it doesn't seem right to scrap the whole thing over one actresses issues.

Is Haley Pullos that great or that much of a force though? I haven't liked the recast and don't care about the story one way or the other, but I don't think HP makes or breaks the story. It might be a hard sell but Kristina was always going to be recast. I don't think you necessarily have to shelve the whole story because of HP's behavior making it impossible for her to continue. Maybe move it more slowly to get to know the recasts? I certainly would give the story a bit more grace just because I know the recast of Molly wasn't GH's decision. It would be nice for Molly/Kristina to finally get a story.

Maybe?😂 I found a restaurant her husband was attached to in Dallas and assumed it was the same one. Actually clicking on the website shows it's coming soon, so TBD on that. Between deep diving Martha Madison and her husband and looking up Eden McCoy's social media today I have embarrassed myself enough in 24 hours. Since the soap press cares about MM about as much as Days I just assumed her situation was the same as it was lol. Agreed about the story. My feelings about Belle are clear, but I'd rather cut all of Leo's scenes and give them to Shawn/Belle.

I honestly thought the actor that played Dex was in his 30's, so I am unfortunately less skeeved out that he's only 26. It's still a bit creepy, but at least she's an adult. It looks like they spent Easter together, so I am going to assume they are dating. The fact that Sonny doesn't give two sh*ts about Joss hating him actually makes me like Sonny more. Every time Joss rails at him Sonny just rolls his eyes and moves on. And every time Michael yells at Sonny I like to think his inner monologue 'is why didn't I just let AJ keep him?' I don't mind Sonny hate. I don't mind Joss/Michael are mad at him. But Nina was the straw that broke the camel's back? Really? Even if Joss's hatred was rooted in the way Sonny treated her father I would give her a pass or if Michael was mad Sonny killed his birth father. No, it's Sonny stupid relationship with Nina that caused all this. When their motivation is so petty it's hard to take them seriously.

I don't mind Xander and I don't mind him having love interests or being a lead. I just don't like the fact that Chloe was one of his victims and it wasn't a minor misdeed. I can get over it because obviously I watch a show where Ben is a romantic lead, but it taints the romance. I honestly dislike Sarah more than Gwen. I don't like Gwen at all, but I still think she has potential if the show moves her away from all the unlikeable characters she interacts with. Nothing the show has given her seems to stick and it's probably just best to get rid of her, but I still like the actress. LG just grates on my nerves in every scene as Sarah although a recast might help save the character.

That appears to be the rumor. I don't know how much of it is fanfiction. A cursory glance of her socials makes it look like they are pretty close. I hope I don't die today so my last search isn't are Joss and Dex dating in real life? on my browser😂 I think LW's portrayal goes a long way to make Carly likeable. I will say the one thing the show has always kept consistent about Carly is her unwavering loyalty though. Michael is really dumb. I can't believe Carly explained she was unwilling to give up info on Sonny she knew he'd get away with and Michael then proposed info that would put Sonny behind bars for real and thought she'd go for that. It's like Michael just didn't listen or ignored the entire first half of the conversation lol.

@AbcNbc247I believe *some* of the issue with Belle/Shawn is availability. I don't think Martha lives in California. Last I heard she lived in Texas with her family and they have a restaurant out there and Martha actually works in hospitality recruiting as well. I don't think she's ever unwilling to appear although I would assume they block tape her stuff when she's in town and that might explain the gaps. I do believe she said she would make accommodations (like getting a secondary LA residence) if Days hired her back full time, but they obviously don't so I think we are just stuck sporadic appearances. It also looks like her husband is a very successful restaurateur and she's quite involved so maybe Martha just doesn't really care about Days being her full time gig. It doesn't excuse Days misuse of the couple, but I think it explains a little lol. Anyway, so many things had to fall into place for Sloan's plan to work. How Kayla didn't demand to test both men at the hospital once they knew boggles the mind. She just trusted a bunch of civilians with no medical training to do this test? Even if Sloan was honest she could have screwed the test up. I've messed up those at home Covid tests lol. Do DNA test show gender? I have heard different things. I have always thought Xander/Chloe had chemistry. I wish Xander didn't sell her to a drug lord or whatever because they could be decent. A Brady/Xander/Sarah/Chloe quad wouldn't be the worst thing even if I despise Sarah.

Makes sense. I recorded Days and GH, so the others were my afterthoughts. Anyway, trying to get Lois was how Jax/Brenda hooked up. Brenda offered information and help with Lois (which she made no effort to actually provide lol) and Jax offered to help make Sonny jealous by pretending to date Brenda and that's how it all started.

Jax was created for Lois and Rena got pregnant and didn't re-sign so I guess the show just decided to throw him at Brenda. It really all made sense for Brenda/Jax to be paired at the time, but if you remember Jax was initially in love with Lois and trying to steal her from Ned. It's actually creepy considering she was married and pregnant lol. Obviously, I think the stark contrast to Sonny stuff was created later because I do believe Jax was supposed to be more of a villian or a grey character with him working with Tracy to take over ELQ.

It seems like GR has a lot of guarantees or something. Last week he had 2 days of scenes that were 100% unnecessary (more than usual). Leo did accuse Colin of being a stripper at his friends bachelor party and went on and on about his 'talents'. I can't believe Colin stayed and entertained that crap for as long as he did.

No such luck. Colin threatened him and broke Leo's phone. I don't even blame Colin. After listening to Leo babble for long periods I think it's actually a normal human reaction to threaten Leo and break his phone.

I think the show could have easily pivoted Karen back to Jason if Jagger left and had her deal with college and the fall out from Scott being her father (even though I don't think Kin was on the show at the time lol). I definitely think Karen had enough material for story without Jagger for a year. I could also see why they wrote her out due to the build up of the Karen/Jagger romance and the fact KMc was old enough to carry her own teen story. Karen wasn't necessary anymore. I do think it would have been nice for Karen to be around for Stone/Robin. I have always found Jagger/Karen's absence fairly glaring in an otherwise near perfect story. I agree Brenda hugely benefitted from Jagger/Karen leaving. She could get development/focus, she could be paired with Sonny without constant reminders of the Karen relationship, and it allowed Brenda to be aged up into adult stories fairly easily with her main peers not around. I think Brenda could have lasted without Sonny. She is another character you could easily pair up with AJ/Jason until Jason has his accident and then pair her up with Ingo once he was cast. Since Ingo was hired for Lois/Rena I'll go with the assumption he would have been cast regardless of what Brenda was doing. Obviously, no telling how successful she would have been, but I have no problem seeing Brenda still being a major player in 90's stories without Sonny. Vanessa/Brenda really didn't have much competition in her age range at that time. I do see the comparison with Casey/Julia. As far as Julia, I think she got lumped in with all the other Monty failures at the time even though she seemed to have the most potential. I have never understood the reasoning not to re-visit Julia at any length especially in the 90's.

Yes! We've been discussing Karen in a different thread at length. Couldn't stand her, but I liked her more than Joss. Karen had an antagonist in Brenda and actual problems and struggles. Joss has never struggled a day in her life and everyone loves her and tells her how wonderful she is.

Besides the fact it would be nearly impossible to replace Clark, I think it was a combination of lack of chemistry with Patrick Muldoon and her family and the fact Carrie was written very bratty and out of character. TM was really good in other things like 90210. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to tease a Carrie/Lawrence romance lol. I did enjoy when TM's Carrie was mean to Roman though. I always laugh when CC shows up as Robin's friend on GH. Christie was clearly willing to work even as the most D list character.

Thanks for such a great response and laying out everything going on at the show in that time period. It really helps round out my view of Karen vs. Brenda. I can agree Brenda was underdeveloped and one note, but Brenda does get fleshed out and I think hindsight plays a role in how I view her. I can fill in the blanks for Brenda's behavior while re-watching, but the show doesn't necessarily break down her motivations for me. When you explain the other rivalries at the time the Karen/Brenda issues make sense. Brenda was too OTT to elicit sympathy, but Karen was too passive to ever truly win a sparring round. At the end of the day Jagger was the most wishy washy and both girls deserved better. I love Carrie Brady too and always have so I was reluctant to compare the two. I do think they have very similar attributes (except Carrie didn't really have career goals). It does help to watch an actress grow up. The Traci Middendorf year was dark for me. I am still bummed Christie gave up acting because she should be leading the show today. Anyhow, even if Carrie/Karen were cut from the same cloth Sami is just a much stronger adversary. Not only was she much more evil and effective at manipulating Austin, the stakes were higher because she was Carrie's sister. It's easy to understand Carrie's passiveness in regards to Sami because of Will and the fact that they are related. Brenda was basically just playing juvenile pranks on Karen and making her cry. It was 2 plus years of back and forth only for Brenda/Karen to become friends once Karen/Jagger got together and Brenda just gave up lol. There is just a weakness in Karen I can't get over and even if Brenda was acting like a fool she seemed much stronger and resilient. Karen always tended to crumble when the stakes got too much for her.

I have literally almost compared Karen to Carrie from Days so many times, but Carrie had such stronger ties to the Days I was hesitant. They are absolutely in the same vein, but Carrie had Sami as an antagonist which made her place on the canvas stronger. Your take on Karen is really well thought out and expressed, but I have to disagree. Karen was so middle of the road that I never found a point of view. She wanted to be with Jagger passively. She never did anything for herself. Brenda and her early characterization may be flat, but she was direct in her goal: Jagger. That doesn't make her better or worse than Karen, but there was a clear point of view. Karen remained wishy washy to me and Brenda was allowed to grow and have an onscreen evolvement to Sonny and that relationship. It's obviously different takes on what was onscreen and Vanessa stayed at GH to build the character, but there was so much more there with Brenda from the get go as far as character development Haha couldn't decide which 90210 character to name her after. Brenda is more fitting than Kelly even though I find it a very dated name.

It's not very soapy, but I like that Cam is like "bye Joss!" I am going to live my best life at Stanford and not even think about you. He can't get back at her by finding the best, hottest soccer cheerleader or something and bringing her back as his new girlfriend lol.

Karen didn't have much of a personality. She got interesting stories given to her, but Karen as a person wasn't much different than your usual cookie cutter teen soap heroine. There is nothing particularly memorable about her. She's smart, pretty, popular, and kind, which are all great traits, but there is nothing that really stands out about her. If Karen didn't have the molestation story and the great pleasure of being Sonny's first victim I don't think she'd be more than a blip on the GH radar (not that she's remembered much anyhow). Even her popular romance with Jagger would barely hold up to the many great couples we got in the 90's.

Believe me I get your point I was just agreeing with @Vee that she's technically not a whore not that she's a good person lol. Joss never looks like the bad guy and doesn't have any repercussions for terrible actions. If any other character did this to someone they claimed to love Joss would be the first in line to vilify them. Instead Joss is given a pass because the relationship with Cam was struggling, although Cam didn't think so lol. She's a horrible human being and I can't stand her, but Cam really is better off without her. I don't think Stanford is a consolation prize, but it's certainly better than him hanging around town mooning after Joss.

True. I hate Joss because she is awful not because she's an actual whore lol.

Joss isn't a whore in any true sense of the word but I truly believe any other character would have been raked over the coals for such behavior. The show makes it seem like Joss was right because Cameron was boring her? Not hot enough in the sack? Joss just skated by on very questionable behavior and that is very annoying.