Vee

Frank isn't going to do it, so the network would have to. And their brief moment of will for that was just killed in the crib, so I expect very little. They will likely just reinstate 'Emmy-winning' CVE and continue apace. Anyone else would go after Vanessa or JJ, but IMHO we know why Frank doesn't do that. It would destabilize the bland show he prefers to make which is often so milquetoast now that it can be retrofitted to add any preferred favorite actor he wants.

A potentially intriguing update on the lost footage of The Magnificent Ambersons. I assumed for decades it was totally lost so I'm not getting my hopes up, but Wellesnet is a long-standing site not known for hyperbole. @DRW50

So GH won last night (oof) and I do wonder if this means FV will get to move Van Etten right back to HW. I won't be watching. In other news for those of us who don't check those threads, Dan O'Connor has just moved to DOOL. I believe he and CVE both got their start under RC and FV at OLTL (and were both briefly mooted to take over Prospect Park's OLTL 2.0 as part of the revolving door of HWs there just before it collapsed). I do agree bringing Jagger back as Wagger was another memberberries/nostalgia choice with no real core behind it - just something for Frank and co. to do and expect brownie points, like the very weak return of Jeff and his wife after decades (I would recast both tbh) or Jackie, both to service Finn, or the waste of Paul Hornsby or many other instances. Yes, Harrington has done a decent job, has a bit of chemistry with various women including LW and Mulcahey made decent use of him upon taking over. But all Wagger ultimately is is another hectoring, 'mean' authority figure Jason must push back against like the characters we saw in much of the Guza years. Most of those characters were more overtly hypocritical or outright corrupt than Wagger, but that could still happen. There's no point in having him here long-term, as I've always said. Rena is different. She still pops off the screen and is electric as Lois, but she has no actual story. That's unacceptable but drearily common at FV's house style GH. Like so many other names he brings on (Eva LaRue), it often seems like he just wants to say he has her on the show. She should be given a real new story and a real (non-recurring) love interest.

This kind of individual shared history and wealth of experience and knowledge is why I stay on this forum. Please never apologize let alone thank us, we should thank you.

It seems very intimate. I just hope it isn't exploitative.

The saga continues: Lewis opening with anonymous quotes of random staffers defending him is an amazing choice.

LOL. Good luck with that.

It's an interesting idea but I couldn't judge PM's ability to generate stories without seeing them, and frankly we never got that far. All we saw was internal improvement before he quit, and he was apparently meddled with and micromanaged the whole way. It's part of why I'm staying a bit to see if anything else coalesces. The most we've gotten - Nina/Drew/Willow, etc. - is the most intriguing stuff on the show for me, along with the town turning on Sonny, Gregory's death and Finn's tailspin.

Neither do I. I think the recent (for me, anyway) structural improvement at the day to day level proves that, which makes this situation all the more depressing and frustrating for me. The pieces are there, what is lacking is the proper will and power BTS. Even stuff like Jake and his friends stumbling upon Finn boozing is classic soap building block material this show would have more easily pawned off on a microchip full of Drew's missing memories or Peter August a couple years ago. That's where I'm at. I came back for Jackie and stayed through to now.

Oh, let me be extremely clear: It was absolutely a hot mess in the Ron years lol. But I think there was still passion in his work and in what they were (often poorly) trying to do, still some spark. A good portion of 2012-2015 is terrible, but there was also a fair amount of good or at least entertaining amidst the psychotic (well, not in '15). I haven't felt there's any passion since '16 but for very brief intervals here and there (like the recent brief HW change). Either way, I will resume my regularly scheduled non-programming of GH and cease watching soon enough. The brief Mulcahey regime is the most I've watched regularly in 8 years.

Don't forget the riveting breastfeeding story with Olivia, etc. whipping 'em out in court. Or the endless Shiloh/Dawn of Day saga. Or Franco's molestation drama. Or Oscar and Kim.

His taste seems to run the gamut from 'Home Depot' to 'mid-2000s gay culture'.

Politico smells blood:

I think the show has been bland as hell since long before 2020, myself. I just don't get the sense Disney even really knows or cares GH exists. It fills a slot and is passable for numbers, therefore it continues to function. For most of the time that appears to be the extent of their purview. Yes, you hear stories of occasional things being clamped down on but this is far from the days of Brian Frons or Angela Shapiro or any other micromanaging network figure who had a real stake in the soaps. The most you have is middling executive Nathan Varni, a meager fish by comparison with nowhere near that power. I absolutely do not believe the 800-character ensemble, fixation on Violet, Valentin, four characters for 2 OLTL stars, etc. has anything to do with Disney or ABC. That's all Frank. I agree. They've been doing real work and I think the material has been good. I do agree with others that Easton and Nancy have chemistry, but it's too late to capitalize on. I think the most Finn and Alexis had was one makeout session a few years ago, and they put it to bed IIRC bc they were both recovering addicts and felt it would be unhealthy. Were Mulcahey still there I suppose I wouldn't mind a ONS, but what's the point? Just get rid of Finn period.

Going well:

I doubt Disney gives two shíts about the content of GH. I haven't seen evidence of them substantially meddling in this show in years and years, otherwise it would've had a real executive and creative changeover long ago. It's Frank's world and he's an easy, cheap guy to leave in the position, and so you have a show that is largely constructed around his preferences and tastes. Nathan Varni might get involved, but that's about it.

Which is how it's been since at least 2016 IMO. RC's tenure became an absolute debacle and he fully deserved to be fired, but there was not a sense he was just marking time. It was his nutty fixations all the way. Frank alone is another story. I am still watching for at least another week or two, but I'm also a week or so behind. I think there's still some good day to day material onscreen and interesting potential but I agree the stories remain a schizophrenic mess, and like caroline I also find it futile and hopeless since Mulcahey already has exited. As of now I have no faith in systemic improvement with FV still at the helm.

I knew the British Invasion would burn out in time, but not quite as fast as this might go:

Barbara Crampton (Y&R/GL/DOOL/B&B) and Connor Paolo (Travis O'Connell, OLTL) are both featured in the well-reviewed The Last Stop in Yuma County (and can be seen in this trailer):

One of the co-writers, Siobhan Hughes, got pressed on some of this on CNN and sort of stumbled around admitting McCarthy often lies, but wildly suggested he only lied 'tactically' in the past when praising Biden: