Vee

I think the latter theory is true. I've heard it before. I think it may be MVJ's own personal story, though I may be wrong.

It was a Ron special. Just cheap, quick drama for the anniversary. He did the same thing with Laura and Scott's nonsensical offscreen reunion, engagement and 30-second remarriage the at the same time. Doesn't matter if it makes sense. He did this many times at both shows.

I honestly don't know. For some reason I got the sense he was supposed to off himself or be killed by police, but who knows. I do think that may have been intended by Guza, but vetoed. Maybe that's what I'm thinking of. Or maybe it was always just a red herring.

I don't think Brad Maule had trouble playing vulnerability. I do think the show retrod the same notes with the character over and over during the slow end of his marriage to Bobbie. They were wonderful together, but I agree too much had happened to go back. I appreciate Maule and Tony much more now revisiting the '90s than I did then. He was always great to watch and I cared for him, but there is a depth of feeling and a lived-in weariness and intellect (and wit) that you only get when you are older, too. I personally suspect (and may have heard once, though I may be wrong) that Guza actually had intended to kill Tony in '98 with the breakdown story and was stopped from doing so. Who knows. I would love to see BM return in a small role even as a doppleganger to cause trouble. I know it's silly but sillier things have happened and he's so talented. I could do with more of Ghost Tony at least, advising his son and other old friends. God knows Mel Hayes made many appearances as a ghost to Dorian on Frank and Ron's OLTL.

I thought Eve with the rougher Scott early in PC made sense, they were edgy. Kevin and Eve, I just didn't understand how they would ever be together. And Scott and Lucy felt like a severe regression to me (and has ever since), but in fairness I was very unfamiliar with their past when I first watched PC beyond knowing it existed and the backstory with Dominique. When I first came onto GH they had just begun putting Lucy with Kevin, and I've never gotten over their last breakup. I never really cared about either Lark, and the Scanlons only fitfully interested me. It didn't surprise me when they were supplanted by first Livvie (with Lark) and then Ian, the vampires, etc. I have said many times how I would bring back Christina (Chris and Julie's daughter, adopted by Lucy and Scott/Kevin) as a spiky novelist/muckraker to stir up trouble as a new female lead on GH opposite an arrogant Dr. Tom Hardy Jr., so this is where me and my fanfic will bow out.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The wealth of BTS interviews fansites like that one and Tommy Krasker's have gotten with insight into the show are so invaluable.

What a gift. Thanks for this.

Not to mention their crackpot shitty opinions.

The General Homicide story always baffled me. From what I vaguely recall the cast spends the entire story convinced Greg Cooper and Julie are behind it. Surprise: They are! What was the point? The brief Karen Harris, etc. run is what worked best for me IIRC, and the Rachel Locke saga with Kimberlin Brown. I was livid when they re-paired Scott and Lucy and put Kevin with Eve though. That felt like a timewaster and a betrayal of the core couple, namely Kevin and Lucy. I knew Scott and Lucy had a history but it just wasn't nearly the same for me, and while I liked Eve she only made sense with Scott for me, not Kevin. The DV Bordisso mess - with psychic spies, callbacks to Meg Baldwin from the '60s, etc. - was so bad.

Yes, he should be an Aussie or a Brit/NZer able to fake it.

This show is so insanely conflict-averse that they couldn't even stick to Michael returning to his vengeful Q roots for longer than 3 minutes. Now his whole persona is being regretful and moping over his wife. He should've gone full Alan/A.J. on Willow and started working on dropping the roof on Drew and Willow; that's the kind of material Chad is actually still good at. But no, as soon as he completed the Aurora bid he's back to Sad Wife Guy. Ridiculous.

The story I remember (however true) is the kiddie quad is one of several stories or issues that got Ron in hot water and ultimately helped lead to his firing. The word came down not long before that to end it and they did. I didn't mind having kids in story or giving them some kind of little stories, but the issue there was the kids were too precocious, most of them could not act, and the material and tone got very weird very fast and often had whole long, excruciating day-long segments of scenes with just them, non-acting while acting like miniature adults. It's what I imagine people feel like with the soap within a soap on DAYS. I don't think there was any foul intent on Ron or Frank's part, but they just were too charmed by what they were doing to realize how off-putting it got. When you had scenes of the barely-acting little kids turning to each other like "Emma, is this twoo?!" quizzing her about her 'love' for Cameron - it was both cringeworthy and a bit much.

Gio has more charisma than Kai. That's what set him apart. Astrup(?) is nice enough but does not seriously engage me. The Kai storyline is a C-level plot designed to keep the Black characters segregated again and is just a retread of various teen shows. Trina was already above that kind of material. There's overzealous, overly vocal fans in every fanbase (witness the sub-contingent of Liz fans who worshipped Franco because of airtime, or the ones who are desperate to drive Lucky off the show so they can finally get their umpteenth delusional shot at Jason) but they do not generally drive the larger audience. That's why you see enough of the audience responding well to LNL2 again despite those crazies. If Trina was given a serious story and a serious love interest you'd still have fanatics but enough fans would get behind it. The Kai thing feels unserious. In contrast, if they'd introduced the rumored son of Justus and Faith Rosco in the summer though, I'd have been all for that for her. That feels like more than a throwaway character in a throwaway story.

I think what I'm responding to more in watching again is Michelle Collins' strong performance and the addition of Salmon, etc. But I get what you're saying, I remember the several hollow returns in recent years (Fake Michelle which we both endured, Mel Owen, etc.) and I questioned the need to resurrect Cindy. It's easy for EE to put on a showstopping episode or great performances from its talented cast even when the stories don't hold up or are repetitious. I remember thinking Cindy's actual return from the dead was way too tossed off and casual/campy, almost like a US soap. Whereas when they dared to bring Den back (again, unheard of at that time) it was treated deadly serious. I'm glad Collins is here, I just hope it doesn't end in how Janine was wasted among others.

Can we not post random people's clickbait opinion videos in the main production thread?

So true lol. And yes, it would be kind of revolutionary for things not go dreadfully at an EE holiday at this point. You know the long cycle of Walford holiday carnage has reached diminishing returns when I see Cindy getting battered for Christmas and it feels low-stakes! I kind of started tuning out on these big moments when they killed Pauline in the snow. I thought that was awful and heartless and I never quite got over it, and then watching both Pat and Peggy suffer grim fates - I thought it was unnecessary for all three. You just come to expect it at this point and it becomes numbing and rote. Or Sharon's love child with Dennis gets the same, killing off more of the Watts family. Or Ian's the fool yet again for another cheating spouse, this one back from the dead. What's the point? The show is still well-made, often beautifully shot and cut and well-acted with solid scriptwriters. It's just in a sort of grinding nihilistic, repetitive cycle I haven't been able to invest in in a long time despite coming back off and on. I will say Denise looks great. I don't know the status of her relationship with Jack these days but her other boytoy looks hot too. And it seems like Cindy's return has worked out despite my extreme disinterest in another British soap resurrection, which used to be anathema to them - I remember when bringing back Dirty Den was seen as unheard of and highly controversial in the UK. I am glad Kathy came back at least, and I am always pleased Colin Salmon has work. What does Lauren have against all these people? I don't keep up on her at all. I have no idea who this camp, Coronation Street-looking big-haired drag show chick hounding Cindy is. Is Kat's kid still beating her? What a cheery storyline. Is poor Alfie still pining for her?

Olivia Hussey was all class, and often all fragility. She gave a troubling, poignant interview to Vulture a year or two ago where she was still very wistful but clearly fragile health-wise and reexamining her life. It frankly seemed as though she was being taken advantage of by a fame-seeking lawyer re: the R&J lawsuit she and Leonard Whiting probably needlessly brought against the studio when they could've easily secured better compensation, but at the same time Zeffirelli did take too many liberties on-set when they were very young and she was very clear on some of those details. I know Hussey best from Black Christmas, still an absolutely terrifying film and one of the first and best slashers of all time. Her mounting terror and panic near the end in a progressive role for the time (a coed seeking a newly-legal abortion) - and refusal to leave the house, even when she knows without seeing them that all her friends upstairs are dead, pleading for them to answer her - always get me. But she also did a lot with a less than fantastic script on the very strange Psycho IV for Showtime, where she plays the young Mrs. Bates pawing an equally game Henry Thomas as Norman. She wasn't afraid to lean into playing the high-toned bitch when it came time for that in her career, because she had such an aura of pristine beauty. Hussey had to pull out of reprising her BC role for a surprisingly very decent duology of short fan-made films concluding the story this past year; she was set to return and shortly before filming pulled out due to her health, and they brought in a ringer to play Jess instead. I wasn't surprised to hear it at the time, as her Vulture interview had made me very concerned for her. I hope she had some measure of peace and serenity at the end, as she so often seemed to onscreen, and less nerves and anxiety. She wasn't even a big favorite of mine, but some performances and moments stay with you. Thanks to high schools everywhere she'll live forever onscreen.

It's gonna be a kid. It so often is on this show.

I watched this not long ago. IIRC Scott was already gone months before in December '93. Karen exits in March or April '94. It always struck me as odd.

That's nice, I don't care. His character sucks, there's way too many people in the cast who should've been cut long ago hanging around just because Frank likes them, and it's not called Best Friends Hospital.

Brennan and Joss would be gross to me with Mesure in the role. He's not appealing enough for that IMO.

The Valentin/Anna following, like Sonny and Nina, is weak. They'll go where the show tells them.

He is still capable of doing the work when he cares, as his scene at Sam's deathbed showed among others. And I believe him when he says he enjoys doing the scenes with Jane, etc. But for whatever reason I just felt he gave nothing to the scenes with Ned and Tracy, even less than Jason's usual these days or in recent years with the Qs (or when he first came back under Mulcahey, and BLQ? showed him the note from Monica at the PCPD). His tone and responses here were just 'yeah, whatever.'

Nothing was going to keep Antonio Sabato on daytime in 1994. He was becoming too big too fast.

Oh God. Of course they're doing Martin and Tracy. I feared it the other day with those lame scenes. And of course Sidwell is being cemented more with poor Lucy.