Planet Soap

The revelation of Vinnie's suicide came too quickly. I was thinking, that if the writers wanted to stretch out the story they could have said a business rival who wants to take over Bill's company neutralize Thomas to keep the Spencers in jail and take over Spencer Publications. Lo and behold I see Justin knock out Thomas, so it seems that's exactly where the story is going. Could we get a strong black villain? I hope so. I don't believe we've gotten one since the days of RJ Gannon on OLTL if I'm correct.

Damn B&B moves fast! They came up with this Vinny reveal, ALREADY! GH would have dragged this out.

So they can bring Michael Easton and Rodger Howarth on as several different characters but we couldn't do the same for Stuart Damon etc....or even used a crappy backstory like Helena's freezer or David Hayward's clinic on AMC to resurrect some of the killed off Quartermaines.

Agreed. Personally, I think it should be #1 in the ratings. GH is a shadow of its former self, but it puts in effort. Y&R is a slow, dry, and stale, B&B is currently better than Y&R, but it's also in a repetitive crap state.

Good perspectives! For the characters I listed, I think Maxie was better when she was the fashionista with the bitchy edge, up until the baby stories. Yes she's been kept on the canvas consistently but not in a way on par with her earlier years. I suppose for Olivia that's her function.. just be there as a talk to character. Early was Dante was cool. The way he was charismatic, had energy and stood up to Sonny. Since Lulu was recast I haven't really been into his character as much. He reminds me of Patrick, really interesting in the beginning, more calm and less energetic toward the end. Everyone seems to agree on Sonny and Sam. Both actors appear very checked out. Sonny stammers through his lines. I think the last time Sonny was truly a strong character was confronting Claudia at the birthday party for Michael's shooting. Sam brings no emotion other than sigs and stressed body language half the time.

Maxie, Dante, Olivia, Sam (and up until the amnesia storyline) Sonny are all suffering from character burnout. The writers seem to not know what direction to take these characters in, a side effect of a bloated cast. With that many players some charachters are bound to either have redundant stories or nothing but a supporting role to play.

Started watching because the women in my house did and I got hooked. The crazy storylines were the draw for me. Moreover the long-term storytelling and continuity were fainting. The fact that I could keep up with a community of charachters 5 days a week, in real time, whose stories go back decades was unique from any other genre on tv. I grew up on GH and the CBS soaps.

I don't even mind 1 storyline for a 30 min soap but switch up the repetitive dialogue, or maybe add 1 more plot. I know B&B moves plots quickly but I did not expect the Liam admission so soon. Noticing that the characters don't talk in code, they outright state things in private conversations: "I killed Vinny", "I cheated on Eric with Carter". Like what if someone overhead you🤣?? It would be easy to catch characters like Liam and Quinn on a wire.

Amen! It might be crap but at least stuff happens. Cameron.....karma is a b. I really didn't see this coming. Had Cameron been black that stand off with police would have ended differently. As for Jason, how many times is he going to need surgery and be in a hospital bed in one lifetime??? There's a constant trend of him sustaining an injury and being comforted by a woman, (Liz, Carly, Sam, etc...). I'm feeling him with Brit though. What are our thoughts on Stephen A Smith? I think he's doing pretty decent for a celebrity cameo.

To me, Guiding Light declined after 1997. Y&R 2001- The production quality went down afterwards. GH - 2000 when Wendy Riche got the boot & Sonny really began to eat the show. OLTL-1996 after Michael Malone left and the Viki DID plot wrapped up. AMC-1997 after Lorraine Broderick left. I suppose the dates everyone listed were when shows began to decline rather than become utterly "unwatchable". I've come to understand that Reeva is Sonny Corithos of GL, in that she eats the show at the disdain of older fans. This in stark contrast to Erica Kane or Viki Lord whom fans seemed to like at the center of their shows.

Great feed back and wow, the mid 80s is very early compared to other soaps! From what I've read across SON, a lot of users post somewhere between the mid 90s and early 00s as the quality decline mark on other soaps. Overall the 2000s were not kind to Guiding Light (and All My Children) especially. Once the new production model came, that was it! I didn't like that Guiding Light was cancelled, but I can't say the show wasn't asking for it in the latter years.

I grew up in a primarily CBS soap house, and my memories were of 2000s GL. I never gave the show much respect until I saw what it had been in the late 70s (with all the Roger & Holly drama)and the 90s on YouTube. I think things were pretty good up until the Reeva clone and new face Annie mess. What would you all consider the definitively best period of GL, and when did it go off the rails?

Not sure how you all feel about this, but I always found Mad Tv (and In Living Color) to be edgier and funnier than SNL. It think Mad's 1 hour run time was a plus too. Both shows also boasted a more diverse cast. Mad Tv especially could swing from frat boy to urban and everyman's humor. Mad and Living were strong at music video parodies as well. Because SNL has to fill a 90 minute slot, it's makes half the skits feel like moderate to barely funny filler. The only advantage SNL has is comedy star generating power and the iconic backdrop of New York and Rockefeller Center to add to it's prestige.

I found Christine not knowing about Jack & Patty strange too. It's similar to Brad explaining Sheila's misdeeds to Michael in 2005 despite Michael having been on the show in the early 90s. It really speaks to the old show's charachters isolation, its habit of not mentioning past storylines and randomly disregarding characters and history.

IDK why soaps haven't tried to elevate more non-white characters, especially given how much people of color support their shows. The trend of mostly wealthy white characters in a rich CORE family that owns a some form of conglomerate, in a town somewhere where melodramatic things happen is so repetitive. In that same theme, I'm surprised more shows haven't had a singular focus like fashion on B&B or politics on Capitol.

They should have explored all the stuff in the flashbacks in the therapy sessions, not the invented Mikkos scenes.

I bet! The quality and rush to production required to write a scripted series airing 5 days a week is why I've grown to be critical of the 5 day new episode model.

@Lust4Life76 it seems those who have been destructive to the show have been allowed to stay in power for a long time. JFP lasted about 11 years, and now Frank is approaching 10 years at the helm. Current GH needs a new EP ASAP! Maybe Frank (and Ron) she try to reshape Y&R or even B&B. I'm curious to see how that would play out.

In that same breath, from what I understand Wendy Riche was removed as GH EP? Why was this after she brought General Hospital significant acclaim and awards in the 90s?

Even the sub families were more interesting. The OG Spectras, the Marones and the Logans had a lot going on back then. I wonder why we haven't seen Jackie or anyone from that clan come back since.

In watching old episodes on youtube, I was surprised to see how much juice B&B still had left in it as late as 2010. The storyline with Brooke and Oliver, Beth drowning, the end of Eric and Donna's marriage, best of all Stephanie was still around. BUT this is also the year where Liam was introduced to the canvas, and the Brook/Taylor/Ridge triangle shifted to Liam/Steffy/Hope😷. 2003-2010 was definitely post prime but still had some watchable material. Once Susan flannery quit that was it.

cooool!

@titan1978 I grew up on Guza/Phelps GH so shaggy Luke was all I knew. It wasn't until the 50th anniversary marathon that I realized what Luke used to be. Similarly I hadn't realized how close Sonny and Robin were, and how critical Monica used to be to the canvas.

Luke is a mixed bag. I think his best character years were the 93 return up until Nicolas came on to the canvas in 96. He was energetic, up beat, a family man. The other post 80s heydey period I say Luke was strong in was the Pt Charles hotel fire through the Metro Court Crisis. I found him to be witty and funny during some of those storylines. He also did seemed like a dedicated dad trying to find Lulu at the end of the hostage crisis, and trying to make sure she got the vaccine during contagion. Otherwise I didn't enjoy the shaggy degenerate that he became.

Same. I like how strong and independent Laura is now without being saddled in a victim role. Despite their problems though, I don't care to see her with anyone but Luke. I'm hoping their reunion is the final scene of GH should it end anytime soon.