Members BetterForgotten Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 GH had terrific staff writers for years, starting with the Labine era and even through people like McTavish and Guza. That was all obliterated when Guza was fired the last time - despite his incompetence as a HW, he knew and appreciated the strengths of the writers on his team. Geary also appreciated this, even if he did edit dialogue a lot during this period as well. He went out of his way to applaud people like Michele Val Jean and Elizabeth Korte in the past, so he must have had respect for them on some level. Carlivati has no idea and most of his script writers are lackluster and totally the bottom of the barrel when it comes to talent. I'm not surprised the actors are confused by the direction they're getting from the terrible scripts they receive. The overall dialogue on the show is probably the worst in ALL of daytime at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 Wow. Geary just has NFTG anymore. That's going to leave a mark on somebody's fragile ego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members titan1978 Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 It's an honest interview on his perspective of his time on the show. He has nice things to say about Gloria, Frank, and several of his costars. And his criticism is valid of Ron and his exit story. Even if he went for Luke and Laura it was still wrapped up in stupid Frank Smith. Brought back and killed off within days. Stupid. But as much as he hated Riche's era and Labine's writing for his character, it was some of his best work on the show. Human, older, still dangerous but devoted to his family. Before he got broad and overly dramatic. Some of that may have been a push back against the material, but when he is left unchecked and without a string vision he goes big and loud. My opinion of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members quartermainefan Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 I could see though how a director may need you to turn around at this moment so they know when to switch cameras. The cry on this word thing is a little silly. If you are a word too late are you a failure? I feel sorry for Geary because I think everything in the interview is symptomatic of the real truth of the interview: he doesn't like when he dies he will be known only as Luke of "Luke and Laura". He wants to be a "real actor" in all caps doing great works and respected in a Lee Strasberg or Helen Hayes kind of way and nobody is taking him seriously. He doesn't realize that by daytime standards he is a genius, but in reality he can be a terrible ham. The fun stuff was good. He seems to not have much use for RC, although I thought he praised him back at the end of Fluke. He sort of fires subtle torpedoes at RC any way he could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 Exactly. They saved Bob and Jill's terrible show from itself on many a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RavenWhitney Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 First of all, most successful entertainers (writers or actors) have outsized egos and have a level of narcissism that exceeds the norm. Ron and Anthony are no exception. I don't disagree with Geary's assessment of some of Ron's plots, but his memory and tastes are selective: Monty produced some controversial plots (drivel) not the least of which was Mikkos freezing the world, a totally cheesy plot that debased all that she had done previously with Marland and Falken Smith as writers. Monty purchased Thom Racina's ideas from his own cheesy novel to get through the 1981 writer's strike and Tony played that plot to the max (and cashed in on the glory it brought him). Geary can cast aspersions and stones all he wants but his daytime career was unique and driven by the material he received from many writers over the years. I don't believe he would have had such success and fame in nighttime; he's cranky all the way into a nice/wealthy retirement...all because of schlocky/unbelievable plots during most of his GH tenure. The medium has changed and to assign blame solely on the current head writer and his team is nonsense. All that's produced in television is done with profits in mind. The business model calls for certain type of shows and that's what's being produced and he stayed with it and earned a hefty check for years. Many actors in his age group with equal talent have been relegated to pouring coffee and appearing once a month. He was given front burner material for years and the network accommodated his absences which dictated a lot of dumb plot devices (but he doesn't criticize those). I think he and Logan wanted to rag on Ron which is fine but they could have taken a higher road instead of this sour grapes/puss attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 The fun part is watching the soap media on Twitter fight like cats and dogs over it. IMO no one is defensible here. Tony blocked any redemption for Luke and reunion for Luke and Laura at every turn, and he pushed to keep Luke a drunk despite RC's best efforts. That was wrong and he should have been stopped. At the same time, watching people from DC try to raise a hue and cry about Tony Geary at this late a date in defense of Ron Carlivati is laughable. The horse has left the burning barn; the current state of GH is beyond a scapegoat like that egocentric old man. Whatever Geary did to them re: Luke's past story, and I'm sure he did a lot and shouldn't have, the larger issue of the show-as-disaster - and the endless Fluke saga and eleventh-hour DID rewrite - all of that is on Ron and Frank. It goes way beyond one story, or one choice, or one actor, or a handful of bad characters, also; it's about the 30-second scenes, the incredibly banal functional dialogue mixed with quips, and it's about how Geary, for all his flaws, and Jonathan Jackson had to sit up all night rewriting their scenes to try and make them feel like good soap. It's about the larger machine. Everything is broken. That's on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjjg Posted July 20, 2015 Author Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 I thought Luke's scenes with Ethan and Lucky both seemed special and too good compared to the plot and show. Perhaps TG should be head writer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGHFan Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 Hasn't Geary already been his own headwriter for years? That's why we aren't getting a romantic Luke & Laura reunion. That's why Ethan is a Spencer instead of a Scorpio. No thanks. Geary can't get off my TV screen soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BetterForgotten Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 It sounds neither he or Genie wants a Luke & Laura reunion, so I guess that's not just on him solely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vee Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 I think Genie may be being politic about it. But I also think Genie would've played it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members titan1978 Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 What seems clear to me is that Genie wants to be valued and have Laura valued. Tony got material no matter what was going on with the Luke and Laura machine. She did not always fare as well. Sometimes her fault (long maternity leave), sometimes the fault of the show and TPTB (Guza and JFP I'm looking at you). For good or bad everything in his story circle revolved around him after the Ice Princess. Even the rape revisit was mostly from Luke's perspective, and Lucky, and a little bit Laura. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gray Bunny Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 Tony Geary's hatred of being tied to "Luke-and-Laura" for eternity reminds me of Robert Reed hating The Brady Bunch. Maybe I'm just money hungry, but I wouldn't be upset. Look what being Luke Spencer and Mike Brady afforded them throughout life. They weren't struggling actors, working odd jobs to make ends meet. But whatevs, it's all about the craft, yada yada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dragonflies Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 Without the L&L "machine" and Laura being the reason Luke became so popular Tony might not have lasted on GH without it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members reallyhateskateonlost Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 TG usually tells it like it is in his interviews. To bad he didn't say the writing sucks and thats why he's retiring. If GH gets a new writer, he'll be back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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