Vee

I'm still not over Diane's quilted ensemble.

Which is why they should lean into it, because I think McCoy could play it and it would lighten the character up a la Lucy or Maxie. Until you get a recast and deepen her a bit more.

Nope!

Don't feed the troll. But yes, Griffith did fire all the breakdown writers months ago. It was a big discussion lol.

Being first on a message board doesn't matter, only being right does.

BTW, Khan, in case you missed Ron Carlivati wishing happy anniversary to GH, it's about what you would expect.

I really love Valarie Pettiford's Sheila, especially in the increasing amount of '92-'93 material that has surfaced in recent years. I barely remember her from when I was a kid but she's great, and the initial story with Hank/Sheila/Troy Nichols (which they apparently hired a Black writer for - I know, give 'em a medal, but in those years it was a considerable move), while definitely hamfisted at times in its broad approach to the men and their differing personalities, does not feel like a C-story in the '92 material. (I also really love the scene from summer '92 which is hopefully still on YT, where Rachel and Sheila discuss colorism and actually bring up Carla Hall.) I adored Ellen Bethea. I know she left apparently to go back to the stage. And I'll always love Kassie but I've said it before and I'll say it again: The strong focus on Mia Korf's Blair in the '92 eps is still way ahead of its time. There have been no AAPI leads on daytime (if any leads at all) with that level of frontburner power since - period.

One thing we've talked about here recently is how remarkable it is that, be it through happenstance or other people leaving or whatever else, the show now suddenly has a very, very sturdy veteran corps which is actually featured pretty regularly: Not just Laura, but Anna, Felicia (on contract!), Mac, Kevin, Lucy, Scorpio, etc. The relationships there feel lived in because they are; those friendships go back 30-40 years. And they are all featured together very often. You can go back and watch Mac, Felicia, Lucy and Kevin in the '90s or Felicia and Anna in the '80s any day on YT and the ties are still there. They had remarkably deep and emotional scenes with Mac/Kevin/Felicia (an inseparable unit in the '90s) about Ryan's death recently and the history and weight was there, and they played it onscreen and talked it out - something Ron rarely bothered to do beyond name-checking because he was always rushing to the next plot point. Whether it's a need to fill the hour or whatever else, these scenes and these characters are being regularly played. Compared to what we've gotten in the past or are getting elsewhere it's remarkable. Say what we will about her ability, but I never thought I'd see Kristina Wagner on contract or regularly featured again. And I'm happy for it, because she's part of the historical fabric and she is wonderful with her IRL/onscreen friends. I do agree about Lois and Olivia, something we've talked about a lot around here - they are almost the same person, down to the same neighborhood, same longtime friends (Sonny) and growing up together. LLC auditioned for the Lois recast in the 2000s and she might as well have gotten it. And the Lois angle is one they have studiously avoided since Ned and Olivia linked up. I like Olivia and I'm fine with her staying with Ned, but I've said before I also wouldn't blink if she left and Lisa returned in a month with a different haircut calling herself Lois, lol. There is no point in playing a rivalry but I do think you could play out the issue of Ned marrying almost the same person (something which has not been touched on since RC first paired them up and had them briefly discuss Lois).

I don't think GH is in a renaissance, I think it has massive issues. But the reason for my current investment, and I think some other people's, is because I do think it's improved considerably in the last year or two and has a lot more going for it now in raw potential with cast and materials than it's had in almost a decade (the Laura focus, the college set, Liz's kids, Brook Kerr as Portia, a somewhat revitalized Quartermaine family, etc). It also has a lot of terrible characters and stories. The fundamental issues with the show are creative micromanagement from (I suspect) the EP and the network re: story and focus. But it also goes back to how Frank Valentini has historically preferred to pace and edit the show and scenes, famously feeling 90-second scenes are optimal for the viewing demographic he's been trying to keep stable at his soaps since the late 2000s, plus how story is completely angled around the budget re: certain plotting and pacing issues. You can say 'well, this has always been part of the bargain at soaps, budget has to dictate storytelling' and that's true, but if you have less of Actor X or Producer or Executive Y's favorite - and I think we can all name a few key people there - you might be able to afford a bit more of either. What has to be done is what the shows all as a genre no longer have the courage to do because they're playing it very conservative with their audience, in pure survival mode - story and focus is angled around the perceived POV, however accurate or not, of older Facebook-driven Middle Americans only. And that's cull, the same way AMC and OLTL did when they went to Hulu. You have to aim for overhauling for streaming and a more modern and varied generational audience, because that's where everything will end up someday if it is to survive. You have to not be scared of the Black audience on Twitter, or gay or Latino audience, all of whom have been just as loyal if not moreso for years and years. I would cull a good half of the cast if not more. I would also add a lot of people, not all at once but carefully. Brenda and a younger teen version of her son Alec would be among the first. And I would keep using a lot of people on recurring, sure. As for the children I've already discussed that in the SORAS thread - most would be gone. The youth set though, the current college-aged scene is probably the biggest boon the show currently has. Spencer, Trina, Cameron coming in and out as much as they can get him, crazy Esme, even Eden McCoy's Joss is not terrible; it's her stories and the FV-skewed focus on her. But Joss can be retooled as a character and eventually recast, and more solid potential schemers or heroines can be added as well (Lila Rae Alcazar, Emma Drake, maybe some AAPL kids, etc.).

There's also pretty clearly an incestuous undercurrent with Jessica re: Clayton.

Alexis Smith was so good in everything I've seen her in and her hysterical turn as psycho Jessica is no different.

Shocking perhaps only me, this piece is by Amy Chozick who once eagerly peddled "Clinton Cash" in 2016: Also in the Times this week: A long puff piece about Sinema.

I think it's mostly out of desperation for writers, etc. to find dependable and steady income on longer-running seasonal shows tbh.

They are! But they can improve, and that's something for me.

He'd be back. I would re-pair A.J. and Sarah's Carly, in another Alan/Monica-style forced marriage that eventually turns to love. It's a whole thing, my mind is a rich tapestry.

I just don't have any interest in seeing VM forced to put that over, lol. Those dudes are both a minimum of three characters in, it's obscene. And I'm someone who would've thought Roger and Vanessa would have had chemistry with both ten years ago, or ME for that matter as McBain, with their OLTL characters or some other, non-rapist/killer role for Roger.

FV would 100% try to put Vanessa over with Roger or Easton before getting to the Sonny reunion. I think there's plenty of guys you can bring on short-term for her to fool around with. I'm not sure Brandon Barash would say no to a couple months tbh, or there's always someone else old or new. I wouldn't hate seeing her idly date a new Dr. Steve Webber for example, since I intended to bring him back long-term anyway. Or A.J.! Brenda welcoming A.J. back warmly in 2013 still sticks with me.

In early '22, when Victor had just returned and was mostly a jovial bon vivant with nefarious schemes that didn't seem too cliche, I was very into CS' take on the role. (Which, I think, also has some roots in the early Victor from the '80s who IIRC was not super committed to the whole 'take over the world' thing vs. being a playboy?) He was a villain that was also having fun while also trying to play patriarch and manipulating the whole Cassadine clan. At the time I even proposed they pair him and Genie Francis together, with Victor forcing Laura into some sort of nasty marriage of convenience for plot purposes, just to bounce them off each other non-romantically for a year's time and have them sniping at each other nonstop; I thought it would be a lot of fun, and you could play the drama with Kevin, slowly reunite him with Lucy and bring in a real new love interest for Laura at the same time. Now, though, it's gone on way too long. The story was partly delayed due to CS' health issues, but he's just hung around forever doing very little for a long stretch, and now his aims feel more boring than his original introduction. It's lost a lot of the pizazz for me. So for me it's time to retire Victor and bring on someone truly scary - which is what Valentin was first advertised as in the first place, around 2009. I don't think it's needed either. Everyone knows where this would be going and Brenda can stir up plenty of mischief on the larger canvas all by herself. Few characters can accomplish that. I might let her date a bit in the meantime, but not Drew. Drew has already had enough pairings of Jason's women/almost-women he's standing in with. I'm still holding out hope that if they make CM regrow the beard and keep him away from watching his entertainment news shows that he can regain some ability, because I'd banked a lot on pairing him with Tognoni's Sarah Webber on the show that exists purely in my mind lol.

A sobering VF piece about the state of the industry (run through archive.is to bypass paywall).

I have seen 'bad' Valentin in JPS' early appearances on the show when he "killed" Nikolas, and all I can say is that won't cut it for me. He needs to be slaughtered.

I just assume Victor is already out at the end of this arc, but who knows.

Valentin was originally conceived by Guza's team in the late 2000s, set up in scripts by Helena and they cast Matt Borlenghi from AMC to play the role. He had been to wardrobe and makeup. Then they got wind of James Franco wanting to do the show and cut it all in favor of the Franco arc. That was the last we heard of Valentin until 2016, when JPS was cast and has been embarrassing himself ever since. The Cassadine fortunes have always fluctuated wildly. Nikolas being forced to marry Lydia was over 20 years ago. As for Tony, we'll see.

I think a lot of us were expecting Tony to appear during the anniversary period. I still am. It's beyond me how they let this 'oh, Luke died in an offscreen accident and maybe the Cassadines killed him but we're not going to do anything about it' thread play for over a year. Even FV wouldn't want to end Luke's character like that. Tracy and Bobbie have both brought it back up so I expect something to happen. Maybe Frank gambled on hooking Tony and lost, or maybe (more likely, IMO) they are keeping it very quiet atm. As it is, there is no way Laura, Scorpio or offscreen Lucky would've ever sat back and done nothing about Victor for this long if they believe he killed Luke.

Peter Porte is one of those dudes where you want to believe they can convincingly portray a needed character, but they come onscreen looking like that and all you can think of is Bolt from Soapdish running on-set and saying "I was at the gym doing leg-lifts when Father Cory told me what had happened!" Ryan Paevey on GH was also in that mold.