General Hospital: July 2023 Discussion Thread

[carolineg]

I think if we are stuck with this Molly the show may want to try to dress her younger.  I know Molly is a lawyer and they dressed HP older because she looked young, but the suits probably need to go.  Sam dresses young and Kristina was wearing a crop top and jeans lol.  Meanwhile Molly was dressed in an outfit that even Alexis would consider matronly.  It's not helping the cause.  As far as her acting, she was okay.  I was hoping she would be super charismatic or really excellent to explain this casting.  Unfortunately, she was just very average.

 

[Contessa Donatella]

That's not going to make any difference. Haley won't be back. If they were to write Molly out now it would be to give the audience a break after TempMolly, Mia. Of course, that is something that they could do. 

@carolineg  I think you're completely right about dressing her younger. 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges
combine posts

[titan1978]

This show has dropped stories during FV’s tenure when all the major players were not recasts. Many times. It was still early enough they could have rested this with the last recast, and moved Kristina into something else.

You know, like Holly’s story being moved a full year due to her health, and not mentioned most of that whole time. Or Spencer’s tampering causing Laura to win the election. Or the Deception Spa. All had many scenes devoted to them then just dropped.  There are many more examples, those were just the top of my head.

Edited July 21, 2023 by titan1978

[TEdgeofNight]

YES to Kim Zimmer and speaking out against catty Valentini. He's out lasted his petty grievances.  Love Kim and her candidness. Frank puts his ego above what is best for the show. GH sucks and Frank has to go. The ratings suck. There ARE other producers out there who can bring GH under budget. 

[Sapounopera]

 

I am afraid that Frank Valentini is the only reason that GH is not comatose like the other soaps. GH is the only soap where things are happening. GH is not perfect, but it is not dead soap walking like B&B or Y&R, or just weird and "campy" like Days. 

BTW Kim Zimmer forgets that she didn't even have a dressing room on GL and had to change in gas station toilets. 

[Contessa Donatella]

GH wins sets. GH wins sweeps. GH has a lot of vets who are well-treated. GH has 2 very popular romantic pairings. Frank is very good with hard things like budgets & sets & schedules for the whole troupe. Frank is not good with a big bunch of other stuff. I think it was Kin Shriner who told the story that Brian Frons fired Jill & then Brian Frons fired Guza. (And the reason he had not canceled GH was because he used to like Jill & Guza.) Then someone fired Frons! Shriner said it was like "You're fired!" "No, you're fired." Etc. Repeat. And it was crazy & scary & then out of nowhere, Frank was there & they were saved. And he wanted the vets! People don't like it but Frank has his own myth-arc. 

[Bright Eyes]

I wonder if they're going ahead with this surrogacy story, despite the recasts, because the plan is to kill Molly off anyway, leaving Kristina pregnant with TJ's baby. Or they're just stubborn. We shall see.

[Forever8]

And let's not forget they were supposed to bring back the brownstones and have that AJ Quartermaine clinic that ultimately never came to fruition too. 

[Vee]

The brownstone is technically back, it just only houses Liz's family now. But yes, the big plan in the FV/RC era to remodel and repopulate it with people never happened, just like the big mooted Laura/Lucy Deception revamp.

[Forever8]

I never got that impression that Liz was living in the brownstone, but then again, what do I know? 

And we also never found out about what secret Rosalie was keeping (although we know the rumor) and who was Kevin visiting in Seattle when he and Lucy had returned? I heard it was either supposed to be Ryan or Christina? But who really knows? 

Please register in order to view this content

Edited July 21, 2023 by Forever8

[carolineg]

I don't think they are going to drop this surrogacy story.  I think it's moving ahead recasts aside.  Maybe they hired this Molly to be the heavy in this story.  Kate Mansi's Kristina looks like the cool, free sister and Molly is the dud.  

[Vee]

She is. It looks almost nothing like itself, but that is the official line.

[Contessa Donatella]

If we look at it a certain way, Alexis is Switzerland, Sam is England, Kristina is the good ole US OF A & that leaves Molly ... as Germany. Uh-oh. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay. I looked it up. I wasn't satisfied with my memory. It's a long passage to quote but it's fair usage. 

Michael Logan April 1, 2013 at 7:33 a.m. PT

TV Guide Magazine: It's such a joy to have the old guard back together on GH these days. Jane, I saw you on Access Hollywood asking a great question: "Why did these people ever go away?"

Elliot: I'll tell you why! It's a writing issue. Writers dry up. They can't think of a place to go with the older characters. It's easier for them to do an old story with a new character than do a new story with an old character.

Geary: And let us not forget that writers get residuals for every new character they create as long as that character is on the air.

Elliot: It's my belief that The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful are the highest-rated shows because they use the same people decade after decade. That's what this audience wants to see — their old characters in new situations. And that's what our current executive producer and head writer, Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati, are delivering.

Geary: Usually, new producers and writers want to put their stamp on a show. They don't want to continue what's working. They want to reinvent the wheel. It's an ego thing. And once they've gotten rid of characters that were well known and deeply loved, they think they can create that same magic with new characters. Frank and Ron did the exact opposite and it saved our ass.                  

Shriner: It's weird how it all changed overnight. Everybody was firing everybody. Brian fired [head writer] Bob Guza. Then [exec producer] Jill Phelps got fired. Then ABC fired Brian. "You're fired!" "No, you're fired!" It was crazy. But, then, out of the ashes came Frank and Ron.

Geary: The timing was so right.

Please register in order to view this content

I've been thinking about China Beach & I finally had a worthwhile thought. It's not streaming anywhere because of music rights! So I asked AI. 

The soundtrack for the TV show China Beach was called “China Beach TV Soundtrack: Music & Memories” and it contains some definitive examples of rock and soul classics from the '60s and early ‘70s. The definitive songs range from the McCoys ’ “Hang on Sloopy” and Big Brother & the Holding Company’s “Piece of My Heart” (which features the late Janis Joplin) to Diana Ross & the Supremes’ “Reflections” and the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell duet "You’re All I Need to Get By."12

I hope that helps!

I thanked it because it's very thin-skinned. Told it to have a nice day. It replied:

You’re welcome! Have a great day!

 

 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges
combine 2 posts

[David_Vickers]

That is obviously an old pic of Brooke Anne Smith.  IF you had seen her on the show, you'd realize DAMn she's looks almost Nancy Lee Grahn's age.  She looks older than Kelly Monaco, and I bet by the time she is NLG's age, she will look much worse unless she gets plastic surgery or botox.  GH please recast or bring back Ms. Kriegel!