carolineg

Brenda's breakdown story is probably my least favorite Brenda story ever (yes, including the Balkan). The actual breakdown is very cringe worthy acting wise and I hated that Sonny leaving her basically led her to spiral into a mental breakdown. Though I did like the way it brought her and Jax back together. I think if Vanessa had not left the show they would have kept her with Jax for awhile, although I assume Sonny and Brenda were always the endgame. I don't think VM leaving would have effected Carly's airtime or story. She could have had a legendary love/hate relationship with AJ for years. In fact , thinking about it, Vanessa staying would have probably helped the show stay on track. Sonny/Brenda/Jax and AJ/Carly/Jason seemed to be the more appropriate triangles and losing both VM and KMc at nearly the same time sorta left SB's Carly as the only viable younger leading lady so she got all the story instead of just leading her own story which probably indirectly caused Carly to become the lead she is today. I think Brenda/Jax/Sonny are legendary and Carly/Sonny/Jax can't even hold a candle to that triangle, but I am not sure either pairing would be anywhere close to viable today. Maybe Brenda/Jax? The only way I see Brenda and Sonny getting back together is as an endgame pairing when GH ends which I am here for. Jason and Brenda were going to be paired in 2002. I heard the same thing @titan1978 did. Sam's story back then was basically a slightly reworked version of the Brazen/Sonny story they planned before Vm left. I always wonder how Brenda having Sonny's baby and falling for Jason would have effected the show. I assume it would have ended at some point with Carly/Jason and Brenda/Sonny. It was always a missed opportunity to not pair Jason and Brenda but the timing was never right. Jason and Brenda always had a weird almost sexual energy to them even when they were bickering and fighting and I think Sbu and Vm play off each other well. It's one of the few times StoneCold's lack of emotion and SBu's bored acting choices actually worked in a pairing. Oh well it was not to be. But seriously I could think of 10 characters to drop from current GH just to bring Vanessa back. Watching Brenda in super long sleeves cackling, making out with Sonny, and fighting with Jason is still more entertaining than anything on the current show

I think she's been doing this for awhile now. Maybe a year or so. I mean someone in the family has to work....

I have to agree Guza's GH is miles better than GH now and that's saying a lot. By the end he was out of ideas and plagiarizing himself. Even though a lot of his stuff in the end was bad, at least stuff happened. Nothing ever happens of GH anymore. Guza was at least good at big events. I honestly think GH was pretty good creatively until about 2003-2004. The Courtney/Jason/Carly/Sonny stuff was overkill and that's when I feel like the mob glorification really began. Obviously, Sonny/Brenda began the Sonny is awesome narrative, but the Carson early years really took that to a new level and pushed the Jason is a hero hitman agenda that still haunts us today. I agree the show was a little meandering and very dreary. It was really heavy watching all of those death, cancer, accident stories right in a row. There wasn't a whole lot of romance either. Kevin and Lucy are the only couple I can think of that were light hearted and happy. Luke/Laura and Ned/Lois were together at this point I think, but both couples had a lot of back and forth between them. Sonny and Brenda had broken up and were being awful to one another plus we had to watch them with Lily/Miguel, the q's were upset about Jason, everyone was sad about Stone. It felt like 75% of the characters were miserable for several months, but I will say the Labine era and early Guza was probably the last great era of the show. I also think that Labine had a pretty solid idea where she wanted to go with Bobbie, Jason/Robin, Sonny/Brenda/Lily before she left. Some of the Luke/Laura stuff he probably took in his own direction and the Ned/Lois/Jax stuff which had to change because RS decided to leave. So basically, I thinking all he changed was bringing the Cassadines back, inserting Jax into Sonny/Brenda, and writing Lois off. Every other story seems firmly in place and I can't think of any stories that suddenly shifted direction when Guza started.

Liked that episode too. Sarah is such a dud. So boring. Elizabeth makes her interesting. And RH is so beautiful. Julia and Brenda were adorable and Jax and V were cute too. I felt like they were going there but didn't? NLG looks better now than she did 20 years ago.. And the Stefan, Luke, Alexis, Katherine Bell stuff is basically zzzzz.. Although MBE looks amazing. Even though Jax and Brenda did nothing of importance that last scene was very sexy and intimate. Why can VM sell all the scenes in 1997 but is awful in 2010?

Yes! I remember Sonny and Sean? his bodyguard talking about Barrett industries and I think Sonny actually called Brenda off screen to talk about it and it went nowhere. It's a shame because even though the characters weren't the best it would have tied the story together better

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNpPbmgIPSTE0P4nHXwHrsg For those who love Julia it looks like Crystal Carson has uploaded most , if not all, of her scenes as Julia including the late 90's stuff on you tube . GH saddled her with Bill for too long but she was enjoyable with both Ned and AJ. It's so strange to me they basically got rid of her and never brought her back considering she had strong ties to a lot of characters that dominated the mid to late 90's. I didn't like Bill and Julia together because he seemed too old for her although I am not clear how old Julia is. Did they ever establish that? She can't be more than 5-7 years older than Brenda because they had clear childhood memories and interactions together but she acted like she was in her 30's. Plus she's only 2 years older than VM. Anyway, Bill sucked but Jenny was my least favorite Eckert. She was the worst. Hated her and Ned. Hated her and Paul. Hated everything about her. I liked Sly though. They should have brought him back as a teen to be in the Lucky/Liz/Emily/Nik teen scene

Thanks! I really enjoyed this episode even though nothing truly important happened. So many good characters. The Q's!, Alan's increasing drug addiction, Bobbie being a good friend, Emily and Monica having a true heart to heart, SJB's Carly and her schemes, Aj, Keesha, and Julia (love Julia!). The weakest link was Jax and Brenda who were pretty boring and having the same conversation about Sonny they have in various forms for the next 6-9 months ( who am I kidding they have this same conversation about Sonny in various forms for the next 20 years) The Q's add so much. It's weird because I remember thinking 1997-1998 was a mess for GH at the time except for Carly/Tony/Aj/Jason. Mb had left and the Brenda breakdown story was awful and Port Charles had just started so things were a little weird, but the show was actually good. Also I wished they kept CC as Julia-she was great. And young Amber Tamblyn was great as well. I actually want to see the next episode

It's sad that the show has to resort to using fake actors as Edward and Lila to be the stabilizing factor on the show. Guza went for big bang deaths and now the show is suffering. Tony and Bobbie and Alan and Monica could have easily been the shows matriarch/patriarchs. Days has a slew of vets that can be comforting like John, Marlena, Doug, Julie, even Maggie and Roman. Gh has Sonny and Carly lol!

I always thought Brad Maule was the unsung actor in that storyline and for basically most of his time on GH. I know we always get to see the flashback clip of him listening to BJ's heart in Maxie's chest, but I never heard much acclaim for his performances over the years. Always really good, fairly popular, and then left with a pity death after years of irrelevance. Jack and Kristina were great, but I always thought BM got the shaft by TPTB. He was a great asset to the show. Not exactly a leading man, but perfectly capable of leading his own story.

So I was watching some old nurses balls and saw the face of the heart themes a lot. Does anyone else find it strange it ended on Mac for a number of years? Luke, Laura, The Q's were all spread out but there is Mac last. It generally ended on a configuration of Brenda, Jax, Robin, Felicia, then Mac.

Lol! Chandler Massey's smirking is much more exciting than any acting Kelly Monaco has done as Sam. She is one of the most boring, monotone, lifeless performers ever. She has always looked like she was thinking about what she was going to order from the bar after work in her scenes. I don't get why JaSam or Sam are popular, but they are. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I guess the biggest difference between 1997 and now is literally none of the stories in 1997 made sense in that episode posted above, but there was an energy and spark to the show. There are certain performers that are still bringing it but everything feels stale. Again the stories aren't awful they just aren't good. Robert should never be just angst for Finn/Anna. When you get Tristian Rogers back use him. The Ryan story is probably the best story right now and it had it's good moments, but now is seems to be dragging. And DOD is literally taking over the show, but I think Shiloh is a pretty good actor. I wonder what Shelly and Chris could do without Frank. They aren't really destructive, but I get the sense they aren't allowed to write what they really want or for who they really want. It must be hard to write for the character of Franco as a hero and a viable love interest for Liz. I agree it seems like Frank has a lot of control. It's a shame Ron's first year on Gh was so good and it all fell apart. He's been just passable on Days, nothing he's done there has been as good as GH's first year under him. Sadly something needs to change and soon. I just get the feeling GH is slowly dying right now.

Garcia and Taggert were totally over the top with their hatred and in 1997 I actually disliked them being so mean to Jason/Sonny because teenage me didn't think the anger was justified. Now I would love for a character, any character to hate Sonny and Jason because they are actual criminals. I want them both to come back immediately and just bother Sonny/Jason like they used to. I would agree that the show now isn't offensive. It's just there. It's boring I feel like even when things happen it's boring. GH still has an okay budget and some good actors everything just moves so slowly or not at all. The show needs a major shake up. I would fire a lot of the cast (Nina, Finn, Peter, Valentin, Kim, Franco, Drew etc-the ones that make some money) and bring back some vets (insert about 10 names that would work). Bringing Jax back was a start but some other recent casting announcements make me wonder why are we wasting time on this?

GH wasn't very good back then. I mean, miles ahead of where it is now, but all those stories were duds. Nik/Stefan/Katherine? Awful and boring and GH was weirdly obsessive about re-pairing Patch and Kayla. Bobbie and Stefan were good together. Jax with V following him around because the police think he is a drug dealer? Stupid. Clearly they had no idea what to do with Ingo after S/B/J round 1 ended. V was okay though. The Dr. Dorman murder veering into the Tin Man saga for Sonny and Brenda? Probably their worst story of the 90's. I still don't really understand how it all lead back to Lily's dad. Thank god for the Nurse's Ball, but I genuinely disliked that twit Gina Cates. Caring about her brother 1 1/2 years after his death? Great. Glad you couldn't be bothered to show up when he was dying. Sidenote: I do get a kick out of how much Garcia and Taggert hate Sonny and Jason.

Funny, I think BH is one of the few cast members that actually always tries even with crap material. Mo has been checked out since about 2005. The last time I remember him trying at all was Soily and his bipolar storyline. It's startling to watch a clip from say, 1995, and see the difference in his acting. With KeMo, I am not sure she was ever checked in. I think her 'acting' style is just monotone with zero energy, although I think she was better on PC. SBu is clearly just there for a paycheck as well. Besides a little spark with the early Liason pairing I don't think Steve has shown signs of life since he and Brenda were 'married' in 2002. Steve actually is good at comedy.

I think the way Roman was in 1981-84 worked for him at the time, but the circumstances and character changed and he didn't. I would think being held prisoner for 7 years and losing all the time with your wife and children while someone else was actually taking your place would make you value your freedom and family, but Roman seems annoyed all the time. Like everyone should just accept him no problem. Also RoJohn played a very different, more mature Roman. It stills rubs me the wrong way how awful he was by going undercover 5 min after he came back and he had 0 sympathy towards Marlena and the years she lost. It was all about him. I also hated his creepy relationship with Sami and the way he totally discounted Marlena and John in regards to Carrie because he was biologically related to her. Also, John and Marlena were smoking hot in the 90's. DH and WN didn't have the same chemistry. I like Roman/Wayne. The TPTB made him unlikeable in the R/M/J triangle and it was unnecessary. The outside factors of the trio were enough to build a triangle on, they didn't have to make one person the heavy in this one. I also don't think Roman would shun Marlena forever for her affair and Belle when Marlena accepted a lot of crap from him ( ex-wife and child he forgot to mention). The way WN was fired and written out let a lot to be desired. The affair was talked about for years but TPTB fired one of the main players in it?

Probably. JER was single minded on his supercouples and J&M were his favorite. JER didn't do triangles with all 3 players being 'good' Everyone was either good or evil. Even Billie, who was basically a nice person, became a schemer under JER. Isabella definitely would have been a villain lol. I think her character arc was pretty decent. She served her purpose and has a good legacy on the show. Though I really would have liked to see the John/Isabella/Marlena/Roman quad play out with her and J&M having the affair and Belle. Although I literally cringe at the nickname Izzy B. It's super obnoxious...but I am not a fan of nicknames. The nickname Doc bothers me too. It's like the least sexy thing you can call your soulmate/wife.

I am pretty sure if Staci Greason stayed the plan was still for a John/Marlena affair just with both parties cheating on spouses instead of just Marlena. I just remember reading on a board or in a magazine they hired Eileen because she was a younger love interest. Obviously John and Marlena needed some kind of angst after Wayne left and Kristen was pretty boring pre-villainess. I do have a hard time imagining Isabella as a villainess but a lot of it is because Isabella is revered as a practical saint on Days so I can't really imagine her as anything but tragic. I don't think SG really has the depth to play the villainess the way Eileen did, but Isabella's background and upbringing would make sense for her to turn bad. I really hated Isabella when I was younger (I really, really loved John and Marlena back in the day), but she isn't awful when I watch clips now. Also, I feel like WN's Roman got the shaft for John. He was written like such a jerk after he returned in 1991. It would be strange to see Brady and Belle at odds because as kids they were literally a package deal. I would honestly feel bad for Belle. She already had to deal with Sami.

I could be crazy but I think they broke up Don and Marlena because they wanted to give DH a younger love interest after she became super popular. The early 80's had so many casting changes and I feel like they were beginning to start phasing Don out. Giving him B stories like the Maggie romance. Once WN's Roman caught on there was no need to go back to Don and Marlena. Conversely, they hired Eileen to give Drake a younger love interest because TPTB thought Deidre was too old. JER is the one that went full force with J&M. I honestly never thought Marlena looked older than John. I think Deidre looked pretty ageless until the last few years.

I am not a Carly fan really, but I think Tamara Braun was the best. She had the best chemistry with Maurice. But Sarah Brown was the best actress. I thought we always knew Carly was Bobbie's daughter or at least it was heavily implied. Or am I crazy? They did bounce SJB around a lot with Tony, Jason, and AJ which I thought was a little excessive. She didn't need 3 love interests.

Meh. I am a woman and don't advocate violence, but Reese was generally universally hated. Just another lame Brendabot. Hitting her was extreme but his words weren't wrong. Didn't Alan have a pill addiction? Did he fall off the wagon? Or is he one of those soap characters that still drink because booze wasn't their problem?

Reilly made characters too dumb. I think John (and maybe Austin) suffered the worst under Reilly. Sure it took them forever to give any sort of payoff in those triangles, but every OTP couple was made to look dumb. ED/Kristen was amazing and Reilly smartly ran with it, but let's be honest there was no reason for John/Marlena not to be together after Aremid. All the handwringing and does he/she love me was annoying after a bit of time. What was John's endgame plan to just stay with Kristen forever and ever instead of just ASKING Marlena (a woman who practically swoons everytime you walk into the room) if she loved him too? Hope/Bo/Billie were also majorly idiotic in their stories. I am not sure if John every recovered from the stupidity of him not knowing his live in fiancée was not pregnant and at times a completely different person. And Marlena, girl, the man wrote you a letter when he was going to die that he always loved you and always will. Outside of him physically saying those words to you-that's probably about the best proof you will get that he likes you. So, knowing this, you are going to let him be with Kristen and 'his son' while you are raising his two other kids? And Caustin never recovered. By the time they resolved that story. Austin was brainless and Carrie wanted Mike anyway. Like you said all the loyalty and self-sacrificing these hero/heroine's did wasn't heroic it border lined on actually being selfish to the person they loved by not telling them relevant facts like, hey, she is not actually pregnant. Or hey, Sami, we aren't one big happy family. I always loved your sister.

They didn't generate a lot of chemistry, but Katherine Bell was one of the most ill-defined characters ever. She had so many romances that never clicked, different careers, different motivations, etc. They tried pairing her with everyone: Ned, Mac, Scotty, Damian, Nicholas!!, Stefan. The only thing I can remember being enjoyable about her was her rivalry with Lucy. The characters of Stefan and Katherine never really made 'sense' together and with more appealing options (Bobbie, Laura) it just seemed very "look at us re-pairing Patch and Kayla" more than what actually worked for the storyline. Then they kept having her fall off that damn parapet at Wyndemere.

I always thought JA could act. He was just wasted on Days. And he was so dreamy to me at 15. Like, so hot, but as an adult I realize Eric was dull AF and annoying. His Fauxman/Marlena pimping was obnoxious. I love when Eric tried to fight John and John was basically saying I am not going to fight you (because clearly I would win) and Eric kept swinging... It was a waste of time and talent. He so much looked the part of Sami's twin and Marlena's child.

As a straight female, I was really excited for this potential story. And then nothing....I think Eric being gay/bisexual would have made great story. Marlena accepting it, but Sami and Roman struggling and Eric struggling with himself. Better than the JA pairing with Nicole.

I know this is from 2 years ago and no one cares, but I always thought they were going to make Eric gay/bisexual and just backed out. I think there was some fan speculation at the time agreeing with that theory too.