On 4/1/2020 at 10:11 PM, victoria foxton said:

Happy 57th anniversary GH.

Nice to see the long used image of GH's opening.  Hard to believe the speeding ambulance opening debuted in 1975.  I found grainy footage of that opening on YT, but doubt this is from the first day it was used:

I'm really glad to hear that Y&R is in good hands with Ms.Gundaker.  I'm not a Y&R viewer, but I'm all for seeing all four remaining American daytime soaps stay on the air for as long as we can have them.

55 minutes ago, victoria foxton said:

 

 

He is right about being relegated to being a day player, but he should never be embarrassed for helping to keep a well-loved character alive for faithful viewers to see, even if only occasionally.  Little does he know what a comfort that is to long time viewers like myself.  If I'm not mistaken, only his character and DA's Lesley Webber are the only two characters still on the canvas that are Frank and Doris Hursley creations.

15 hours ago, LeClerc said:

Noel Maxam's name is gone from Y&R credits, and former ATWT producer Vivian Gundaker is now a producer. 

I don't recall much being said about Vivian Gundaker on the boards here.  So, what's the consensus?  Is she a good producer?

52 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Is this the one you're talking about? JE was awesome here.

This is the one!  Somehow, though, I didn't remember Carly getting the last word like shown here.  I agree with JE being awesome here.  I still miss her.

4 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Carly has always been a hypocrite, all the way back to SB’s version.

 

The difference was that back then, and even up to around 2010, someone was on the show to fight with her and call it out.  Robin most often.  But it wasn’t always Robin.

I recall seeing a scene on YouTube some time ago between the wonderful Jane Elliott as Tracy and Laura Wright as Carly.  I don't remember all the details, but Carly was being vile to Lulu and Tracy stepped in and put Carly in her place in epic fashion.  I don't think a scene like that would have happened on today's GH.

13 hours ago, Khan said:

 

Did she really say that?  LOL!  Oh, she totally missed her calling as a comedian!

I'd have to look around and find the interview for the proper context, but I think she was speaking in reference to the character of Julian, though I could be incorrect.

On 12/13/2019 at 6:31 AM, dragonflies said:

They're STILL trashing AJ on this piece of [!@#$%^&*] show? 

In my opinion, trashing AJ is one of the sorry remainders from the Guza, Jr. era.  Why doesn't anyone seem to understand that viewers can forgive flawed characters like AJ, but can't forgive characters who commit crimes and walk away without a conviction again and again or male characters who inflict violence on women?  I know Jean Passanante later said that anyone can be redeemed, but, uh, no.  TPTB also do not understand that viewer like or dislike for a character is not something that can always be manufactured, or easily maneuvered.  On soaps or in real life, things just aren't that simple.  
 

On 12/7/2019 at 10:35 AM, titan1978 said:

For sure Frank is why Howarth is still here and still always in story.  Not quite as beloved as Easton, but still firmly a Frank pet.
 

deVry I have no idea.  After they burned down his pairing with Alexis I have no idea why he is still here.  People seemed to love them as a couple (I didn’t) but that ship has been sunk long ago.  Who is screaming for him to stay?

I think what saves Julian staying on the canvas is MW's Ava Jerome. Julian gives Ava at least some family on the show.  If they find a way to integrate Ava into one of the show's core families, it's safe to say that Julian wouldn't be long for this world.

On 11/19/2019 at 9:23 PM, Taoboi said:

So now that the change in writers have happened, anyone notice any differences pre-Shelly and post-Shelly.

 

Curious.

I hope I can be forgiven for moving a topic from November to December's thread.  Now that some time has passed, I can say that so far, I am mostly pleased with the Dan O'Connor/Chris Van Etten team.  I don't think we would have seen the return of Brook Lynn under Shelly's pen.

4 hours ago, titan1978 said:

It was nice to see Tony again, and the scene with Bobbie was sweet.

 

That memorial wall is always sad and nice at the same time.  Poor Jessie though.  Relegated to the bottom row and a smaller photo than Steve.  I think Lucille is even a row up between Amy and Gail.  Wtf?

Even after death, Jessie is marginalized.

It was really nice to see Brad Maule back as Tony on Friday's episode, but the scene with Jax and Ava was what really grabbed my attention.  I have to say that at first, I was kind of perplexed as to why Jax would have went to see Ava until it became clear that he was there only to fish for information.  Yuck!  Trying to play a sick woman is really, really slimy and I thought the character of Jax was better than that.  For all the guff that the character of Ava has taken through the years, at the end of the scene with Jax, I really agreed with Ava's anger and feel it was entirely justified.  An actress like MW is one of the few who can take a character like Ava and make you root for her!

On 11/3/2019 at 11:31 AM, victoria foxton said:

 

 

 

I like the actor playing nuNikolas so far.  While it would have been nice to see TC return, I don't hold a grudge against the producers for deciding to recast.  I just hope that one day, they don't decide to pull a switcheroo like they did with Greg Vaughn as Lucky on GH or Gina Tognoni after she took over for The Staff on Y&R.  I always hate it when I find out about recasts being treated like dirt.  While I understand that sometimes, recasts just don't work out, the human side of me experiences heartbreak for the actors that the rejection happens to.

On 10/19/2019 at 10:51 PM, victoria foxton said:

One Life To Live (partial) and beginning of General Hospital (December 11, 1987)                           

General Hospital- January 8, 1985 (partial)

Thanks for sharing this clip.  I don't know why, but the thing that amused me the most about this snippet was a much younger than we know him today, Bill O'Reilly anchoring the ABC Newsbrief in this clip.

Even though at first, I was intrigued with the "Frankendrew" story, I have been shocked by the amount of backlash from fans, and alot of the backlash has been directed against TB's character.  So, I imagine that the backlash, as well as the ratings drop has probably brought orders from the higher ups to kill the storyline.  I was not familiar with TB's work as Carly because I did not have access to GH during her tenure in that role, but she definitely is a talented actress.  The writers took a gamble with the "Frankendrew" story, and it obviously did not work out well for TB.  I hope she can find work in the future that is worthy of her, and also, brings abundant praise.

Thank you everyone for the help on David Gray.  I had absolutely zero memory of Luke's psychic powers or "The Sword Of Malkuth".  Good God, how silly things got in such a short time.  In 1980, Lesley was slapping Monica at a Quartermaine party, very adult, and it descended to this comic book storytelling.

9 hours ago, John said:

And what is MEK doing as Martin. I get he is supposed to be creepy but I dunno there is something that i cant explain yet. So i guess MEK said he knew of talk that Martin & Laura could be related given her bio Dads last name and MEK would like to work with Genie again

 

I could see FV going this route to extend MEK's stay

 

I think making MEK's new character a half-brother to Laura is an interesting speculation by fans, but I wouldn't be surprised if the writers just pulled the last name out of the air.  My mind gets mixed up on old story lines anymore.  Wasn't there a character named David Gray, a nice looking Ken doll, 80s style (who wore a leather jacket all the time), that was chasing our Laura around the time she married Luke, or was he chasing Laura Templeton?  I truly don't remember.  And I admit being stupid enough to think that maybe the now departed Margaux Dawson was related to Jane and Howie of early 70s GH fame.  Nope.

On 9/20/2019 at 4:37 PM, titan1978 said:

I also loved Julia.  And truthfully, I liked Jenny Eckert, Sly, and Mac.  And Paul Hornsby.

 

Bill though-  just awful.  When Tony and Genie came back together as Luke and Laura, it was like a lightbulb went off.  I totally got why Tony was a big deal, and why they were great together, and how much Genie really shines playing Laura.  As Bill I couldn’t stand him.

 

Monty cast some good actors when she came back, and the characters were solid for the most part.  It was just a mess of way too many changes, and sidelining of characters that were at that time integral to the show.  If she hadn’t bombed so spectacularly, we would not have gotten Riche/Labine and that would have been a real shame.

While Bill Eckert was pretty much an unpopular character, if I had to be honest, it was probably the beginning for me for respecting Anthony Geary's work as an actor.  I was part of a very small minority who did not like the Luke of the 80s.  Since I was one of the viewers who could remember the fairly straight-laced professionalism displayed by doctors and nurses of the GH just a few years before (the GH that still had the organ music), I was never sure how to process the cartoonish Luke of the early 80s.  While I have heard that Mr. Geary did not like the Labine take on Luke, I liked him much better under her pen, because it was shown that Luke could actually act like an adult.

5 hours ago, WebberFan said:

So... Willow gets to identify Shiloh's body... in the middle of the hospital?  

I thought the same thing.  However, another thing that surprised me was that a body was found at all.  I thought for sure that this was going to be another one of those, "There's no body and we don't know what happened" type of deals, with them keeping Shiloh a threat for years to come.  So, it appears that the cult leader plot was not only unpopular with viewers, it is apparent now that the network brass didn't like it either, if they are killing the story so thoroughly.

7 hours ago, KMan101 said:

 

I haven't been truly invested since around the 50th too. Frank though seemed to have no interest in keeping certain characters around at the time (Brenda, Jax, Laura, etc.).

 

SO true on the Prospect Park debacle. We've never recovered. It all went downhill in 2014 (and I remain pissed at AJ and Duke both being offed again). Ron's first two years weren't horrible, but I know some hate all of his writing no matter what. At least I was invested and wanted to watch (the Sabrina [!@#$%^&*] was AWFUL though). Now I keep up out of habit and to basically poke fun at most of it. And also to see some vets who are allowed to cameo now and again. I can't really say I care about anything right now.

 

The only good thing that came out of the Prospect Park debacle was that we got Maura West as Ava.

I actually liked Ron Carlivati's writing for the most part, though it is now proven that it wasn't he that was the problem with GH regarding the bloated cast or the focus being on all the wrong characters.  Love or hate Ron Carlivati, the one major element missing since his departure from GH is lack of payoff in the stories.  Does anyone else remember how sleep inducing the Nelle reveal was?  Notice too, how little attention the once great Nurse's Ball musters.  Carlivati knew how to write a payoff!

On 9/20/2019 at 7:55 PM, KMan101 said:

I see ratings are down. Good. The Sonny and Franco Show isn't working and hasn't ever worked no matter how hard Frank tries. The drop is 100% deserved.

Now that GH has fallen to the bottom of the pile, I'm expecting that if it stays there for too long, radical changes and/or cancellation won't be far off.  For me, GH hasn't been "must watch TV" since around the time of the show's 50th Anniversary.  Even though Prospect Park debacle has long since ended, we as viewers are still suffering from it.  In my opinion, that time was around when the show started to derail story-wise, and I fear now, may never get back on track again.

1 hour ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Does anybody know when Shelly Altman’s final scripts air?

I remain convinced that while Shelly is still getting the on-screen credit, she was gone from the building earlier than what we've been told.  The ratings have not been good for some time.

10 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

 

How many times will we see Monica talking to a different person she thinks is her son? Just awful writing.

The Monica of today reminds me more and more of the Lila of yesterday, in that she'll accept just about anybody who moves into the mansion.

My vote would go to Genie Francis as Laura.  I have no memory whatsoever of the first actress who played Laura when she still lived with the Vining family.

I have not yet seen Friday's episode yet, but I just wanted to comment that while it seems that the majority here do not like the twist with Franco getting Drew Cain's memories, I have to admit that I have found the idea intriguing.  I was getting tired of the scenes of Franco, Elizabeth, and the boys being portrayed as a modern day Cleaver family.  Something had to give.  It was a clever way to re-scramble the canvas. 

If worse to comes to worst, they can  load most of the current cast on a plane that crashes and implant Steve Hardy's memories in Cameron and Jessie Brewer's memories in Trina.  Then, the show could start all over again with a clean slate.  JK