Vee

I just think what the GOP faithful want to happen and what will are two very different things. IIRC this same person had a slew of doomsday threads before the election and under Trump.

That long, depressing thread reads like someone's nihlist fanfic to me when you go from start to finish tbqh. We have enough wretched problems to be very concerned about without me diving into that.

When he was good he was brilliant. But he could also be very, very lazy and misogynistic. I just can't cosign Guza writing GH again after the rest of the 2000s unless he had a lot of oversight or a significant co-HW - a woman. I'd sooner see Karen Harris and MVJ back. Most of 2003-2005 were total dreck, and the years after that weren't exactly genius. GH ultimately became a dark nihilistic void I largely ignored under his stewardship, even when they still had some very good daily writing staff in those years. I don't know what stories they re-appropriated from Brenda for the Fab 4, so that makes me curious. Sam you can point to later on, but they didn't really move her towards Sonny til the very end of '03.

I think Nikolas/Emily was always a grand plan starting when they got Tyler back. I don't think Gia was ever a consideration from then on. They'd been teasing Nik and Em since the late '90s, and Guza rarely lets a good chemistry test go (he continued teasing Nik and Robin almost until the 2010s). I understood doing it. A long-running, well-written triangle with the three of them, or a quad with the right Gia, including Stefan as the scheming patriarch, would've been dynamite. That's not what they wrote for any of it. Frons' micromanaging at ABCD was at its height in 2003, when he was fully ascendant. That was also the Year of Courtney. It felt like five years tbh. I think the stories going so extreme as well as into overdrive pacing-wise was in part Pratt, who also unleashed Guza's worst instincts. The writing also was often weak and ADD in many stories, and not as razor-sharp as what they were known for on the daily dialogue. Once Pratt was gone the show righted itself in a few ways, but Guza remained ugly in many others.

Once again they got Laura dressed like Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince.

Another one from earlier: I'd forgotten how quickly this story moved, lol. IIRC NL's Emily debuted on April 1st and by the end of May she and Nik were scamming everyone that they were 'falling in love' so Zander could move on after she died, or something like that. And then of course they actually did fall in love. Stefan was in and out in a matter of months! The Nikolas/Emily thing had been percolating since Amber Tamblyn was in the role, and Zander/Emily were also very popular. They could've played that triangle honestly for years to come, but the pacing seemed like it was on meth. On paper it was a great idea and they totally mangled it. 2003 was such a rough year for the show and I put a lot of it on Pratt and Frons, frankly. Guza shares plenty of blame for so much of what has rotted at GH in the 21st century, but he used to know how to pace and plot (and did much slower builds again later, once Pratt was gone). Anyway, this should be in the Classic thread I guess.

Sure enough (timestamped): I expect there were several with Tyler, but this is the first I found. It is truly bizarre to see Gia complaining to Nikolas about Zander dumping her for Emily. A year before he and Gia were passionately in love! Zander and Gia DGAF about each other! The show really went upside down with them quickly, which could've worked except they had zero investment in Gia and Zander in '03.

No, but they should've. AP's Gia orbited Zander and Emily during the Nik/Em/Zander triangle, and I suspect she did share at least a scene or two with Tyler. I think I've seen one or two on YT, but I can't find 'em. I always wanted that revisited, though it is 100% correct Pearson was miscast. I'm not sure Gia got an onscreen exit.

Part of quite a long thread.

She was basically recurring. She only turned up occasionally to fūck Zander (literally, every member of that teen scene ended up hooking up even when it made no sense) and primp Emily for her wedding, and they had been far from friends. I don't remember any TC Nikolas scenes with her, and I was waiting for them. I'm sure a couple exist. As a Nikolas/Gia fan I was not happy about that entire experience.

News to me, but I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway I'd accept the lawyer thing now, with some sort of glam sideline lol.

It seemed like a deliberate attempt to dispense with the character entirely, though IIRC they did start the lawyer thing (which always seemed off-brand for Gia) with Marisa in the role.

Who will Chelsea be paired with next? Zapato?

I think the recast may be superior. I had an inkling on Friday and that is rapidly solidifying. Whether she can keep the energy up or she gets turned into backburner fodder like poor Gia #2 (remember her?), we'll see.

Galen Gering is awful.

I think Jordi worked well on AMC tbh. They didn't fully take advantage of him.

I don't understand the thing about her killing a bunch of dudes!

There are definite similarities, but Esme is considerably better conceived than Nelle, whose origin and evolution make absolutely no sense.

I'm glad this has a thread. He was incredibly important to Susan and very visible with her and their daughter. Susan has had such struggle in recent years; I hope her own health holds up.

I think it was a mistake openly tying her to the town supervillain so soon. Because then it immediately becomes, 'oh, we have to bring in the adults to deal with this existential threat in this story!' And we know she's not going anywhere for a good while. No one in PC knows Esme has any connection to Ryan at this moment in time; in the eyes of the public, she is a spoiled teenaged socialite up to chicanery with kids her own age. Every major GH player having to get involved and then struggle to deal with her doesn't make sense. Narratively, they should at least have the backdrop of a powerful family lurking in the shadows that supposedly can smack some of these people down, so they think they can't touch her in some way. Or better yet, not involve Sonny, Carly, etc. at all yet to stand around looking impotent at this juncture. Fans get all in their feelings about scenes where Sonny drags Esme into his office - we know he's not gonna do shít to her! So mob king Sonny drags an 18(?) yo into his place of business, and lets her go with 'watch it!' Come on! If and when Esme sleeps with Nikolas, becomes his sidepiece and/or is believed to carry the Cassadine heir, then she has a seat at the table where she moves up into the adult sphere of trouble. But all this public mess over some teenage stuff is unnecessary at this point. And it makes the lead adults look weak.

In fairness, Bret Stephens' bad hot takes are generally not the NYT editorial stance. (Except about 'woke culture') I have many issues with the Times but I def do not think they are pushing Putin propaganda.

Esme is a fine villain and Avery Pohl is pretty good. But it is sheer clownery that every adult on this show is already preoccupied with and bamboozled by the machinations of a teenage girl. Sonny, Carly, etc. should not be regularly involving themselves with Esme at this point. Sonny is gonna throw his weight around and have her abducted while Esme is continuing on this show? How is that gonna make Sonny look? If Esme had already secured the bag by landing Nikolas as his mistress or something that would be one thing, because then she has a public place at the grown-ups' table. This all just makes the older folks look stupid. This isn't the first time GH has done this with a character who should not be on every adult bigwig's radar right now.

This should be in both threads.

CBS is imploding (again). This doesn't leak for no reason. @DRW50

Hot take (but what I suspected from Day 1): This girl's better than SM, at least technically. And she and Chavez do have chemistry. We'll see if they end up actually getting them together or if Frank spins Spencer off to Joss, lol.