GH: AMC actress joining

[titan1978]

Could not agree more. The OLTL 3 didn’t save GH from possible cancellation. Telling a huge GH style action story, dangling Robin being alive for a year, and the influx of vets for the 50th did. Bring me some GH characters that matter with their best liked portrayers, not more characters from other ABC soaps. I loved them too, especially OLTL. But it’s over and not the duty of GH to keep them alive in diminished returns.

I do agree it is time to decide and stop the half assed Frank super soap nonsense. His chance to do it is long passed. At this point I would much rather see someone like Erika Slezak play a nasty villain than Victoria Lord on GH.

[Bright Eyes]

It's always nice to see Eva LaRue, but I think this is just a stunt Valentini casting that we're meant to just enjoy for a few episodes. Maybe Mulcahey/Korte will decide to make something more of it,  but I don't think her initial casting is down to them.

[carolineg]

Oh, I know.  Sometimes I get bored lol.

I understand it gets confusing since some characters exist throughout ABC soaps and some either don't or the actors are playing new characters.  

It's best to just work on GH and it's history and this current show.  I think bringing in characters from other soaps at this point would alienate many GH viewers and would only bring in a few lapsed OLTL or AMC viewers.  I know the shows are still missed and discussed, but it's been over a decade.  Most people have moved on.   

[Vee]

As a more meta topic removed from the post baiting that is as ancient as the days of J*nnysbro, I think we're sadly far off from the times when you could do substantial crossovers without alienating the GH audience. I enjoyed them when they occasionally happened in the '90s because there was generally a purpose, but Linda Dano's tour of the network changed things dramatically. Rae was unbearable, and Skye touring the daypart wasn't much better. And Frank has made the concept radioactive in a new way by spending over a decade pushing the OLTL 3 down the audience's throats.

At some time far, far removed from now, could I see characters from OLTL or whatever appearing briefly or as part of a storyline? Sure. I don't think it was a terrible idea to have Blair and her jewelry/cosmetics company clash with Lucy for a few days, but that isn't quite what happened; the plot point with Martin went absolutely nowhere as far as I can tell and Blair and Lucy never even met. And I know how I'd use, say, Viki for a day or two as part of a bigger storyline, in her role as a journalist and nothing else. But that's about it. And again, you can't go there or consider anything like that for years thanks to what Frank has done. Someone like Jackson Montgomery or Nora appearing as a lawyer occasionally, maybe, but that's far as I take it. Beyond that, the rule for past soap stars coming onto a new show should be the same as always: Get your own role. Fortunately Eva LaRue has. And frankly both Maria and her children were out of story before they left AMC.

Edited February 14 by Vee

[Vee]

TV Line has a pic of Eva on GH up. FWIW they claim PM's work doesn't air til mid-late March, but they may be piggybacking off prior reports.

[Errol]

Haha. You got me there!

Can’t disagree.

[Errol]

Official scripts written by Patrick and Elizabeth don’t have an official date yet, but it’s safe to say “into March” less mid-late March, but I definitely know the Jason re-introduction has no connection to Chris/Dan, so his return date on March 4 can appear confusing. Essentially, elements of storylines airing in March will be intermixed between the two separate head writing teams before the new team officially takes over.

[Khan]

I agree.

IMO, the only time bringing a former ABCD character over to GH truly worked was when Gerald Anthony joined GH as his OLTL character, Marco Dane; and I mark that one success down more to Anthony and the chemistry that I found between him and JE/Tracy than I do to anything else.

[titan1978]

He was fun in the boxing Jagger story too, with Felicia after them for being sexist. Didn’t she protest the gym? It’s been a long time.

I loved Marco and Gerald Anthony anywhere we could get him.

[Vee]

Thanks. Pretty typical, yeah. I'm still keeping a keen ear out on current scripts for this reason.

This was another reason I called foul during the strike when Tracy acted like she had no idea who Blair or the Cramers were. Tracy does her homework in business and would've known of Dorian Lord and her brood (let alone Viki) long ago, but she also would've checked up on Marco's past when she went into cahoots with him lo those many years ago. She also tracked Rae and Skye back from Port Charles through to Llanview, Pine Valley and all points elsewhere when she took them down in the 2000s. But I'm just nitpicking.

I do wish we'd gotten more of Marco on GH. But that was part of the period where I think Riche was just throwing anything at the wall to see what could hit and succeed (Jagger/Karen, Brenda, Mac and Felicia, Ryan, Scott and Dominique, etc.) post-Monty and pre-Labine.

Edited February 14 by Vee

[dc11786]

Given Mulcahey's comments about the lines that were cut from "The Bold and the Beautiful" about how Julius needed to reconcile his past with his trans daughter's identity, if we don't see Blaze's mother having a carthartic moment in which she has to merge her dual identities (loving mother and a woman with a strong religious conviction) then it was more than likely cut. And I'm not sure that will bode well in the long run for Patrick Mulcahey's time on "General Hospital."

This might be the wrong topic for this, but I am excited for this Kristina / Blaze story with Mulcahey at the helm. I have always admired the work of Kate Mansi when she was on "Days of our Lives" (she will be always be my Abby), but haven't gotten the chance to see her on "General Hospital." I think she will be somehow who will shine in the coming months. Similarly, I am curious to see what happens to Cynthia Watros' Nina, who I imagine will either soar or have one of the more memorable exit stories in recent years depending on the direction. 

Felicia wanted to work out at the boxing gym. She had read an article in a magazine about how it was a growing trend among women. When she went, Marco dismissed her stating that the gym was the last sacred place where men could be men. Felicia launched a one woman protest and Marco caved. 

Gerald Anthony was a gem. 

Marco was introduced in September, 1992, and was immediately used as Tracey's lackey doing her dirty work in the Jenny Eckert/Jack Kensington affair, which I am pretty sure was based, in part, on the Bill Clinton/Gennifer Flowers situation or whatever the most current Clinton affair was at the time. Marco was played with Lucy as well when Lynn Herring returned as he worked as a masseuse at the Deception spa. He also had a fun C-story where he and Reginald went off to California together to dig up dirt on Tiffany for Bobbie during Lucas' custody trial and they just ended up gambling and having a good time. 

I really appreciate the pre-Labine period. I think its admirable that Riche and crew really tried to stick within the frame of what was there rather than whole sale turnover. In some ways, I think the use of the veteran cast is better even when the stories aren't the strongest (and I say this as someone who isn't a Nixon or Bell, but a Labine style soap fan). I think Felicia and Mac were in the works during Monty or were at least being chemistry tested. Post-Frisco, Felicia definitely was being tested in several directions, but I think the other one (Conner) was pretty much over by the time Felicia returned to Port Charles. I would say you are right though in how much they gave Felicia/Mac. 

Marco was ditched late in 1993 under Labine, but Gerald Anthony also didn't like to stay anywhere too long. Also, with his main crew gone or about to be gone (Tracy, Jagger, Karen) it wasn't like he had a strong connection. I do think the character had utility and they could have had him in other ways. 

[Cheap21]

Still hasnt played as many characters as Michael Easton LOL

[Lye-C]

If you don’t want Michael Easton, we will take him back on Days as Tanner.

[titan1978]

That’s it! I remember that being a fun little bit for Felicia. And he really was a gem, such a cutie too. Gone too soon.

[Khan]

I'd love to know whose idea it was to bring GA/Marco over to GH, because, to me, it just seems so random, even if I think it actually turned out well.

No, we won't!

I'm pitching a production of David Mamet's "A Life in the Theatre" where he and Roger Howarth play all the parts.