He doesn't.

I expect at the time, he may have thought Blair's struggle would have been redeemed by virtue of her quasi-romantic connection with Michael Lowry's Ross, which was excellent. But he abandoned that for shining up Todd/Victor and Téa. He doesn't think in long-term unless it's one of his big, big stories - and then he doesn't pay attention to the short-term. Which is all the same thing, really.

I thought it was fine, as well. I thought it was him being perhaps a bit too clever and wanting to do the homage (just the way he wanted to do High School Musical homages, etc) but not related to humiliating the characters, even if in some ways I agree with you, Dr, that it did. But honestly, I don't think he even thinks that complexly.

The problem with the homage was that it had nothing to do with the spirit of Grey Gardens - Grey Gardens wasn't about two women who were losers because they never got it from Jack Kennedy. Perhaps it was to Ron, but it certainly wasn't to anyone else that I knew of.

If you're going to do bitter camp, you'd better have the ability to pull it off. When you hate women and only see them as worthy depending on men and babies, as Ron does in his writing IMO, then you are already failing right out of the starting gate.

I don't really think Ron thought that (or much else) through that deeply - he just saw Blair and Dorian as having a co-dependent relationship (which they did) while Blair was hung up on her image of one man - which she was, and that was the mistake of the parody, IMO, because the logical conclusion from that fantasy was to have her move on to something healthier and more functional with either Ross or his brother Eli, but neither was allowed - both men were disposed of to keep TSJ's Victor/Todd prominent. Instead, she was moved into a relationship RC didn't care about - with Ted King, in a fine concept of a role that was utterly wasted - while he bided his time to get Roger Howarth, and give both of Todd's wives a "Todd".

I think he knew Blair was old enough to not be fixated on babies, but men was another story.

Levi being an ass isn't making me root for worthless Maxie.

Levi being an ass isn't making me root for worthless Maxie.

what sux is the actor is still taping at GH. UGHH

what sux is the actor is still taping at GH. UGHH

Should we be surprised? RC will squeeze the blood out of this turnip to its last drop. Look at Obretch. She should've been gone after Robin was revealed to be alive, but RC would rather make this stupid a**, mustache-twirling heifer the head of the hospital, which is so farfetched it's ridiculous. Chief of Staff, the heart of the show (IMO), a position on this show that should be held by someone the audience cares about (*coughs* Monica *cough*) is being held by this wench.

Ron keeps the wrong characters for long-term (all his creations) and gets rid of the wrong characters short-term (e.g. AJ).

Kathleen Gati is a great actress. A shining star amongst character actors, the kind that glow on daytime when they're ignored in bigger productions elsewhere.

The problem is not her, it's that they overplayed and overexposed an over-the-top character. It almost makes me wish for Obrecht to have a sane twin, but that very rarely works.

Should we be surprised? RC will squeeze the blood out of this turnip to its last drop. Look at Obretch. She should've been gone after Robin was revealed to be alive, but RC would rather make this stupid a**, mustache-twirling heifer the head of the hospital, which is so farfetched it's ridiculous. Chief of Staff, the heart of the show (IMO), a position on this show that should be held by someone the audience cares about (*coughs* Monica *cough*) is being held by this wench.

Ron keeps the wrong characters for long-term (all his creations) and gets rid of the wrong characters short-term (e.g. AJ).

I just don't see what' so great about Kathleen Gati and her fake accent. Is she entertaining me? Sometimes, but I never heard of her before GH so what has she done exactly...broadway? So the desperate bully and her sinister mom are now double teaming Elizabeth ...oh joy....Liz stuck with Sabrina now another round of this ...Free Liz!

IA It seems to me that Maxi' major purpose is a love interest for Nathan she's not getting much outside of that...she talks about her GH history with him it would be nice if she had scenes with Patrick and/or Emma and included in their storyline somewhat. She had a few scenes with Mac but she should be involved in something else.

I felt more for Ric' fake death than I did for poor baby Blanket .... I didn't even get misty eyed....

Maxie's been superfluous for a while now. If she and Paevey continue to have no chemistry I wonder what her fate on the show will be.

I'm sure Gati is a good actress but I can't say I've seen that much of it on GH, other than a few of her confrontations with Anna. She reminds me of a supporting player on Allo Allo.

They'll nuke Nathan - or marginalize him - before dumping Maxie. The problem is it's a waste of time between now and that pairing's failure.

Absolutely--I thought his early OLTL actually worked well that way. I wonder if part of the whole huge cast, scattered stories thing (though it did start on One Life) is part of both his and Frank's plan to "give 'em a Friday episode everyday." I'm not letting his writing off the hook--but I think that plays a part.

His early work was good because he was cleaning up Higley's storyboards and outlines. Higley's stories weren't necessarily flawed at their core, but the execution was generally heinous. Shortly after Ron began creating his own stories from the foundation up, the writer's strike hit and Gary Tomlin revamped and executed Ron's outlines under his own creative vision, achieving mixed results IMO. When the strike was resolved, Ron kind of rebooted OLTL. That's when his weaknesses were most exposed IMO. He began repeating almost identical plots or themes over and over again (and continues to repeat those same themes on GH) and really quit telling stories IMO. We say he writes plot points, but I think that gives him too much credit. He writes scenes, with almost no connective tissue between them. GH has no heart and no real sense of a community. A place where characters have real relationships with one another that carry through in all situations. They show complete disassociation with and lack of awareness of each other unless the scene calls for it. Soaps are rooted in reLationships. The characters' relationships with others on the canvas, and the audience's relationships with the characters. Ron fails at this on every level because it bores him.

Edited June 14, 201411 yr by rhinohide

For me, it's sometimes the little things that annoy. Like a couple of weeks ago when Nik was talking to Alexis and said he was going to pick up "Cam and Aiden Spencer". No one uses their own nephew's surname in a conversation with another relative. It's a small thing, but it sounds so unnatural that it jars me right out of the show.

I've never been a Liz fan, but I do like the way she tried to stand up for Ric and help him. I like that pairing more than Nik and Liz.

It's nice to see Tracy and Lulu share scenes and be confidants for each other. I've had enough of Fluke.

Overall, the show is keeping me entertained and I'm getting to see some familiar faces. I'll take it.

For me, it's sometimes the little things that annoy. Like a couple of weeks ago when Nik was talking to Alexis and said he was going to pick up "Cam and Aiden Spencer". No one uses their own nephew's surname in a conversation with another relative. It's a small thing, but it sounds so unnatural that it jars me right out of the show.

Are you sure she didn't say Cam, Aiden AND Spencer, as in Nik's son ? I didn't watch so I'm just wondering but of she really said there last name you're right that's really jarring.

Are you sure she didn't say Cam, Aiden AND Spencer, as in Nik's son ? I didn't watch so I'm just wondering but of she really said there last name you're right that's really jarring.

It was Nik speaking to Alexis on 6/2. I could have sworn he used their last name, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt, since I erase the show right after watching and can't be sure. Maybe he said "Cam, Aiden and Spencer", instead of "Cam and Aiden Spencer."

Anyway, obviously, I'm way behind and am marathoning this weekend to catch up. I do feel bad for Patrick and Sabrina, but I'm not sure what the point of this story is. I miss the days when soaps rarely killed off a baby that made it out of the womb and when they did, they made it count.

The only reason behind the Gabriel dies storyline is to make sabrina even more untouchable than she already is.

She gets to be free to be completly obnoxious and self centered and when she gets called out on it her crazy whackjob stans will play the but she lost her baby card.

Even if its two or three years from now and half the pregnant women end up losing theirs Sabrina the unicorn worshiper's pain will be more tragic than anybody else's.

Cuz everything is a tragedy when it involves sabrina.

I still remember how a big deal it was made that she didnt pass her nursing exam. You'd think human race as a specie was facing extinction.