Vee

He was always over-talkative and overinvolved in the FV/RC years, and I always got the sense he was some underling the network had left to mind GH out of disinterest who thought he was Brian Frons or Les Moonves. I never thought he had much power in those days and I still don't think he did then, but I got a sense he could be a squeaky wheel in times of crisis and get his own way. Could be the same here, especially if he's moved up in the world.

I have suspected Varni might be in the mix. That guy seemed like a glorified assistant going way above his skis in the 2010s, constantly running his mouth and now he's back.

I think (from what I recall of her press comments at the time) she just felt it was owed to the fans, which I admired and respected though I was never a huge fan of Sonny/Brenda in the '90s. She put her foot down and made them get it done vs. fúcking around (it also led to some of the best work MB had done in years or since IMO, during the wedding ceremony and later when they broke up). I assume she just thought the Jax thing was burnt after the botch of them in 2002-3. VM and DZ did have chemistry, but it was right to not go further than it did with a child, etc.

Yeah, I do remember the talk that the Marsha Thomason (from Lost) character was originally supposed to be Brenda or something, somehow. Can't really see Brenda being Franco's right hand and co-conspirator but I suspect maybe an old flame of some sort. It was all about Guza's primetime/film aspirations in the end.

Which was what was baffling to me. On paper I thought the idea was fun and buzzy for the show, but it quickly became clear Franco just wanted to piss on the show and they just kept giving him more airtime and big setpieces because Guza and Phelps were starstruck. I'm sure people remember that big MOCA thing with Franco's weird-ass Hollywood friends and it was certainly more entertaining than a lot of the last decade, but let's at least have some self-respect, GH.

Yes it is! Michael Angarano, still quite active to this day as a very attractive adult actor and married to Maya Erskine.

What an image. Franco just yeeting that toddler into the street like Sting.

And yet they tried to put it over for close to a year or something! Like she was a regular character for awhile. It was wild, but tbh when I heard Sam had hired a chick to sleep with Michael to heal him from a prison rape, knowing Sam in those days I was like 'yep, checks out.'

IIRC Michael was literally on the phone with her onscreen as it happened. "Abby? Abby?! No! Noooo!"

We've been asking that same question to the heavens for awhile now. But yes, the cousin thing was a key part of the 1991 intro and the 2015 flashback episode with the young Spencers - Joey Luthman played both Luke and Bill as teens. IIRC Luke and Bobbie's mom Lena was an Eckert, Bill's aunt.

Still one of the funniest things I've ever heard. I also didn't know how ridiculous it was til I looked it up.

I do think he's attractive! People used to mock me for how down bad I was for him in the 2010s lol. Again, I'm all for dadbods and normal physiques IRL. It's just that the whole character is such a schlub that it's just one more thing that makes me tired of him, like this is our spent leading man.

I am fine with dadbod dudes IRL - they can be hot. But it's the whole personality of Michael, the years of bad story, etc. that make the larger overall package unappealing to me. And I don't mind Natalia in theory, but in practice all she is doing is wandering around complaining, propping up her mediocre daughter (though Blaze was a bit better today) and now the classic dreaded chemistry test with Sonny. I'm open to the brother, open to better story, but I want to watch her make trouble and add drama and action, otherwise I don't need her here.

That location shoot and its lighting were not Eva LaRue's friend. Jeeee-zus.

That's because it still definitely is. I had a feeling from the beginning when he was hired that there was no turnaround time for a new long-form bible; I think they expect people to just jump on without clearing any new stories or characters ahead of time. There's a lot of improvement I see day to day which I often enjoy watching, and an admirable new ethos re: the mob, but there's a very slow pace to the plot or changing anything too much and I wonder what or who is behind that. I wouldn't be shocked if FV is handicapping it, but it could well be ABC becoming overinvolved again - or both. And the FV guarantees/taping process make the pacing issues that much more difficult. I think they started strong in March with the Jason story, Ava scheming and the Pikeman reveal but right now everything feels stuck in second gear, waiting for FV to let key characters and storylines take up more airtime. The newest and freshest thing for me remains Drew and Nina and hell, even the Heather redemption stuff which is controversial for people at best lol. I hope they are allowed to actually end the Pikeman story in grand fashion this sweeps. But I'm not holding my breath. In short I think it's not enough time to truly judge things, but I also think there is plenty to analyze and yes, critique.

ETA: nvm, I see DRW got to it. The Times is still pissed.

I'd love to get rid of Sonny. But I'm trying to think about the most realistic possibility, which is that MB is unlikely to leave this show unless it's off the air or he chooses to retire. So I'm working with what I consider a viable option. I would love to destroy the whole house of Corinthos and leave just a few of the kids behind. That said I think Sonny could run a legit business. He's had many opportunities. But as he told Brenda long ago, he does not want to.

Upon further review of Thursday I can’t really tell if this Aiden can act or not, there's not enough material to judge but he sure does grin wider than the last one. And his eyes are wild, possibly insane! Enzo’s were usually at the Sonic drive thru or analyzing Tortured Poets Dept lyrics, so that's an improvement at least. It feels like some days are just FV getting rid of spare actor guarantees and utilizing whoever they know will be on-set - specifically, all the fuckin' kids at once. I am all for quiet family connection days, but not when they are dominated by Sasha, a half dozen kids, Deception operating out of the standing set of the week (the Q living room) and Love Boat Scott 'helping' on his phone. I also never need to watch Violet, glue-eater Wiley and James (cannot believe plastic Nathan has a kid) dominating scenes again. FV knows where this leads back in the days when the network made him and Ron shut down the interminable kiddie love triangle of Spencer/Emma/Cameron in 2015. At least the Tracy/Gregory scenes were actually very good, again. I used to be very fond of both Chad's body and his acting ability and found him underrated. This has long since ceased being the case. He was not prepared for a love scene last week, and he is clearly not prepared for major story. It is past time to recast with an energized and hot guy, but that may never happen.

To me the best option for Jason has always been one he is currently doing something similar to: He takes a deal c/o Scorpio and works for the WSB in conjunction with the PCPD in town or he goes to supermax and stays there. I highly doubt his situation with Wagger will last, but I sure wouldn't mind if it did. Sonny - he needs to have it all taken away (probably by some blowout scorched earth scenario with the likes of Ava) and end up tooting along with a cart in the back alleys for a bit lol. Then he can work himself back up to some sort of largely legit white collar business and become Brenda's conniving kept man, transition to sort of a skeezy Victor Newman patriarch focused on meddling in his children and wife's storylines. Which is what he was moving towards in the late 2000s anyway, when Dante was first ascendant. The throughline could be something similar to how Marlo Stanfield ended up on The Wire - he is legit and 'clean' but can't stand it and misses the action, living a quieter life of comfortable and privileged desperation. Sonny's ongoing machinations for/against his loved ones could be how he processes and internalizes his resentment of being out of power forever.

I found the look of the '90s pretty strong myself. I miss the fog, the sound of the harbor and the boats that used to always be in the background. But I understand why people OD'ed on the docks and such given the omnipresence of the mob in the early 2000s. Why would making Blaze Roy DiLucca's daughter make anything better?

Bear in mind she started as a dayplayer in the extremely silly '80s soap-esque 'Chase is an undercover pop star to bust BLQ's Dr. Luke-esque producer!' storyline. She was his singing partner under the thumb of the evil producer. I thought she was cute but that a bigger role would be a bit too much. I was right! Compared to some of these sets I miss those foggy docks these days. A lot.

I thought the PD obstacle course was fine and looked about as functional as one of those would look, esp since we weren't shown all of the course. I found the scenes last year where Sonny was supposedly wandering around 'the PC streets' to meet Selina Wu and it was clearly just an exterior studio door in broad daylight far more embarrassing. But again, this has been going on for decades at this point. I think GH has done a lot better by most of its studio-bound remotes in recent years, but I am never a fan of the 'wander the park' stuff. Her real name is Alison. I am not calling her that.

These dumbass 'walking in the park, oh it's you!' remotes have been going on since the mid-2000s tbh. It started out at GL and ATWT, then AMC and to a lesser extent OLTL picked them up, and now GH has been doing it a lot over the last few years.

Sir/ma'am, I admire the fire but they are Lit-erally blood related!

We're not trying! 100%.