Vee

The Joss/WSB story feels like an afterthought, frankly. Granted I only watch some days/weeks but when I am watching consecutively it does not feel like A-story in the way they used to try to push Eden very, very hard. That started to cease last year.

Oh, I think there's loads to fix about the show. I don't think this silly preemption week is on the show, I think it's on the network. He never likes to own that part or take accountability for that kind of vile speech. If you confront on him on the details as to why he personally thinks MVJ is anti-Black or a 'bootlicker' he's outta here! Can't talk right now! Gotta go! We used to ban for that kind of trolling.

As long as it gets canceled for not hiring him and using his fanfiction, that's what matters. As it is, BTG is already renewed halfway to outlasting Generations.

Now you've done it.

I'm just pleased they got those couple of lines in on GH a few years ago where Kevin and the visiting Nora made it clear Marty was sane, well and out of trouble, practicing medicine again. (We'll just blame that murder of a shrink on the tattoo people.) Kevin is her friend and colleague, it seems.

IIRC someone posted a lot of clippings in the last year about Tonja's initial 'exit' in summer '91, which came right as Gottlieb was coming in. I think it was in the wind even under Rauch as they were turning her psycho over Bo and Laura Bonarrigo's new Cassie before he and his team exited, and I'm not sure who executed the famous Loon Lake remote. Pretty sure it was Gottlieb. Much was made in print of how Tonja's final scenes were to be either right after when she was apprehended or very shortly thereafter in custody, and how that changed on a dime. That happened because Gottlieb reversed this in very short order and Alex was back onscreen in jail while Bo fretted about getting her to confess, etc. maybe a week or two later on-air. Initially she was announced to be out alongside people like Nicholas Walker (Max #2), Hunter Guthrie and Andy #1, Rika Price, et al. Then a week or two later (per soap press) it was Tonja is staying and James DePaiva is back as Max after all. I think Tonja was great on the show and rewatching her in the early '90s you see both how funny and terrifying she could be, but she has always been a little bonkers. I remember the years in online chats while she was off the show in the 2000s where she insisted Lindsay Rappaport had to be violently murdered (specifically, this) in order to make space for Alex again. While he was (briefly) here, Giles was also the one who said Thorsten Kaye and Susan Haskell declined to go on the record (and Thorsten refused to return in '11 to cameo because of the acrimony around her firing) but said he was told by someone who would know that Susan gathered the whole cast around on her last days in 2011 and said she'd never been treated so poorly in her career. That's where that anecdote comes from.

There's definitely a touch of a "Mad World" montage in his eyes.

You're welcome. I had to dig up the old promo.

People were viscerally pissed about her being an unctuous, proudly homophobic busybody, not just on LGBT issues but re: pushing her way into Deception, etc. They were also pissed Ava took the blame last summer for exposing Natalia's own words. However bigoted some of the audience may be in their everyday lives, onscreen among the characters they've watched grow up or cared for they just wasn't there for it. I do think Natalia the obnoxious, overbearing stage mom and schemer had a short shelf life but was worth watching if she'd actually gotten up to more trouble sooner. The problem is FV clearly wanted it both ways shortly after hiring her, to test her with Sonny, etc. whereas I think Mulcahey (or whoever was in the mix when she was first hired) had intended her to simply be exactly what she appeared to be initially, and ended up as.

I don't think he had any even idle interest once the writing got into Natalia's bigoted comments on the recording tbh. Which is ironically right at the time when FV started trying to save the character in the most tone-deaf way possible lol. It became clear by fall Mo just did not want Sonny to touch her, because it was taking too long (by Sonny standards). Like, I'm pretty sure Sonny was more affectionate with Angel Sorel in 2001, a story and pairing Mo publicly and proudly tanked. I thought they might push harder once Natalia became Sonny's heart whisperer early this year, but that died too. I wonder if Mo finally said it's never gonna happen, or if they just needed the money so Eva was out.

It was way back in the Primetimer/PTV archives. I'll see if I can find it. Chad's expression is hysterical. Meanwhile, these are a thing of beauty. I have absolutely been drunk texted like this.

My best screencap since lascivious Fluke lusting after a deeply uncomfortable Chad and Ryan Carnes' Lucas with his arms around them.

This is honestly just what I needed after my last year of hell. Noted Bigot Natalia groveling for Sonny's imaginary love while Sonny/Mo ponders the added cost of her Uber Black. Van Hansis is real lucky Ryan Carnes allegedly went antivaxx/hippie/whatever and didn’t want to sign a new contract. Although I’ll admit it is refreshing to see clearly LGBT actors becoming much more common in these roles/stories, and they're both decent and work well together. I do think Hansis also has great rapport with LW, Becky, etc. even if he's not my ideal choice in the role. I wouldn't dump him or anything atm, but it would depend on how much heavier story he could carry. I thought he was a comical mess hamming it up after Sam's death. It's a shame Portia is clearly the disliked heavy in all her stories when BK is the only one in this tired love triangle that can act.

I do really look forward to diving deeper into Princi's years. She is quite impressive, and more nuanced than Robin often was in her 2003-2013 run (because Robin was frankly hurt and scared that she would be let go again if she didn't run at 200%, and said so repeatedly). But I'm waiting for the rest of '91 to go up. It's a great book, and very, very candid. There's just enough in there about the middle years from JFP to Carlivati for me.

I transcribed a lot of this stuff when the book first came out, much to the ire of Jeff Giles. (I really should've done less.) I was overenthusiastic about the book. I do remember the Marcia anecdote. Giles explicitly said in interviews he came back during Carlivati's run, and was much less interested in exploring the in-between years from the '80s/'90s til '07/'08. He also said Robin (among a few others) was a handful to talk to, and was not keen on a long interview. Which is typical of Robin, really. I think Princi did wonderful work from what I've seen, but it'll always be Robin for me even at her loudest. I don't fault her for her reentry being a little shaky, but for most people outside of here Princi seems to be a footnote.

There is no universe in which BTG staging or remotes look (or should look, IMO) anything like Peapack.

It's honestly just what Eva said it was: The character was conceived as a heavy for the Kristina/Blaze storyline and was extremely effective in that role early on IMO. She was profoundly unlikable and could've stirred up real trouble in a short run, I thought her clashes with Kate Mansi were strong. Then FV once again fell in love with having a soap name and tried to make her viable and it insulted the audience and their intelligence. It's funny how ELR's take is very blunt and straightforward on why the character never worked and FV is still waxing about her 'successful extended arc'.

The fog of war in that book is clear in that Thom Christopher gives Paul Rauch credit for putting him and Tonja together. That of course never happened. Tonja has always been uh, a little off.

Correct. I think they discussed it in some of the old Tommy Krasker interviews.

I put it in the spoiler thread. It is funny to hear her say yeah, nobody bought it. I am surprised she didn't realize she was in trouble til January. She seems to fully understand the character didn't work because Frank once again decided 'well, let's keep her too!'

Eva LaRue pretty candidly discusses her exit.

It was stupid as hell. But I've seen dumber behavior from soap actors we're all happy to rehire. Whether he is capable of more than suave and cocky I have no idea. I am not wedded to any particular actor choice. I want someone good, strong, authoritative like Phillips and young enough to play opposite BK.

Mfundo Morrison was terrible. I would be tempted to try Maurice Johnson (the first Ted Richardson on BTG) though I'm not sure how strong his chops are. The day to day writing for him didn't necessarily do him any favors.

I think if B&B can keep getting Kanan back it's always possible for him to return to GH. Maybe not under Valentini, but Frank and other former unpersons have made nice before. That's soaps. I would want him, both for that and for re-pairing with Carly (any Carly) down the road. I hadn't really figured all that out. What I know is Justus' son would be a major new scheming lead for the twentysomething set (Trina, Emma, Gio) mixed up with both girls, and he would likely actually not be living among the Ward family. He would be under another identity given his past, probably worming his way in with Drew (maybe as an ambitious assistant) or others as a schemer or social climber before it's revealed who he is. He would come in first, and Justus would be revealed to be alive considerably later. Justus would not know he had a son, and the son would not know Justus is still alive. Maybe only Tracy or someone in the cop shop would have discovered that, and you'd see them meeting with a guy about Tracy's schemes against Drew or PCPD business, etc., and we'd only later discover this is in fact Justus Ward. (Unless you brought back Joe Phillips, but I'd probably go younger for someone to pair with Brook Kerr.) At this point, with Gio ascendant and other options for the girls (not Kai), I'd wait quite awhile. Even though I am a big fan of the Cassadines.

What shocked me about Season 6 of Knots (and part of what makes it probably my favorite season, so far) is that they did a profound 180 on Gary and Abby, and the direction those characters were going in in Seasons 4 and 5. The show and its very strong writing staff clearly realized they couldn't break them up so soon. So instead Gary sees Abby with much clearer eyes after the Wolfbridge affair ends, and accepts her and their relationship for who she is and what they do for each other. It's the most functional, mature and equal their marriage gets, and it was a huge and refreshing surprise to me. Of course it also functions as dramatic setup for the big secret of the twins, but that works too. It was never going to last, but for what it was it was good.