Planet Soap

Everything Sheila Carter since 2003 (except 2005) has sucked.

The Sugar plastic surgery storyline was STOOPID and to duplicate it with Phyllis was even stupider.

On the current B&B, if they want Sheila long term she should be written as a trouble maker woman with unstable tendencies, sort of like early Michelle Stafford/Sandra Nelson's Phyllis. They managed to make Sheila long-term during her first B&B run. Turning her into a full-blown murderous psyco writes her into a corner. 

What was the necessity of inventing another child for Sheila, when Erica, Diana, Rider, Daisy, and even (not her son) Scott Jr. all exist. It's clear that Finn was his own character at first  then they decided to connect him with Sheila. Otherwise, it would have made more sense to just have Finn be Scott Jr and to have Sheila still obsessed with him. That would open the door for Lauren to come back.

It feels like B&B is moving closer to having Hope & Finn smoosh to quote Jersey Shore. He was massaging her temples today---- in a purely doctoral way of course. Finn even tells Hope that she's so beautiful and any man would be lucky to be with her, and Thomas is not the right man. Unless this is a fake out, it's coming eventually. 

@VelekaCarruthers B&B was pretty good up until 2002, more specifically 87-93 and 98-02, IMO.

Pretty much every GH RETCON since 2012 has been shotty writing. 

B&B Justin tries to overtake Spencer publications. This would have fueled stories for years just like Brooke taking 51% of Forrester did. But instead it was over in two minutes. This was also a perfect opportunity to showcase a strong black villain which I'm not sure Bold has ever had.

8 hours ago, titan1978 said:

She is increasingly annoying online, but I did find it funny when Alexis was in jail and NLG outright said it was her boss punishing her.

Yes Nancy is very irritating online, comes off as self riteous.

Since there was talk about where they are going to eventually put Jason romantically,since Frank likes being back post charachters I'd like a follow up on Keesha.

The actress had some legal trouble a while back I wonder if she's overcome that now.

Their pairing ended abruptly after his personality switch, during which time he was very nasty to her. Repairing the Keesha bond, otherwise Brenda or Elizabeth. 

On 4/30/2024 at 1:18 PM, Maxim said:

I've been watching live right now... when did this show became so bad? What year... what period... ? 

2006 to Present.

The initial decline in 2006, stem from the death of the show's creator Bill Bell. The show's accelerated decline started continued in 2013 with the addition of executive producer Jill Farren Phelps.

Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but when was the last time we saw Nikki in the Abbott living room!

On 4/27/2024 at 10:40 PM, BoldRestless said:

If that display counted as mental illness then what about Phyllis? She goes down to that lounge and does that all the time, even takes her clothes and hair extensions off, too...

Omggggggg

I wish I lived in an area where GH airs at 3 (Rather than 2 pm, against The Gates). That be nostalgic! The ability to watch soaps from 12:30-4 pm straight!

8 hours ago, Vee said:

That's very true. I was thinking how astute that line was, because it's what has sold Jason to women despite his being a professional killer for years. His 'purity' which too often suggests something unattainable for most of us. Unlike Sonny I don't think Jason is a predator to women - I think he can go without women or sex - but he is what he has allowed himself to be made into, what he has embraced and he has never seen much reason to stop, even after having children. His latest attempt to go legit with his piece of the coffee business may or may not be a feint; it did surprise me. But it won't last.

Yes, he's a very Jack Bauer from 24 like charachter (or vice versa since Jason came first). Sexually disciplined, non chalant, strong but silent. Sonny is an erratic mess. Both men dealing with a neurological issue.

I liked Sam's assessment of Jason to Dante. "His openness and honesty draws Danny in which makes him a threat." Looks and the whole badboy aesthetic baside, this is clearly why Jason has continued to be a woman magnet for years.  Not to mention playijg the role of captain save a h*e -- befriending troubled women and pretending to be the father of their child (Sam, Carly). It's also why he comes off as more likeable/sympathetic at times than Sonny.

I feel like Lois and Olivia are essentially the same charachter and putting Olivia with Ned was their substitute for no Lois.

Both ladies play the same archetype--- brash and sassy Italian woman with a latina flair. Then again we have Michael, Chase, Dex, etc... serving the same function.

Similarly, when Billy Miller's Drew was in simultaneously with Jason it was two in the same expect Miller's was an imitation of Burton. That why I like Ryan's more animated portrayal of Drew---it differentiates him from Jason.

9 hours ago, Aragorn said:

I am a fan of Avery Pohl and was upset that she was let go but knowing that NAC is not returning is like victory to me.

Really? I thought he was pretty good.

I am all for the angle of Kristina being *the one child in Sonny's corner but her cluelessness to his level of criminality does not work. Her character has been well aware of this for years not to mention the whole mob princess reality show storyline they tried to do back in the day.

*This is the exact same way Josslyn thinks of Dex and Jason. 

Why is everyone so outraged that Sonny beat Cyrus who did so many things the year before??? Just because Cyrus was weak and in jail does not lessen that.

Not Joss confiding in Sonny's hitman of nearly 30 years about how Dex "is not the kind of guy that would kill for money", lol.

There are other shows on TV that have criminal protagonists yet do not prop them up or excuse their behavior this much.

6 hours ago, titan1978 said:

That’s because from what I have read and the limited ATWT I have seen, Marland was also recapping the stories constantly by having new characters find out what was happening. It added to the small town feel that soaps do so well and kept all the stories alive each week.

What we have here so far is better day to day writing and lots of character work, coupled with the starts and stops of Frank’s production style on the show the last few years. For me it leaves things disjointed, and so I am sometimes not sure what characters know what, and often things are either cut or skipped over to keep a story alive after not really visiting it for days or even weeks. Cody being a prime example- we know the real world reasons why it has stalled. We don’t know the in universe reasons because all the old team cared about was the start and climax, and always a meandering middle.

If I was watching just this week, I would think the A story is Sonny’s crimes and mental instability. I’m not sure what the B and C stories are. Dex trying out for police? Jason and Carly? Maybe Nina/Drew was B and Dex C? The problem is the momentum and movement was in Jason’s return and Valentin is the head of Pikeman. And that’s barely been addressed since. But we are seeing nearly every step of Dex trying to win Joss back and become a cop.

IIRC the diamonds on the necklace were the Ice Princess cut up. And Victor ended up with it for his new weather machine? It was very convoluted. Cody just wanted the diamonds, I don’t think he was connected to the 60th anniversary story with Holly trying to get it and also Victor.

I don’t know what happened to it after they saved the day and Victor was killed. And Britt was also involved?

 

A massive cast is why I found it hard to follow the history of ATWT as opposed to the smaller and orbit structured cast of Y&R. ( Plus classic ATWT youtube videos artificially full episodes instead of individual story line playlists which also makes the show harder to follow).

As others have said, GH does not have a proper timeline for the beginning middle and end of storylines, they start, drop off, Pick back up, and end at random times. It's good that GH is more of an ensemble now than under Guza, but the way they show a structure. Now it's hard to figure out which storylines are central.

IMO Bill Bell was the best at storyline structure. His stories had clear starts, climaxes and endings, with great filler to keep things going. Everyone didn't interact with everyone, so there wasn't character connections all over the maps to confuse the viewer.

Stephanie vs Sheila B&B. We often talk about their respective feuds with Lauren and Brooke but this was epic.

16 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I'd have to respectfully disagree there. Compared to what many would have had in that position, one half of a supercouple dying, it felt like the bare minimum. I guess I could praise the show for at least doing that...

I'm sure PM would want to do more, but, for the reasons you've mentioned, I don't think Frank will go very far. GH has never had a history of being interested in black women anyway - I think the most successful subversion was Mary Mae, who could fill a matriarchal role without seeming solely like a matriarchal character due to Rosalind Cash. 

This! Even if they don't care genuinely care about black stories, from a business perspective, with Winter's success on y&r, surprisingly other soaps didn't take heed to attract that demo. 

Trina, Curtis & co are more diversity than GH has in years but their storylines are lacking.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

In some ways the AJ/Carly is the unfulfilled pairing on GH.  And then they just go back to Jason/Carly or Sonny/Carly.  I didn't think SK was FV's enemy, but more Ron's.  I thought Vanessa was Frank's #1 enemy lol 

Sean Kenan & Laura Wright as well as Billy Warlock & SJB had some toxic sexual energy the level of Alan & Monica. That would have been a more entertaining pairing than Carly and Drew and the poor attempt at Carly & Jason in 2021. It's amazing that a pairing that had so much behind it to work just fell flat.

On paper the Britt story could have worked. Jason finally having a non-Sam romantic lead, only to have to marry Carly. Too bad the writing sucked. 

Boy I really needed those explainer scenes between Jason and Carly today! I dipped out of GH around in 2023 because most of the channels that post *high resolution* scenes from daily episodes of GH were taken down. The only two remaining channels exclusively posted Dante and Sam or Spencer and Trina scenes.

This is a testment to how the fans have kept the genre alive through pure dedication and nostalgia despite the the genre's quality erosion and near total collapse.

I could feel the nostalgia effect driving change around 2017 when we saw returns of charachters like Sheila Carter & Jason Morga, as well as the relaunch of B&B's classic intros.Y&R's charachter history episodes, holiday classics and pandemic classics were also proof of nostalgia's power in soaps.

Yes!  More variety in daytime! Let's hope it's written properly!!!! and let's hope this leads to more soaps...and more diversity on soaps. CBS tends to do well in rural areas so let's hope those audiences support this show as much as black viewers have supported Y&R.

Finally a soap (other than Y&R attempts to give one of their biggest demographics leading stories).

Not that GH is ratings powerhouse, but I am curious as to which soap will prevail in ratings...but that's getting ahead of ourselves.

The eclipse coverage might have seemed like overkill, but at least it's one uncontroversial event that the entire nation can rally around. This is so needed, especially in the same year as what is bound to be a tumultuous election. 

8 hours ago, Khan said:

I agree.  Unfortunately, there are too many people too willing to keep watching his TV series, movies and original plays.  Until that changes, and audiences start demanding better from him, he's not likely to evolve his craft.

I really hope we don't get another talk show anytime soon.  I think we scraped the bottom of that barrel the day we decided to give Drew Barrymore her own show.

I feel the same way about Byron Allen. Love that we have a successful billionaire black media magnate, but he delivers crap product. His judge shows are cheap and casted with fake actors, and I believe his news stations are just as unfortunate.

I don't know how many of you remember but during the 1 month gap between ATWT's ending and The Talk's launch in Sep/Oct 2010, I recall CBS in NYC airing Y&R again at 2pm. I don't recall the episodes looking like classics, they may have been recent reruns. 

I would like to see classic soaps air during the intermittent period. Even though you can get old episodes of B&B online, It feels like full-blown nostalgia to watch classic episodes live on TV in the afternoon. It recreates the appointment viewing feeling.

I still do not think it is a wise idea to llaunchThe Gates as a 1 hour Soap.  

To those advocating, for 30 minute reboots of ATWT and Guiding Light, I would love that as well. The question is, with so many actors and writers dead/retired, how good would the reboots be?

On 4/10/2024 at 6:18 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

Not to be funny or anything but those other productions have writers to pay while he doesn’t.

Just to confirm... does Tyler Perry have no writers at all???

On 4/10/2024 at 6:31 PM, Khan said:

It's been my experience that my fellow African-Americans will watch just about any film or TV series that features us because even terrible representation is better than no representation at all.

It's a shame that the most powerful black producer/creator in Hollywood delivers a s*it product. His refusal to hire writers and seeming ignorance of how bad his work is is astounding. There are a few Tyler Perry Productions like House of Pane that I enjoy, but others just fall flat. 

9 hours ago, dragonflies said:

Guess this frees up room for THE GATES

 

 

 

Finally CBS has given up on The Talk!

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

True that lol.  He had a lot of raw charm as Nico though.

Interesting.  So perhaps it was always an issue for him and he was just better prepared back then?

@titan1978 @DRW50  I thought GH was still decent until 2003.  I think 1999 was a rough year overall with cast departures, but 2002 was a great year for GH.  I have an obvious bias, but the only story I remember really hating was the Luke/Lucky/Summer triangle that was just..icky!.

Yes! From what I saw of 2002, Carly's presumed death, Sonny & Alexis's affair, Carly & Zander's friendship, Alexis's pregnancy and Kristina Sr's death, Brenda's return were all great... Didn't *Sonny also fake his death around that time, and Carly had to meet with the five families (which was repeated in 2021 lol) Damn that's alot of Sonny centered stuff. The sad part was Rick Webber and Laura's destructions.

From 2003 Ric and the panic room was good. I'm fuzzy on the rest.

With the news of Ole Orenthal's passing, how much can we attribute the decline of the genre to preemptions during his trial, and the appetite for reality television that the trial began?

7 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

Wow...all these posts suggesting Maura West be dumped from GH or questioning that she belongs there.

I feel like I'm living in a parallel universe.

Exactly! So many others deserve to go before Ava: Dex, Cyrus, Nina, Willow, Sasha, Curtis, Sam... The problem is they just haven't written properly for Ava. 

I do agree with the poster who said Frank hires big name actors and keeps them around past their expiration date. His stunt casting with no story trend needs to stop. 

On Jagger...Does every Gen X leading man have to pass through Carly lol!

Sony looks like he hasn't slept in weeks. MB had some serious bags under his eyes today.

3 hours ago, Vee said:

Ava is a cartoon in the best way possible for me. Maura always delivers. And she can do the quiet stuff too, when they give her something decent (like those scenes eviscerating Nikolas early last year).

Maura West is the antithesis of Kelly Monaco. Kelly delivers her lines in a (currently disinterested) casual/regular conversation way. Maura does an old-school soap campy cadence. Sometimes Maura is brilliant, other times she's cartoonish. But I will take what Maura is giving (drama, enthusiasm, theatrics) over current Kelly any day. 

Loved her as ATWT's Carly, and I totally see why she was chosen as Y&R's Diane. Had she been given her own character rather than being in the shadow of Susan Walers & Alex Donnelly, her run might have been successful.