GENERAL HOSPITAL February 2022 Discussion Thread

[carolineg]

Sorry.   I liked Hayden.  Sort of.   I think I was so scared RB would be a Brenda recast I just tried to really like her non character because she wasn't Brenda.

[Vee]

Brenda wasn't the one to worry about. Allegedly, Frank originally hoped to recast Robin with Rebecca. Despite Kimberly having made herself available for them many times when Carlivati wasn't ready to finish the endless story. It would've been suicide AFAIC but then Frank had also once had the bright idea of recasting Marty on OLTL with Sarah Brown, and that just wouldn't have worked either.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Vee

[Darn]

I was just messin with ya. I simply don't like Rebecca Budig's acting anymore, I think she's another lazy one.

[carolineg]

Now that you say that I have a vague recollection of that rumor.  RB would be so wrong as Robin lol.  I just remember the soap mags bandied about the idea of RB as Brenda a long time ago.   I could possibly see RB as Brenda, but could not see her as Robin at all.  

I think Sarah Brown might have been able to pull off Marty.  

 

Lol!  I know.  I never thought of RB as much of an actress to begin with.  More of a charming performer.

[Vee]

She can be very lazy, but I think that owes itself to the sheer schlock they gave her in her last few runs at AMC. They never gave her anything good on GH either, which is why I'd kill Hayden instantly. We used to give JFP and co. [!@#$%^&*] for talking about 'training the audience' but it's true to a certain extent, in that you have to train them out of bad habits like expecting the mob and ancient couples to rule the show forever, or to only watch for X or Y. If you kill Budig it sends a message that no, we are no longer going to be tolerating beloved soap favorites in hollow roles just because they played Greenlee or whoever once upon a time, we are doing something new.

Me neither. Budig tried playing that kind of role at GL and tanked. Same when they tried to make Greenlee more of a straight heroine. 

Sarah and Susan Haskell are both very gritty, visceral actors which is where I think the idea came from. But they're also fundamentally different IMO. There is something to each of them that makes one uniquely suited for Marty and one all wrong for it. I can't buy Sarah playing a character who evolved to the degree that Marty did. It would be a waste of her talent and would cheapen the singular power of each individual actress IMO.

Either way, it didn't come off for whatever reason - I can't remember what - and Susan refused to return because she didn't like Dena Higley's pitch for the story, so they went out and got... Christina Chambers.

[carolineg]

Budig just has such a different energy as a performer than KMc.   It's hard to imagine anyone else playing Robin, but definitely not Budig.  I think VM/RB are much similar in acting styles and it still wouldn't have worked but I could see the idea behind Budig being Brenda.

Sarah Brown might have refused to play such an iconic character?  So I guess OLTL just went in the complete opposite direction and hired Chambers?  Poor girl.

[AMCOLTLLover]

Maxie and Peter are getting on my last nerve right now

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Austin is the most unneeded character for me!

does someone know when the 15.000th Episode will air?

[Vee]

I think Sarah was otherwise engaged at the time, or declined just before or after whatever gig that was. I don't know if it was on ATWT or her CBS thing that fell through or whatever. I know Susan also turned the return down at the time.

I don't think there's any recasting Brenda. VM has always been a singular presence.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Vee

[carolineg]

I mean, obviously, I think there's no recasting Brenda but some names have been better than others.  Gina T and RB to name a few.  Lisa LoCicero said that they initially offered a Brenda recast to her and she declined, which was wise.  

Sarah Brown for some reason feels a little young to me to play Marty.  I wonder why Susan turned it down.  If it was storyline I wonder how she felt about what she did end up having to play.

[Vee]

It was a very uninspired teen story involving her son falling for Starr Manning, and positioning her to get involved with John McBain. Dena Higley only wrote schlock. Susan's Marty did continue the romance with McBain later on, but it didn't last. I do tend to think they misled her about how Carlivati's 'rapemance' story would actually play out when she did come back - she's never spoken about it in detail - and I know she allegedly left the show in 2011 furious with her subsequent storyline and felt she'd never been treated worse, which is why her husband (Thorsten Kaye) refused to return for the cameo offered as Patrick at the time.

I feel like any attempts at floating a Brenda recast were mere spitballing and tactics to try to lure Vanessa back. I don't think they'd have ever dared pull the trigger.

[MichaelGL]

Off topic, but I was unaware that Sarah Brown was on ATWT for almost 6 years. WTH that is almost the same length as her original stint on GH, and her character on ATWT feels as if it was pretty forgettable. 

[John]

6 Months not years

August 2004-Feb 2005

[Vee]

Yeah, she was not on long at all.

[carolineg]

 

I never knew that about SH-interesting.  Wiki said she declined because she was pregnant.

Anyhow agree about the weird Vanessa Marcil tactics.  But sometimes she was literally unavailable when the rumors came out.  I honestly think the show would be much more likely to pull the recast trigger now.  Guza seemed to be the one with the most adoration for Vanessa.

 

[Vee]

I seem to recall an interview where she said it was both.

I don't think Frank is that stupid, and Frank's ego has seemingly led him to do many stupid things. I think they hedged their bets on Brenda many times in the 2000s gambling that they could lure VM back, including whatever the hell that was on Night Shift.