Vee

It was classic Carlivati that Joe Jr. was an admitted rapist, pusher and habitual abuser of women who basically came on saying 'yeah, but I feel bad about that stuff now, also I didn't rape the bitch!' Except he obviously did and there was no ambiguity about it, just his weak denials. Yet we were clearly expected for the bulk of his run to feel things for him, consider him to be a complicated character and take his potential pairing with Tracy seriously. They kept trying to play him as an actual older male consideration for Tracy, with his long-lost son, etc. despite his backstory. Tracy pining away at the mansion going 'oh, Joe.' I don't know what made them drop it all, which they did not long before killing off Trey (a.k.a. Ford: The Sequel with the exact same introduction) too. The whole Scully family drama with them, the family pimp medallion and Connie was dumb as hell. Frank and Ron went from annoyingly invested in those characters to abandoning them all overnight. Their investment in Connie and Kelly Sullivan faded not too long after in 2013. (Remember when they did a 10-minute love triangle with Connie, Sonny and Olivia with Olivia positioned as his true love? That was weird af too.)

Richard Steinmetz?! Because I thought he came off unkempt and weird the whole time (in addition to the lisp). I know he was a stud back in the '80s on Loving but by GH he looked and sounded like they'd just cast the maintenance guy. To say nothing of Joe being, y'know, a rapist. And yet Tracy was super sprung for him. And then there was the whole terrible McBain backstory with his imaginary new dead sister.

I try not to think about the Scullys after Richard Schtenmeitzh and Sho Shunior, the easygoing rapist who we were supposed to accept with Tracy.

It's really pretty remarkable what they accomplished. Again, just like Nick Meyer's two Trek films they were nickel and dimed and had to cut corners on sets, FX, etc. and still brought home some very quality work that became a hit.

Wow.

I remember @Darn having months of fun with this lol.

I'll give you that one. That's a good joke.

Biden and the WH are having a field day with the GOP's budget plans.

I have never been into Robert and Holly, but in fairness I've seen very little of their glory days. I love Emma but I have always been about Robert and Anna. I can't help it.

It looks like a big quilt or housecoat someone sewed an old woman into as a burial shroud after a nuclear holocaust, like something out of the TV movies The Day After or Testament (shout-out to @DRW50). Except Diane then got up, cut some leg holes in it and is now walking around.

My mother had done the same recently at close to his age after a sudden, very bad ankle break, after years of never breaking a thing. She's pushed physical therapy too hard and it interfered with her recovery. I know how he feels. Like all of us, Eric Braeden may be a lot of complicated or contradictory things but first and foremost he shoots from the hip, is candid and loyal to people he cares for and wears his heart (and maybe his ego) on his sleeve. He's a TV legend who's spent a lifetime in a lot of people's homes and I wish him all the best for his recovery and health.

I actually liked the scenes last week where Scorpio asked Diane flat-out why she worked for Sonny and she reminisced about her start on the show. Unfortunately they didn't take it far enough, because Robert would've taken a harder line on the issue. Also, Diane's most recent crocheted blue outfit is absolutely fuckíng terrifying.

I would write out Maxie (and Michael) for years but I would not reunite her and Spinelli. His biggest sign of growth was leaving her and marrying Ellie Trout, and it was a huge regression to idiocy for the character to leave her behind. He would reconcile with Ellie (who is still seen from time to time) on or offscreen and remain a recurring character.

I don't remember if it was Monti Sharp or not - it probably was - but I remember watching one day after not tuning in for awhile as a kid and Justus (who was coming off the Damian murder case not long before) was on drunk, volatile, cynical and disillusioned. This was likely after Guza took over, I don't remember when Sharp started. It was jarring to see Justus like that, so down and broken by what had happened with him, but I thought the actor did a wonderful job and I could buy Justus going through a dark night of the soul. Mfundo Morrison was a mediocre actor and Justus in the 2000s was so lame, especially when they had this formerly suave businessman and attorney reduced to holding impromptu prayer services in the burning hotel during the PC Hotel fire. I mean, how racist can you get? His nothing subplot relationship with Kent Masters King's Lainey was also boorish and sexist. I would still bring Justus back today from WitSec as another Q elder for the family. I think the Q family needs that perspective, as well as needing more rooted elders of color and a solid entry point to bring on more Wards. Joseph Phillips still works a lot so as long as he doesn't get too crazy on social media I can live with his views like so many other soap stars. He's my optimum choice because he was so good (I had a crush on him both there and on Cosby), but if they wanted to de-age him a bit to make him viable for someone like Portia it's obviously been done before and I wouldn't be too upset.

Yeah, that's why I said they could make an Ellen Burgess joke.

I won't be shocked if he turns up on CNN or Semafor or something. There's always a place for the loud wrong white guy who insists he is only 'data-driven' while clucking over liberals fact-checking him about COVID masking protocols. Nate's behavior is their behavior and comforts their priors. It's the same reason the vacuous Brian Stelter is led around by the nose by any contrarian op-ed.

I am not looking to put Angie Hubbard on recurring lol. She'd just pop in for a relevant story! But thank you.

I completely agree. But I'd also only have Angie on for a couple days! 😄

Oh, my. @DRW50

I still can't tell Ben and Callum apart.

I just think it was the right character on the right show. It amused me to no end when half the town acted scandalized when John would run Jason or Sonny in on random crimes and he'd just shrug and be like 'why not?' That's who he was, the job was always his first love, that and the latest unattainable woman. I despised him on OLTL and I hated his treatment of Natalie and others, but in a place where he could be in his element, he worked. Terry is still around, but while I think she's lovely representation to have I would not give that actress major story lol. I found the whole 'Aiden likes pretty things - is he, you know 💁‍♂️' story offensive and a lead balloon because it went nowhere and had no real message. I would give Jake the gay story because he'd be a surprise after the whole Aiden thing, because it would make Jason's kid LGBT and because Hudson West is very good and could carry major youth story if they invested in him and locked him in, which they won't. I rag on it daily but it's improved a lot since a few years ago. There is a lot of potential in the current show, and some characters and elements I really enjoy in addition to a ton of crap and boilerplate stuff. They are very afraid of rocking the boat and wrecking their delicate survival balance, so they cater to a very conservative audience existing largely in their minds as well as Frank's own fascinations and preferences dating back to the first Obama administration. It's an easy and bold story to tell: Some local politico in the Port Charles area of NY state games the state courts, like the GOP are doing all over in real life. This politician gets a temporary abortion ban across that cross-section of the state. A week later: Joss’ period is late. She gets an infection or some other pressing medical problem, like so many women are currently dealing with in those states while given no help. But the staff at GH’s hands are legally tied. They can't wait because of her condition, and because it will take months or weeks for the ruling to overturn the temporary ban to go into effect, again like many other parts of the country atm. So Portia and co. (with the aid of Special Guest Star Angie Hubbard, whose final Agnes Nixon-inspired story on AMC 2.0 was also a direct assault on the GOP forced birth movement) break the law and do the operation. That’s a hot button story, it features a popular current lead of color that the diverse audience the show has always had is behind, and it's the kind of story GH used to be unafraid to tell. But hey, they ain't payin' me! Yeah, that's the fundamental issue at this point. They took it too far and now no one wants to see it. Nora from OLTL is one of my favorite characters of all time but every time she turns up now even I'm like 'really?'

I liked the initial crossovers but I loved the Prospect Park soaps and I thought GH was on a healthy upswing when they left, so I have no regrets. But that's me. I did like John and Sam (and I had despised John on OLTL) and Michael and Starr, but here we are. I would have Angie appear today tbh, if Debbi Morgan was willing, as a guest as part of an abortion rights story with Portia challenging local law at GH. But that's totally OT and more related to GH's current abdication of its responsibility to relevant medical stories. You could even be cute and have some people think she's Ellen Burgess, who knows. I do think David would've been great to bring on mixing it up with people from time to time. But unfortunately Frank and Ron going too far with the crossovers and multiple failed roles for Howarth and Easton has poisoned the well, I think, for any more of that.

Oh, he totally was lol. But how many people had gone under Jason's wheels? I just didn't care. I also thought it was, again, a human and complex reaction the likes of which Jason hadn't had in decades. It made him more compelling to me when he was allowed to be wrong.