Vee

I don't, but I do think MJ was wooden in places. Robinson's Ted is just kind of sad and pathetic to me. I keep calling him Kermit. My Kirk Van Houten references re: him and Doug are also real. I have plenty of things I think the show badly need to work on as I've outlined, but it's also garnered a real, new audience and loyalty which is half the battle and frankly impressive and both a bit unsurprising to me, given how Black audiences have always been there for a genre which hasn't been there for them.

MVJ also indicated it was an 'actor issue' and was very short when being questioned about it in Deadline(?) a few months ago. I do wonder WTF happened.

He hasn't been much else in over 20 years, though he has finally begun to modulate and allow Jason to change a bit likely because of a lack of options. When Steve cares he is still willing to act. But KT is not talented or multi-dimensional enough onscreen to fill in Jason's gaps, unlike some of his other romantic partners. And I think Steve absolutely looks his age.

I assume as a human golem born from rock and stone, Derek has no family.

Pine Valley's own Sarah Michelle Gellar has a surreal, fun surprise cameo as her (dead) character from the original film in the new I Know What You Did Last Summer.

I honestly find Jan mid at best as well. I know they're hiring local new talent and good for them but there is something to be said for strong soap vets in these roles, lol. Jan and the two Articulettes don't make a huge impression for me, and all should be recast IMO. I would be all for the Joey connection, but it wouldn't make Ashley much more interesting to me unless she lost it. And even then, it's the Apollo Theater hook for you!

I think Budig is just compared very unfavorably to both Miner and Joie Lenz, who were very well-loved. Her stories and writing weren't great either.

I just think it was a major mistake to kill her, and I think Emily could fill a number of roles on canvas or with various people currently filled by inferior or spent iterations. Or more likely (as with Georgie I) she's a core character you can bring back in a certain story, then send offscreen to recover, etc. and have waiting in reserve for some future point, whenever the show needs another key female lead. That is a long-term strategic move I'd absolutely make. OTOH I'd bring Christina Baldwin (probably by another name) back first as a controversial psychologist (for the hospital angle) and feminist author, so Emily wouldn't be my priority either. A.J. though, definitely.

Idk who I'd get, but it wouldn't be Natalia lol. My angle has always simply been that Rebecca Shaw was Emily after all, which they should've done back then.

I loved Georgie and would happily bring her back at any time as part of a special event for the show at some point to cameo (or if the show was going off the air), but then I'd immediately write her back out of town because Lindze Letherman is IIRC very much retired despite her several willing appearances as a ghost. She's also just not relevant to the canvas atm. A.J. and/or Emily OTOH, definitely.

They did actually overlap the whole time; it's just that their respective relationships with Megan were pretty much spaced out. Andrew debuts in late September and has recurring counselor scenes with various people for the next month (after his first with Megan), and Megan has already met "Heinrich Kaiser" then either just before or just after and is preoccupied with him until late October. Then they reintroduce the Andrew/Megan connection almost immediately after "Heinrich" is exposed and flees the scene, just in time for Halloween. At this point no one knows who Cain is or has said his name, though I think they've already begun threading in a bit of backstory for him re: his family if I am not mistaken. It's just an odd little bit of storytelling traffic. The lupus story is clearly happening, has been layered in since August, and from here the Andrew/Megan angle goes full steam ahead. I do wonder if Cain was initially someone they intended for JT or KW, or if they were just still winging it all the way at this point. IIRC Gottlieb has said she hired interesting faces and then let time determine who to put them with, like Mark Brettschneider. That certainly comes across with them experimenting with Jason with Stephanie, Lee Ann and Dorian across his first several months, or with Luna and Jon Russell. I'm very curious how the early stuff with Luna, Blair and Max will unfold, as I know Blair was aimed at Cord first, JL quit and I don't think Blair and Max even meet until two months from now (NYE).

His best function on the current canvas (and the only one that's worked) is as counselor/enforcer to the Quartermaines, living in the mansion again and being there for all of them young and old. Steve has actually done very, very well with that stuff and he should've allowed it decades ago. Unfortunately it's only happened because all their romance plans fell apart and they were treading water. This Britt saga is their latest saving throw to try to make Jason a force again. I don't think it is going to work.

I remember thinking of a few early on but the first that came to mind was Eden Riegel, though she's now too old and I think too big a daytime star for the role on this canvas. Either way, I can't recall the others and I don't think the role works period. If you have to turn an ingenue psycho to make her work on daytime, you better have either a strong actress involved or an exit door waiting. Here it's the latter: I'd just write Ashley out.

I think if someone like Josh Kelly from GH was playing Derek it would be a whole different ballgame, but you'd still have Jen Jacob to contend with. I do think Dani/Andre have a very strong rapport and chemistry, even if Sean Freeman is still a bit limited. KM elevates him.

I think that's because she doesn't want to play very interesting (re: scandalous or sexy) stuff lol. Nonetheless, she remains central with the lion's share of POV given to her while having very safe story. I do think the material you describe is coming. I have a problem with it because when Lulu came back Rocco very clearly still adored her. And still does. I think it's just teenage rebellion, but I still don't buy it at all.

It's worse than just Britt and Obrecht. I think this whole story and their returns are largely a means to an end because all other plans for Steve Burton have flopped and they are desperate to justify his return and contract - from what little we know of FV, I suspect he may have tired of KT's antics long ago. But she fulfills a function for Jason (and Britt is a FV/RC creation), so they're going all in again. What unnerves me more is the larger picture: Britt, Obrecht, Valentin, Charlotte all back along with It just feels like sliding back into a slew of old favorites or personal projects that are either grotesque or feel outdated and tired. And as others have noted I still don't think Britt will last - KT is too weak as a lead, and the Rocco mess is making her wildly unsympathetic to a huge swath of the audience despite the show's overbearing intentions (see also: Kristina, Natalia, etc.) All that plus not frontburning Lulu and Dante with these star actors, or Emma and Gio vs. Joss and her himbo handler - it's just crazy work to me. The wrong priorities. Emma, Gio, Lulu and Dante should be getting this heavy story and airtime.

Alegria is the worst, but Ben Gavin is just dreadful. Jen Jacob is yet another case of a bland daytime starlet who would probably be best improved by going crazy onscreen. But while I could be here for it, even that shouldn't keep Ashley around for long. Sooner or later she's gonna go. I've said before and I'll say again that the crime drama in Fairmont Crest will end with Vanessa taking over Joey's operation lock, stock and barrel. I think JL/Joey have come a long way but Vanessa is clearly the endgame and LB is killing it everyday. A true lady boss.

A few more idle Gottlieb/Malone '91 thoughts - way too many more to come. Megan and Andrew's banter and chemistry is great in the first November '91 ep at the Hallowen fair. I do wonder what would've happened there if Gottlieb had managed to convince Jessica Tuck to re-sign, as Joe Lando was making major primetime moves (and would film the Doctor Quinn pilot in early '92 IIRC, though I seem to recall it did not go to series for another year). The fact that Andrew has basically been slotted in right where Heinrich/Cain left off as a romantic spoiler/rival for Jake with the two men one week apart onscreen, with a much more genuine friendship/rapport and less smoldering sexual heat than Megan and Cain, doesn't really feel out of place or jarring. It helps that Andrew's first scenes on the show in September were with Megan and that it was established that she and others in town had already met him offscreen. The famous/infamous Llanfair fire is here, allowing Gottlieb to demolish the old foyer set that has been there forever (and always looked too small to me, in addition to my being half-convinced it is in fact the Old House from ABC's Dark Shadows). I know there were articles about this setpiece at the time and I would love to read them if anyone has 'em - that fire looks very, very close to Yasmine Bleeth and occasionally Erin Torpey, and a bit too big and close for comfort. There's some remarkable camerawork here, including a wild low to the ground handheld/tracking shot with Jessica's little dog racing through the hall a la the boy on the Big Wheel in The Shining. I cannot remember a time I saw camerawork like that on a soap before or since - not sure how they pulled it off on those sets. I was pleased to hear Dorian mention Melinda during Cassie's utterly hogwild 'breakdown' at the Halloween fair, seemingly the first confirmation that Melinda had once again succumbed to mental illness since the Sharon Gabet days. I wonder if they'll unpack that more. Initially when they brought up the Cramer family mental illness I thought they were openly hinting at Addie, but no, they're using the known sister first. Poor Laura Bonarrigo is once again not doing herself any favors with this absolutely hysterical meltdown, even if it is deliberately OTT for not-crazy-but-maybe-a-little-crazy Cassie. It's making Cynthia Watros look a bit low-key. But I know how talented LB is - I blame them wanting her to just keep going bigger here. I hope it ends soon!

35!

We don't know. There's no clear answer either way. Except Alexis did mention Lucy's daughters in 2013 during the confusing Port Charles crossover story with Caleb and John McBain. As far as Wikipedia is concerned she's still canon and AFAIC she still exists (and should be brought on, which they allegedly may have tried to do in the 2010s).

She was adopted on Port Charles.

Yes, Serena and Christina.

I think they're playing with going there as the Gio situation evolves and Chase hopefully sleeps with Willow. I have a deep fear Lulu will get fobbed off on for awhile while Kirsten is gone. Knowing FV, he will grudgingly put Lante together when he is out of options and then either cut someone or more likely put them in B or C-story. I think FV views many big modern (as in, post-'90s) couples from before his tenure as a threat to his vision of the show, unless he absolutely needs them to hold an audience or favors one of the actors. I wouldn't generally think that conspiratorially but it's proven out more than once. Guza II had a host of popular couples, for better or for worse; while I was not a fan of the prior iterations of Lulu and Dante, the original actors were popular together, and Alexa is a popular ABC Daytime vet. But neither character is one that Frank has ever favored as a major lead since taking over, and focusing on them would give less time over to actors he prefers. It's just malpractice to see both of them wasted this way. It infuriates me, as much as the LNL2 situation did.

It's because BLQ/Setton are the priority for Frank IMO. Dante and Lulu, a pre-FV popular couple, are incompatible with his needs and version of GH when they should be leading story. But they can't, because he wants Amanda Setton doing that. So they play second fiddle to her focus and Lulu is beaten up as a character to service his priorities (including, atm, Britt). It's not that BLQ can't or shouldn't lead story too, or that Lulu doesn't have many of these character traits dating back to Julie Berman. It's that the primary agenda is clearly for major story in this age range to be given to BLQ first and others second, and a lot of her story is milquetoast. While Lulu, a core fan favorite character played by a star actress, is treated like the heavy or a support player. They'll probably play with Dante and Brook Lynn (something I would've been open to at another time) and then reluctantly rush a Lulu/Dante reunion in 6-12 months, possibly while cutting one of 'em lol. That is the Frank way when something else doesn't work.

I love Kat's outre outfits tbh. The Rhythm Nation look got me.