Port Charles Discussion Thread

[Contessa Donatella]

My general impression near the end was that they were going to go big with vampires, that the vampire soap had new fans but that it wasn't necessarily keeping the old fans. That, of course, would not get them a net improvement in the ratings. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Here's the data for that special day, hour long PC, between AMC & GH. That one day, Dec. 30 it got a 2.9 but it was not averaged in with the regular ratings. But that is quite a jump from 1.7 or 1.8 to 2.9! We have the example of nestling a half hour soap on CBS & now this. The details that poster had given me were way off but the gist of the matter was on point. 

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[Vee]

I just remember that by the end the show had like, a vampire blood bar people hung out at or something. And yes, what little they gave Ellsworth, Nolan North, etc., the few remaining normal characters was just demeaning.

I do remember the single-episode story turn in which they finally realized Joy Bisco's 'twin' character (Marissa) was not working and replaced her on canvas with the more popular Casey the angel all in a single 20 min period and then went right back to the story in progress, which was one of the strangest things I've ever seen on daytime outside of Dark Shadows.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Vee

[dc11786]

Thanks for this. It's interesting to see that the special did go up almost a full point, but that it really didn't convince anyone to keep watching back in the 12:30 slot. 

I had only started watching in the summer of 2000 because I had SoapNet. The first stories I remember were Cedric holding Alison hostage and Jamal trying to save her and Livvie trying to track down her father by locating Rachel's ex-husband, Joshua Locke. I think Karen Harris set up the younger set fairly well, but wasn't really there long enough to define Jack in a meaningful way. Jamal and Alison were great. It was a shame what was done to them. 

I watched some of the arcs sporadically. I thought the honor killing story with Arianna Shapoor was intriguing even if Opal Anchel wasn't the strongest actress in the world. I remember "Time in the Bottle" seemed like a ripoff of a popular movie at the time where a guy spoke to his father across time using a radio. I liked Eve being pregnant and seeking counsel from Fr. Michael and Chris agreeing to step up and claim Eve's baby as her own because Ian was remaining with Arianna for immigration reasons. Once the meat of "Tainted Love" began I didn't really like that too much. Wasn't there an attempt to do "I Know What You Did Last Summer" with Jack dying and the other three keeping secret? I don't think I watched any of "Tempted." "Miracles Happen" was a very nice holiday story from what I recall, but I hated that it basically was the end of Alison and Jamal. 

I couldn't follow it much later because it was so insane. I tried. I think I saw Elizabeth Barrington's first few episodes, but that didn't look that was doing anywhere. I remember the blood bar now that you mention it. The originals were definitely wasted. Once Eve died and Ian and Lucy became a thing, Kevin was basically a dayplayer. Chris never seemed to have much story. I thought he might have dated Shannon Sturges' Kate the lawyer character, but wiki says that she was with Ian. Frank and Karen were supporting after "Time in the Bottle." Was Karen a vampire before she died? I thought her death was underwhelming as it was occuring just as ABC announced the cancellation (granted it would have been filmed much earlier). Everyone became a vampire basically. Again, I tried "The Gift" but all I recall is Alison and Rafe opening a gym and wasn't there some sort of Monkey's Paw like ring that caused chaos like Alison sleeping with Caleb. It's funny because I've always been curious about "The Doctors" final year where they dabbled in things like plagues and aging serums, but this all just didn't play well.  

[Contessa Donatella]

I've always been very dubious of trying to get someone to your timeslot by using a  different timeslot. I get that it can work as awareness advertising but I don't think that's saying much. I'm not sure primetime specials get eyeballs to daytime. 

About the end, my precious "Little Show That Could" became one hot mess. 

I wish they'd had an opportunity to do a real intentional ending. Maybe they could have given a nod to everywhere they'd been. Instead they were stuck with the last that happened to get written. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges

[Vee]

I remember they turned Kevin into a total lunatic near the end (I think due to magic) and tried to put Ian and Lucy together. That was the nadir for me. I don't remember Karen being a vampire but who knows. Killing her and Eve were both huge blunders.

Alison sleeping with Caleb was the focal twist which set off all the events some of us recently discussed in the GH thread re: Carlivati's disastrous PC wrapup arc in 2013 - it leaned heavily on the continuity and story points of "The Gift," like I think Caleb's magic ring or whatever it was. My take on the murky, unclear storytelling at the very end of that mess was that all of PC did happen, but Caleb's magic spell has made everyone mostly forget the true events and characters post-"Tainted Love". Who knows.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Vee

[DRW50]

I think when Livvie was evil, she had Kevin pricked with a needle that drove him insane. I felt like that was one of many plots that were stalled out to no end, another being Livvie being replaced by some sort of Nell doppleganger, complete with wondering whether Jack was going to bang her. (I thought Kelly Monaco did some decent work in that part). 

The Alison/Rafe tedium and how unbearable both characters were is what turned me off PC, but what they did with Lucy and Kevin wouldn't be far behind. And they never have gotten back together, likely never will. 

[Vee]

They did get back together on GH (and apparently were married again for a time before then, between PC and Lucy's return in late 2012). It just didn't last thanks to Ron.

[DRW50]

I'd forgotten all that, or why they even split up. I know Kevin wasn't paired with Laura until more recent years but everything before that in his GH return was a blue.

[Michael]

Love reading all the recollections in this thread, so thanks. The entire 'book' era of PC becomes a blur to me after the first 3-4. 

Didn't Lucy and Kevin appear on GH like a year after PC ended for Lila's funeral? How was the continuity from PC handled at that time?

[Vee]

Yes. IIRC it was suggested at the time they were together again, no other mention beyond that.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Vee

[Michael]

Thanks! I have the haziest memory of watching Lila's funeral and them being there, but that's all. 

I'm almost tempted to do a deep dive into the follow-up that GH did in 2012-13, but also... scared.

[Vee]

It doesn't make a ton of sense. RC heavily invested in plot points from "The Gift" a decade later, but Erin Hershey Presley only being on for I think a day to get brutally murdered was dumb and the budget and focus choices (Heather, Todd, the terrible twink hired to play Rafe Jr.) hurt the story as much as some of the insane plot twists. They offer an alternative and very poor cover explanation for who Caleb 'really' is in the GH world at one point (crazy guy named Stephen Clay convinced he was a vampire who killed his wife Livvie, with no explanation as to why Lucy would believe in a vampire fantasy), then IMO basically dump it all at the end with Caleb's hinted-at survival and taking back of the magic ring before he exits town unnoticed. This to me suggests he is real and Lucy was right all along, that the ring and its magic made people believe the alternative facts. It just wasn't the way to handle it - they needed to do something clearer and go all in, then get rid of it all. And not make it look like it was done for $16.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Vee

[Michael]

Thanks for the explanation. I think I tried to read a recap once and my head started to hurt. I remembered Stephen Clay being a part of the original vampire stuff on PC (he was a rock star or something) -- it's a shame they couldn't tie it all together in a more cohesive way.

That kid who played Rafe Jr. was awful, LOL. And killing Alison that swiftly was so bizarre. 

[j swift]

Is Victor, Kevin's father, assumed to still be alive?  I googled, and the actor is still alive.  I wonder if he knows Ryan is dead?

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by j swift