AdelaideCate007

About the Tony discussion from a couple of pages back- I've been mad at them killing Tony for almost two decades now, but I'd just leave it alone. One, because I do think he got a great and iconic death in a pretty well regarded story and I'd hate to lose those goodbye scenes between him and Bobbie. Second, with no Bobbie, I think it's not worth it because the show went pretty hard on having people keep mentioning them being reunited so I'd just leave it alone. I wouldn't mind the suggestion of a look a like cousin or other relative lol, especially since it'd bring in some family for Lucas and Felicia and could be a fun romance option for a few people. Also, I do get people being gun shy about the memorials given GH's past history. However, this isn't the era where they ignored Jessie. It's certainly not the JFP era where they either had Sonny and Carly at the centre of every memorial or had to fly in people for five minutes to shore up a group for Lila's funeral. They've been pretty committed to memorialising basically anyone whose died both onscreen and off (other than Alan which was a mess because he'd been dead for so long onscreen) and I've thought all of them were tasteful and well done. They even had Jax remember his mother when that actress died. I know we're only a few days in but I've thought everything from Monica's has been well done so far. Rory Gibson and Alexa Havins, along with the Emma recast, have been a real shot in the arm for those characters and the show. No comment on the Faison family's new introduction. This is all so pointless and I just don't know who this is for.

It's funny you mention them raising her baby because as a kid, I remember thinking that's where it was going. Like another Monica and Jason scenario.

That was such a great Monica and Tracy scene. The Quartermaines were so nasty and basically used for comic relief and Jason worship by the time she got back in 2003 so that was probably one of the last real moments we got between them for decades. I think the next time we got a few good scenes was around the time Tracy was sick and when she left for a bit around 2017. Side note, skimming that episode is reminded me of that Jessica Holmes stuff with Sean and Tiffany. I loved them as a kid (and hate that their health problems kept them from being more involved during the Frank years with the other vets) and I remember enjoying some of that story at the time. Watching it now, I really have no idea what they were going for, especially since they randomly had I think Ryan kill her and then they were back together like a month later. Plus even in that episode, it just made Tiffany seem so pathetic and idk sad and desperate in a way that I don't think worked for that character. Really cute Mac, Felicia, and Maxie scene too.

I know they tended to lean on Felicia, Lucy, Mac, and Kevin for a lot of comedy during that era, but Madame Maia was a real low point. I feel like it went on forever too.

I think he was also responsible for that psychic that Lucy and Felicia got involved with and that they were too dumb to realise was conning them lol.

I got real tired of Damian Smith by the time they had him faking his death and we had that goofy story with psychic Lucy, Mac, Luke, and Kevin at a spa tracking him down lol. I remember his death story being good though. I'd take a kid of his or some new Smith in a heartbeat over Sidwell or any of these mobster of the year we got these days for sure.

I kind of enjoyed the Frank Smith stuff in the 90s when Luke and Laura came back. It did get a little goofy at some point (I think there was a caper at some resort involving somebody else that I can't remember right now?) but the ending with all of them in Puerto Rico was great. In typical Ron C fashion, as mentioned up thread, the return was completely absurd, made no sense, and ruined a perfectly good ending from decades before. I still can't believe they even went there but the whole Luke DID mess was clearly being written as they went along.

I'm sure there's a lot you can say about Steve Burton BTS (most of the rumours probably have a degree of truth to them) but I think he's always been genuine in his love and respect for the vets on the show. I've never seen or heard him be anything but kind and loving about Leslie (him speaking at her funeral I think speaks to their relationship offscreen). He's always spoken highly of Jane and Stuart, as noted up thread. And I remember hearing clips of his interviews with people like Finola, Genie, Nancy, Jackie Zeman, Kin Shriner, and Jon Lindstrom where he was nothing but complimentary, warm, and had a lot of praise for them, along with the other older actors from back in the day. I think he's to blame for a lot of bad Jason decisions over the years, but it's not his fault JFP clearly had no use for anyone older than Maurice Benard.

I thought the first few Anna and Robert returns were pretty good. The virus, that island adventure with Holly and Luke, when Robert was sick and they did the big 80s reunion (which might have been on Night Shift tbh, it all blends together). It was the later stuff when they had Anna making a fool of herself with Luke and Rich Springfield, Robert running after Holly again because of nonsense with Ethan right after Robin had "died", etc. I'm glad the show finally committed to both of them being on the canvas because like you said, Anna especially was beneath a lot of that. What was so bad about the Bill mess was that they basically made him Luke, just without Laura and the name and with a crazy wife. Bill also had a redhead sister he was protective over. He also had a shady past. He also was in love with Holly, had some issue with Scott and Sean, was friends with Tiffany and Robert, whatever else. It did get better once he was with Julia. But then they started up whatever that was with him and Dominique's shady husband and Faison and some cartel and then had him and Holly scamming with Lucy (which they then just turned around and had Luke do a few years later). Like whew enough. By the time they'd almost gotten it to work, they'd decided to bring back Luke to try and salvage that and at some point Geary decided they were one and the same. Like @Vee has pointed out many times over the years, he clearly never got over losing Bill and decided that was who Luke really was. When he had someone to rein him in, it was fine. But then JFP and FV let him go hog wild with it and we got whatever that was that last decade. I never thought about it, but yeah, PC could have used a few more GH characters and definitely a good Karen and Jagger. I remember PC starting off strong and then it just kind of died. After whatever that was with Dominique's relatives, it just became the interns on one side of the show and Lucy, Kevin, andScott stuck in an endless quad with whatever soap vet they brought on for six months. I hate that we're stuck with dead Karen because of PC but one of the best things GH has done in the past two decades was just say Lucy and Kevin had been married that whole time and just hand waved away most of whatever was going on PC.

I had totally blanked on them as a couple when I said that, but yes they were. My bad lol. I was thinking mostly about how they never could quite get her and Max back together and then her dying a few months after he left. It just all felt pointless, at least to me, y the time she died. I thought the Max and Roxy thing started off well but then never went anywhere and he was just gone. I randomly came across an episode the other day of Roxy finding some tapes of poor dead Luna and her giving them to Max and him crying. I'd forgotten they were still playing that up by the time he was tied up with Roxy. If OLTL hadn't gone if the air, I do think they should have tried to bring Max back somewhere down the line. I think there was still some mileage left there.

I thought Vanessa's returns both were pretty good, especially the 50th. The first one kind of started to peter out and I disliked the baby (I know Vanessa agrees!), but I thought the stuff with her and Sonny was strong. We'll probably never see or hear from that kid again so it's kind of a shame so much time was spent on it, but alas. I do wish they'd get over whatever the issue is and just commit to working it out with her. They work around everyone else and go to great lengths for other people, so they should try with Vanessa. She'd at least give Sonny, Lois, and Lucy something worthwhile to do and I'd love to see her with Emma. I don't know that we ever got anything out of Frisco's many returns outside of Georgie and then Felicia finally kicking him to the curb. He's just one of those characters, like mentioned above with Holly, that never translated well to GH once it moved in the 90s. Holly at least works in visits. I don't that Frisco ever has. The Guza/JFP era was filled with these random vet returns that started off strong and then just fizzled out or ended badly. Rick, Stefan, when Felicia came back after Georgie died, whatever that was with Scott and Laura around 2007/2008. Even looking back, a lot of those Robert and Anna returns sort of sucked until they committed to them when Frank got there. On OLTL, Gabrielle's return is another one that started fine and then just ended badly.

Thanks. I've seen clips but couldn't remember which of the CBS soaps it was. Having half the GH vets plus Cady McClain, Roger Howarth, Mary Beth Evans, and Julie Pinson all on roughly at the same time and in stories together is crazy work lol. I think Passions is another one that ended up with a bunch of old ABC vets hogging up space too.

This really is all starting to feel like whichever CBS soap it was that had half of the GH vets (and also Cady McClain I think) on there during the JFP era before Frank brought all of them back over. I think RH is still capable of doing good work, and it wasn't his fault GH saddled him with two of the worst characters imaginable. He's not someone I see fitting in at Y&R though, at least acting wise. I guess we shall see.

I've tried to avoid US Politics lately but it's insane to see the Democrat nominee in NYC parading around with someone (Hasan Piker) who is extremely antisemitic, or at least promotes and tolerates it. I've already been extremely worried about how normalised antisemitism has gotten on the left/liberal and Jewish people fleeing to the right. I fear it's only going to get worse, especially since the right (at least here in Australia) are actively courting the Jewish vote. I feel like that could be a disaster for the liberals in the US in places like NY and New Jersey.

I love Susan Batten and enjoy these random visits from her. However, there has got to be a better use for her than hugging Lucy and Lois and standing there while tragedy befalls the girls of Port Charles. First it was Sasha melting down. Then whatever that was with Brook Lynn. Now Maxie collapses. And I'm still waiting for the day FV decides to randomly tie her to OLTL in some convoluted way. Felicia, Lucy, Anna, and Tracy were all great this week. Having all of them on and active is such a boost for this show.

As a frequent Hallmark hate watcher, if anything, he's gotten worse. He seems like a nice guy and all but whew. I was a more sporadic viewer during the Maxie and Nathan era and thought they were pleasant and sweet enough. They've just never been able to make any romance for Maxie work, outside of the original Spinelli pairing, and it doesn't help that she's saddled with so many children. This isn't a slam against him, but I'll just never understand who GH thinks is into any of this family outside of Faison and I reckon Obrecht (who I find amusing but shouldn't be a central character). GH has about 7 or 8 characters in the young adult age range that the audience already knows and cares about sitting offscreen and yet they continue to double down on this family and these characters nobody gives a [!@#$%^&*] about. Like aren't Nina and Willow related to them too? It's just ridiculous.

Jesus Christ I'd managed to forget about this until now lol. Finola's face! of their faces! Along with when Felicia and Luke performed at the Nurse's Ball that time, this has to be the cringiest and funniest moment on GH that we were supposed to be taking seriously. That guy was such a dud too and I feel like I remember him being on all the time for like a year and then was just gone. Who was responsible for this? This couldn't have been during the Labine//Riche years.

Awful news. That mid-lates 80s era of GH was what was airing for me when I started watching and I always loved him and the others in that spy and WSB group. Sad to think of how many of that era of vets we've lost in about 4 or 5 years. Sad for people like Genie Francis, Kristina Wagner, Finola Hughes, Lynn Herring, Jane Elliot, JJY, Kin Shriner, and Emma Samms who have been there for as long as they have and have lost so many of their cast mates in recent years. Frank Valentini has done a lot of things wrong, but he's consistently tried to keep those 70s, 80s, and 90s vets on the show and engaged in stories, work in appearances no matter how he had to do it (i.e. the phone calls when people couldn't appear, filming at Emma Samms' house, etc), and name drop them into conversations. They all really got tossed in the bin during the Guza and JFP era so it's been nice to see all of them get a second wind in the FV era. A lot of the Robert stories have been less than stellar over the recent years, but he was always engaged. The HEA with Holly in retrospect was a lovely send off. It's too soon to speculate and I reckon they'll want to get Monica and Lesley's memorials done first, but I'm sure they'll do a lovely tribute for him and get Kimberly and Emma Samms back for it. All of the tributes under FV have been classy and well done

I can't handle how desperate this all is lol. I'd say he should just try GH again since they basically let everyone come back and stay these days, but they clearly don't want him.

I thought this was incredible. I came in around week 10 and just blew through it. Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa, Fiona Dourif, and Taylor Dearden are doing superb work here, along with Shawn Hatosy coming off the bench to kill it in his appearances. I thought Isa Briones started off a little rocky but ended super strongly. Just great stuff all around. A lot of the guest stars were excellent too. I don't remember enough about ER to judge the similarities. I do think this is clearly a step above stuff like Grey's Anatomy and Chicago Med though.

Some of these new soap fans wouldn't have made it back in the day when GH had four or five Dawns in 18 months, all the various AJs, and lord knows how many versions of Lucas. Recasts are just going to happen lol. I haven't really watched any of this show, but the one time I saw him, he was good. I have to imagine he just wasn't up for the grind.

I felt like Laura also suffered from ending up so isolated and tied to Luke. I know some of that was because of Genie coming and going, but it always felt like Luke was everywhere and had stories with everyone. Meanwhile, Laura was just always in stories with Luke or sitting in that house with baby Lulu. That's why I always loved the Nikolas and Stefan story and when Justus let her take the fall for killing Damian. It got her out of that house and a story of her own. I also wish they'd given Laura some real female friends. I know there was always Tiffany and then she had Mary Mae for a while, but once they were gone, they barely tried outside of her relationship with Bobbie. I know she was never going to be close with the Lucy, Brenda, Felicia, and Lois types, but I always felt like they could have tried harder with somebody like Monica or even Alexis. The Carly and Laura thing at Deception is a blur to me, as is the Mac and Laura flirtation. I remember a lot of Mac and Laura scenes around the time of the Felicia and Luke thing.

I always thought that her plan was to basically replace one of the female vets with Melissa and thought fans would just be fine with it, along with just slotting in Roy into that crew. Someone else will remember all the details, but I think Bobbie was going to lose it over Melissa and it got pretty close to happening until Tony Geary steps in. Even if she wasn't fully successful in that attempt, It's crazy in hindsight how quickly she managed to clear out so many of the vet women. Felicia and Laura were gone a year or two later, and Bobbie basically ceased leading stories until she was just gone. I think Lucy was fully on PC by that time and the GH crossovers had stopped. I was a kid so not the best judge of acting skills, but I'd always liked JB on AW. She was just not what anybody needed on GH. It felt like Mary Beth Evans all over again. A big name from another soap that probably should have been short term, but they just couldn't let go so they kept shoving them into stories trying to make it work.

Didn't the Endgame stuff also involve Helena poisoning one of the kids so that she could control Tony and a brainwashed Lucky? Or was that sometime before? Cause Tony was involved in that mess too and I think was who originally brought Stavros back. Helena was big into poisoning people for a while. This was also around the time she pushed Stefan overboard and ran over Chloe thinking she was Alexis. I'd blocked out that Melissa and Roy were still around during all that too, oof. Even then, I remember thinking all that was kind of lame lol, and I was still really into GH at that time. It just felt like a retread of that storyline from the 90s with Faison where he was poisoning people (Paul's daughter and somebody else, maybe Felicia or Anna?) so that he could keep Sean, Robert, and the Quartermaines from finding out about whatever he was up to. Tony and Bobbie had been involved in that story too so it all felt very retreaded territory and so stupid. I don't remember him deciding he hated that story until around then too. Before that, he'd always been fine with it. It was around whenever the Skye and Tracy romances were full on and teenage Lulu moved into the Quartermaines. That's when all of a sudden the "Luke hated everything about Laura and the family" version of events became a thing.

This was my thought too. I can at least understand the rational and sentiment behind it. Whatever Frank's faults are, he's been committed to keeping those 80s and 90s vets involved and tied to the show, even if it's just in stupid stories or yearly drop in visits. I also think all the losses over the past few years have made that even more so. I guess they thought this would be a nice bonus for Robert and Holly's happily ever after but it's too bad it makes zero sense and that Sasha isn't more dynamic. But tbh, I still don't know when Holly was supposed to have given birth to Ethan or how that made sense timeline wise. I've just given up making sense of her years offscreen. I like Cody as Mac's son too, and I like Cody from what I've seen. It's just stupid to make him Dominique's son since it makes no sense and they've literally none nothing with that backstory, as far as I've seen. Feels like he could have been Mac's son with literally anybody and gotten the exact same story. Did they ever say why he had to be hidden away anyway?