GH November 2020 Discussion

[victoria foxton]

Wow! What delusions Mo has. He's won nothing. His lucky GH is still on.  

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[vetsoapfan]

 

IIRC, the fan who originally tweeted that he/she did not enjoy GH's glorifying criminals also said that he/she was not attacking or criticizing the ACTORS involved. They need jobs and pay checks like everyone else. It's just the choices of TPTB to present such immoral tripe for years on end which needs to be reconsidered. I am not a fan of certain actors on GH, but even I don't blame Bernard, Burton and Howarth (etc.) for their degenerate characters' sins.

 

It took a while, but I found Bernard's response to that fan's criticism of criminal characters always getting away with their crimes:

 

 

Does he get personally offended when folks criticize the show's choices?

Edited November 27, 2020 by vetsoapfan

[Chris B]

Does Mo not realize how much better the material would be for him, Steve and Laura if they *did* acknowledge they they’re criminals?! He is a fool. 

[titan1978]

It was the best part of the Michael goes to prison storyline.  The three of them had several conversations where they agreed that their choices had led to this.  And if I remember correctly, it was also one of those periods of time where Carly and Jason were both fed up with Sonny getting them where they ended up.  I recall a couple of scenes where they spoke about his impulses kept them in the same cycle.

 

Which also reminds me of the conversation he had with Brenda when their marriage fell apart- he will always crave power over everything and everyone.

 

 

[victoria foxton]

 

 

  

Edited November 28, 2020 by victoria foxton

[Planet Soap]

The mentality of GH is warped. Mob members that are strongly integrated into the establishment of the community? Detective Chase and Mayor Laura constantly visiting Sonny's gym---not to mention Laura always walking around with no security?

 

Now any contester to Sonny's organization have been pacified: Taggert, Michael, Dante etc.....

 

It was also odd to see Jason down playing how Sonny/ Karen drug fiasco.

 

I don't mind Sonny & the mob being on (not eating) GH. The excusing of their behavior is the problem.

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by ironlion

[Dion]

At that time you also had Kristina, fresh from her experiences with Kiefer, running around town calling out Sonny's abusive treatment of women to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately the one person who actually did listen was Johnny, which led to them faking a relationship but Kristina's assessment of her father was absolutely spot on. So much wasted potential with that character.

[Faulkner]

He thinks Sonny = Walter White from Breaking Bad? If so, he’s delusional. I know Guza thought he was making a groundbreaking prestige cable drama where villains were the protagonists and dodged justice season after season, and MB definitely drank that Kool-Aid.

 

Although scouring his Twitter, I did find this oldie but goodie. Real hasn’t aged much.

 

 

[vetsoapfan]

 

TPTB at GH must never delude themselves into thinking that they are producing a prestigious primetime cable drama. GH has been great in the past, when it was true to its own format and DNA, but it will never be Breaking Bad.

 

BB was brilliantly written. A major part of its appeal was watching Walter White, basically a decent family man from next door, make terrible mistakes and decisions, and become further and further involved with nefarious villains. BB lasted for 5 seasons and produced 62 episodes before Walter White met his ultimate fate. On the other hand, Sonny has been a degenerate from the moment we met him in 1993. He has continued to be an unpunished criminal for a whopping 27 YEARS. At 250 hours a year, that is 6750 HOURS of Sonny and his sociopathic behavior being a prime focus of GH. What may be fascinating and fresh to watch in a brilliantly-written cable drama for 62 hours cannot be compared to 6750 interminable hours on what has been a mediocre-to-poor wannabe soap version...with NO END IN SIGHT. Plus, GH has never had the budget to do what BB did, nor the talented writers to keep all the characters nuanced. 

 

And let's be honest: Maurice Bernard and Steve Burton are no Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.

 

GH needs to finally put its glorification of rapists, kidnappers and murderers aside, and end their reign of terror, under which the ratings have plummeted over the last few decades.

 

[Faulkner]

^Preach. 

[AbcNbc247]

IMO, the biggest problem with current GH is that Sonny is being written as the epitome of reason and morality. The patriarch of Port Charles. And that's what hurting the show the most. At least under Guza, as much as Sonny ate the show, he was written as he is: a murderer, a glorified pimp (as Anthony Zacchara would say) and an all around scumbag lol

 

Look at the way the Judge speaks about Sonny and everybody in this scene. You'd never see something like this on current GH.

 

GH: Carly Scenes on 5/7/10 - YouTube

 

 

Yep. The local mob boss is not only besties with the police department but with the Mayor as well. I feel bad for the small business owners of Port Charles lol

Edited November 28, 2020 by AbcNbc247

[Planet Soap]

Judge Carroll told them OFF! Too bad he took it out on Michael.

[soapfave06]

GH was still a shell of its former self in 2010 after killing off all the next generation but I can still remember watching with my aunt and cousin with the morals of the story playing out and Dante was just so exciting to me out to get Sonny. Had they balanced out the cast and played an entirely different beat with Brenda's return I really feel like GH never would have sunk to new lows by early 2012. 

 

RC saved the show with nostalgia but then did more harm than good and now the only enjoyable aspect of the show for me is Laura. Any other potential they squander. 

 

I would have loved to see a present day play on Laura in 2010 and the return of AJ drama played out with Sonny not played as a hero. That would have and should have been years of story with the entire cast. 

[prefab1]

I also find the Sonny and Jason parts of GH basically unwatchable, but I don't think they're to blame for the ratings drop. Frankly, all soaps (and all primetime network shows) are seeing huge drops in the Nielsen ratings, because there are too many different entertainment options out there competing for eyeballs. And Sonny and Jason have been the show's primary focus for over 20 years now; someone must like that stuff, even if it isn't me.

 

I'd actually say that the show's bigger problem is that they have such a bloated cast, including tons of newbies with questionable acting abilities. Why "tune in tomorrow" when your faves might be offscreen for days or weeks at a time?

[titan1978]

I would agree that the focus on Sonny/Carly/Jason didn’t drive the ratings so low except we have the proof of the first and second years of Ron/Frank when they were not the focus and the ratings climbed to a near ten year high.  And during that time a ton of classic characters were back, they had a long term story with payoffs (Robin’s “death”/kidnapping by Faison) that had very little to do with Sonny.  The show even survived Steve Burton quitting.  Maurice Bernard complained that he wasn’t being used enough and everything changed almost overnight.

 

I think the real culprit with the ratings decline for this show was never ending depressing storylines, revolving around the same 4 to 6 characters, and marginalizing everyone else.  The only time Guza’s ratings went up during his 2000’s tenure was during Brenda’s return, and I credit a lot of that to Pratt, who often structured his plot

driven style towards big payoffs and mini stories along the way.  The events Guza became famous for scream Pratt to me, and he did the first couple if I remember correctly, setting the tone.  Guza did the best one (Metro Court) though.