16 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Agreed.  Most of the plots/stories are actually good in my opinion.  There are short term goalposts and signs of long term storytelling buliding towards payoffs.  The mix of vets and newbies is pretty good.  The whole show isn’t just about Sonny.  Characters like Laura and Liz are being used better than they have in years (even if I hate Franco, I can appreciate that the writers have given Liz a relationship, kid trouble, and she shows up at the hospital).

 

The show looks better than it did when I was checking in and out a year ago, although I wish Frank would turn down the lights a little bit.  Every set is way too brightly lit.  Which is a shame because I think they have some great sets right now. The classics are still there and I love Liz’s house and Laura’s apartment.  Anna’s house is nice too.

 

The problem for me is some very poor casting decisions, the day to day writing and scripts, and the final product lacks energy.  All issues with Frank and his team.

 

The background music is lacking and lackluster, and that adds so much to drama on these shows.  They need to amp these things up, the energy and the mood to work with the stories they are telling.

 

Willow is fine if she was going to be a bit player.  She is not strong enough to carry this story and a potential love triangle.  The woman playing the fake daughter has more going on as far as presence so it’s a shame they didn’t cast her as Willow. 

 

 You really did sum it up. Love this post. So much truth. On paper, the show is in decent shape.

 

The casting is terrible. Too many newbies still running around. Lots of recasts. Willow is terrible, she makes Hayley Erin look Oscar worthy. The Sasha actress was better.

 

Finn and Franco remain big blah's to me. I know they used Emma to make Finn and Anna rootable and man, it *almost* worked but no. Michael Easton and Roger Howarth are wastes of contracts, same for Michelle Stafford and William deVry. I'm also a little tired of Valentin on what feels like all the time.

 

I despise Franco and Liz together. Dessssssppppppise them together. But you're so right. They've given Liz kid drama, a "solid relationship" (can soaps stop making rapists and killers "reformed"; hi, Days), etc. but I just absolutely hate her with Franco. It bothers me way more than it should, lol.

 

There's still a lot of focus on Sonny but it's not at the expense of everyone else. The character just feels tired but the Mike story has gone a long way with me. And I'm not detesting Hendrickson as Margaux yet so that's a plus.

 

And I have to laugh because Vinessa Antoine couldn't get airtime to save her life, yet the new actress is on quite a lot, all things considered. I called it months ago. So strange. She's not bad but she's not really exciting or energetic. There's potential there. 

 

I also don't care about Kim, Drew and Oscar. I feel like we're wasting so much time here for plot purposes. No thanks. I've decided I prefer Tamara Braun playing a psycho or a bitch. Heroine doesn't work for her, IMHO.

 

But yeah, on paper, lots of stories have potential. I keep wanting it to be truly solid but so many things still lack. Just a lot of people on that I haven't grown to care about and will never care about. 

 

It was nice seeing Felicia and Laura. I still think more could be done but when you have a cast of 5,000 ....

Edited December 28, 20186 yr by KMan101

15 hours ago, Costello said:

The Felicia absence in the Ryan story is a good point. With Brad and Lucas conspicuously missing, a lot of key players are offscreen in stories they are intimately involved with. Meanwhile, they continue to play Kim/Drew/Oscar.

 

Yep. You noticed too? Brad and Lucas non-existent in their own storyline, technically, but yet we have to endure painful scenes of Chase and Willow attempting to act, and doing poorly at it. (And Chase would be more believable interested in one of the guys ... just saying). And then no Felicia except here and there, and probably because someone realized it was glaring of her to be absent. And of course it became an Ava and Carly story.

 

And yep, we continue to spend endless days with Kim, Drew and Oscar. Wash/rinse/repeat, with Julian looking like something stank. It's awful.

16 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Somehow, this is the most in character I have seen Laura since Lucky died.  She isn’t a doormat, she is still a character with deep emotions, and she’s not being portrayed as weak.  She’s using her brain.  And she looks great.

 

The current HW team is doing well by many of the female characters.  They have points of view, aren’t all fighting with each other (Guza I’m looking at you), and they aren’t all playing supporting to the men in their lives.  Sam has a story brewing that is about her life before Jason and doesn’t involve him unless she lets him be involved.  That’s pretty remarkable when you think about this show since about 1999 to today.

 

Again, agreed. There's a lot of positives. But man, the show just doesn't quite come together like it should.

15 hours ago, alexisfan07 said:

 

Oh, I totally agree. The fact that they wrote Felicia out (more or less) midstream is really upsetting, though not at all surprising. It was nice to see her on again today as part of the Ryan story but it's all so few and far between. I have no doubt she'll pop in toward the end of the story again when Ryan is revealed but it's such trash that Ava and Carly took her place in this story alongside Laura. That, and Ryan needs to get to killing more people! I knew he wouldn't kill anyone shocking or any of Frank's pets but come on!

 

 

I think Kiki was a pet, in a certain way. So I'm glad she got offed. I still really hate what they did to Griffin and Ava though.

 

It so pissed me off they shoved Felicia off the canvas. At least they gave her a line about it yesterday and played it off better. But still. It was really nice seeing her involved yesterday. And Kristina still looks amazing. Why is she on the sidelines? And you know who's absence is also glaring? Lucy's. But not as much as Felicia's. Kind of sad they can't be bothered to use Mac and Felicia more with Ryan. At least give us a scene or two. Yet we get endless days of Kim and Drew and Jason and Sam and Nina and Valentin and it all feels the same over and over again. I know, contracts, episode guarantees .... lol

 

Well, looks like Ryan might have .... lol

 

But man, I'm so happy for Jon Lindstrom. He's just killing it. Pun slightly intended ...

 

I think I said it months ago, but the head writers aren't really the problem. It's Frank and just about everything else that fails. And of course Frank's focus on his pets, or Varni's pets

 

None of Julian, Kim, Drew, Oscar, Nina, Willow, Franco, Finn, Peter work for me, but for the first two, the actors aren't the problem, the characters just suck. I'm giving Chase a pass just because I'm feeling a little shallow and he's cute and other people do it so .... lol. But he's still a waste. Another hard-bodied cop who will get axed in a couple of years. Wash/rinse/repeat.

Edited December 28, 20186 yr by KMan101

I have the same blind spot for Chase.  He’s cute.  Soaps have to have some eye candy too, and he’s already less green than Maxie’s last dead husband was when he arrived.  I also think Peter is attractive, but his back story is just...no.

 

Franco is awful.  No need to sugar coat it.  It was a mistake to bring him back as Franco, and then keep it going.  I don’t hate Michael Easton with Anna, but I don’t root to see them together.  I hope for Nina to be Ryan's next victim.

30 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

I have the same blind spot for Chase.  He’s cute.  Soaps have to have some eye candy too, and he’s already less green than Maxie’s last dead husband was when he arrived.  I also think Peter is attractive, but his back story is just...no.

 

Franco is awful.  No need to sugar coat it.  It was a mistake to bring him back as Franco, and then keep it going.  I don’t hate Michael Easton with Anna, but I don’t root to see them together.  I hope for Nina to be Ryan's next victim.

 

I do like the actor playing Chase. He has an endearing cuteness to him. And he's definitely less green than Paevey. It's sort of funny how many soap actors have migrated to Hallmark Channel. 

 

I don't hate Wes Ramsey (I've always liked him). Peter's just a terrible character and they refuse to admit it and dump him. Just like Franco, Finn and Nina have all failed yet. Who has such a hard-on for them? Frank? Varni? Both? And same for Kim and Drew. I know Miller stans are ferverent on Twitter but the character is a waste. Tamara Braun is being incredibly wasted, IMHO.

 

I actually don't hate Easton. He does well with the snarky comedy and dry humor and his reactions can be priceless (I'd say the same for Galen Gering when Rafe on DAYS isn't written like a smug [!@#$%^&*]). I also don't really hate Finn with Anna but I see no purpose to Finn (when we could be watching, say Tom Hardy instead, but I know those in charge don't see it like I do) and I don't root or care about them. Emma giving her stamp of approval doesn't work with me like I'm sure they're hoping it does with viewers. "See, cute adorable fan favorite Emma loves Finn so you should too". "See, long-time fan favorite heroine Liz loves Franco, so you should too". No. I don't and I won't. LOL

Edited December 28, 20186 yr by KMan101

I don't know why I had my hopes up for Tamara's return. She's acting with two brick walls. And she has no chemistry with Billy or William. That kiss today was horrible. LOL.

Re: Finn/Anna: It’s sort of refreshing that one of these hyped-up veteran soap dudes is paired with an older actress instead of some ingenue who could be his daughter or even granddaughter. That doesn’t often happen. I say that as Sonny preps his inevitable bang-down of Margaux.

Chase is cute, and I don't feel like he gets that much airtime, so whatever.

 

I don't mind Drew, but I definitely feel like too much time is being wasted on him and Kim and Oscar. And that kiss today was embarrassingly bad. They have no chemistry.

 

Peter needs to go. Franco needs to go. Nina and Valentin need to go. It's a shame that Ryan is mostly killing day players.

Ryan. Ryan. Ryan. Where the [!@#$%^&*] did you learn how to text. Was there some tech program for loose and presumed  serial killers set up by the school system? 

 

Or, did you have a phone there in the coo coo bin? I just wanna know. Trails off.....

 

Also. I cannot believe someone called JL a "Daddy" in here and it was not me. LMAO. 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 20186 yr by Ryan Chamberlain

So based on what I've been reading, does it appear that the teaming of Altman/Van Etten is loads better than the teaming of Altman/Passantte?  I always figured Altman was the better writer than Passanntte (there was a few months were Altman head-wrote Y & R solo.. and the material was stronger, and there was a noticeable shift when Passantte joined her as co-headwriter).

45 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

So based on what I've been reading, does it appear that the teaming of Altman/Van Etten is loads better than the teaming of Altman/Passantte?  I always figured Altman was the better writer than Passanntte (there was a few months were Altman head-wrote Y & R solo.. and the material was stronger, and there was a noticeable shift when Passantte joined her as co-headwriter).

In my opinion, yes.  A vast difference.  Passanante’s work on all the shows I watched her on meandered and was boring.  I was only a sporadic viewer during the first part of their time together until ABC fired Genie.  The network interference was clear and disrupted their plans.  But to me, the stories/plots/ideas are not the problem.

 

The thing I am responding to the most is it seems like they have actual long term goals in mind.  They are using the cast and recurring players well, although a huge portion of their stories hinge on recurring cast memebers (Ryan/Kevin, Lucas/Brad). Also- it’s truly an ensemble again.  Up through Ron’s first couple of years it was also an ensemble, and I liked that period the most of his tenure too.

 

Passanante’s work always reminded me of the down cycle almost all the shows would be in at one point or another.  Transition times, due to backstage changes or the writing team burning through story and then taking a bit to set up the next major thrust.  Filler, but not the good kind that illuminates character or creates bonds and chemistry tests and builds from.  But actual filler.  Which is why I think she should never be a HW ever again.

 

It’s no Labine, Falken-Smith or even Guza.  But what is these days?

I do think if Altman didn't have to deal with network interference and Valentini forcing horribles on her, her tenure would be much better. At least, whether she fails or not, it seems like she tries.

Everyone looked great at the party.  It’s kind of nice to see pretty clothes on anyone in daytime anymore.  I also liked Michael’s jacket.  He stood out.  I wish they wrote him that way.

 

Interesting use of resources to use what looked like a real office or dressing room for the murder.  That hallway was clearly not a set to me, possibly production offices or a dressing room?

Edited December 30, 20186 yr by titan1978

LW lost her dad (a few days ago) and mother in less than 2 months.  I don't even want to know what that feels like

17 hours ago, Bright Eyes said:

I do think if Altman didn't have to deal with network interference and Valentini forcing horribles on her, her tenure would be much better. At least, whether she fails or not, it seems like she tries.

I thought Altman was a "yes" person, agreeing to what the higher ups want in stories?

Im liking the fact that GH is giving the viewers more or less what they want in airing re runs from classic episodes rather than 2 months ago on holidays, just wishing they'd air the actual opening sequence from those old episodes instad of the abbreviated 50th anniversary style intro they're using now.   

 

The Phelps regime decimated the show in alot of ways but they appear to be better at writing fast paced intresting storylines compared to the Valentini team, despite the mob saturation..example: The Metro Court Saga. The advantaige I'll give the current team though is that they're better at acknowledging history (despite re writes) and utilizing the vets even if their writing is messy.

 

2019 new years resolutions for GH:

slim the cast, only use players with actual storylines, stop stunt casting, use dimmer lighting, stop making Jason so passive and calm...give the charachter some energy and drive in getting Sam back... make like the B&B and bring back your best opening sequence...the 'Faces of the Heart' intro, and continue to air classic episodes on holidays.

Edited December 30, 20186 yr by ironlion