Vee

I liked them 15 years ago, which was right around the time Spinelli started giving one too many weepy, shaky-voiced 'you are a lying whore, Maximista' speeches. I'm over it now, but they did well today.

The script is a lot smarter but this is the best work I've seen Kirsten do in a long while, not that I’ve paid much attention to her scenes in ages.

This Eva LaRue stuff today feels different, there’s more depth and texture. Even if they’ve rushed into an outing real quick and I don't particularly have any deep connection to Blaze lol. I think some of the Spixie lines are sharper too.

I absolutely do not believe the state of California would prosecute anyone for the death of Sheila Carter at this point lol.

I think she has checked out many times, and has been almost totally checked out for years with Billy Miller gone. But I do think she woke up for scenes with the new Danny discussing Jason - the other day I somewhat cynically speculated this could be because Kelly is angling to get re-paired with Steve for job security, as she was said to have done a tearful mea culpa to their fanbase at a fan event not long ago over her vocal distaste for the couple vs. Drew/Sam during the Miller years. Whatever happened with Kelly and Big Steve BTS in the year or so before he left happened fast and hard, because after insisting on making us watch them together for the better part of 20 years the show suddenly couldn't end this longtime couple fast enough. I definitely don't want to go back to Jasam - I think Sam is spent tbh and should be off the show, like so many other characters - but we'll see what happens. As for other topics: Wyndemere being suddenly and somewhat mysteriously sold makes me wonder if it’s a Mulcahey plot point being seeded. He wrote heavily for the Cassadines in the '90s. There are way too many played out contract characters, and that's not even counting the seemingly endless stream of recurring players who are also on way too much or have way too much story. 50% of the cast you see on any given day, there is a good chance some of them are recurring yet in regular story.

Loath as I am to link to Semafor (or Max Tani, who clearly can't stand Biden/Harris):

I also suspect this swift wrap-up may be the show getting ready to write them out. Honestly I'm fine with that for now. Over half the cast should go.

It makes me wonder how much note they're taking of whatever spurred the creative change at GH, assuming for the moment that is not all a run-up to cancellation a la Lorraine Broderick going back to AMC. (And I don't think it is for GH, but who knows.)

No, I actually wasn't referring to you at all. Though I do think you need to pick better hills to die on when it comes to multiple posters who've apparently been suspended from posting before. But hey, I'm sure the other one will be back any day now.

In my experience these Very Online tactics from the wackjob left really don't move that many actual voters. But who knows.

Trying to fight a primary that doesn't exist. Cute.

I'm not, for all the reasons I've past stated - as a hook-up at least, it's scuzzy and dark and on par with who they are. But I have my doubts it'll actually happen again now, though it was clearly D&C's plan for the story probably as a Sonny/Nina spoiler. Just seems like a waste of time unless the show were to commit to a really dark storyline.

It's gross that we're even weighing in on this (and I'm not blaming caroline, to be clear). Discussing Kirsten's obvious past issues and whether she's doing well enough to still be on contract with the show is one thing. Debating the merits or pitfalls of her supposed Ozempic intake on a daily basis and trying to gauge it onscreen from tape to air is another. I don't personally have a burning need to be at the center of every conversation in every single thread on the board that I will just float saying literally anything about a person to pull focus to myself. It's not worth it to me.

Trudging towards eternity.

It's one thing to discuss the situation with Kirsten we've all seen onscreen and heard tell about for years openly, which we have done before on here over the years. It's another to do an alleged minute by minute blow-by-blow of the (quoted) 'good news' that she might be on Ozempic. That is crass to me. And furthermore, it's not like anyone who doesn't glance at GH twitter doesn't know that most of what some folks are gleaning these days is stuff they simply pick up or postulate from discussions on social media and then proudly tout as scoop. I've had no problem in the past being blunt about KS' obvious issues onscreen in these threads, but there's stuff BTS at soaps I have not discussed publicly because I either can't source it or just plain don't think it's appropriate to discuss or fair to the subject in question. It's really not that necessary to still be perceived as being 'in the know.' No one will be impressed by it.

I haven't quite finished the tail end of this, but it's absolutely shocking and heartbreaking thus far. Both her dueling 'managers' Will and Shawn are the sleaziest people I've seen outside of Harold Robbins or Joe Eszterhas in a long time. Talk about the scum of the earth, and it's clear she gravitates towards abusive, controlling men like her ex-husband and that Will gets off on having the power over her in their co-dependent relationship (it also seemed clear to me in Part 2 given some of her random comments that he was sleeping with her despite her being deeply impaired). All his little speeches about putting her money away, putting it in a 'separate account' that's not Wells Fargo, giving little camera-ready speeches to her about not drinking all seemed so fake and calculated for the footage. Everything about these people was exactly like the disgusting characters who orbited Anna Nicole Smith on E! near the end of her life - that Howard guy, etc. It's tacky to say but it's honestly a classic soap opera setup with a series of classic archetypes tbh - the faded star, the grasping hangers-on and con artists - except it's all too real and very tragic. Wendy is just not there and anyone can see it. She can barely speak or string words together; she's like a pull-string version of herself with a few canned catchphrases or brand names and the rest is just a lot of dementia-induced aggression, emotion and panic. She didn't know who Jennifer Lopez was while struggling to read the Star and catch up on showbiz gossip like the old times, and began rambling about Sex and the City. She didn't know where her old street was in Jersey; she thought LA was Miami. She occasionally forgot who Shawn was. At one point she doesn't know what the Oscars are, and obsesses over meeting Universal to get a show back and 'show them my feet.' The scene on West 23rd with the studio/smoke shop revisit speaks for itself. The scene in Part 3 with her poor niece coming to visit her and being instantly horrified by her condition, struggling to contain herself and then becoming repulsed by Shawn made my skin crawl; it was very hard to watch. You instantly were there with her in that moment as she realized very quickly her aunt was now a totally different person. For those who cut the cord like me, the first two episodes are free to watch on Lifetime's website til the 5th of March (run your adblock to kill Lifetime's endless commercial breaks). The rest can be found at various spots like Dailymotion or with a Philo TV trial. I'll tag @DRW50 to recommend they check out the first two eps at least.

It's not uncommon for a soap to hedge their bets on a popular actor returning if they bomb out in pilot season or whatever. I'm not surprised if they are waiting to make a decision on Spencer. That's not some hot scoop lol. Nor is it shocking, unprecedented or inappropriate that Chavez got an out from the show a few months before his contract officially ends (in June or July, I believe) for a primetime opportunity. That's happened many times in daytime.

So you're sure he's a nice guy but you're betting he is also 'high and mighty'. Thanks for the citation.

We won't be seeing William Lipton back any time too soon. Time for the Cam recast.

William Lipton (Cameron, GH) has booked a new Amazon series. Sounds like it's time for the inevitable recast.

I've seen some of his last days again recently, his very last air episodes. He was incredibly strong and commanding to the end, clashing with Matt Ashford's Tom. Tony has real ups and downs in the McTavish, etc. period but I don't think he totally gave up and just started fúcking around until the mid-2000s. Something shifted and he wouldn't even give reverence to LNL anymore, it was all about getting back to the Bill Eckert dark night of the soul or just embarrassing himself hamming it up. But it's worth noting that in certain occasions - most notably the episode in 2015 where he and JJ rewrote their segments, shortly before his exit - he could still floor me. I will say that it's funny how I often clocked Maurice as bored and cruising as early as the post-JFP 2000s. There's an element of truth to that, especially from 2003-onward, but he was never as much of a spent shell then as he's become since Vanessa Marcil's last exit in 2011 IMO. He may have surpassed Eric Braeden for general cruise control. He's just wrung out. I know everything he's going to do. Anyway, that all said yes I think it's generally the men who get lazy first, and the men who are excused for it. Speaking of Kelly, I will say she's seemed engaged for the first time in awhile with this Danny material re: Jason. Makes me wonder if she is angling to go back there for job security (as she allegedly did a tearful, embarrassing mea culpa to their fans at an event not long ago). I hope not.

I will say I think Genie these days is a bit of a different story than some of the late '90s/early 2000s, where I think there were a lot of BTS factors. They had to practically force her back on the show after her maternity leave and I think both BTS/interpersonal issues and the show mangling Luke/Laura/Stefan really hurt her. SN and GF had scorching chemistry but they totally mishandled not only that opportunity and their romance but failed to properly honor LNL during that period, which made when they finally paired Stefan and Laura a poisoned chalice (especially to latchkey kids like me who came in with their family return in '93). And I think sometimes her discontent and disengagement showed, while other times she was excellent. But they also just plain didn't value Genie as much as Tony and others, in addition to never dressing or styling her well after her pregnancy (still a recurring issue). All that being said: I do think Genie is 100% committed in the 21st century because she now knows the mantle of show's steward falls on her, that there's no one else left to do it, and that Mayor Laura is at the center of the canvas. She takes that responsibility seriously. I appreciate that.

It is a bit wild to me that Tess came on as Trucker's(?) nanny and then became an advertising tycoon in record time. I still don't get how that happened.

Mo looks absolutely spent lol. Please just bring Vanessa back and let him take the traditional Eric Braeden Seat of Honor.

People keep trying to 'subtly' intimate around this online and I have seen zero credible information. Just say 'I just don't like Spencer' (or Spencer and Trina, or their fans or whatever your poison may be) and go.