General Hospital

[rangethatrover]

I am slowly getting reeled into this show after not watching for 15 years. ( I like this whole Maxie & Spinelli thing- it seems very, very well written)

That being said- Who the heck lights this show and does the makeup????

These beautiful women look TERRIBLE under the bad lighting. Poor Nancy Lee Grahn looks like she has NO MAKEUP ON- same with Laura Wright.

Am I alone in noticing this?

I feel really bad for any actors on this show over 30.

Lighting designers are supposed to really care about making the actors look their best. Did all the makeup people get fired???

[DavidEvanSmith]

I was wondering about the hair people.

Carly in particular has had a rat's nest percolating for weeks now.

[rangethatrover]

I find it really appalling. You can see everyone's age spots, ect.. And listen, I love a natural woman or man- just not on a soap.

Maybe I am spoiled by Y&R's flawless aesthetics. But I finde this appalling- especially for a JFP produced show.

[AllAboutAngst]

Nancy Lee Grahn is still on that show? What a shame, she's a great actress. She should be on a better show. I loved her on Santa Barbara.

[quartermainefan]

The only female on the show that looks consistently good (when not making you think of anorexia) is Kirsten Storms. The rest tend to look like crap thanks to bad hair, make up and lighting. That said Nancy Lee Grahn is at that age where you have to choose your body or your face, and she chose her body and it is showing on her face. She often looks worn out and haggard. Laura Wright and Jane Elliot need to go to Nuremberg for Hair Crimes against Humanity. Kelly Monaco--she and Maurice Bernard seem to get dark circles under their eyes when they don't get enough time off, so she needs to not be frontburning as much. Sarah Brown sometimes looks pretty and sometimes looks like she has an eating disorder.

Amazingly, recently Leslie Charleson has looked better than she has in years. It's nice that three face lifts ago has finally settled in allowing her to show some emotion.

[rangethatrover]

And also, I did not mean to just pick on the women. For christ sake if you are not going to bother to light your actors properly put some extra friggin base on Tony Geary and The dude who plays Sonny. They don't have to look like women but there is no reason an actor should look that haggard.(which again- it is the job of a lighting designer to #1- bring the aesthetic and overall mood to the show that the producer wants #2 make the actors look THE BEST they possibly can)

JFP used to have great looking shows.

[Sylph]

Wow, range, you're really obsessed with looks.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Sarah Brown has Celiac Disease, which causes the digestive system to rapidly digest foods and nutriments, it's actually a pretty serious illness, if it isn't treated properly.

[quartermainefan]

When did this disease strike her? She did not look this way when she was on the show in 2001.

[rangethatrover]

Well that's just one more reason to light her well ! God bless her!

Really, I have never seen so many age spots and freckles. This is a soap. Did every crew member get fired and now they have JFP up on the catwalk doing lighting?

Let me get out my kazoo and zylaphone and I'll do the background music!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

And yes, this show is ugly and cheap looking. I'll never understand why ABC let's its crown jewel of daytime look like a basement production. JFP has done wonders with production elsewhere, but not at this show.

The sets, lighting, wardrobe, and makeup are HORRID. The only thing that saves this show production-wise is its talented directing team, it would be lost without it. Oh, and they do pull of those explosive stunts well production-wise.

GH has never had that great of production values though. Though, I did love the look of the show under Wendy Riche. It had a comfy, warm, and neutral look. It looked very welcoming to watch, not anymore.

I assume recently, she's spoken out about it in some interviews and on her public facebook account.

[rangethatrover]

Oh my god I must sound totally shallow. I'm NOT!!. I just believe ABC puts out a crappy looking product.

Let me explain- #1- ABC soaps(with the exception being OLTL (usually) LOOK SO DAMN CHEAP.

ABC puts out this product yet Y&R and B&B look stunning.

An actor/actress or anyone on televison deserves to be lit to their best advantage. Its a fact. That is why they have lighting designers.

These are soaps. It is fantasy. GH And AMC look like they are thrown together by amateurs. Why would they make these actors and sets look like cheap trash?

Compare those shows to Y&R and B&B and there is a startling difference.

I totally want to go to school for this. Can you tell? I'm sickly obsessed.

But if you are ever on MY show- You are GONNA LOOK GOOD!

[rangethatrover]

Let me also add that OLTL's background music IS GARBAGE. Its like some kind of sound effect generally, its not music. I hate it.

If I was Frank I would bring out all the music out of the vaults from Linda Gottlieb's tenure. And sadly, I think its the same composers who do the stuff we hear today.

Music can really tie together a soap so well.

Y&R is the king, and B&B also has quality background music. Those shows have a cinematic type music that raises the show's mood beyond that of a cheap soap.

I have heard AMC has decent music.

[quartermainefan]

I am not sure when that was but to me the show became very dark and dim sometime in the very late 1980s and only has gotten dimmer. I think when Rick and Leslie were on they were using 100 watt bulbs, by the time Alan and Lucy got married in 1990 or so they were down to 60 watt, and now they use cute little 20 watt jobs you might put up not expecting it to light all that much.

[rangethatrover]

There is a term for lighting that lighting designers use its called a footcandle. Y&R has a lighting scope of 10-12 footcandles. I learned that when they went HD.

GH has dark lighting- but it is a HARSH lighting. I would think it has to do with placement more than dark or light.