GH October 2018 Discussion Thread

[vetsoapfan]

 

When Emily McLaughlin passed away, nobody in Port Charles even MENTIONED Jessie's death. The character just disappeared without mention, as if she merited no attention whatsoever.

 

It was soooooooooooooooooo wrong, so disrespectful.

 

(Yes, there was an on-air announcement after an episode, and a few years later, Steve Hardy finally mentioned on-screen that Jessie had previously died, but at the time, the situation was badly mishandled. McLaughlin and Jessie deserved more love than Morgan ever could.)

[slick jones]

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Morgan was an awfully written character portrayed by an oaf. Rest in Pieces....

 

The fact that Jessie never received a proper passing or tribute was a slap in the face to EM's fans. The same can be said for Shell Kepler's Amy.

[dragonflies]

Great interview with Genie, and I NEVER knew the abducted by Cassadine's stuff was her idea, wow. It did work though

 

https://www.tvinsider.com/722210/genie-francis-return-general-hospital-laura-collins/

[titan1978]

I only knew the medical side of the story had been pitched when their return was planned years ago, the bone marrow transplant.  They decided it needed to be bigger to bring them back on the show, so Frank Smith and on the run was developed, which was by Tony and his writing partner as I recall.

 

I wish she had been as open back in the day.  I know she is guarded because ABC and GH PTB haven’t always treated her well.  She was so young, and as much as she loves the show she also has reason to not love ABC.

 

I hope she writes a real tell all books someday.  She’s seen some awful [!@#$%^&*].

[victorlord75]

I was not watching GH at the time of Shell Kepler's death, so I never knew what happened to Amy Vining.  I do recall that they had a picture of Jessie and Amy shown at the resurrected Nurse's Ball after Ron and Frank's arrival.  I will still watch the 28 second announcement on GH from John Beradino concerning EM's passing on YouTube, and even today, I still feel alot of emotion.

 

And as far as I'm concerned, Morgan can stay dead.

[vetsoapfan]

 

While I was somewhat mollified that the show acknowledged EM's passing through that brief announcement with John Beradino, I still find it atrocious that TPTB never gave any closure to the character of Jessie in the story. Can you imagine if Katherine Chancellor, Alice Horton, Nancy Hughes, Ada McGowen or Jo Tourner had simply ceased to exist on-screen, without any explanation, with no one from among their family and friends even mentioning their absence? The fans would have been LIVID.

[victorlord75]

While EM's role diminished alot under Tom Donovan as producer, it was under Gloria Monty onward that Jessie became nothing more than a day player.  While I gratefully acknowledge Ms. Monty's contributions toward saving the show from cancellation, I think Ms. Monty did a lousy job of respecting GH's past.  I remember more than once, when GH would hit a new milestone, that barely any mention was made of the show's first fifteen years.  Even today, I often feel that even avid fans look at the show as beginning in 1978.

[titan1978]

I think once Monty and ABC decided to kill off Lesley instead of letting Denise have the time off she wanted the end of the Hardy-Webber’s was complete.  Sure Rick was still there, as were Jessie, Steve and Audrey, but there wasn’t a character that had major story with them before Monty’s arrival left on the canvas.  No Diana Taylor.  No Lesley.  No Jeff.  Once they didn’t have Lesley and those characters to confide in with her, they all really dried up.

 

Scotty still popped in and out, so there was a tie for the show to use Gail and Lee as foils for the character they wanted to use, which was Scott.

 

I also think Monty didn’t recast major parts once the show became beyond huge.  They wrote them out and moved on.    That’s why we only have one Tracy, one Lesley, one Jeff, when other shows had several popular versions of characters, like Margo and Tom on ATWT.  That hurt Steve and Audrey by not using Jeff ever again.  A whole branch of their family tree stopped having story for almost 20 years.

 

As much as I love Monty, I also loved post Monty when we got Simone Hardy and her story with Tom.  A better recast for Simone when the original left, and a better Tom at the start would have cemented that branch of the family so much more.

[victorlord75]

@titan1978 I never thought about the effect of killing off Lesley Webber had in the way that you did, but you are right.  Using the logic you have shared, it shows that we were actually very fortunate to get Heather Webber back as a recast under Monty's reign.

 

I am certain that Tom Hardy returned under the pen of Ann Marcus, whose writing regime I enjoyed very much on GH at the time.  I liked her work and Gene Palumbo's writing work on GH during the era after Monty's first departure from GH.  

 

https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/ann-marcus#show-clips

 

 

[KMan101]

It's bugged me so much over the years how they can bring on other peoples fathers and mothers left and right but not Elizabeth's.

And it's bugged me how they can recast Jordan but Simone no longer appears to exist (I guess they've hit their quota?). They can have a young kid named TJ but nope, not a Hardy or Webber, sorry!

 

Lets also cast women who look like they could pass as Liz's sister but nope, sorry, she's a new character who could be doing all the same things as Sarah but sorry she's Hayden or Margaux. 

 

Let's have a new and exciting character (not my words and I don't think he's either; I just remember Valentini or someone crowing about Easton's sixhundredth character like it was the most amazing thing ever) in Finn but let's ignore Tom Hardy. Let's send Steve Webber off and forget about him.

 

You mean Tom couldn't have fulfilled the same purpose as Finn? I'm all for new characters here and there but it boggles my mind how soaps can have so many and many that would fit past characters yet ... nope. I mean, new viewers would have to get to know the character either way, it shouldn't make a difference if it's Tom or Finn, but at least with Tom there's a built in investment overall. They just don't quite get that.

 

Yeah. It's annoying to say the least.

 

And we could also talk about how they've given Lucas a baby that is his sister's son's kid and he's like, never on? Is Carnes truly not available? So Lucas will likely pop in for two days to yell at everyone, disown them, and then months later when the show remembers, have him on again to make tentative amends. Then wash, rinse and repeat? Sigh

 

I tried watching again today and I just cringe seeing Franco playing daddy to Liz's kid. Why? Why am I stuck with him? I don't want to watch Howarth and Franco. All I do is picture AJ in that spot. And in Drew's spot. Sigh.

 

And now we're wasting time on Nina crying about her grown daughter (who damn, looks like she and Kelly Thiebeaud are twins!)

 

And we have the Oscar drama on 4 days a week. Jason had to console him. Julian had to console him. Tamara Braun's been crying for what feels like weeks. Billy Miller looks so out of place. Another useless pet taking up time.

 

So much time wasted on pets most actually don't care about (Twitter is fun; they hate most of GH as much as we do; of course rabid stans always exist)

 

So much missed opportunity on this show.

 

I wish those running the soaps viewed them differently. I have my problems with Ron Carlivati but I appreciate he's a fan and he's often tried to fix some things that were massive blunders. Even though he's definitely made his share.

 

The care just doesn't exist. I loved when the AMC and OLTL reboots came up because you knew they were "in it together" and fans of the genre. I know a lot of people behind the scenes are great and fans but we know soaps are riddled with interference.

[vetsoapfan]

 

Emily McLaughlin's daughter, Mary Ann Anderson,  published a biography about her mom called Portrait of a Soap Star, after EM had passed away. I was able to chat with her personally at that time, and she told me some things that surprised me.

 

With the "youth explosion" all the rage in the early 1980s, ABC mandated that the vets be sidelined and that the focus be directed primarily at the younger cast members who would appeal to the teens.

 

EM was unwell at the time, and even though scripts were being written with Jessie in them, EM kept missing tape dates which made her security with the show even more precarious. It got to the point that when EM was unable to fill her contractual obligations, ABC dropped her from contract status. Gloria Monty actually tried to protect her, according to Anderson, and continued to use Jessie when feasible. Monty kept EM at the top of the cast list in the closing credits, instead of dropping her down to the bottom with other non-contract performers. GM even continued to pay EM a whopping $3500.00 per episode, unheard of for a non-contract player with only only a handful of lines here or there. Some of the long stretches when Jessie was totally absent from the show were caused by EM's personal issues, but after Monty left, Anderson says the indifference by TPTB made the situation worse for her mother and Jessie drifted out of sight. It was only when Joseph Hardy came on board as producer that Anderson asked him directly if EM was going to lose her job completely. Hardy said he wanted to use the vets, including EM, if she was up for it, and so then, according to Anderson, her mom started appearing on the show once a week or so when her health permitted.

 

Until I spoke to Anderson, I had put a lot of the blame on Monty for pushing the vets to the side, but after hearing how she really tried to protect the actress and keep her on the show, my stance softened. Seeing all the bad decisions the network heaped on AMC, OLTL, RH, etc., I can easily believe that the ABC executives had a large hand in screwing everything up.

 

Personally, I loved the 1960s and early 1970s on GH, and then fell back in love with it in 1978 after enduring s few bad years with it. If anything, I loathed most of the 1980s, with all the dumb sci-fi nonsense.

 

 

[titan1978]

Blowing through episodes from the last two weeks on Hulu to see Genie’s return.  I had to laugh watching Steve Burton.  He’s  in his black tee shirt, but Frank got his too.  The shirt is so tight I can see his nipples.

 

I don’t know what’s changed, but the show looks better to me than it did when I quit watching before.  The blue tint has been toned down.  They were all starting to look like Smurfs.  

 

I see Nina in Kate’s office and all I can think is I would care about this more if it was Kate.

 

The show is filled with hot guys that all lack that something extra.  I’m here for a hot man.  But they used to be able to find hot and something extra- either hot and a talented actor or hot with charisma to burn or when we were very lucky, both.  Now it’s just hot full stop.

 

This Lulu is so miscast for the part.  I could see her as a Quartermaine cousin, but she is just too flighty and haughty for me as Lulu.

 

Not that soaps used to revel in nuance, but they did used to have some.  What is missing for me in the Ryan story is more subtlety, more nuance and menace.  Which is not something Frank is good at as I recall. His production is pretty, and bland and only to move the plot, just like it was on OLTL.  Those scenes with Felicia should have felt more dangerous.  We know the actors can pull it off.

 

I started with the Monday of Genie’s return, and the opening characters were all a bunch of nobody’s.  So I was pleasantly surprised to see Laura, Lucy, Ryan, Jason, Monica, Carly, and Felicia all within two days, and continuing.  This is how you get me to at least check out the show.  Give me some people I care about, even when it’s not at its best.

 

Genie seems more like Laura in these scenes than she has in any of her Valentini returns so far to me.  She just seems more like a version of Laura I recognize, even if I’m not a huge fan of her and Kevin as a couple.  So credit where it’s due to the writers.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

That picture of Jon from the nineties. G-Damn.

 

he was so [!@#$%^&*] hot back then. 

 

He's still hot now. You all [!@#$%^&*] know I am loving this right. It's my favorite storyline since I started watching.

 

Started loving the OG Ryan saga from YT. 

 

Jon still plays him so creepy  compared to pansy ass Kevin. Not that I don't like Kevin. But, he's possibly the most boring soap character ever now compared to how he was in the 90s and early 00s on PC. (When he put bricks around Ian Thornheart) 

[victorlord75]

@vetsoapfan I really appreciate you sharing these details, the great majority of which were unknown to me.  I, too, prefer more reality-based stories than I do mob violence or sci-fi stories on a soap.  Today, I don't think most soaps have the money to do sci-fi well anymore, which is probably a blessing.  I know most fans blasted the recent earthquake story on GH and its poor special effects, but it didn't bother me at all.  I don't look for technical razzle dazzle on a soap.

 

I'm still loving the Ava-Kiki battle.  I've heard Haley Erin is leaving the show and rumors say they are killing Kiki off.  That's a shame because all the arguing has really made Ava so much more interesting to me.  I would have liked to have seen them do battle for longer.  

 

 

[slick jones]

This.

 

The wastes of space known as Nina, Franko, Julian, Finn, Kiki,Margaux,Kim,  etc. are all the problem. Instead of mining the past and creating the characters  from families fans care about, we get pets. 

 

An ABC fan favorite like James DePaiva should not have been wasted on a throwaway role like Bensch. As a Jeff Webber, Jimmy Lee Holt (Eric Quartermaine), or Tom Hardy, he could have brought back a welcomed, stabilizing role to the canvas.

 

Kiki should have bled out on the docks long ago, and recasting her with Hayley Erin did absolutely no favors. Watching her with another of her mother's leftovers is another gross story. It also shows TPTB have no idea what to do with Kiki, Griffin and Ava.    There is seriously nothing better to do with an actress as strong as Maura West?   She and Kin Shriner have great friend chemistry, she works great with Jon Lindstrom. I also would have created an odd friendship between Ava and Jason after she helped free him from that clinic, irritating Carly to no end.

 

 

 

Ret-conning Jake Dough into a twin to Jason and now Franko's BFF is meh on many levels, but the utter need by thirsty ass Valentini to make his pet Howarth into Port Charles's newest "Heel with a heart of gold"  is nauseatng. T^his upcoming story about Aiden should involve Elizabeth, Laura, and a new Lucky dealing Aiden. Watching Franko hold Drew's hand about block of wood Oscar's death sentence is horrible. (I didn't mind Stitt before, but Oscar is no Stone Cates.) I saw Margaux's whole mess of a story unfold  months ago when they hired her. Tamara Braun as Sarah Webber and EH as a returning Hayden would have made much more sense than these other two previously unheard of characters.

 

 

Julian is skeevy and should have stayed in jail.

 

Nina doesn't need a kid, she needs a pink slip.

 

Lulu should have been written off with Dante. That crying jag the other day did the character ZERO favors.

 

Why is Curtis dressed as an undertaker for meetings in the park?

 

Why isn't Michael, as rich as he is, with a predisposition for an addictive personality, out tearing it up in his grief, bedding anyone? 

 

Why do we endure Brad worrying but not Lucas working, fathering, etc.? 

Anthony Montgomery's now barely seen Andre would have been a Tommy Hardy, Jr. that would have been both Hardy and Baldwin heir. His absence in the story of Mike's Alzheimer's has been a waste, as he lost his never seen wife to the disease. This caused him to start that "Tale of two Blockheads" mess. Seeing him working with Mike to make amends for not noticing Morgan's spiral, could have easily redeemed "Tommy". Imagine Steve Hardy's grandson seeing Anna Devane---LOL, rather than sad-sack, Dawgy Daddy, who probably is

 

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This show is in such desperate need of new showrunners