carolineg

I hate Nina and always will. She's not good enough with Mo to even attempt a twin. I would like her going full Annie of course. It's a good story. Brenda in that story would be awesome. Willow faking would have been awesome. Perfect catalysts for Nina to lose it, but we will be subjected to Nina the heroine forever because Vanessa "turned Frank down" lol.

You're back!!😍 It's a really hard call to say if I would want her back now. Of course I do, but I don't want her to be the heavy for Nina/Sonny. That's not worth my time. In the last return Brenda was very much a heroine who needed everyone to save her and if she did try to save herself it was a big disaster. I think she is complex, but I imagine her becoming more of a vixen under FV trying to steal Sonny from poor Nina.

Someone does have Holly's full 2009 return up on Youtube, so it's possible it's in there somewhere. I liked Tracy/Luke just fine, but I hated the narrative that Tracy allowed Luke to be himself. It falls along the same lines of Carly is the only one to understand Sonny. They are both just allowing them to be crappy people. It's like Guza and even FV think it's shameful for woman to want their spouses or significant others to be the best versions of themselves and not do bad things and treat people poorly lol. But, no, that old bore Laura just stifled Luke's ability to cheat, drink, steal, and lie.

Exactly. There are a million places I could put Vanessa's Brenda in and it would work, but she isn't necessary for most stories the show is telling. She would make them better, but she's not MIA like someone like Robin tends to be at times. I do think there were a few instances you could have tried a recast and it would have been right around the first time Brenda left. After 2002, it was clear Vanessa was the draw and not just the character of Brenda although I would personally argue that was always the case. I just don't see any value in recasting a role that has been off canvas for 10 years and is rarely spoken about, especially without Jax and Jason around because there is a very high chance another actor will tank with MB.

I did. I thought that would have been the perfect time, but I was concerned that if it did happen Brenda would be the bad guy keeping him away from Carly and his kids and I had a hard time wrapping my head around Brenda doing that. Not keeping him from Carly, but his brood of kids lol. I could see Frank saying, "well, I tried!" and looking for a recast, but it would fail. Even if he got a big name or some prime time has-been I don't see a scenario where it would possibly work. I also think any soap star would be reluctant to even take that on. Since he does seem to have an issue with Vanessa I don't think it's out of the question for him to recast, said recast fails, and him then going, "See, we don't need Brenda on the canvas". I would be surprised if he took such a risk though.

You are absolutely right. I tend to place Days issues with bad planning and management, but I don't look at the full picture. Not to absolve Days at all, but daytime isn't what it used to be and the genre isn't producing stars like Deidre Hall, Susan Lucci, or Tony Geary anymore. Of course Days has no budget, but I don't think it would be that hard to make a small classroom set or even say the younger crew goes to college over having Allie, Chanel, Wendy, etc having businesses and serious careers. Days has also never been great at keeping young talent and they have had a lot, but I think the biggest blow might have been losing Ali Sweeney. I am no Sami fan, but I think most thought AS was in at Days for the long haul and Days invested a lot in her to the point she could be the bridge in the gap in the canvas now. It's too bad Days didn't invest more in Belle's adult life, left Eric as such a dormant character for so long, and either killed off or did very little in the next Horton generation.

It probably was all a bluff and Vanessa wasn't that far behind LLC's casting when she returned. But I do think if you squint and look sideways at the Kate/Olivia/Sonny story beginning (and make Dante Kate's obviously) you could see where Brenda might possibly slip in over Olivia. Then again there a lot of stories where you could move Brenda in over _insert love interest_ and it would make more sense.

Lisa LoCicero Shares Journey from General Hospital Fan to Port Charles Resident - Daytime Confidential It's this article. She says she tried out for Lois and then the show talked to her about being Brenda, but I guess that was just LLC's belief so maybe nothing concrete. It just stuck in my mind.

I would also probably add if FV asked her to be a weird interloper for Sonny/Nina or she didn't like the story she would take a hard pass. VM thinks Brenda deserves the spotlight and would not sit back to do anything else (as she should). She's not stupid and knows the difficulty in getting her is half of the hype for her.

I certainly remember quotes from her saying she'd never return if Brenda was recast and it's her role and blah, blah, blah. Vanessa seems so protective of Brenda that I can't imagine she'd just say 'fine, whatever, recast', but she's probably just calling FV's bluff if it exists and getting her troops together. Because you know they will rally and do something. Not that I am not part of that group, but I learned my lesson years ago from her wacky lives and interviews. Vanessa is nothing if not good at pandering to her fanbase.

Didn't LLC say that she auditioned as a Brenda recast? Anyway, the show won't do it because there is no reason to. Vanessa is the draw. You can find room for Brenda if Vanessa signs a contract, but you certainly don't need her with a recast. My honest guess is that she wants to rev up her very loyal fanbase and/or didn't want to do a cameo. I can't imagine what projects are keeping her busy at least as far as acting. I haven't seen one of her awful Hallmark movies in years. No offense to Vanessa because I still watched them out of loyalty even though I lost hours of my life.😂

Lol! What exactly are her current endeavors? She's been trying to hype up her own return forever now. Anyway, they could try to recast, but there would be absolutely no point. Is this some reverse psychology to get her fans to be vocal about having only VM return as Brenda?

Outside of the initial Sami stuff, I don't find the show has ever had much interest in DF's EJ. He has airtime, but his stories are either stupid or end abruptly (see Belle and the first incarnation of him and Nicole) I honestly don't know if we are supposed to take this Stefan/EJ stuff seriously or if it's supposed to be comedic and they are supposed to look like idiots.

It seems like they are making EJ dumber or incompetent? Idk, it seems like he was a bit of a joke today. Everything was boring today. The Talia story is offensive.

I was saying John/Marlena aren't Tom/Alice. I guess Doug/Julie could be considered that. My point was that some time in the future John/Marlena have to retire as frontburner and there is no one directly behind them to take on John/Marlena's and Steve/Kayla's place. Without Bo/Hope or Jack/Jen who is there? There is no Carrie/Austin, Sami/Lucas, etc as a steady, established couple. Sorry if that was unclear. I don't really care about Doug/Julie being the next Tom/Alice. I personally don't really think they fit that bill, but I don't think John/Marlena do either. I am more concerned about what happens with the next few generations.

I think this is just a problem across all soaps, but Days seems especially bad at having characters in their teens and twenties act like young adults. It's 2023 not 1965. Most 21 year olds don't want to get married and have kids yet. Days consistently ends up with characters under 25 with way too much life experience Ciara (married, 2 kids), Allie (1 kid, engaged once), Chanel (married twice), Johnny (married once), etc. The last group of characters that felt defined by their ages was honestly JER's 90's characters-where the age groups felt different and Carrie/Austin weren't in the same place as Bo/Hope or Jack/Jen, but Bo/Hope were still younger than John/Marlena and Victor/Vivian were older than them. But to @Darn's point, on Days the vets still get stories that are very current and frontburner. Marlena/John aren't Alice/Tom, but no one has really moved into that role as the next in line after them. There isn't a steady married couple on the show to take over and everyone from Brady to Johnny get storylines in the similar vein. While Days would have been much better served keeping Jack/Jen around or even building up Shawn/Belle/Claire, but we end up with a huge gap between the long time vets and their kids and everyone from 20-45 just feels the same age.

Ugh....and then he immediately had a one night stand with Nina after his Cassadine Island thing and was all swept up in their connection. He has always been so ridiculously non threatening.

Didn't Valentin first appear as a shipwrecked fisherman? SCARY... I do remember he took the entire island hostage though.

When Marlena was having that whole issue with the hospital board after the Possession I kept wondering why she didn't just retire. It doesn't appear John works (when's the last time BlackPatch had a case?), but I do think the writers do like to give characters a shrink to go to. The show probably would have been better served making Belle a shrink instead of a lawyer so there would be more shrink options and Marlena could quietly retire.

Well, I feel better than even though I am old and remember it all as a kid, Belle has passed me up in age, so there is that...🤣

I'd feel MUCH worse for Sami if she didn't blame Marlena/John having an affair for all her own poor actions for decades. And if Sami still didn't bring up to this day. John and Marlena have been married 25 years and Belle is about 40 now lol. Get over it! Laura and Kim have also been on the psychiatric staff throughout the years and were literally institutionalized at different points. I'd actually say until JER the writers tried to take Marlena's job seriously. After that it became a joke.

I actually assumed Parker has some sort of trust from Daniel and Chloe's just not touching that. She mentioned she had a savings and that's more than anyone else on this show says, so I'll assume Chloe might have money put away specifically for her child. Eh, I am going to give Marlena on pass on that because I don't think that reflects on her ability to assess someone else for her job. I am not going to deny evidence suggests Marlena might not be the best shrink, but I don't think she's wrong about Alex. Honestly, I would find the fact Marlena gets kidnapped, possessed, dies, etc several times a year more concerning because she misses a lot of appointments. Screwing John on a conference table is one of her least offensive actions. This woman actively could not tell her husbands apart for years. 😂

I am pretty sure Parker is in boarding school. I think the show mentioned that somewhere a long the way. Why he doesn't stay with Chloe on breaks is unclear, but until this moment she hasn't had a house lol.

I actually was thinking more about the actress that plays Talia. She seemed uncomfortable just hanging out in her bra while being forced to seduce a woman to be mean when she's not even bi or gay. Leo literally does the same thing every episode. Make bad jokes. Spend money. Ogle at straight men. He's not a character. He's a walking joke. And, let's be honest, I don't particularly like GR, but the man can actually act and is being wasted on this wacky stereotype.

I was laughing at the fact Talia/Colin's entire set of scenes were done in their underwear. They looked good, but that must have been super uncomfortable for them lol. I don't know why Alex/Gwen even started if they were just going to immediately end it. I guess to give Alex a good guy edit? But there aren't any stakes here. Gwen might be bummed for a few days, but she'll be fine. Also, it was a real stretch to compare the relationships of Stephanie/Alex to Xander/Gwen. Even if I hated Xander/Gwen they were going to get married. Stephanie/Alex hooked up one time-not the same level of heartbreak there. The Chloe/Brady/Leo/Xander stuff is stupid. The story is all wrong, but I do think PT and NB have chemistry. Overall a dull show. I felt bad for Chanel and I don't really get why Colin wants Talia to break her heart again. She's already broken hearted over a romance. I don't know why Talia has to date her. Just become Chanel's best friend and confidant. I can tell I have been more sad over friendships falling apart than like half of my romances lol.