GH: December Discussion Thread

[JaneAusten]

I'm not one to believe that rotating couples does any good. It's the one thing I am not crazy about with Days. They rotate couples all the time. And it's one of the things I have actually liked about Y&R is they seem to stay with couples when they decide to do them for a time.There is no reason GH can't keep these couples together if they had a more creative writing team. Problem is they don't. So I agree they should break them up.

I think they see Carly as some sort of matriarch on the show now and Carly/Jax being a stable married couple. I think they see the same for Robin /Patrick. I hate both couples. Couples always seem to cause characters to morph or stagnate and it's happened to all these characters. Carly IMO is no longer interesting. She's June Cleavor. Jax exists only to be an apologist to Carly. Patrick's identify IMO is simply RObin's other half. And RObin been turned into a repressed shrew.

Personally i hate all the couples on GH and I also detest the potential couples. MAxie and Lucky might be the most interesting but I detest Lulu/Dante, Olivia/Sonny, Liz/Nik. None of these couples are at all appealing to me. Jason and Sam have been done to death. Nothing remotely interesting about them.

Couples I think could work. Sam/Dante, Liz/Jax, Robin/Lucky, Patrick/Carly, Maxie/Johnny. Notice I left off Nik and Lulu along with Olivia and Sonny. IMO all those characters can vacate the canvas. Jason I have no clue. I'd prefer he become a priest. But I don't think this show any longer has a clue on how to organically grow a couple.

[Ann_SS]

My favorite headwriter the late Doug Marland always explored new couples on ATWT. It helped keep the canvas dynamic. I was always interested in what was going to happen next because it was unpredictable. The only couple that was more or less constant was Holden and Lily and they had other love interests for long stretches while they were apart. Marland was able to not only stem ATWT's ratings loss, but gain viewers until ATWT became the no. 3 soap and stayed in the top 4 soaps for an eight year period. Interestingly, Marland wrote for GH during the 1970s and is credited with creating the Qs and Bobbi Spencer as well as starting up Luke and Laura.

I would wage that a survey of Days' viewers would find that one of the reason that it is doing so well is because along with good soapy writing, Days is testing new pairings while introducing new characters, featuring familiar characters, and bringing back fan favorites. The lesson from Marland that was forgotten and what Days has discovered is that the fans don't revolt or flee because their couple isn't together if the story is well told. Look at how the intense Lucas/Sami/EJ triangle has fizzled after months of heated online fan debate. Sami has a completely new love interest in Rafe and instead of collapsing Days' ratings continue to stabilize and rise. Like ATWT, Days is also full of strong women around whom most of the stories revolve. Days is doing something new out of desperation, fear of cancellation. GL should have done the same.

On GH, I would love Sam or Robin with Dante. Either one works. They are more age appropriate and there is more story there than flinging Lulu at every new man in town. Lulu needs something new and different, a light hearted romance would be prefect. I would pair her with Matt for a short time. Anything to stop her self-righteous rants. I might also try out Sam and Matt, Jax and Robin, Jax and Liz, Liz and Dante, Patrick and Liz or Patrick and Lisa would do just fine. Soaps have to stop being afraid, broaden their visions and take their characters in new directions.

[JaneAusten]

Maybe it's because the shows have caved into fanbases, particularly the ABC shows. It's the only reason I can conceive that AMC has stuck with the stale pairing of Zach and Kendall for so long along with all the stale pairings on GH. BUt I don't have any confidence in GH's ability to do anything remotely interesting with any of their couples. Lulu is a prime example of this yet again.And Sonny again. I loved Lucky and Sam. They were unexpected fresh, original, and sexy and both characters IMO looked better and more independent as a result. That's what they should have stuck with. Robin sadly isn't going anywhere other than Patrick.

[quartermainefan]

Robin is fictional, so I can say this and she won't be insulted:

Robin is a nightmare. I tend to agree with Guza. From the moment Patrick met her he has had to jump through every hoop and change every way to appease her, while she hasn't changed one iota.

2005:

Robin------------------------------Patrick

2010

Robin-------Patrick-----------------------.

The show has consistently portrayed this poor guy as immature if he disagrees with Robin and must learn the error of his ways. Be it his friend who wanted to go to Vegas, the concept of living together, stupid furniture, a kid, weddings in general...Robin is always starting from a position of wise but suffering the fool, and Patrick must come around to her way of thinking. Then wait a few weeks til a new dispute comes up.

Then if that wasn't bad enough he married her and it wasn't five seconds later she became the wife from hell. He couldn't have been blamed if he bailed right when she started going nuts. She is a drip most of the time (as is Mac and that's probably where she gets it from), and we see this even today with the way whole crowds of people have fun watching football but she isn't part of the gang for reasons of her own choosing.

The HIV was a mistake. It made the character so somber to the point she is just no fun. Or they have to ignore it completely and do a disservice to it.

[DRW50]

Is that Robin's HIV, or is that just the way the show sees women? Sam, Alexis, Liz, Carly, and Lulu are not exactly a barrel of laughs. You can only be "fun" if you are a shrieky, squealy, needy type who constantly shoots off her own feet, like Maxie.

[quartermainefan]

I find Diane a lot of fun. Diane and Max somehow appearing one day a month are the most enjoyable couple on GH.

[DRW50]

That's probably the reason why they're so enjoyable. I found Scrubs enjoyable when they were just doing karaoke or solving a mystery. The endless dramas I don't care about.

[Ann_SS]

I don't think that Robin in a nightmare. How Guza views her is a nightmare. He took away her humor. I suspect because he want to make a contrast between Robin and Sam when it seemed that a triangle developing with Jason. Robin had more humor and was more fun after she was diagnosed with HIV and was dating Jason, probably because Wendy Riche was a powerful EP. Guza also turned her every positive trait into a negative. Robin was attacked by Patrick and her father for not being promiscuous and engaging in casual sex. A truly WTF moment and totally out of character for Robert. I could go on. Robin is only a drip when Guza has a specific plot in mind. No words for the PPD story horrible. Since her PPD, Robin has been fun. While investigating the murder, she was daring and adventurous in the tradition of her mother. Now that Lisa the party girl has arrived, Robin is a bore who does not spend time with people. This is the same woman who was downing shots at Jake's and killing snakes in the Markam islands. See how it works.

I'm not a big Patrick fan. I like him sometimes and other I can't be bothered. He is a typical Guza created male. Even when he does something wrong, we are to believe it isn't his fault or that because he is sorry, it is okay. Guza has given him no substance. If he left PC, other than Emma, it would be like he never existed. Patrick is so malleable that he could work with any other female character without much effort.

Not a surprise that you find Diane who is a day player without a story fun. Once Guza writes a female character, she is no longer fun.

[JackPeyton]

i find plenty of women on GH fun... i find Carly fun most of the time. Lulu, Maxie, Sam are other women i find fun. Liz too, sometimes. None of them are fun 24/7. But its not like they are all these uptight annoying women who are a bore like Alexis and Robin are. Even those two are shown to have a fun side from time to time.

[bellcurve]

The only time I've ever liked Diane was during that ridiculous karaoke party. You could tell Diane Hennessy was having fun with the material.

Plus, it's hard to believe the actors didn't drink IRL to get through those painful montages.

[Sylph]

You don't like Diane at all?

[bellcurve]

I admit, when I casually watched eons ago before I got into GH: HD, I was a little annoyed with her because I thought she was an Alexis clone, without the little bit of sex appeal even Alexis possesses. I thought they shoved her into everything and I didn't enjoy her friendship with Alexis. And I also think Carolyn Hennessy's line delivery annoyed the hell out of me.

And I feel like her relationship with Max isn't even good filler. It's just very over-the-top.

So was the karaoke stuff on Wednesday(?), but maybe it's because I finally got to see Diane smile and have it be something genuine and real instead of that fake, "I'm a lawyer and I have to keep my guard up because I'm so angry, but I'll smile or pretend I like to have sex with a meathead because, hey, I don't want you to know how pissed off I am."

But I'm also not a fan of Kate Howard either, which shocks many people. I really cannot stand the character or Megan Ward, who is so stiff and uncomfortable in daytime grind and thinks "talking" like a soap character will give the scene the weight it needs. Replacing her with Lisa Lo was the best decision this show ever made.

[quartermainefan]

I see only flimsy similarity btw Alexis and Diane. They are female and they are lawyers. That's where it stops. Diane has been a comedy figure and/or character for sentimental gush for well over a year now. I first realized CH and Diane had real merit when a year or so ago she got thrown in with Jason and Spinelli for some comedy routines. "Grasshopper? I thought you were the Jackal!" and she worked so perfectly being as Spin and Jason's comedy partner. Then there was Max and the OTT farce when Alexis walked in on them having sex. It was pretty funny. Then Big !@#$%^&*] came to the show, and CH was again very funny. And then she had a christmas episode where it was very sweet. This year she has had two karaoke episodes where she has done good work, as well as another Max episode with sex in a bathroom with a plunger.

It is not surprising she has landed sitcom work. Comedy seems to be CH's specialty.

[quartermainefan]

I think to say that now because Lisa is here Robin must be portrayed as a bore means we have to ignore and delete 95% of her GH return so far. No one will ever accuse her of being bubbly and a throwback to Felicia and Tiffany.

[Juliajms]

Robin has always bored me. For the daughter of a couple of spies she's really nothing like her parents. One little murder mystery doesn't change that. To some degree I blame the writers. They don't know what to do with the character, so they keep repeating the same crappy story. KMac doesn't appeal to me as an actress, but I think if they had Robin moonlight as Sam's partner (or consultant) now and then that would be a step in the right direction. I definitely found the character (and actress) more tolerable when she was mystery solving.

One of the problems for me is that they have made her the moral center of the show and she's just too young for that role. She comes off as too preachy and self righteous, that is when she isn't telling Liz how awesome she is despite being a lying cheat *RME*. The PPD story was particularly horrible. They need to steer clear of that kind of thing in the future at all costs. I could also do without all the insecurity issues they throw Robin's way as well. It's been done, let's move on. Insecure Debbie Downers are not something I enjoy on my soaps.