GH: November 2012 Discussion Thread

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Weren't the East Coast soaps known for tapping into theatrical talent in New York though? Wasn't that part of their reputation?

[MrQuartermaine]

I saw Kelly on Broadway a few years ago when she did Young Frankenstein, and I have to admit, she was very good.

[DRW50]

That's what Carlivati tends to do - pointless ties just for the sake of them. He did that all the time on OLTL. The characters still flopped.

[MrQuartermaine]

Yes, and in my opinion, it's one of the reasons why all of the East Coast soaps are gone now.

[carolineg]

That is actually my reaction anytime Connie appears on my TV screen. Seriously, though, I hear she is a very good stage actress, but TV is different. You don't have to project and over-emphasize things as much. I actually think Connie is good entertainment, but she is just fluff. I mean, how many rabid fans does KSu really have? And how big is she really going to be? VM/Brenda fans just need to calm down. She is just a normal Sonny love interest like Reese, Hannah, Angel, Claudia, etc, etc, etc. I highly doubt she is Sonny's 'endgame'. I am sure they will get VM back for a hastily written S&B happily ever after. I enjoy the fact that she is not boring and brings the camp factor, but she is unintentionally hilarious and not at all what the part calls for or what (I assume) GH is going for with this story.

[SFK]

Wha-wha-whoa, but there's a difference between musical theatre performers and off-Broadway actors. '70s AW and OLTL had awesome casts boasting lots of off/off-off-Broadway talent. The musical theatre performers have usually gotten much smaller soap gigs.

[carolineg]

Well, I doubt anyone in the GH viewing audience is a new fan because she is tied to the character of Juan. Is anyone a true, diehard Juan fan (and, no, I don't count BH/Liz fans that say they like Juan just because MS is married to BH.)? There has to be a reason for this, right? Maybe a Ricky Martin guest appearance? A tie in to Sonny? Maybe she is hell bent on revenge over her first cousin Lily's death and is out to destroy the mob? Sigh...........there really is going to be no reason for this.

[MrQuartermaine]

And that's when the soaps were good, but over the years, Broadway's popularity decreased, as did the popularity of the soaps.

As the years have gone by though, things have changed. OLTL & AMC began casting a ton of roles with Broadway performers who quite frankly, were not very good and didn't last very long.

[SFK]

While I don't disagree with that, I think the bigger problem was that the soaps started hiring more and more models with no discernible training or talent, period.

[DRW50]

Unless Bree Williamson and David Gregory and Farah Fath were Broadway actors, then I can't blame Broadway for the gutter that was OLTL's last years.

There might be a reason, might not. It's all made up as it goes along. It is probably just a cute wink, an attempt to show us how clever Carlivati is. He did this over and over on OLTL, with no apparent reason. Toward the end, two generic golddigger characters, Kim and Cutter, were revealed to be siblings. How brilliant. This was so rushed that the writers could not even remember whether he was her younger brother or her older brother. Then their mother turned out to be a longtime character, Alex Olanov, who had long ceased being anything but rarely seen comic relief. What story did this lead to? Absolutely none.

[chicklitsandfantasies]

I doubt Ricky Martin is coming back nor do I want him to. Like his music but he can't act. His GH parody this year was funny though. They should've made Sabrina Sonny's cousin if they wanted to tie her to someone. And he wouldn't recognize her because Adela's family gave up shortly after she married Mike. That's using history

So soaps took a nosedive in the 80s then?

[Vee]

Soaps have had a long, proud tradition of using theater people since Harding Lemay and Another World. Theater is not the problem and many shows, from AW to OLTL, used stage stars to great effect time and again.

I think Kelly Sullivan started this DID story okay, when they had dark scenes like the one on the docks in the bloody dress. She was like a live nerve. I think she's talented. But the story has become such campy trash, and while she's easily more talented than Bree Williamson (who did the Jessica DID stories on OLTL), you can only do so much with nonstop camp without becoming completely over the top, and she has. The character - both Kate and Connie - is a cartoon now and has been for awhile. Whenever we see Kate now she is basically OLTL's Jessica, long, bedraggled hair, whispery voice, weak and weepy. That was never Kate Howard. At least when Sullivan came onto GH she was able to make that ice queen act work. Now even her Kate is unrecognizable. I don't blame her. I blame the writing that took her character and performance to kookytown.

And yes - I think Megan Ward could make a DID story work better.

[ChitHappens]

Who in the sam hell is Sabrina?

Um yeah, this mal nourished no talent Daffy Duck wannabe needs to go!

Yep, if a recast is not an option, kill this worthless bitch off. She is of no value to the show. Can't Disney put her to work?

[Vee]

I don't have a problem in most cases with the familial/story links to new people. Sabrina being related to Juan and Miguel doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the larger subplot that forced her and Britt onto the show. They stick out like sore thumbs, and they plus Ellie were all brought on at once. Ellie is okay, Sabrina is okay, but all of them together?

[Mr. Vixen]

I agree with all of this except that Kelly pulled off the ice queen act. Butch just isn't Kate.