Vee

Oof, I thought I had the Sunday Morning stream going on CBS.com. I guess I'll go turn on the actual TV.

I remember that. So bizarre and very Frons. I didn't remember Felicia still being on the canvas by that time at all but I blocked so much of that year out.

I very vaguely recall Louise Sorel's character. Nothing else about her. The Rae thing was so idiotic. I've talked about it a lot. I could not believe she went from show to show asking if everyone from Eve to Kelly to Max could be her child when they had 10-20 years apart in age.

It's obscene that it was posted here in the first place.

Same. Used to watch it with my mother in this same house a lot of mornings in the Charles Kuralt days and now they get up later lol. Setting the alarm!

I think he was just redundant of Jason. Zander had risen to a major role on the show while Steve was off in Hollywood, and in the much less restrained Guza II worldview in that era, with both influences like Frons and I think also less balance from Wendy Riche or others to keep Guza in check, that meant he had to be exterminated. We saw Jax and Alexis, characters Guza had previously loved and cared for, also being driven into the dust in the same period, among others. He bored of Tyler's Nikolas quickly too after bringing him back with great fanfare in '03. I am spitballing as always and going on old gossip, but I don't think Frons is responsible for what happened with Zander or those others, or with Alcazar. I think putting down Alcazar was all Guza's team because Sonny and Jason still came first, and Carly and Lorenzo taking off was an organic audience response which they had not counted on going the distance. The hatred and contempt towards Carly from Jason, Michael, etc. onscreen in that period was visceral, abusive and hard to watch; it felt personal from Steve at that time, though I may be projecting. (They were rumored to have clashed with Tamara in late '03/'04, and I think she may have left under a cloud the following year.) For all I know Tamara, Steve, etc. get along great. But there were a lot of stories that they didn't in that period. Of course, who knows. MVJ among others always maintained on social media that Guza wasn't at fault for certain key choices in those years (specifically killing Alan, and probably others). I just know I'm glad he's only her co-head and not the central creator on her show. He's a gifted plotter when he's not lazy but he needs a lot of checks.

I never thought I could root for her again after those years, and I didn't blame Maxie for being furious - I was, and I think most fans had been with Felicia for a long time. I think the scene at the funeral was also very well-written. But it was sad because you look at her in the early '90s with Mac and Robin, etc. and it was just so warm and Kristina was so good at all that slice of life stuff, and I think people wanted her back and rehabilitated and wanted it resolved. So by 2012 enough time had gone by that I was willing to just roll with it, even if the day to day writing had really degraded with the longtime staff (including MVJ) recently gone.

My mistake! I just see AW and see red when it comes to JFP after my OLTL years with half that cast, lol. Interesting that Sandra had a rough history with RKK (right?) as Jill was the only person left in town who would hire him post-DAYS, both at AW and again at GH in 2001. I was shocked she got away with it then. Kristina did return briefly for the Georgie's death period, as I said. I think that's when Felicia claimed she'd actually been off doing WSB missions with Frisco. She was supposedly determined to find the killer (Diego) but in true GH form re: these vets at that time I think she was gone again before that even happened. Then Kristina didn't come back again (for good) til Frank, Ron and 2012. The writing for her return and reconciliation with Maxie and Mac in '12 was very superficial and expository and had much less depth than any of the drama before, in part because they'd cut almost the entire longtime dialogue stuff except Korte. But I got to a point where I was just so happy to have her back and redeemed that I let it go. Plus Kristina gave her scenes with JJY everything, especially in 2013 when they brought Jack Wagner back for the anniversary, teased re-pairing them and it was very, very visibly difficult for her onscreen and hard to watch. It was part of one of those Enrique Iglesias promos that were so good from the summer in '02 (the best is still the OLTL one with Cristian and Natalie). I didn't get putting Liz with Zander at all then or now, as he was written as basically the Jason substitute in that period and then became a spare part once Steve was back that spring. It was also about putting them both with available people when they were at loose ends, when it didn't make sense to me that they'd ever take an interest in each other. (Almost as random was the very minor subplot of Zander and the recast Gia then briefly having a fling.) Guza and his team almost immediately set about tearing him down as a character when they returned in '02, even though they'd had a large hand in making him viable as a major young lead I liked a lot in 2000 before exiting - probably because with Steve back on contract they felt the need to tear him down. A triangle with Liz, Zander and Jason didn't make sense to me because it was Liz caught between two iterations of basically the same type of man. But she did have chemistry with both and hey, I liked the promo. I'd still bring Zander back from the dead today if I could if only to briefly cause drama - Chad Brannon looked very, very good in his 'ghost' appearance to Cam a few years ago.

It is right after Frons took over the network and shifted the show hard to focus on Courtney, yes. The Guza team had her with A.J. up to that point and had just promoted a Jason/Liz/Zander triangle. That went away with the advent of Frons, who was Alicia Leigh Willis' biggest booster. Once Kelly Monaco, a bigger fish, came to GH and drew Frons' attention, Guza was able to marginalize the character he disliked (pairing her in a B/C story with Jax, then a deliberately degrading affair with Nikolas which does have shades of Willow/Drew though I think the current story is less overtly malicious) before finally killing her off. And yes, Heather did claim to be possessed by Lila lol. So bad.

2003 and 2004 were especially bad years for the show, and the Qs. The writing was juiced up in that period particularly by both Frons and the presence of Chuck Pratt, who I think made the show much more adrenalized and crass with action, sex and a kind of 90s primetime sensibility that didn't often work IMO. Everything was about the gunplay and big setpieces, kickboxing Courtney, Faith the male fantasy whore supervillain, etc. There were many lowlights still to come (2005 is probably the worst year of Guza II, and prompted a massive reset of the show and refocus on the hospital following Pratt's exit and the crisis rehiring of Kimberly McCullough), but nothing is ever as tacky as the Pratt co-writing period IMO. The better, longer scenes interspersed amidst the sturm und drang, mob worship, etc. did return much more after the early-mid 2000s there. I think @carolineg and others might agree with me on that, but who knows. I don't blame John Ingle for this stuff, as it's just bad. I do think he had a lot more nuance and good material in the Labine years especially, where he showed his range and depth. Rewatching it recently it proves out for me. Jed Allan did get pursued by and I think marry Heather briefly. That story came and went so quickly, another example of the amphetamine storytelling in that period. I don't know what happened with Kristina's brief return which I barely remember. I assume she did get lowballed. I know they later (or was it before?) had JFP pal Sandra Ferguson in the role, which bombed. Then Felicia didn't return again til Georgie's death several years later, where Maxie absolutely rips her to shreds at the memorial in a very good (but tough) scene. I'm glad those days are past. I didn't hate Lesli Kay as Lois - I thought she was working hard to evoke Rena, and they could've just re-paired her and Ned. The Alcazar thing was a pointless, embarrassing C-story though, designed to marginalize him further post-Carly.

She is. Every time they say "Deputy Mayor Ashford" or "Co-Chief of Staff" on this show (and they do it constantly) I have an aneurysm. The fetish for overwrought, awkward job titles is beyond me.

And the interviews say nothing!

They just put every available female at Deception. It makes no sense and screams economy plotting. Lulu should go back to journalism and Lucky should be a PI or something. Both actors work so hard and deserve much better than this sort of half-assed treatment.

The actors are just having fun on their own social media accounts lol. God forbid.

Which of the Lincs is this in the early episodes posted recently? It's not James Karen but both this guy and Joanna Miles(?) come off like they're in a downmarket Noel Coward revival - too haughty for the room. Them aside, the show, especially in its early days and various glory periods, always comes off like a warm embrace or apple pie. You can see why it rocketed off. I really liked the scene with Joe and First(?) Kate, however unsteady she was. The writing for her was fun.

Carly contributed greatly to ruining A.J.'s life, and in the end she covered up his murder. Michael should never have let Sonny back into his life after that, and should have a much more difficult relationship with his mother at least. And I agree with @titan1978. This story with Willow, Drew and the fallout in the family is literally the only worthwhile thing on the show. Take it away and I can barely watch for the talented actors. Nor would I for long. I'm enjoying the show when it's focused on this story, it's most of the rest I suffer through or tolerate. That would just vilify Nina further. I had enough of that 2-3 years ago. At least for once she's now being portrayed as a voice of reason. Drew and Willow create drama.

Chad is boring on a good day, it's when he's still entertaining that's rare. They can recast Michael any time, I'm not interested in FV's loyalty oath. In the meantime there is plenty of dirt for full bitch Willow or Drew to get up to.

More tributes for Lynch: Scorsese: Nicolas Cage:

Erasing Willow and Drew from the show overnight is a perfect way to get rid of any actual interesting storyline left on this show. I may not like them as people but it's the only thing currently going for GH plot-wise. It's messy and reasonably entertaining soap. The same would go for a Who Shot/Killed Drew murder plot, it works.

Katelyn MacMullen is doing very good work these last few weeks. All these late in the day deconstructions of Willow's character they've done recently in various scenes are very much trying to rebuild things after their rushed and half-assed execution of this storyline, but at the same time the motives and explanations do make sense. I just wish the dialogue was as smart as it was last spring. It does remind me a lot of what happened to Barbara Ryan on ATWT when Doug Marland came aboard - she went from put-upon heroine to bad news virtually overnight. Willow isn't quite there yet but she is being portrayed as the clueless naif in the clutches of the heavy, and when push comes to shove she often veers towards breaking bad. The setup is Right There for them to do this, same as Barbara did - Willow finds out Drew slept with her mother and she gave everything up for nothing, then turns full vindictive bitch on everyone. It can work. And should be done. She should do what Barbara did, too - seduce Chase again because she can, to fúck with the Qs. It would also be an easy way to get boring Chase off the show. Jane and Laura did very good work together today as well. I would force Carly and Tracy into business together somehow for that reason. We could watch them clash 2-3 times a week. Should Nina make Gio her boytoy? I'm just asking questions! Watros would be very funny with him, but Ava once again falling for a barely legal twunk and two-timing Ric with him would be equally so. Cody with Nina would also work.

I lived in one very much like it in Brooklyn for years, lol. It is either the same from the '90s or very similar.

I feel relatively confident that was at least the case with Leo - that it was for real. I know pix leaked of him like, hanging at ConFusion or something. Whatever happened with Esta and Alexa Havins was strange. They were heavily promoted and then appeared onscreen for maybe 60 seconds tops. I do wonder there, especially re: Ryan and Gillian.

Idk about the interior, but the last time I remember the exterior was 2003-04 or whenever Robin Mattson's Heather first returned. She poisoned Lesley or something to become Lulu's new nanny. They were outside on the steps. It might have appeared after that but I have my doubts. ETA: Same scenes, I think! Good old GH Wiki.