GH: July Discussion Thread

[Cat]

Maybe it is because I am sorta disillusioned with watching Y&R that coming back to GH seems like a modest relief in comparison. Sure, Guza is the kind of hack who makes my blood boil, and the misogyny is choking. But Wednesday's episode "worked" for me.

It worked because there was variation, I think. Plus there was no Claudia (SJB is great but her grief has tired me out), no Sonny and no dead bebehs. I'm tired of babies dying before they are born or on the brink of dying before they are born.

I continue to FF Spinelli (except where Diane is involved -- Carolyn Hennessy is awesomeness personnified). And, hello, the Qs! Although again we have the whole "the Qs are such an evil influence" shtick. What, more evil than Sonny and the mob? More evil than the Cassadines? Bwah.

Natalia Livingston and Laura Wright's hair: nice job, GH hair people! However, Nancy Lee Grahn needs to shoot whoever keeps teasing her rat-tails out.

Nikolas & Elizabeth. OK, is this where we get a Lucky/Liz/Nik triangle? Because I would be SO down for that... if I thought GH were prepared to invest in this SL.

NotEmily & Marbles. I'm surprised that in putting these two no-hoper characters together, they actually have chemistry. Teethan actually looked awake.

The Cassadine women. I am torn over them. On the one hand, I love seeing Alexis, Sam, Kristina and Molly have scenes together. Alexis pushing her daughter to be a high achiever makes sense, as does her assuming that Sam is out to "get" Kristina in order to impress Jason (I have to admit that crossed my mind, too). On the other hand, do we have to show these women in solely conflictual relationships? Carly is the Perfect Mom of a brood of boys... but the girls in Alexis's house all seem to be out to get each other. Kristina is a little monster for letting Michael take all the blame and then having the nerve to blame the accident on her mother's "hypocrisy." Alexis is being made to look like an awful mother and total buffoon who cannot figure out when her daughter is playing her. I want to love this family of women SO MUCH but I wish GH would show us more tenderness between them as well as the dysfunction which, I admit, is interesting to watch because it is relatable.

[Cat]

From your lips to God's ears. i would LOVE for AJ to come back -- but only if it means he won't be Guza's whipping boy. Either Billy Warlock or Sean Kanan will do.

I think it's because Frons also gets a boner for these two characters and that's why he lets TIIC perpetuate the "GH's audience only want to watch Sonny & Jason" myth. Also, Benard and Burton have both stated something along the lines of "If Guza leaves, we leave." I personally cannot wait for SB to check out his Monavie nest-egg early and Benard to audition for Ricky Ricardo: The Sequel because maybe that would mean Guza following them out the door! Bonus.

[BadBoy93]

BILLY BILLY BILLY

It is always the same storyline for about 8 years now.Guza was a good writer in the past,now he is just worn out and boring.Elizabeth Korte is also to blame for this too.

[tina m]

I really enjoy this storyline about who ran over Claudia..Michael, Kristina or Alexis.. or if it could be anyone else! The two of them on the run should be better good.

I'm glad Sonny is NOT having another child. Sad Claudia lost her baby, but Sonny honestly has enough kids, and one on the canvas he doesn't know about (yet)...I kind of hope this doesn't bring Claudia and Sonny closer in a romantic sense. Otherwise, we'll see Olivia and Sonny, not crazy about either.

I don't think Maxie and Spinelli will or should get married. I'm just glad to see them as an actual couple for now.

[S&BFanForLife]

I totally understand, Cat. Y&R is really testing my patience, right now.

[Southofnowhere]

Is Dante a Fed?

[Southofnowhere]

Lucky and the Aussie dude couldn't even beat Dante 2 on 1! Lucky had hit him from behind with a cue.

That Lucky is sure one class act. NOT!

Still hoping that Dante is a Fedarally!

[reallyhateskateonlost]

Luke's children SUCK. Dante wasn't doing anything to LooLoo. Stupid plot point to make Lucky Looser and Teethan bond.

[R Sinclair]

TOTALLY!

[S&BFanForLife]

yep. I hated every minute of it.

[Cat]

Carly is back to her screeching. And she was so excited to hear the gory details of Alexis being questioned by the po-po. Like, who is looking after Molly? No, all Carly cared about was one-upping Alexis and watching her go down in flames. Seriously, what is with the Alexis-bashing on the show? When Snarly wasn't running her mouth, Sam and Jason were bitching about what a terrible mother A is for --gasp-- giving Kristina the best in life and expecting her to study. Oh, no! What a terrible disservice to her children! Everybody knows that as a mob princess, Kristina is expected to get knocked up by one of Sonny's henchmen by her 18th birthday. My bad. No need for all those AP classes then.

The tearing down of Lucky continues. Seriously, attacking some guy from behind with a pool cue? Nice. You'd think Lulu's shreiking would have permenently deafened LuThan and stopped them dead in their tracks.

Dante. Eh. I'm not warming to this newbie either.

[DRW50]

I don't think the scene was about having Ethan and Lucky bond. I think they decided since Lulu has yet to have one romance any viewers care about, then they would start this Dante love story by having him beat up by her brothers. This is supposed to show how starcrossed they are, and the obstacles they face. The only obstacles I see are that Dante appears to be over two times her age and Lulu has about as much sexual drive as the invisible Audrey Hardy. I also can't forget how last year, this harpy was shrieking at Lucky that she didn't care if anything happened to him, all she cared about was Johnny. And now it's Johnny who?

[R Sinclair]

I don't get why Alexis is bashed so much on this show, either. I mean, it is intense! They have her be a murderess, they dress her in drag, they have her fall for psychologically disturbed men, they give her a daughter that sleeps with her husband, they give her lung cancer for God's sake -- now this. I've always believed that this is somehow supposed to make Carly seem superior... which is definitely the last thing we need with this shew Laura Wright playing her.

Totally foreshadowing. Guza's stuck in repeat mode. And I thought I was the only one who just did not get any sexual energy whatsoever from Lulu. When they were having Spinelli, Dillon and Milo in hot pursuit of Lulu, I was like... "I don't get it."

[DRW50]

I've never gotten it either. They have thrown so many men at her. Not a flicker of chemistry. Some would say, "Make her a lesbian" but I doubt that would work either. There's a New Zealand soap which had a storyline about a man who never felt any real passion for women, nor for men, and he finally decided he was asexual and began going to asexual support groups. That might be an interesting story for Lulu, especially with her family history.

I think Guza's Alexis hate is about his hating and fearing intelligent women. NLG is an actress whose intelligence always shines through no matter what she is playing. Guza wants us to see this as a failing, a weakness. It's also a reason his writing has often had contempt for Robin, who is, in spite of all her mistakes, an intelligent woman. I have always believed and will always believe that any decent writing which comes her way is not from his pen. Someone at ABC has some sort of interest in Robin and that's the only reason she has not been butchered the way she was when Guza wrote for her in 1998 and she became the great evil for telling AJ about his son.

[Cat]

Two words: Karen Harris.

It's not just contempt of intelligent women. It is fear. Fear of emasculation? Not unless Guza lobotomizes them first. I think Carly is -- and will always be -- an exception to that rule because (as she keeps proudly reminding us), Carly is a chick who hates other girls. Because girls are bitchy and evil, dontcha know. Carly is a man's woman. In Guza's world, this is a plus.

I also suspect that the Alexis-hate stems from issues Brian Frons has with Alexis and NLG (their age, for a start). Guza himself wrote for NLG and Julia on Santa Barbara and they do seem to have a relatively close working relationship. But NLG also tends to talk fairly, uh, openly to fans and the soap press and maybe that pisses him off. Woman, know your PLACE! LOL. I remember once reading an interview where NLG said that poor widdle Guza was v. sensitive and felt hurt after reading some of the hate directed at him from the boards. This was a couple of years ago. Next thing you know -- Sam is shtupping Ric and Alexis has lung cancer, despite having no history of smoking.

I will say, though, that Olivia is a Guza invention and, so far, I really like the character.