Vee

I don't think either Nicole or Kat have anything to be ashamed of.

It's not about an excuse, it's about the nature of the genre IMO. I think the pairings both work and have heat, even as Bill and Dani are clearly dysfunctional and often toxic. Based on online response they have as many fans into them despite all their awful history and/or loving/hating them in equal measure, or advocating for either end of the triangle. That's soap opera audiences for you. And all of those elements are why it works for me the same as that divided audience. Of which we are now two.

It's a soap. They're all real screwed-up people with major sins. Bill would have to earn his way back into Dani's life and he's nowhere near that yet, but it's clearly designed to be a messy, often toxic relationship designed to power the show for years to come. And in Karla and Timon they have actors more than capable of doing that. I would still keep Andre and Dani married for at least the year and probably longer. IIRC Dani even bet or came close to betting Joey Armstrong on them lasting a year, which is shades of the story MVJ did with Lucy and Damian Smith on GH in 1994 - betting on ruining Bobbie and Tony's marriage. I like both couples, and I understand why Andre is better for Dani but she will eventually break his heart. That's daytime to me.

I'm ngl I am not in a rush to watch this week without much Willow, Drew or Michael. They power the show, not this crap.

They did allegedly run Hank/Alex promos either in print or on radio, whatever in urban markets during this period.

The moment that always gets me is when Virgil the angel returns for an almost wordless cameo for a minute or two when Megan dies. Viki sees him and knows exactly what that means. And it was played well without overegging it or underlining it in any dialogue explaining his presence, almost Twin Peaks-esque. (In fairness though they also ran a very lengthy flashback of Virgil from the '80s.)

I do love Jean. Thanks.

Matt Lauer's victim at NBC News speaks out re: her new book. The excerpt is very graphic. @DRW50 The silver lining here is this should permanently end any chance of Lauer ever making a comeback, which his friends at the network tried and failed to mount for him before.

Still somehow not convinced B&B is the best place to look for Black representation and romance.

I think Dani and Bill was always inevitably endgame. They will come together and go apart again. And I'm here for it because the chemistry is very real and they are probably bad for each other. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy Andre and Dani for considerably longer.

I don't want any of those boys wasted on that mutant spawn. And technically, they are cousins.

I understand what happened with Dani. She was reacting to the BRCA situation, vocalized it to Bill, they reacted then she pulled back and walked away. It's typical soap push-pull behavior.

We were on the cusp of the latter by then. Her big stories in '05 had not gone down well. They moved quickly into the "Jasam break up yet again because of 'the danger' and she fúcks her stepdad' period shortly after Robin's return. I do think Billy and Kimberly had some chemistry, so I would've been there for it quad-wise in 2015 tbh lol.

I dunno about that. I don't think either Steve or Kimberly would have stood for that at the time, and as I said earlier I think Robin remained uniquely untouchable in certain ways despite some of the passive aggression evident in the show. Even in '99, Robin is the only character who got away relatively clean. We were also in a real dog year when Kimberly returned. They brought her back to try to help right the show at the end of a nadir period for the show (2005), and it worked (and credit to Steve for pushing for it). Several Jasam stories, like the summer DWTS caper and Michael's imaginary friend, had also just flopped. Kelly was about to enter contract tango, which led to the ONS with Ric in '06 and the villainizing of Sam's character for a year or two when Frons and co. thought she might leave. IIRC Jason and Sam did not fully reconstitute until 2008. So I think those factors as well as Robin's immense popularity would have left Sam on the outs. I would not have bet against Robin if it came down to the two of them. Steve also wielded enough power at that time. But I am glad Robin moved on too. Kimberly was right. I would've cackled if they'd put them back together in the BM recast period though, when Patrick was with Sam. I had moved on from Jason and Robin long ago but that's absolutely something I'd have done. Speaking of Sam coming up snake eyes, I was reminded of the very hands-off way they handled Brenda re: Courtney in '02 when she later returned again in '10 and met Sam. They seemed very, very hesitant to let her be in proximity to Sam, because they knew of the obvious Brendabot issue there (with Sam inheriting most of Brenda's planned story in '04) and they knew Jasam still could not stand up to Brenda. So they sort of avoided it and kept their scenes together awkward, bland and inoffensive IIRC. Same here. I would be happy to see JT make a short visit to consult on a case and tangle with Emma, but I fully expect we will see Kimberly with BB when they honor Robert.

I wish Sharon Wyatt could appear again to usher on an Annie Donely for the PCPD/WSB (presumably Caitlin Reilly, a popular influencer, will not reprise the role so they'd need to find a third actor). But I understand why she doesn't wish to appear on camera. How they handled her for Sean's memorial was lovely.

Lord. The past Wyndemere in the late 2000s/early '10s opening did look a bit Big Bad Beetleborgs/Young Frankenstein at times, but it still had the character. I'll just pretend this one never happened.

I don't think they exactly shied away from portraying Dani negatively in the first year. Particularly not the first six months. I also do think they know Vanessa is delusional. But her toxic character arc has always made sense to me, because it's one of the few that is clearly defined and multi-layered on the show. She's talked her way several times through how getting involved in Joey's world made her feel actualized beyond her sleepy home life as an empty nester in a broken marriage, selling houses and sleeping with busboys or coaches but having little else. Here she feels she is newly empowered. It's a power fantasy which will come crashing down, but I understand why she's all in because LB and the writing (likely Guza's work) made me understand her and sympathize with her foolishness.

Age gap relationships are one thing if handled well; it can still be done. But Eden isn't convincing as a lead let alone mature, plus he was just boring to me and the story sucked. The reality is Vaughn was cast as a dayplayer and little more than a cutesy walking in-joke by someone BTS. "Agent Vaughn" was the name of secret agent Jennifer Garner's handler on ABC's Alias, the show GH was clearly ripping off with this storyline. It's one thing to do a dumb gag like that with a random dayplayer you'll see a few times and then never again. But to then try to lean into a goofy bit like that and put them over as a serious lead just because he happens to be white and have a haircut from 1994? No. It was thrown together schlock.

I did not find either of them bearable! YMMV. But yes, Joss playing saboteur with SAS is hilarious.

I've said before I think Eden has certain skill at certain things. The relationship with Tabyana feels very real when they play it with Joss and Trina. I think she actually has a facility for comedy if they let her play the spoiled/scheming heiress side of the character. I think she works very hard, above her actual skill level. But she's never going to be a lead no matter how hard Frank has pushed to make her the second coming of the Starr Manning youth demo numbers from about 20 years ago just because she is young, white and especially blonde. I would put her in comic B-stories for a bit or with a Spinelli/geek type, but probably ultimately recast a little down the line. I think it could have worked, but they weren't there for it. I still might play with them today having a fling as part of a quad with Emma and someone else in the ways I've mentioned before, but the endgame would remain Gio and Emma. Those two are gold, and TA could be again too with the right partner. I also do still think GM could've pulled off a Spencer recast, but I am happy with where he's at.

Yes. Their relationship has been a key thing in his interviews. Gio was initially intended for Trina, per magazine stuff at the time. That never really materialized beyond Gio taking intrigued note of her when they first met, and Trina noticing a resemblance to Spencer. I think TPTB obviously decided they didn't want to 'waste' a potential young male on a young woman of color they didn't care about and then spun their wheels for months. Then Emma came along and that clicked for Gio, but that too clearly wasn't really expected to be a big thing. Both Mazza and BB have said they had to interject physical stuff into their scenes for most of last year to try to jumpstart the story, probably because FV and co. were going full tilt on the WSB Agent Joss saga with Vaughn, Britt, etc. at the time. Now they're getting a bit more focus and Joss is once again in a liminal place, but I would not be hugely shocked if they tried one last ditch effort at putting her with him since he's become popular. I don't think it'll work though. If they were going to do it they would've already.

It had its issues at times. Someone on staff clearly wished they could try him with LW/Carly and kept going back to that friendship, and there were a few too many scenes of people like Anna and others telling Robin how lucky she was to have landed a hunk like Patrick, how grateful she should be and not screw it up, etc. But they knew they couldn't touch her and that she was still very popular, so there were a lot of these sort of passive-aggressive swipes at her where possible. But for the most part, yes I totally agree she was in a golden place. And probably would have stayed longer on contract, if not for Garin Wolf.

I see a largely positive shift in the show, but so far none of it has been towards centering a bunch of white characters IMO. Anyway, it's a short term role.

Absolutely. As I said on PTV, Frank has always been enamored of celebrities who love the soaps. He would much rather keep playing Stephen A. regularly and have him threaded into story than have to write for most of the actual Black characters IMO. Let alone add any strong new ones. The show seems to actively resent the only dynamic actor in the older POC set (Brook Kerr). I've said it too many times, but at this point I'd add someone like Cassandra Creech or whoever as Keesha Ward just to try to really fúck with the heads of the fanatical Jason fanbases lol. But unlike the '90s I'd be amazed if Great God Jason with a woman of color ever made it to air in these modern times so never mind. (And yes, Creech did play an assassin on GH for a hot minute in the 2000s.) I agree. This building tension started around Emily and was very present in Guza II from then on, but they never pulled the trigger. The endpoint was obvious. It also might've led to Dante taking over the mob, something DZ has claimed was the long plan, but I am grateful that never happened. Same goes re: Michael. This has always stayed with me. Imagine the show if they'd ever broken the seal on that couple again (something I had hoped they might consider when Billy Miller arrived). I don't fault Kimberly for opting out though - the rise of Robin and Patrick (along with Grey's Anatomy) helped begin to fundamentally shift the show back to the hospital as a major hub, and despite fits and starts it's been back in a major way ever since.