General Hospital August 2018 Discussion

[KMan101]

 

I love this post. I'm right there with you on all of this.

 

That's what I meant about Sonny and Brenda. It's just more believable to me, with them as characters, that they'd self-sabotage their relationship and have this push and pull thing. That's a super couple. It's just always felt forced with Carly over the last several years. And you're right, they just decided to use Carly. They didn't really care either way. But the writing makes a lot more sense for Brenda, in some regards, and Carly in other regards. It would have all worked a lot better with Brenda, and a lot of the Carly stuff would work better with her and Jax. Missed opportunities.

 

And you explained exactly why I've felt the way I felt. If they were truly writing for the characters they'd know as well as we do a lot of it doesn't make sense for them. You really described why Jax and Carly made perfect sense, and they do. Just like Sonny and Brenda work far better with the "supercouple writing" than Carson do.

 

IF left alone, I think the current writers could actually make a modest effort at writing a GH I could at least care about most of the time. They were starting to! It wasn't perfect at all but I sensed they "got it". But of course, agendas and all that ... I'd like to see what they could do not having to write for certain characters. It feels forced and sometimes they don't seem to hide how ridiculous it is they have to focus on these people. I mean, Nina constantly playing reluctant heroine and crying. The ridiculous way they're having to redeem Julian. I know it's still 'their writing' but they've done a lot better with the true GH characters, personally. I felt it with Jason's return, one person I had never wanted to see back I was getting into coming back. And I think they're doing the best they can with Carly/Nelle, but I'm not quite sure why they keep going back and forth with Nelle. It's like they want to write her in a corner but then decide they want to keep her. The bones for a good story are kind of in place so I think they're slightly capable when given the chance.

 

I feel like they 'get' the GH characters but are being forced to write for Frank and Varni's pets. Not saying everything has been gold but I don't think they're being given the right chance.

[carolineg]

 

I just don't think soaps take that time anymore to build towards something.  Budgets have changed, timing, etc. We believe Sonny and Brenda because they built us up to that.  They successfully built that S/B/J triangle to the point where we were like who does she chose?  Couples just have sex now and are in love.  S/B are remembered for being on fire chemistry wise, but they dated for a long time before even having sex. 

Early Carson had some great writing, but it was more we are both awful people we should just be together sort of thing.   Carly and Brenda are two completely different characters that I think writers feel are interchangeable-the same with early Sam.  You can't just replace one with another because they look alike or know the same people.  Brenda has always been put on a pedestal by Jax and Sonny while Carly is the more 'real' ride or die girl... They have made them two caricatures.  Brenda, the needy, flighty,  spoiled princess, that everyone truly loves and Carly, the tough, loyal girl who worked up from nothing.

I have said before Carly and Brenda should just drop men and rule the world together.

[Antoyne]

I also really liked Claudia and Nikolas, but of course they ruined that too.

[titan1978]

The thing with Sonny and Carly not being that super couple they want us to think that they are is so true.  And for me, it’s because the groundwork was

laid for her to have that relationship with Jason, not Sonny.  And because Burton played against the writing due to his personal feelings, it looked onscreen like Sarah’s Carly was deeply, painfully in love with someone that wouldn’t love her back.

 

The show played it like Jason and Carly were the couple.  Her and Sonny having sex the first time was painful to Jason and damaged all their relationships.  He raised Michael.  He saved her from one mistake after another.  She hated all his girlfriends.

 

I also think Burton had better chemistry with all three of the major Carly’s.  I’m not even a big fan of his, but he has generated more heat with his costars.

 

Sonny in the 1990’s was a completely different character.

[carolineg]

 

But I never bought Jason and Carly either even though that's what the writing looked to be headed towards.  I am probably the one and only diehard Jason/Robin fan...

Carly messed that all up.  Although I do believe Carson was just a whim the writers had one day that caught on.

I do think Sbu generates more chemistry with his co stars.  MB fell into a VM pairing and literally built his career around it.

[titan1978]

I also credit Luke.  He was well used in Luke & Laura’s story orbit after the Karen story, with Frank Smith and the club, and back then that mattered.  He had a lot of charisma and was clearly talented at playing tortured.  Stone and Brenda sealed the deal.

 

Back then, I liked Sonny.  But I loved Stone and Brenda.  

[Wendy]

Actors shouldn't dictate stories but, on GH, it has been done for ages. Maurice Benard has dictated story, Anthony Geary has dictated story...heck, ironically, Tyler Christopher who likely had Carly/Nik pulled because Maurice dictated story was rumored to have requested to be paired with then-girlfriend Natalia Livingston, thus putting the kibosh on Zander/Emily and the quick exit of Andrea Pearson's recast Gia Campbell.

 

So I really don't feel for any of them. I do agree they should just STFU and act and let the writers write.

 

[carolineg]

 

I agree to an extent.  Luke didn't make or break Sonny.  MB had great chemistry Luke, Lucky, and Laura, but I still think Sonny and Brenda made one another.  VM might have lasted longer due to her chem with SK's AJ or SBu's  Jason, but I don't think MB would of.  He was tanking with pairings left and right with Lily and Karen.  And was a mobster/strip club owner.  Stone/Robin gave him something, but I think he would have been out after that.  He was a short term character that caught on.  I always thought Crystal Carson's Julia had good chem with TG and she was out pretty quickly.

[OldGHFan]

 

THIS.  I loved Sonny in the 90s and one of the reasons I liked him was because not everyone liked him.  That was a good thing.  To this day, I remembered that Edward Quartermaine didn't like Robert Scorpio.  I loved that and I loved both characters.  No character should be liked by everyone - especially a mobster.

 

Also, I agree that when GH made Sonny, Carly and Jason the sole focus of the show, it was the beginning of the end.

[John]

Maybe that is Ryan in Ferncliff

It sure looked like old school Ryan Circa 1995

[Ryan Chamberlain]

I'm pretty sure it's Ryan in the funny farm.

 

He'll switch with Kevin eventually though. I know for sure that 

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My psycho is back and I couldn't be happier if I tried right now.  Woo hoo!!!

[titan1978]

Edward Quartermaine was shady af, especially when played by David Lewis.  He also used to get snippy around Anna when she was police commissioner if I remember correctly.  He always had a tone when he said Scorpio though, and it was great.

[ranger1rg]

These courtroom scenes for the sexual assault trial are SO bad. Just awful.

[reallyhateskateonlost]

Soap courtroom scenes can never be like Law and Order or Perry Mason. Where does Ava get off on being vengeful  and judgy. Shoe is on the other foot now.

[ghfan89]

I thought Sarah Brown's best chemistry was actually with Sean Kanan rather than either Benard or even Burton.