Vee

It reminds me a bit of how AMC was (allegedly) overbudget in Julie Carruthers' later years at AMC to the point that they had to do that one-location dance contest while covering the move to LA. But while I'm far from convinced JHC is the right co-EP for this show even if the cast and crew clearly love her, I don't really think the set issue is entirely down to her. The fact is Y&R and DAYS both have major set issues that make this look small time, and idk about B&B but I remember their beach club backdrop being paper or something awhile back lol. I'm not sure how much any EP short of FV could make their funds work for them more, and I don't want Frank here. I do think they need to cut some of these sets to make room for new ones. The airport cafe does not do it for me either.

I'd forgotten about Michael Park and Nicole Forester(!). What a small world. Someday that pilot (along with the '68 Paley Center episode) is gonna leak.

Yes, we discussed that podcast here once or twice. But IIRC what Howarth said was that he was perennially unhappy in the job in those years due to the nature of the character which was wearing on his mental health, and someone passed him a note with the number of ATWT's EP or casting director or something; nothing about Malone specifically. He did want out very, very quickly after Malone returned. It could have been old beef re: the Todd/Marty dynamic in the '90s and their issues over story. Though Malone always maintained he would not have actually put them together romantically their dynamic was extremely iffy in '95, and I think both Howarth and Susan Haskell have said they got the impression or were told flat-out that Malone wanted to pair them up. So that could've been the drama there in '03. But another rumor that came out in the 2000s was that Malone had actually pitched the 'Rashomon'-esque 'was it rape?' story with TSJ's Todd and Blair for RH's instead as soon as he returned to the show. That version of the story claimed Howarth balked at that pitch and immediately fled to CBS. The story was later done at the end of '03 with TSJ and it didn't go well. Roger Howarth did return to ABC in 2011 much more zen about the character and willing to work by his own admission in the press, and I did appreciate that. He worked hard despite messy story from then on, and he worked hard in a series of bad roles at GH even when I didn't think his skill set was doing well. That's more than I can say for Trevor St. John, who's a talented guy who started out strong but was always volatile onscreen, and seemed contemptuous of everything a lot of the time after his first two years. I will say I have never heard anything about JDP or Fiona Hutchison having issues with each other personally. AFAIK they always worked well together and were/are on good terms. The issue one of them had was with the 2001 story and the audience/press response to it. It tanked and at least one of them wanted out, and quietly made it happen. The quiet part was presumably done not to offend the costar, and as a result I sat on that story from a friend for about 20 years. I can't remember offhand the many names attached to the Bourbon Street pilot. I don't remember hearing Tuc. I think Henry Simmons from AW among others were in the mix. @DRW50 or @EricMontreal22 might recall. It was a who's who of soap people.

Yeah, I agree with all of the above. I was for it tbh, but it's not possible today.

Ketamine Queen is a little too free and easy stepping to Big Willz, let alone self-righteous for someone who rode the crystal dragon with Ezra a minimum of 250 times. This crazy bitch just framed her mother, what precisely does Jacinda think she'd hesitate to do to her? I've said it before but I'd have it turn into a Diana Taylor situation where Willow frames Michael for her death and makes it look like he's been killing or abusing his girlfriends since Stripper Angel Abby lol. But I wouldn't have Willow be the one to kill Jacinda, as that is a ticket off the show; like Heather BITD, she'd prep to do the deed but get beaten to it, either by someone else (Ezra) or an overdose.

This whole lawsuit thing again put me in the mind of this season of The Pitt, where a young doctor facing a nuisance lawsuit was treated as a commonplace matter of course for an ER doctor which the hospital would handle and which she was worrying about too much. That's pretty much how I took this Madison situation as they presented it onscreen, so their overdramatizing it was silly for me. In order to do that kind of story you'd need to make it a much more serious situation resulting from a major surgery gone wrong. Maybe something where Lia sabotages her because Madison or someone else in the family is inadvertently getting too close to the plasma ring.

I do think at first glance ND and Mansi probably have some chemistry and I'm open to it. It's just too bad Setton is in her Agnes of God era, because if she was the more free-spirited performer she was ten years ago BLQ would be be my first stop for Ethan. Play the temptation for the married BLQ with this outlaw before things implode for her perfect marriage with Willow and Chase. It will be pretty funny if FV runs the same playbook with Kristina and both Luke's sons lol. Although of course Ethan and Kristina have history and I thought it was a pity they didn't pull the trigger 15+ years ago. The relationship with Lexi's very young Kristina* was about all ND had going for Ethan once JJ's Lucky returned; with the OG back he was a spare part. But I've always liked ND. *(They also were IMO toying with Kristina and Drew Garrett's teen Michael back then, but while it was hypothetically viable then that's a whole other Wuthering Heights/Flowers in the Attic can of worms.)

Yeah, I'm not talking about you.

The last way I would characterize Van Hansis' performance on GH is 'sleepwalking'. He's not exactly phoning it in like Chandler Massey.

Based on his interviews I think CD is in for the long haul unless his health fails. I wonder if they'd recast like an Edward Quartermaine or C.C. Capwell, or just rest the character. My suspicion is the latter which I'm not sure I'd agree with. But regardless I hope Davis is with us for many years to come. I don't think they're actually going to make Vernon senile.

I actually like Robin Christopher and Skye quite a bit, in doses and in a certain context. I think she should've definitely returned to AMC at some point. But she stuck out like a sore thumb for me for much of her time at GH, and her time at OLTL wasn't much better. She's talented but JFP's use of her poisoned the well. I would welcome Skye back for short stints today to cause some trouble and bring on her daughter with Alcazar. RC used to do that off and on in the late 2000s and early '10s so JFP could help her keep her insurance. Like what could've been with KDP's Blair as a rival for Lucy and Deception a couple years ago during the strike, that is a role that suits Skye. But trying to force her as a long-term integral part of the canvas never worked for me.

Yeah, Valentin is so down bad for her so fast it is pathetic lol. They do have real chemistry and LW and JPS are both working very hard together onscreen, but Valentin still comes off as a weepy loser whining for Carly who he only just got to know a couple months ago. This is a man of the world and he's acting like they're engaged. All because (IMO) Frank is determined to make sure Valentin is firmly rooted again. Please do not trigger my Nikolas Cassadine rage epilepsy reminding me of those scenes! But I think Ned/Skye was only a side element tbh, since it lasted about two minutes. I think Guza just didn't like her or buy it. And good for him!

The Vernon thing reminds me of when Labine's GH almost had Audrey Hardy get Alzheimer's on top of Stone's AIDS and Monica's breast cancer. They wisely walked it back. I don't think they are seriously embarking on a dementia or memory care story for Vernon given that precedent and the show being so young. So I'm not that worried. But I do think it's unnecessary to tease that right now regardless.

Nothing to do with it. The 'character' is a dumb camp joke with no long-term potential to me.

I do think Mac and Felicia worked, but I also think they owe a lot of it to the Ryan story and what I felt was a very strong reintroduction for Kristina Wagner when I saw her first days recently. They went all in on Felicia solo as a real sparkplug and she was at the height of her ability. I think both those larger stories and Jagger/Karen bought her time, but I've always felt Mac and Felicia in '92-'94 or a bit later were very solid, rootable stuff. It was a different time, and they found a niche where Kristina and JJY just worked.

I remember folks online claiming Lia was going to be some new lead ushering in the new Caucasian era of BTG. She's a dayplayer villain with a shelf life. Ergo, I'm not concerned about Jones.

Seeing how good Jeff Kober has been this season on The Pitt just makes me that much more angry about his role at GH as Cyrus. They styled and presented him poorly throughout onscreen, to the point that both in terms of physicality and in story Cyrus came off like a doddering old man quoting Bible verses or weeping for pity because he ran over Dad in the driveway, all the while vaguely terrorizing people like a Scooby-Doo villain or a hokey carnival barker. Most of this is because this era's creative team fundamentally does not do well writing supervillains and especially mob-related villains. It is not their wheelhouse and never has been. They got a tremendous actor in Kober from China Beach, The First Power, etc. but did not know how to execute, whereas most of Guza's campiest criminals still had a sense of menace and lethality to them. This team and FV fall in love with unique character actors and are generally content to have them merely gesture towards villainy and then tread water for months or years, making both the villain and the lead characters look impotent and weak for not dealing with each other. Cyrus meanders around town whining about his mom and begging for Laura's love for months, then has silly connections to Roger Howarth, then he's maybe reformed maybe not and quoting scripture and so on. It's the same floundering, ambivalent approach with Sidwell today, though Carlo Rota is far too irreverent to project real menace in general and also does not do well with high dramatics. If they'd leaned into letting Kober off the leash as in his classic roles, or gave him half the solemnity and soul he has had on The Pitt this season he could have been something really special - and scary. But they fell in love with having him around, with making him Laura's brother, and he came off far more toothless and past it on GH than he actually is. I have to apologize to Kober, who I've always liked a lot in other things. He's still got it but GH couldn't write it. This has been your pointless late night thought.

"Better than B&B" is a low bar, but it's still most definitely a bar.

Please God no.

Thanks!

Gurl not Monkeyshines. On this we agree.

I agree. She looks rough as hell.

I just meant hair and makeup could really be letting him down. IDK about Ezra's emo haircut and let's face it, they dress Laura like Cap'n Crunch half the time. KT/Britt also often looks haggard as hell and I'm sure that's not her fault.

I think the Boyle character is reasonably enjoyable for what he is: Slime. But legitimately pairing him up with Laura? Pass.

I've been calling him Barbara Bush for months! I'm proud to take the hit. But Cosgrove can always look better onscreen. It may not even be his fault, who knows. The issue is the character is just loathsome. He makes a reasonably compelling minor recurring villain, and DC seems at home with that stuff and having fun with it. The problem is FV loves to take any recurring actor who gets the slightest bit of response and try to build them out into legitimate pairings with people. Like, this (along with Martin/Tracy) is the kind of dogshít stuff Guza II used to toss at people they really didn't care about. Like when they flirted with trapping Mac and Alexis together.