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GH: September 2012 Discussion Thread


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I do love the idea of long-running stories which will keep viewers interested and develop over time and show various arcs, emotions, etc. I just don't think soaps can do this now. Looking at something like Johnny being the one who killed Hope and Cole and being blackmailed about this - does anyone care? Does anyone care about Johnny/Carly, or about Johnny/Comedy Connie, or even about Hope or Cole (who were strangers to most GH viewers)? Is this going anywhere or is this just to stall time?

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That's not how I remember Labine/Riche at all. Other than what you've mentioned, I got S&B, Luke & Laura's return, Monica's breast cancer, Bobbie & Tony's marital problems, Ned & Lois, Lucy/Kevin, ELQ, Deception, Jagger/Karen, and the emergence of the Wards (and I'm sure there's plenty more that I failed to mention). Hell, I even got a duck named Sigmund and a romance between the Spencer dog and the Quartermaine dog - something that I'd much rather tune into than whatever Guza shat out.

As much as I loathe the Slagbeast and consider her to be a major reason for this show's downfall, they did a good job of introducing her to the canvas and revealing her as Bobbie's daughter. Plenty of people were affected (and were allowed to actually react) to her trifling ass because of that - something that was done away with once the new millennium came underway - much to the detriment of this show.

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Well, I know that "fast food mentality" horseshit doesn't apply to me, considering I was one of the precious few who watched every single episode of Garin Wolf's "boring" six months, while others continuously came in here to remind us that they weren't watching because it was boring. So, I know that it wasn't the pace of the plots that kept me. It was the character development. I mean, dear God! I actually was cheering Carly on by the time New Year's Eve came along, which, to me, was miraculous as far as getting me to actually empathize with a character I hate played by an actress I despise. I said that to say prolonging a "story" without any character development is nothing but stalling. I don't find it entertaining at all because there's nothing riveting about listening to, say, Todd and Johnny having the same conversation switched babies and dead granddaughters, or watching Komedy Konnie running around with people being conveniently dumb instead of watching Kate deal with being confronted with the reality that her son is alive. We've see Konnie in action for months. Enough! This is character regression, not development. We watched the character allegedly do the work and get herself sane, only to be told "Gotcha! All that was for nothing! Back to square one! Don't worry! You're gonna LOVE watching Connie ruin Kate's life and watch Kate put back the pieces again, since you loved it so much four months ago!"

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And I'm referring to the majority of the Labine/Riche run, which is precisely why I've taken a hardline stance on this ongoing debate. Had I not viewed the stories of that era, I'd be more apt to give an inch to those who stand on the opposite side of this fence.

As for Slagbeast being revealed as Bobbie's son, I clearly remember damn near everyone on canvas rightfully regarding her as the trifling slag that she was - which went far beyond her propping the roided goiter. The regime that replaced Labine/Riche is what whittled it down to that mess.

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Exactly. For example, if Carlivati focused on at least developing and fleshing out Johnny and Starr's friendship, I could see this maybe being a legitimate prolonging because time needs to be taken to make the emotional connection matter for when the secret comes out. It could've been written as a caring and heartfelt friendship, with Johnny and the audience kinda anxiously squirming, hesitant to enjoy the friendship, anticipating that the bottom will fall out any minute, but hoping that it doesn't happen just yet. However, they didn't even do that. They had Johnny dote on Starr for about two weeks after we learned he was the one who killed her boyfriend and daughter, then they immediately moved Starr into her lesbian relationship with Michael and their attempts at foiling Trey and Kristina. The only Manning this seems to have become about is Todd. Starr seems to not give a damn about her dead fiance and daughter anymore and has had, maybe, one or two scenes with Johnny, if even that, the entire summer. But, yet, we're supposed to believe that Johnny feels guilty because he cares about Starr? How? He's never around her!

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Labine had little to do with the Carly story, other than being involved in the original idea.

I guess if the only reason to care about the Bobbie/Carly story was to see if people thought Carly was a whore, that could be seen as entertaining. I didn't watch it for that reason.

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Even with Cartooni, I'm left scratching my head with Liz. I know with them we are supposed to connect the dots ourselves, but geesh! NOTHING onscreen in the past 3 years = Liz today. NOTHING!

The Liason vs JaSam feud is back in full steam on Twitter for a pairing and character "development" that took place offscreen? WTF?!

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