GH: Classic Thread

[Contessa Donatella]

Isn't it so that Mo & Burton would go into Jill's ofc, pitch fits, GET THEIR WAY, and life goes on? I forgot Geary. Him, too, with the fit throwing that worked on Jill.

What is said now is that Frank doesn't give in especially not to fits & so Mo is outta luck & Burton, because of his time at DAYS no longer pulls any of that sh*t. Which when you think about it, is quite remarkable. They say ("they") that he had to work so hard, learn so many lines that it changed him. If that is so, then GH owes DAYS a big thank you.

 

Edited March 18 by Contessa Donatella

[carolineg]

Yes.  There are even actions and words that KMc and Vanessa have talked about Steve and Mo saying to them and Vanessa sort of laughs it off even though I am like...

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.  Hopefully everyone has matured since then.  I just think if you are comfortable taking shots at Tamara and Sarah I can't even imagine how much they mocked the actual unsuccessful love interests. 

[titan1978]

Your first point about JFP just about sums it all up! When she has strong writing pushing against those instincts (Curlee/Demorest being a great example), she can make an excellent soap. When she has a writer that leans into that favoritism and especially misogyny (Guza), it’s well written but bleak AF and anti-women.

What was so shocking about Melissa was JFP essentially was willing to sabotage a well respected vet, who was always professional and happy to be at work and didn’t complain. What she did to Jackie was just horrible, to try to wedge in Jensen who was no longer the draw she had been.

One of the things the Endgame story presented by Tony supposedly had in it was Luke and Laura were finally going to deal with Helena together and in effect, break the curse. And IIRC, it was going to make Stefan fully dark again, and deal with Nikolas either choosing his Laura side or Stefan. I think it was possible that Geary’s plans were going to cause Stephen Nichols to be essentially fired. I also recall reading something with Tony where he said the stuff with Stavros wasn’t part of that plan, essentially saying that when Luke kills somebody they stay dead. Not was the huge labyrinth below the hospital.

I know Tony was vocal BTS about hating Labine’s Luke being a family man. But resenting Laura didn’t start until after the story where Laura woke up from her catatonic state. Both Tony and Genie thought having that wedding was corny and not earned, just shoehorned in for the anniversary. Genie has even said it wasn’t exactly what was pitched to her, even if that was the plan all along neither one of them was aware at first.

One the one hand, I did get part of where Geary was coming from. The spectre of Laura haunted Luke and he did languish when Genie was on leave or gone from the show. And after that second wedding was kind of forced on them both, it seemed like they both publicly soured on the idea of being paired again in the exact same ways as they always were. Genie wanted to mature Laura, and Tony wanted to regress Luke. I think his instincts were all wrong to try to damage the couple after the fact with affairs and nonsense. With their beginnings and continued volatility there was always enough to play without ruining what we saw onscreen.

[titan1978]

I know Amber was put off pretty quickly because Riche was direct and supportive, and JFP is anything but either of those things. Riche was no slouch, but she wasn’t out to cut up other women. And Sarah was rightfully pissed that all of a sudden her input was no longer even listened to, but Maurice was still able to do what he wanted if he felt like something wasn’t working or didn’t suit him.

As others have stated, she just decimated the women within a year of arriving, and it really was Vanessa and Guza/Pratt writing such a tight story around her that saved her. And she repaid that by trying to put Vanessa in her place, and never saw ratings as good again, virtually almost killing the show a slow painful death. Guza helped of course, and Brian Frons too.

She would have started the Vanessa train of signing 1 to 2 year deals only, but she was worth it as Carly. Just like Vanessa was worth her wish for early shooting with a newborn and never more than 3 days a week. When you have a strong show, 3 days a week is more than enough for a lead and actually makes you write for more characters.

I still find it so hysterical that it was Steve’s idea to get Robin back on the show and the first thing she said was she didn’t want to do Jason/Robin again.

Edited March 19 by titan1978

[Khan]

Which is ironic, because Luke's dream in life was to BE a family man.  Luke wanted the house in the suburbs, with the white picket fence, and the two cars in the driveway, and the 2.4 kids and the dog, just as much as Laura.  Part of what drew Luke to Laura, in fact, was the hope and belief that he could have those things with her, even as he struggled to overcome his past and his feelings that he never could measure up to her.

Seriously, Bill Bell would never have put up with so much interference from his actors.  He would've told someone like Tony Geary to say the g*ddamn lines and STFU.

Edited March 19 by Khan

[titan1978]

What kills me is that Laura ended up being the character that was damaged by the family life stuff, not Luke. Not at first, but she was the one who became weaker, was worried about danger all the time and lost some of that spark that made Laura and Luke a good team, beyond just romantic partners. She started to be kind of like saint Laura. By Labine’s last year she’s just a dull, handwringing mess. A lot of characters were coasting then because Labine was so focused on Stone, which was an important story.

Guza’s first (and best) stint corrected a lot of the issues with the Damian story, which set them back up as a pair fighting an obstacle, followed by deeply emotional stories with Lulu’s bone marrow transplant and the turmoil of her secret son, Nikolas. Both of them really do shine in very emotional, grounded material.

[DRW50]

I can't remember what they did with Stefan at this time. I know Stephen Nichols left after Chloe was murdered. He wanted to leave, right? Was he back for Endgame? I know they had the awful return a few years later that trashed Stefan and killed him. 

I didn't realize Geary and Genie had bad feelings about the mid '00s wedding. To me Tony's hostility toward the pairing started popping up onscreen around '98 or '99, as they started all but saying that Luke was sleeping with prostitutes through the marriage.

[titan1978]

Also, even watching the show on YouTube Luke was never a traditional dad. His beliefs about his character were never shown onscreen. Luke of 1983-1999 just would not have cheated on Laura. He would have adored any baby he made with Laura. I think the show spent enough time showing that he wasn’t comfortable being back in Port Charles as far as being settled down. But they never stopped his having adventures. Labine said she just wasn’t the writer for a new adventure caper every year, that it had to be more grounded than that for her. And her mob stories with them, Sonny, and Frank Smith actually worked and were plenty of action for that time and that tone with the show.

[Contessa Donatella]

Now, that is one thing I never heard before, and yeah, hilarious!!! 

[titan1978]

It was in one of those more candid interviews she has given in the last decade. She said it was kind of foisted on them after the deals were done and both of them didn’t feel like it was earned, and they both felt like going anywhere near a big wedding was just a bad idea because it would always be compared to the actual iconic wedding.

I think he was still there when Geary pitched it, and I didn’t really remember him playing a part when it happened.

[carolineg]

Guza and the Brenda return was great writing although it was getting rough towards the end because the show burned through so much material in such a short time.  It was also just the exact right time for her to return-not too long for people to forget about Brenda but long enough for people to want it.  Plus, she was also distracting the audience to make Genie/Laura's exit seem not as bad as it actually was.

SJB was worth a one year deal and I believe when they hired TB the intention was to kill Carly off entirely, so why not work with Sarah?

I will never get over how much they worked Vanessa in those six months.  I can't even tell you a non Brenda story in those months because the entire show revolved around her (which I was totally fine with).  I also would completely accept Brenda being on 2 or 3 times a week and find it insane JFP couldn't capitulate to reasonable demands by an actress that was carrying the show.  The show fell apart within weeks of Brenda's exit.  Kelly Monaco wasn't the draw anyone thought lol.  It just reeks of jealousy or bitterness on JFP's part in all these situations with the female cast.

Lol.  I agree.  It was funny.

[titan1978]

Plenty of people have said Tony wanted to morph Luke into Bill by the late 2000’s. Having watched a lot of 1992 recently, that tracks. The person he describes is Bill, not Luke.

I think these points are why it was such a hit too. It was Vanessa who was a legit draw for the show at that time. It wasn’t so far gone that the audience that loved her was all gone, and it helped the blow with Genie and just how sad that exits story was. The audience that had lapsed were not so far out of the habit that Brenda coming back was going to have interest. And the story was moving, you had to watch because it lit a fire under the show.

[DRW50]

Thanks.

I wasn't watching very much at the time of the second wedding but I think it only really works if that was the last time we ever saw Laura.

[Vee]

I hated it and hated how Laura came off in that story - like a deluded, helpless invalid. Her brief 2008 return to tie the loose end of Luke and Laura up was far superior for both Genie and Laura, warts and all.

JFP was largely creatively powerless after 2002, as she should've been. But you are right about her instincts. I'll never forget how she ran off Sarah and Amber.

Edited March 19 by Vee

[carolineg]

I think it also really helped that Vanessa/Brenda was Guza's favorite female to write for.  It's not that I think Guza hated Laura exactly.  He just never really understood her and probably didn't find Laura appealing to write for as a mature woman.  I have no idea why it went so wrong in 2010 for Guza and Brenda because that really should have been an easy slam dunk for him.