May 4-8, 2009

[Bright Eyes]

And this is why, amongst other reasons. Luke and Laura, SUCK HARDCORE But at the end of the day, Anthony Geary doesn't know [!@#$%^&*] about good soap, and he never has. He is an ungrateful fool who doesn't deserve any of the accolades he has gotten.

[Sylph]

Oh, you are soooo right! Both of them must be wiped off the canvass. Perhaps in one of those Guza sweep stunt stories.

[wiccachick_1]

Okay, I just want to ask while you guys are on the subject. The way I remember Laura's little Cassadine tryst is that Laura was on the island, on the island, on the island (indicating a long time...hehe) and while Stavros was persistant she continually resisted him until he brought her "proof" of Luke's death. It fit with the story because during that time Luke WAS presumed dead as a victim of the avalanche. It was during that time that Stavros finally convinced her that Luke was not going to come and save her and she agreed to his terms. While she still thought there was hope of a reunion however, she resisted.

Am I not remembering that right?

[CSF]

That's pretty accurate! There is more validity to that than any other rewrites involving Luke and Laura.

[SteveFrame]

I don't remember all of it, but I do remember the uproar with Luke/Laura fans at the time because they felt that Laura would never betray the Luke/Laura love bond.

Many of them at the time sided with Luke in all of it and took their rage out on Laura.

[MarkH]

Oh, absolutely. MAB plus JG was lethal. The single hugest linear weekly decline Y&R had experienced in its entire 36 year history, bar none.

But after JG left, and MAB brought in HS, and Paul Rauch joined later, things clearly have turned around. For how long is an open question. Here is the evidence:

HW regime

Average weekly HH ratings change

Kay Alden, -0.010

Jack Smith with Kay Alden, -0.004

Lynn Latham (overall), -0.003

Lynn Latham (2006 with legacy team), +0.001

Lynn Latham (2007 without legacy team), -0.006

Arena Bell/Griffth, -0.028

Arena Bell, +0.004

Maybe we can watch them fall to their knees in a hail of gunfire, desperate, gasping, terrified, bloated...as we then watch them slowly die in agony over the span of weeks before our eyes.

Oh, I guess they did that with Alan Quartermaine. Really uplifting. Yup, that's what we want to see....

[CSF]

IMO, I always found that to be outrageous as Luke did RAPE Laura. No rewrite will ever change that. I will never ever understand how female viewers could and would cheer for Luke Spencer. He's a rapist. Sorry, I know a lot and I mean a lot of people LOVE Luke and Laura, but the reality is, he did do that. That IMO, that's unforgivable.

If Luke wanted to always be on the run, he should have ran away long ago without Laura. His precious Laura, who was just an obsession of his just like she was to Stavros. Laura could have been a great heroine independent of Luke Spencer.

[MarkH]

She could be still...under a different regime.

[CSF]

No, I think her time for that has past. It would have to had have taken place after the 1981 wedding. As a struggling single mother who has to overcome many obstacles. Something that we would have watched unfold over the past 28 years.

[MarkH]

I agree this might have been best.

But Genie is still fronting movies for Lifetime and Hallmark. She can drive stories...now as women in midlife trying to rediscover her sense of family and identity.

I totally think Genie could rock that as a "widowed" Laura. I realize that doesn't work with ABC, the desired demo...I'm not advocating for it. But I don't think "her time has passed". Which is why I am not a daytime exec .

[Sylph]

Ever heard about irony? Someone being ironic?

[Ann_SS]

I am so happy for Genie that after ABC rejected her that she was able to have some acting success in those tv movies.

You are right and the lesson is to not care about these soaps or their love stories too much. One that it has taken me years to learn, but I am finally there.

You are also right. I never saw the rape so I got caught up in the Luke/Laura aftermath. As a woman, I knew better, but told myself it was only a soap. I will never make that mistake again.

Last word: I never blamed Laura for keeping Nikolas a secret or what happened on the Cassadine island. It wasn't like she much choice.

[SteveFrame]

Oh Genie defintely can still carry a show - thus the reason in my original soap opera From These Roots I have her as the lead.

But as Laura I think the time has gone. Esp. in this world of modern day soaps where couples are forever united. Just like the Steve/Kayla thing I mentioned. So many bought into that sap that Kayla kept herself pure all these years waiting to be united with Patch in Heaven. It made me want to throw up. I mean they wrote Kayla as if she hadn't even gotten laid in the 20 plus years since Steve died. She just sat back and waited for him remaining ever faithful.

I think if Luke/Laura had not been the phenomenon they were with fans, I think it would have been written at some point that Luke did run off. Because he always hated being tied down. He hated that life. I think in the old style writing of soaps it would have been easy for them to write him abandoning Luke.

But it worked out better since Genie wanted out of GH too at the time for them to lure her back and have them run off together on their great adventure when Geary wanted to leave the show.

If things had been reversed and Genie wanted to stay I think Luke would have died or would have just left - in the same way that Laura disappeared and was presumed dead the year before.

[SteveFrame]

Oh I agree with you. It wasn't Laura's fault.

And it wasn't like Luke was being a saint back home. Sure he thought Laura was dead but damn he first slept with Jackie Templeton not long after Laura disappeared and then he slept with Holly too - and fell in love wtih Holly at that. If I remember correctly he even got her pregnant. Isn't that why Robert married her in the first place, because she was pregnant.

How someone could blame Laura was beyond me when Luke wasn't faithful either.

[MarkH]

I responded to your irony with irony. Did you not detect it?