BrendaB

6 hours ago, Darn said:

He's a little pretentious. Finding the rap/spoken word/slam poetry/whatever the eff EP last week he tried to scrub from the internet proved that to me. But he's probably the best new actor on soaps in years and he's young so I'll allow it.

What happened last week?  What was scrubbed from the internet?

I do like that he takes his acting seriously as a young actor, hopefully it's a positive influence on some of his co-stars that phone it in.

Today's episode was as good as yesterday...seems like GH is getting its groove back.  The range of emotions Genie Francis displayed in this episode between saying goodbye to Cameron (cute how Scotty & Laura ended up with a shared grandson) and the sheer dread and terror on her face on the docks: WOW.  Charles Shaughnessy is so charming, I half expect Fran Fine to show up to ham it up with him!  But Laura's reaction today finally gave the Victor character some semblance of real danger.

Love the color coordination of Ava's lipstick and top today.  It'll be interesting how the show ties in Austin's relatives/boss keeping Nikolas alive with whatever Victor's planning...hope that all happens by May sweeps.

12 minutes ago, AMCHistory said:

Did they ever explain whatever happened to Lucas? God, that is a character with so much potential. I miss when RC wrote for him. For the first time Lucas had a personality beyond "Tony's Son."

Matt Trudeau is so hot, I don't understand why they don't show him more.  They finally get the casting right for adult Lucas and then he disappears.

When they had Tiffany come back for an episode honoring Sean Donnelly's death, I don't think she even asked about her nephew Lucas, did she?  The custody battle over Lucas between Tiffany & Sean and Bobby & Tony was a big storyline in 1993 (which I'm currently watching LOL).

21 minutes ago, AMCHistory said:

When was Mariah killed off? I feel like she was the easiest excuse whenever Kristina Wagner's contract lapsed.

I also noticed that Kristina is being used in so many of the promo photos and interviews for the 60th. Kudos to FV for trying to write the wrong of her poor treatment under JFP/Guza. Kristina is so beautiful, balances comedic and dramatic material well, and is related to so many people on canvas. Why she was ever written out is beyond me.

I agree with you 100%.  As for Mariah, the fan wikipedia page I read said they killed off the character in 2007 off-screen.  I wasn't watching then, but I'm sure it was an insignificant aside and probably a casualty of Kristina Wagner's precarious position on the show back then, like you said.

Thanks Vee for answering the question.  I loved how the 10,000 episode ended with Head Nurse Audrey at the nurse's station with the hospital moving around her and the theme song playing.  I hope GH never gets cancelled, but in a series finale or another anniversary, it'd be nice to recreate that with Elizabeth.

GH had so many over the years, but my absolute favorite is probably OLTL's Foxy Roxy with her bravado, messiness and humor.  Ilene Kristen is so talented and her character was so fun.  Such a scene stealer!  I never saw her on Ryan's Hope-- was Delia more serious?  That GH cameo Delia made wasn't very interesting, but that's probably due to the writing and the brevity.

7 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Kristina's answer is a heartbreaker. 

For sure.  Love all the comments and insights Kristina Wagner had to share in particular.  One absolutely positive thing about Frank Valentini, he knows how to treat female actresses, especially veteran female actresses, well.  Ironic that the show had legendary female executive producers for decades and they were awful to the female cast (especially Jill Farren Phelps...that hack Frankie Frame killer)...shows you how much misogyny is internalized.

1 hour ago, dragonflies said:

 

Did Monica say "Another Hardy slash March"?  Who is the March family that Elizabeth is related to?

Epiphany got a very nice tribute episode.  Did GH ever do an episode for Nurse Amy Vining's death?  Did Leslie, Laura and her kids/grandkids and Bobbie ever say or wonder where their relative and gossipy co-worker went?

Sweet that Felicia was there at the memorial and brought along Anna & Robert's grandchild.  I can't believe Felicia's grandmother Mariah was pointlessly killed off the show, but the beloved actress June Lockhart is still alive and semi-active!  I guess Constance Towers is from that generation, too.  We need a Golden Girls of GH reunion.  May they all live long and continue to flourish.

Esme's baby is the cutest infant I've ever seen on a soap!  He's like Gerber-baby level cute.  I wonder why the writers chose Ace for his name...was it a One Life to Live-All My Children reference?  Wasn't the big cross-over baby switch story centered around a baby Ace back then, too?  The way Heather Tom and Dan Gauthier acted those scenes were so good!

The state trooper giving the bad news about Epiphany sounded like Ryan Chamberlain.  LOL...that'd be an impossibly fun twist.  Speaking of villains, I was a bit bummed to see Victor throw the deputy mayor minion off the bridge, only cause I want Victor to stay on the show and the more he kills, the less likely he'll be on for long.

I enjoyed last week's Gladys and Cody scenes.  I hope we see more of them.

Thanks to AddieCate for uploading those GH episodes...I started her 1992 playlist to see how Jagger & Brenda started and am now starting 1993.  This show was so good in the early 1990s...I had no idea! 

The music--

The way they used classics like Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" and Phil Collins' "Against All Odds," plus then contemporary jams like Charles & Eddies' "Would I Lie To You?" and PM Dawn's "I'd Die Without U," in scenes were perfect in elevating the moment and mood.

The comedy--

John Stamos making a cameo appearance as Scott, Dominique and Julia Barrett go to Hollywood was a riot.  Tracy Quartermain, Marco Dane, Paul Hornsby and Jenny Eckhert were so fun in their rivalry/fights.  Marco Dane was great with Lucy, too.  Brenda & Julia's sisters relationship was pitch-perfect and fun, too.

The suspense--

Bobby getting taken hostage, Felicia getting terrorized by Ryan and the emotional fall-out of her getting convicted/imprisoned.

The tragedy--

Dominique getting her terminal brain cancer diagnosis was so heartbreaking.  I didn't even really like the character before then, but the writing and acting won me over.

The unrequited romance--

Brenda & Jagger.  Antonio Sabato Jr was so fine in the early 1990s, which I knew ever since I saw him in Janet Jackson's best music video "Love Will Never Do (Without You)," but it is unbelievable how gorgeous he was!  The show really transplanted some of the most attractive character traits of Jagger onto Sonny and Jason in later years.  Jason kind of looked like a Ferengi back then with the big ears.

The sets--

Love all the exterior urban sets, to match how inter-connected the show's characters were to Kelly's, the Brownstone, the docks, the hotel/spa, etc.  The Ruby character being the heart of the show through Kelly's is perfect.

Does anyone know when/how/why Mac Scorpio lost his Australian accent?

I didn't know Brenda Barrett had a middle name:  "Brenda Marie" is what I hear Julia call her when she's pulling Brenda's hair and stopping her from taking photos of Jenny & Ned on the fun March 2, 1993 episode:

9 hours ago, Vee said:

Also, Marshall is the only man I've ever seen who seems disappointed that he is not schizophrenic and has been laboring under a martyred delusion for decades. He also regularly possesses the same singular facial expression as Morn from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Every time he enters a scene I finish his dialogue for him: "Just wanted to let y'all know I have a new hat... me and the hat wanted to stop by and check on you."

Too bad Marshall's not as interesting or vital a character as Morn was to the best Trek show ever.  LOL.

They missed an opportunity to at least have a few scenes with the doctor who misdiagnosed him (or the ones that kept misdiagnosing him).  I don't remember what specialties Monica or Tony practiced, but if the writers insisted on that lifelong misdiagnosis plot point, they should have had one of the show's old doctors show up and have a tough conversation and face the consequences.  We could have had a nice little c- or d-story simmering in litigation and normal-level retribution/remorse until they finally end up saving each other from some new accident or calamity and let bygones be bygones.

^ I think that's just nitpicking for no consequential reason.  Spencer Cassadine is named after Luke Spencer's longtime rivalry with the Cassadine family as a symbolic happy ending for his and Laura's children.  Bobbie Spencer wouldn't ever be privvy to Nikolas & Emily's personal conversation and the specific reason for the baby sharing her brother's surname.

Seeing that clip of the more annoying Emily and bland Courtney, it reminds me that Nikolas has had some of the worst love interests on this show of any leading character.  His brief relationship with Britt and the Webber sisters are probably the only exceptions, but they were such brief romances, anyway.  Even though I liked scheming, predatory Katherine Bell, that coupling wasn't meant to be rooted for by anyone.  Ava & Nicolas look very much a redux of that, only twenty years later...

They should have made Cody's mother be Katherine Bell, instead, and made the paternity a question between Mac and Nicolas.   Cody trying to get some of the Cassadine coin and/or revenge for his mother's murder would be more compelling...

8 hours ago, dragonflies said:

Cover of the new TV GUIDE, sorry had to black out my address lol

Who's the shirtless guy in the "O" in "HOSPITAL"?  I had no idea Luke & Laura had a brunette phase.

Hopefully there's a new opening theme/music after the 60th anniversary instead of that dreadful thing I have to skip 20 seconds of on Hulu every night.  I miss the days when the "Faces of the Heart" theme would merge into a dramatic cold open with a beating heart and/or siren...

I just googled Dave Koz and he's aged like fine wine.  What a hottie!

And it looks like "Faces of the Heart" has over a million streams on Spotify:

Eric Braeden's a tiny little man and a misogynistic old fool.

Eva Longoria's drive, talent and continued success professionally and privately is enviable.  The movie she directed just won an award at a film festival.  She's been producing movies, documentaries and shows for 20 years now.  She's been politically active for many worthy causes.  She's such a class act, so she won't even acknowledge that over-privileged relic's nastiness, but The Old & The Irrelevant needs to reign him in.

I like that they finally gave that cute bartender at the MetroCourt restaurant a name and some lines.  He was looking adorable for years in the background and now we know Jamie's working on an MBA at PCU and giving his co-boss Nina advice the other day.

So fun seeing Felicia's friendship with Bobby and Lucy enduring over 4 of the past 6 decades of GH.  So looking forward to the Nurse's Ball prep, comedy and fall out (but not Chase, Jinx, Eddie Mayne and Brooklyn's inevitably lame singing at the actual Ball).  For Ned & Brooklyn's sake, I hope Rena Sofer's Lois comes back for a 60th anniversary cameo, hopefully popping out of a cake again, too, and dropping some new bombshell about the mafia or if she's still in the music business, then getting Bad Bunny to do a musical performance as Miguel's son. 

Anyways, today's show was the first time I've ever seen GH do a flashback of a scene from earlier in the same episode with Valentine remembering his argument with Anna.  So lame.  Lots of skippable scenes in Monday's episode.

Ah...good ol' Days making it into the sexy, soapy 60s after General Hospital.  Kudos to the Emmy-winning Carlivatti, Corday, cast & crew!

Bittersweet but also amazing that 2 American daily serials have now outlasted Guiding Light on television.  Will GH go on beyond the 72 years GL lasted on radio+television?  It's never been closer.

It would be hilariously fun if someone started a podcast audio-soap version of the defunct soaps and turned them into hits.  Another World would be especially good in a reboot podcast format.

Aww...bummer that Cameron's going to college in California.  I guess the actor is going recurring (or was he already recurring)?  The actor has the best hair of anyone on GH.  Those gorgeous highlights, the luster, the length, the part is perfect-- like the best of the 1990s teen heartthrob hair!   He needs to share his hair style and health secrets with the rest of the cast.  The adult Spencer actor's hair has gone from great to worse the longer he's been on the show.  I'm surprised Uncle Victor didn't drag Scotty's wild hair amongst the list of insults he spouted to Leisl today.

Funny how Esme's alarmed that everyone's an enemy in the custody battle, but does she not know her lawyer is Laura's brother (hired by Nicolas)?  He's the one that filed the paperwork to send his great-nephew, the adorable baby Ace, to jail with Esme.  

The episodes with Laura & Esme are so much better than the episodes without them like yesterday's dull episode with Willow.  Willow hating Nina in a deep-seated way like that doesn't even make sense and never did.  Harmony's deathbed reason to lie about it made even less sense.  Such low-stakes weirdness and making conflict out of nothing, like the insider trading nonsense between Carly & Ryan.  They need to resurrect the ghost of Nelle to haunt Willow, Nina, Carly to death or D'archem so they spend some time behind bars with Heather.

22 hours ago, janea4old said:

Wow.  Is that the current Days of Our Lives writing staff?  Good to see representation like that!  Lorraine Broderick did good work back on the ABC soaps in the 1990s and, of course, Ron Carlivatti (with Frank Valentini) did great work on One Life To Live.  I can totally see why they won.

Friday's episode was nice in so many small, sweet ways (much like baby "Ace" Cassadine in his Great Great Grand Uncle Victor's arms).  Laura & Victor's interaction was so well acted.  Diane coming in with that ending cliffhanger was perfect.  Can't wait for Monday's episode!

Laura, Anna & Felicia playing a Scooby-Doo-style haunting of the Deputy Mayor was funny.  Love how Felicia & Maxie have that humor part in common characteristics.  They should do more comedic stuff with Maxie if she's going to stay on the show.

Sasha is so much better now without Blando (but still keep Gladys!).  The actress is so conventionally pretty, if they pair her with Cody, they might be too beautiful a couple.  I guess they're setting up a quad romantic entanglement with Cody, Sasha, Chase and Brooklyn.

The Davis sisters all getting together was nice.  Dante & Sam make a nice blended family.  I'll never understand what her "domestic partnership" obsession is, but Molly being in a 10 year relationship with Dr. TJ and being a district attorney is so great!  The actress has grown up gorgeously...I can't wait till a hotshot new Lothario lawyer comes to Port Charles and rocks Molly & TJ's blissful soap world, in the court room and bedroom.

Heather is such an interesting character after all these years!  I love that Cher's beautiful sister originated the role...

...and the current actress has done a fantastic job!  Love the way she's shifted things around on the canvas during this stint, so I hope she stays on!  The Laura & Heather face off at the end of Monday's episode was so gripping and so promising for future revenge drama.  Heather even made the Sasha character interesting the other day for the first time ever.  And, of course, the mother-daughter dynamic of Heather and Esme was and will be excellent because both actresses/characters are so talented/compelling.

Overall, good episodes lately with all the stories around Ryan, Felicia, Mac, Ava and even Roger Howarth's new character scheming with Ava "murdering" Nicolas.

Trina's paternity story is so damn dull.  There's no stakes and it's a fairly meaningless lie that won't alter anything.  The current beautiful Jordan actress & Curtis' actor do have some chemistry though...

Aww...that is so sweet!  Good for him.

For years, all these trolls on the internet and in the streets kept saying he was in the closet.  Was it that wench Wendy Williams who started that rumor?  Nice how karma  works.

I don't understand how there can only be one nominee?  Did the other daytime dramas not submit anything?  Why not?

Carlivatti has done great work ever since One Life To Live.  Good for him!

Laura, Nikolas and Spencer's scenes on Friday's episode were so soapy and dramatic.  We need much more of that and less of everything else! 

I really like Laura in this phase of her life, away from the shadow of Luke and everything he represented.  I actually like that Lulu & Lucky aren't on the canvas partly because of that.  She's still got all the family she needs in Port Charles now.

Ugh...why did they have to break up Liz & Nicolas so abruptly today?  I wanted more entanglements and story between them, but now she's going to end up back in that dead-end relationship with the world's worst vampire sucking the life out of her again.

The only good story right now is Laura & the Cassadines.  They need to expand that family into a darker version the Quartermaines.  Everything else is just dull or dreadful right now.

Britt being on a wall of GH's deceased staff was a nice touch, but I didn't see Audrey up there.  Is she not dead?  Where is she?  Weird that Edward & Lily (as donors?) are so prominently at the top compared to the leading characters that played doctors and nurses at GH.  I think I saw Alan and Tony, but I don't think I saw Amy.  I guess we'll see the wall in greater detail for the 60th anniversary or whenever they do Epiphany's death episode.

Just now, carolineg said:

I don't think I would ever put Brenda with Nik and you know Vanessa tried when she and TC were engaged and they'd have just some random scenes that made no sense several times lol.  

Is Huss permanent?  I thought he was just finishing this out since MC wouldn't.

I know Vanessa Marcil & Tyler Christopher dated outside the show, but I don't remember their characters interacting on the canvas.  Wasn't the closest link that Nikolas had a crush on Brenda's other best friend, Robin?  Tyler Christopher was great in the 1990s, but he has not aged well and the last time he was on the show, he played the character like he was half-asleep, so I hope he doesn't come back.

Anyways, I was thinking more about Adam Huss & Vanessa Marcil having potential on-screen chemistry.  I'd rather Brenda be in the Cassadine orbit, anyways.  Plus, it'd be a perfect way to sort of tease the S&B fans, but this time put her in a triangle with a viable alternative.

I thought the rumor was that Nik was going to be killed off the show, but now that they've brought back Adam Huss, they should not kill the character.  He's too important, connected and interesting. 

I am so glad they recast Nikolas with last year's temporary recast (Adam Huss).  He looks great, acts great!  Since Nikolas is probably the most interesting male character on the show, I am relieved he'll stay on the front-burner with this pitch perfect recast.  If they bring back Brenda, I can totally see her and this new Nik making for a great story (but Liz & Nik or Esme & Nik is great story, too!).

The scenery chewing mama from Fresh Prince really needs to take things down a notch, though.  Are the directors and her scene partners too afraid to tell her to dial it down?  This is not a broad sitcom from the 1980s (even though Curtis & Portia being long-lost siblings would have been gross & hilarious).  And I just looked her up, she won 2 Emmys playing this role this way.  WTF?

On 1/22/2023 at 11:43 AM, Darn said:

She told Frank she wanted to leave a week before her Emmy. She didn't think a relationship with Austin would have worked and thought Cody and Britt were more like sibling. She didn't like her death scene (it was unclear what was happening, which is true). Wanted Britt to die of Huntington's.

Basically she left because Steve left and she lost her chance to be a leading lady on the show. That's my takeaway.

Thanks for posting.  That was cool to see.  Wow at her admitting she was waiting tables after she left GH the first time to support herself financially.  She's so brave for leaving GH so definitively this time.  Britt was definitely one of the best additions to the show in the past decade.

I love that they've given the Esme actress a whole new sympathetic role to play with this amnesia for a while, but GH needs some more messy trouble-making female characters.  All these bland goody-goodies like Sasha, Wallow, Sam need permanent vacations...