GH casting

[quartermainefan]

http://tvguidemagazine.com/soaps/general-hospital-recruits-bruce-davison-5171.html

James Franco’s upcoming return to General Hospital as the psychotic artist Franco just got a little juicier now that Bruce Davison is joining the storyline. The Academy Award-nominated actor will do a three-episode cameo as Franco’s eurotrashy art dealer Wilhelm Van Schlagel. An ABC rep tells us that the Franco character, who seems homoerotically obsessed with mob hitman Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), will “return to town to wreak havoc on Jason and Michael and everyone else in Port Charles. His grand finale will be yet another art exhibition that’s more wild and crazy than his last one.”

Davison earned his Oscar nod for the 1990 AIDS drama Longtime Companion and plays Senator Robert Kelly in the X-Men movies. Credit GH’s Emmy-winning casting director Mark Teschner with the cool coup. “Bruce is one of my favorite actors—I met him in a restaurant a few years back and told him so,” Teschner says. “I wanted a very special, unique actor to be in scenes with Franco, and he was the first idea to pop into my head.”

Franco arrives June 30. Davison’s first airdate is not yet set, but look for him in early July.

[Khan]

In other news, no one gave a damn.

Wait, "Wilhelm Van Schlagel"? Is that supposed to be funny?

[detroitpiston]

Still not looking forward to this.

[DRW50]

This sounds ridiculous. Why in the hell are we supposed to get the vapors any time someone who once starred in a film is cast on GH? I already know how ashamed JFP and Luza are by the soap format, so why do they need to keep showing it?

Bruce Davison is fine but no one is going to tune in because of him. People actually tuned OUT because of Franco. So why does this keep happening?

Cast someone who used to be on a soap!

[Khan]

Guza and JFP would recast every single one of GH's cast members (save for the "dream team" of Geary, Benard and Burton, of course) with film actors if they could. They don't give a flying fig about pleasing anyone but themselves.

[DRW50]

It's just so pathetic. Look at how cool we are, look at us, look at us. If they are that cool then why not recast Brenda with Brenda Vacarro. I'd probably enjoy that more than anything Brenda did post-1995 anyway.

[quartermainefan]

I would love that. I forget, what feminine hygiene product did she start shilling for that sort of ruined her career?

Actually wait...

The writers job is to write, but isn't it the producers job and the PR dept to say "look at us, look at us!" Someone has to have that job and it isn't the writers or the actors, so it has to be the producers. Barnum would be proud. Ziegfeld too probably. Of course, they wouldn't be proud of the lack of audience, but they probably appreciate the carny barker efforts.

[DRW50]

Playtex, although I don't know if this is the actual commercial, this may be another one.

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Here's a hilarious SCTV parody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2bmUQwYW3Q

Brenda was also fun on Paper Dolls.

I'm going to start a petition...

[Khan]

Ask yourself this question: has shilling for a feminine hygiene product ever been a boon to an actress's career? I didn't think so.

[DRW50]

I don't think Ziegfeld or Barnum would be proud if they continued to promote what led to a ratings drop.

That's what I don't get. This story was not very popular, if ratings were any indication. The whole thing ended up being a black eye to GH, as Franco all but mocked the experience in the press, and the press proceeded to act shocked that he would lower himself to appear on GH, then they made fun of the show when they watched him.

So why are they not only continuing with this, but also touting yet another hire who has nothing to do with soaps? Why are they so much more excited over this than they ever are with anyone they hire who actually has a soap background?

They seem ashamed of GH's history and ashamed of any actual daytime recognition, so that just makes this glee over these hires even more incongruous.

[quartermainefan]

well to be fair to Guza's Franco story, none of his stories are very popular so this is just par for his course. It gets the same bad ratings all the other stories do, so they might as well try to muddy the issue with talks of stars and false auras of coolness and hiposity.

[DRW50]

I see what you're saying, but I think the ratings actually went up when Franco was gone. That's why I'm not entirely sure why he's back.

[yr9190]

Man! it would have been nice to learn that someone like Kimberlin Brown (aka Sheila Carter) was joining GH! i could sooo picture her on this show!

[Eric83]

Zzzzzzzz..........

[reallyhateskateonlost]

They really don't get it.