HOLIDAY MIRACLE: Prospect Park Back On Track To Revive AMC and OLTL

[Ryan Chamberlain]

I vote for 400 too.

[Vee]

I agree. But the new characters nonsense is never going to happen.

They will return to OLTL, or some will cut a deal to stay on GH, or they will cross back and forth, or they will be gone. But they will not stay on GH as all-new people.

Personally I hope Easton cuts a deal and stays in Port Charles, where he actually works best IMO.

[Errol]

400 it is. That should bring us to at least February 25th

[leahanna]

I have a dumb question, if say Easton is going to be Caleb, how come he can't work on GH after Feb 8th? That is the part I don't understand

[rhinohide]

Yes Vee. I've been privy to your thoughts on Easton and the glorious improvements he's made on GH vs. OLTL and the decimation of Natalie's character. Got it.

As I've said. I'm perfectly happy to gift Easton to GH. Just not John. On this we will just have to agree to disagree. I don't see any improvement. But a new face might do wonders for the character. And I think Easton needs a little shaking up as well. Caleb might be just the ticket. And then Cartini can create a long "redemption" arc for the character. Could be fun.

[Chris B]

I wasn't clear. I meant OLTL needs to go ahead with recasts and GH should create new characters for the actors. GH doesn't want to lose tge actora in a full time capacity and PP only will work with ABC if they PP gets them full time so there is no hope. They both want tge same thing, so they should just go their separate ways at this point.

[SFK]

But creating new roles for those actors totally defeats the point of having them to begin with and will just look silly and amateurish (and yes, I know we're talking FV/RC here, but even so).

[rhinohide]

Got it. I agree.

I thought the point of having them to begin with was to lure OLTL viewers to GH (which didn't work all that well IMHO) and to "keep a piece of OLTL alive" which is no longer necessary since OLTL lives again (hopefully, fingers and toes crossed). So their work here is done AFAIC. At least as far as their current characters "purpose". Maybe Cartini will surprise us. I see a lot of people on different boards and twitter who are embracing the idea of Easton playing Caleb again. It could be just awesome.

My deal breaker is they have to sever the ties between GH and OLTL completely. They can't be "hybrid" in any shape form or fashion for me. I've hated it from day one, and now that OLTL looks like it will be launched, I don't want there to be any links left between Llanview and Port Charles.

[leahanna]

I don't think Easton is playing Caleb otherwise he wouldn't be having to leave on Feb 8th, he would just continue taping

[Vee]

I don't think there's a character to recast without ME. It's always just been about him. The character is a void - it's not like there's some deep wellspring of passion and charisma and deep feeling in there somewhere that another actor will bring out. What's the point? Just to continue John and Natalie (or on GH, John and Sam)? The character exists as a vehicle for ME. He's either on the show, on GH or he's gone.

[SFK]

Easton as Caleb I can buy, the groundwork is there. But giving RH and KA new characters sounds like a big stupid mess to me, hardly worth it. If folks wanted to see RH as anyone other than Todd, his stint on ATWT would have been a lot more successful. No offense to KA, but I don't think she offers anything extraordinary that sets her apart from a long line of soap starlets. If they wanna go all Sarah Brown with her, more power to 'em. But it'll be dumb.

[John]

Ok with rumors that RH signed a one year deal, I could see him returning as Todd to oLTL maybe even recuring at first

I dont think John is needed in ether place. Gh can just bring in a new dude for Sam. But If Gh wants him send John off on a case & have Caleb be focused more

Ok and KA. I love ya but OLTL recast ET as Jessica and you too can be recast if you dont want to do oLTL & IMO Starr is needed & fits in much better at OLTL

If KA stays on GH, maybe bring her on as Lucy's daughter Kristina or maybe Sean & tiffany's daughter.

[rhinohide]

I think he's a crap character with or without Easton. LOL. But he doesn't have to be. New writers with a new creative vision for the character and a recast can transform him. It's not magic. Look at Joey Buchanan. There was always the potential for John to turn a corner and become whole. That's what the big appeal for the character was on OLTL always. He was always looking for "the one". And supposedly when he found her then he could be completed. I think the fact that Easton was playing John, and the team always wanted to throw him at every new damsel who came down the pike was perhaps the most damaging thing for the character. If you liked the female du jour and you liked their chemistry, then you wanted her to be "the one". Only thing is, she never really was, and the cycle was just repeated. He had multiple life altering experiences that teased that he was on the verge of an epiphany -- and there would be a moment when you would think he'd actually made that turn. But then they always regressed him.

It's even happened on GH. John arrived in Port Charles a happy family man who was on a mission. But he wasn't brooding or obsessed about it. He was in love. He loved his son. Blah Blah Blah Blah. But a lot of people immediately noticed that he was lighter and more optimistic etc. IMO, they rapidly stripped all that away, and while they allow him more clever dialogue, they've actually regressed him back to that guy who is mostly pretty dour, and a loner who really has very little going on his life but work and Sam.

ETA: Actually Joey Buchanan is perhaps the worst example I could have used. Whatshisface from Castle was really the only decent Joey ever, and each subsequent Joey was worse than the last IMO. But Bree Williamson is a good example. I know a lot people always preferred ET. And I never liked Bree myself. But she brought a very different dynamic to the character and it provided a different element of stories that could be told for Jessica. Like them or not. But it did work for a very long time.

Sorry. I think you will be stuck with her. Uncle Frank will make sure of it. But honestly, she wasn't that great before as Starr. How much worse can it be?

[EnglishTea]

I'd read your article except every time I link to one it crashes my computer, so I'm done with that, so I don't know if you addressed it - but there is a huge difference between set turnaround and construction of sets.

[Vee]

But if you change Sam's name to Natalie and drop in a few mentions of Liam, that's all he had coming in. I personally don't see a difference.

And if it's that easy to just invent a new characterization for John, then I don't know why OLTL shouldn't instead make an entirely new character to pair Natalie with without all the baggage and crap John has done. Except for his detective stories John's character is a husk. Rachel Davis on AW's true love wasn't the man who fathered her illegitimate son - it was someone else. Steve Frame was just a stepping stone for her destiny.