Vee

I always wondered how old they were playing Lee Ann as at this point. I assume at least 2-5 years older. I haven't watched her intro but IIRC she came in around April or May '91? It was a lot quicker a whirlwind tour than I realized, given that the outgoing regime was hammering away at her and skeevy Nicholas Walker Max being 'true love' in the summer. I do think Yasmine Bleeth had real chemistry with Mark Brettschneider and that it was a shame they didn't get a HEA together - I liked Lee Ann with Jason later on. I didn't know until recently that they apparently floated recasting her with Sydney Penny when Bleeth exited, but decided against it for whatever reason (and SP went to AMC and was a hit as Julia Santos). Hiring Penny would've radically changed the face of OLTL's youth canvas IMO, whereas by the time Lee Ann was out (along with Mia Korf's Blair) it pretty much became Susan Haskell and co.'s show (and then Roger Howarth's) in that age range. I can't really imagine OLTL '93-onward with Lee Ann Demerest still around - ultimately she was a kind of a blip of a character in the larger scheme of things, yet she was integral in the first year to 18 months of Gottlieb/Malone for some very strong story that I think YB, etc. all did well with. (I also always thought it was a mistake to not recast Lee Ann in the 2000s and bring her on to make trouble for Kevin and Kelly for a brief stint, but I digress.)

An icon. I remember the whole Burt and Loni fallout and felt bad for her. Oddly enough I last saw her in the latest season of MST3K, where she appeared in the unspeakably bad "Munchie." She gave it her all!

If I know Bryan Craig, I strongly suspect he has no idea Javi Hernandez is gay lol. @carolineg please get in on this, it's the joy of my week.

LMAOOOOOO

Who on earth gave them grief?

Any port in a storm as long as it's no one new, because they don't have faith in or time to train anyone up. I shall again tap the sign.

I have always said based on the anecdotes re: actors' kinescopes, etc. alone that there is more out there than we know. This year alone proves that.

Scoring a mawkish Bo/Cassie 'memories' (of... the last 6 months they started dating and rapidly moved in together and got engaged, less than a year after his wife's death?) montage to a saccharine Barbara Cook song is such a boomer coastal thing to do with someone who was predominantly a Broadway name lol. Gottlieb brought a lot of current music to the show as did Josh Griffith - they sure love playing Paula Abdul's underrated "Promise of a New Day" and R.E.M's "Shiny Happy People" in this period - but that montage was tonally a howler, as was I think their (probably Gottlieb as well, experimenting with popular music) trying to score Kevin and Stephanie to Otis Redding or something a couple months prior. OLTL did keep up this awkward tradition to the end, though. In 2013 the bankrupt venture capitalists running Prospect Park blew the last of the show's petty cash using the Rolling Stones (which could not have come cheap) to score, of all things, a 30-second love scene between Jack Manning and his English teacher. Meanwhile Erika Slezak was hanging around the payroll office demanding her last check. (True story.)

Lord, I'd forgotten he was doing that. We'll see soon enough! I really applaud MVJ for creating a predominantly Black writing team below her, and I know it's a sensitive issue re: old white folks coming back in. I just think there are some senior talents that could be incredibly helpful to nailing a stronger tone for this show, its scripts and characters.

I'd give a lot. But I suspect they both are way too comfortable where they are in life, and I can't see Mulcahey coming back into the lion's den after what just went down at ABC lol.

Again, I honestly think Thomson is there to backstop MVJ, same as Guza apparently was. I've never gotten much of a creative footprint from TT, but staff writers are often unsung and unappreciated unless they're better known names like MVJ, Karen Harris or Patrick Mulcahey, so who knows what good work she's done. I'm sure she has. Being a co-driver is appropriate as this is MVJ's show first and foremost, but I am expecting any real quality improvement to come at the deeper level within the writing staff. My issues with the show are much less with the larger stories than with the day to day scripts, etc. Some are decent, some are howlers, some are both. Very few have touched the caliber of MVJ's GH days.

I am diving back into fall '91 (October) and it's interesting to ponder what exactly they were toying with where or when. For example, Jon Russell and Luna are genuinely cute together but it is such a wild clash of two totally different eras of the show you never thought you'd see onscreen. Meanwhile, they had clearly begun to already plan for Jessica Tuck's potential exit in late August when they had her be notably under the weather at Hunter and Andy's wedding, and IIRC we've seen soap mag clippings from that time openly discussing that she is likely to exit and the show is making plans. What I wonder is when it was definite about JT, but I think the lupus story was threaded in very, very early, as that wedding was before Malone's name was officially on the show. What makes me further curious is: Was the reinvention of Christopher Cousins' role on the show and the creation of Cain originally intended for Megan if she stayed? "Heinrich" is clearly playing a romantic spoiler to Jake and Megan, and I assume by now they knew Joe Lando was not coming back for good. (The pilot for Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman was shot in early '92, but it's close enough.) Or did they already know John Loprieno was leaving as Cord by now - I assume they must have - and were simply playing the man who would be Cain all around the canvas in a smart way? Joey Thrower is so much more boyish than Kirk Geiger who would come later (which may be why he was recast, in addition to Geiger being a superior actor - I can't see Thrower's Kevin with Ellen Bethea's Rachel) but also genuinely winning and hot. it's a bit discordant in these overt sexual scenes with Lee Ann. But the show is much more sexually charged since Malone came on, something I talked about months back. There's a heat and intensity most soaps (other than possibly DAYS or BTG, and a handful of recent bits on GH) shy away from today. @EricMontreal22 I hope you'll dive back in too! Stay tuned for more 35+ years late thoughts!

I remember Tracy Thomson's name. IIRC she started at GH during Guza II, and later jumped to JFP's Y&R with her and did time with Pratt, I think both there and at AMC. I don't expect a massive material change with her addition as MVJ's co-head tbh. If Guza was going to have had a heavy hand in the show's plotting over the past months I frankly think we would've already seen it. I suspect Thomson is another trusted pair of hands MVJ knows well (like Guza) to help her facilitate her vision. But for right now the place I'd personally look for real day to day changes is in watching if they hire some more veteran dialogue and breakdown writers with stronger background and expertise. That daily work IMO is what the show needs the most.

Carly at least acknowledges she was with Drew in spite of their hilariously quick break-up. If you dropped in on the show today you'd have no clue Sonny and Nina were ever together let alone married for three minutes, or that GH spent several years on their cracked love story. I will not be shocked if Carly and Brennan swiftly break up but I think it is more likely he comes to a swift and ignoble end (as in, death) either before or right after that.

The smart play for Carly would be to bring back A.J. (be it Sean Kanan or someone else) again. But they won't.

As do I, which is unbelievably depressing to think about. Round 89. Brennan was clearly conceived in the strike or whenever as the bad guy behind Pikeman, then Mulcahey made him and Valentin accomplices, clearly (IMO) intending to dump both. He even wrote the reveal eps. Once they quickly realized Jarly was doomed they suddenly had Carly visit him all the time, glommed onto a bit of social media interest and tried to make it work - I don't think that was Mulcahey, personally as he was already about to get iced and there was clearly BTS turmoil. But it was never going to last. Brennan is a nothing character regardless of the actor. I always get so sick of these timewaster couples these days. I'll also call it now: While Steve and KT have real chemistry, Thiebaud is a poor dramatic actress and always has been. The minimal mystique of Jason and Britt for some of the audience (not me!) was its newness and squandered potential. I think once they go all in it will fade fast, and she'll be out again in a couple years.

I am fairly positive he is. Always have been. But the Brennan character was doomed even while Mesure was there. He was always this rando dayplayer they just latched onto when Jarly flopped again. (And as I keep saying, it is insane they have attempted that twice in five years, watched it tank both times and take half the show with it and yet the same creative team is still in place.) I suspect there is a real story re: Mesure but I have no idea what it is. Very strange.

McKenna is great in certain roles where he can play to his strengths - witty, relatable, earthy, etc. He's still my favorite Joey Buchanan from OLTL, where he aged to adolescence, had key roles in famous stories and was a direct precursor character-wise to Nathan Fillion's Joey. He grew up to be hot. But putting him in stiff suits having him mouth this lousy dialogue and play the type of role he's totally unsuited for is crap. I feel like he just got the job because Mesure left them in the lurch for mysterious reasons (I'm still wondering what happened) and Chris is another of Uncle Frank's old pals. I'm always happy to see him somewhere but this was never it. Still, Brennan is a worthless character who has always been a placeholder with a limited shelf life, no matter who plays him.

Priscilla Presley (Dallas) cameos in the new Naked Gun revival movie, reprising her character from the original films.

John de Lancie (Eugene, DAYS) made a voice cameo as his famous Trek character Q in a recent episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

A contract just means the show has secured an actor for the length of their needs. GH and other shows have often abruptly put people on contract not long before offing them in recent years. Sooner or later - sooner, I suspect - he's toast.

All of them suck except Emma and Gio.

That's when you know the show has arrived.

I don't think there is any indication that MVJ is rejecting the input of her veteran writers. I just think she needs to hire more lol.

It's all true about the lack of cultivating new talent vs. nepotism hires and people protecting themselves. That being said, I think one thing BTG actually desperately needs is more oldheads in the writers' room, not less lol. That show would be heavily, heavily improved if some of MVJ's old writers' room chums from GH in the '90s and 2000s, like Mulcahey, Karen Harris, etc. came out of mothballs to punch up dialogue and character. So it would feel less like B&B and people either mouthing expositional platitudes or just throwing off Gen Z-ready quips. That dialogue is not all bad either, and often it's very current (sometimes to the point of cringe)! But it could be much richer and smarter, or less precious when discussing social issues. Sometimes expertise and a specific voice rings out strong. The best approach going forward is a careful mix of old and new voices. BTG is getting there but it needs more of the former IMO.