Vee

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.

How is NAC acting 'high and mighty' lol. Specifics.

Exactly. Curtis is given the lion's share of story despite the fact that he's the least dynamic character and actor. If Mulcahey has any power and if MVJ is truly back, my desperate hope against hope is we'll finally see a real Ward revival on the canvas. I remember JFP and Guza patting themselves on the back in the soap press over adding Annie Ilonzeh as Maya (and promising over and over to add her sister Zoe, which never happened) only to do nothing with her and to let her dip for a primetime gig and fizzle out for months. Imagine Steve Burton's (admittedly very weathered) face if they brought back Keesha.

I definitely think any Black actor paired with a white lead that has even a passing semblance of interest from the show will get more to do. That's the nature of this subgenre. The only exception to this rule is T.J. and Molly, both of whom FV abandoned utterly over a decade ago when he couldn't make Haley Pullos' Molly into NuStarr (which he and Ron attempted to do by selling her with a Cole Thornhart-alike white twink while making the super-talented Tequan Richmond the heavy in a triangle). And I am a major booster for more interracial romance on the show (I actually do want Laura's new man to be Black, just not Curtis!). But it also shouldn't be reduced to a cynical calculation by 2024, and the fact is Black actors should not be wholly dependent on a white partner to get better airtime and story, Black couples deserve it period. That being said: I do want better for Brook Kerr for a partner, of any color, than DT. He just doesn't give a shît, which makes me sympathize with the show passing him over less and less. Meanwhile Real gets nothing and he gave those scenes last year his all.

It's true! But he's just so wooden and monotone and has been for years that I think some of us have lost all respect for it, especially when other actors like RA get shafted or when he gives Brook Kerr nothing onscreen. Like LW or Becky Herbst, she puts in work everyday. In fairness to DT I don't remember any public indicator of him ever advocating for the pairing, I think we all just picked up on his intense investment in those Laura scenes vs. almost any other work he now does on the show and began clowning him for it lol.

I think for some elements of the online left that's true. But to be brutally frank, a lot of them didn't vote anyway. Therefore I don't believe Dem turnout is going to be materially affected on this issue. And yes, I think too many people are being preyed on and manipulated counter to their health and wellbeing, which is entirely separate. I do think the med strike, the self-immolation etc. are all horrific and not solutions. My feelings still mirror many of Adelaide's about this ugly, sad time which is why I generally have ceased engaging with the issue entirely online.

Donnell is busy putting the finishing touches on his cover of Christopher Cross' "Think of Laura", he can't come to the chat right now. I do think he had real chemistry with both Stafford (who, it must be said, also had heat with Keith Hamilton Cobb on Y&R) and Budig, but I knew at the time GH would never, ever go there. That was also when DT bothered acting. I can't get into JPS with anyone. Valentin as a character is such a cold fish even when he's occasionally not a wuss. I will accept that he does have some chemistry with Watros but it's all schemer energy to me.

I loved VW from many things and therefore loved Rhonda. I think they could've made her work, as many or even most characters didn't work at D&D, etc. or with Amanda from Season 2-on and had various jobs at various places. It could've been done, or you could've found a way to fold Rhonda's skills into something involving the fashion business with Jane, Jo, Syd, etc. But the structure of MP and its all-white sensibility never empowered any Black performers. Jasmine Guy lasted three minutes and Anne-Marie Johnson's character, woof.

This is the first I am hearing of anyone thinking Nina did an amateur C-section on Ava. No, I've always been grossed out by what she actually did. The language and description at the time were uh, explicit.

Yeah, I think at most it'd have lasted another 13 episodes if renewed after S1.

She didn't cut it out, but she definitely got right up in there and violated her after giving a truly grueling speech about helping horses give birth back in her family stables.

The issue is that during that regime (and at the exact time of that well-known interview) they also began to relegate the vets to these sort of juvenile C/D-tier plots in the background, where they'd all have senior love triangles or quads on recurring that made no sense and were demeaning to watch, catfighting and tossing around expository dialogue about old storylines, and often you'd pick them up weeks or even months later like it had either been going on in the background (Duke and Lucy suddenly having a full fledged relationship, all offscreen) or had no development whatsoever. I suspect that's why Genie dipped in 2013 shortly after returning for the anniversary; the rumor was Frank had expected her to become part of the veteran recurring corps too along with Stephen Nichols to play out more of this background silliness, and she wasn't having it. It wasn't the last time Frank tried either. I think there's times they did a lot of good for the veteran characters on GH and OLTL and understood the importance of having them there; FV has certainly kept that end up strong in more recent years. But I also think there's times back then that they just let them play out silliness on the margins and called that good story. Viki, Dorian, David, Charlie, etc. on OLTL weren't immune to this at times either. Anyway, it's all OT.

I'll be damned. There you go.

Didn't this get shouted out as MVJ's work on social media recently? The range of responses in the room seem very real.