GH: April 2024 Discussion Thread

[Vee]

Assuming you mean 3/15, what I will say is if you can find it there's definitely stuff in the first week of March and the last of February that is very redolent of the changes we're still seeing now - particularly Scout's birthday party at the Qs where they brought unlikely family connections together (Alexis/Drew, Sam/Willow, Aunt Willow running herd on Danny and Jake's growing issues, etc.) and the incredible scene Wagger/Jagger/John had on the first Tuesday of March excoriating Sonny and his PCPD apologists at the warehouse hit. They've been putting their stamp on stuff for over a month, but yes, the official tenure started less than a month ago.

[Beachstorm]

Then if this pans out, I want Jason back with Liz for his first go-round since coming back to life. Again.

[Vee]

The GH rumor mill is a lot poorer than it used to be, lol. I remember in the 2000s folks were wired tf in for the ABC soaps, GH and OLTL especially. From what I can see today it's mostly fanbases and wishcasting/fanfic now (I checked the Datalounge for the first time in over a decade and honestly it looks like all they have for 'dish' now is people vacuuming up random spec from Twitter or here and calling it rumors, sad). But there is talk of cast cuts floating around, finally. Just dunno who. I frankly don't find much reliable online anymore.

[Liberty City]

I keep looking at Hollyoaks, who is cutting TWENTY cast members in lieu of upcoming production changes and their cast wasn't that big to begin with... and I keep wondering if / when it'll happen to General Hospital. Or if it'll happen over a period of time. The rumour mill today was been

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[dc11786]

I think the first episode I watched was March 11th. I am not arguing the rewrites as I was aware that things were being tweaked. I am curious though how much was rewritten. So much of what I watched in those first four days was basically either Jason on the run / Dante in a coma which basically were both tied to the Jason story. Little else was going on. So are we to assume anything related to Jason's return was Korte and Mulcahey? Was O'Connor and Van Etten's plan for Jason different or was the general outline supposedly kept?

[Vee]

According to Errol and others, yes. My understanding is the original C&D pitch for Jason's return involved more brainwashing, undead villains (not Valentin but possibly Jennifer Smith and somehow Susan Moore), possibly a resurrected Morgan, etc. Valentin dismissing the "Stone" clue the other day was their dispensing with some of that groundwork from the prior writers (Stone was Morgan's middle name).

Wagger's big speech about Sonny is on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of March, right after Steve's first airdate - which I think is the same day Dante gets shot. Mulcahey/Korte really started with Steve on 3/3(?), and maybe tweaked a bit the week or two before, but their official credited start was the 15th.

Edited April 9 by Vee

[Contessa Donatella]

The C&D script for Jason's re-entry was wholly thrown out. The script that we saw was written from scratch. EK began working on it immediately by herself but then in a very short time she was joined by PM. 

The C&D script included an alive but harmed Morgan, Jennifer Smith, an alive Susan Moore, brainwashing, danger to Sonny & Jason as savior. 

[dc11786]

Ok. I noticed that O'Connor & Van Etten were basically credited for 64 or so (I'm sure there were premptions somewhere in there) episodes in 2023-2024 after the end of the strike, which is just short of 13 weeks. Do we think that they had to wait a certain period of time because of the strike to pull this writers switch? Also, in that case, who's idea was the return of Jagger since he seems pretty tied to Jason's current situation?

None of what you stated that was planned for Jason's return sounds anywhere near interesting. lol That said, the current situation seems very pro Jason / Carly, but maybe I am just not used to post-Riche (or even late stage Riche) GH to understand the dynamics between Carly and Jason. Not that I really care one way or another. Jason seems like a necessary evil, like Sonny.  

In general, I still struggle with what I am seeing. I don't get a sense of where anything is going, which seems neither good or bad yet. I am surprised, and not surprised, that some of the more compelling material I find myself tuning into are from characters who were pretty well despised in recent times. I think Cynthia Watros is playing some of the material brilliantly. Everything Nina does in regards to Sonny seems like she fears for her life, which works for me because Nina seems to think Sonny is her life. Her attempts to worm her way back into her own marriage fascinate me because it's clearly a fool's errand. Drew as her foil has been a real delight and I am truly interested to see what might happen with these two combustible messes. Maybe I am just finding the potential of it all wickedly appealing. Ava's manipulation of Sonny as well as playing Nina for a fool is also delightful. I cannot wait to see Nina learn that Ava has gotten herself so deep into Sonny's world. 

I will say, I wish the show had better script writers. I don't think the current scripts are terrible, but I find so much of my interest comes from the ideas in scenes rather than the words between the characters, if that makes any sense. Occasionally a line or two will stand out, but I want more. 

[Vee]

I have no idea. I suspect Wagger (White Jagger, as I will always call him) was a pre-PM/EK move because he tended to do nothing but wander around mouthing clumsy expository dialogue til the writing change.

PM and EK both wrote a ton for classic Jason and Carly in the mid-late '90s. PM in particular has expounded at length about becoming enchanted with Sarah Brown when she was hired, and writing a ton of her material while the character remained controversial BTS from the jump (apparently because of concerns about a message re: adoption). These writers created their very hot and heavy friends with benefits relationship in '96. I think they wrote their best work, and I do think they've taken pains to start putting Jason in particular back to basics in some ways (living above Kelly's). I generally always want Jason exterminated and/or gone and have little use for him myself, but I agree he's a necessary evil and do think the material thus far has been pretty compelling and I will give Steve credit for actually showing up to act so far this time. LW always sells her share of the work of course, but it's not the same for me without Sarah Brown and I will be curious to see how Mulcahey adjusts, as he wrote entirely for Sarah's Carly and was extremely fond of the actor who he helped craft Carly with.

I agree about Drew/Nina - I wasn't expecting it to work at all, and I generally have no use for either character up til now. I also love Ava being (presumably) returned to her darker roots with Sonny.

I personally think the scripts have leveled up a lot over the last month - it was a notable jump from very bland, colorless expository dialogue and stuff that had real bite and intelligence, and longer scenes about character. It does help that they notably seem to be firing a number of people and there are also notably fewer breakdown writers credited lately, which means I believe that the HWs are doing it.

Edited April 9 by Vee

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, of course, the timeline was important. The show would not have wanted to be fined by the WGA. 

Adam J. Harrington auditioned at the same time that Charles Mesure did & with the same people. They liked Mesure for Brennan but they really liked Harrington & so tucked him away, or put a pin in him, until they could figure a part they wanted to use him in. I realize that doesn't answer your question but it is generally more information. 

It was worse than boring. It was in bad taste, derivative, repetitive. I realize I forgot to mention Liz. In the C&D script Jason was hurt & went to Liz & she nursed him & hid him & supposedly it was a lot like a rerun of her with Nik & a pregnant "prisoner Esme". 

 

 

Edited April 9 by Contessa Donatella
typo

[dc11786]

That was kinda why I was asking. He seems to have purpose with his role in Jason's return, but otherwise, he just feels kinda there. I don't hate Adam Harrington, but even though Anthony Sabato, Jr. wasn't the strongest of thespians I always feel there is a level of pain just below the surface with his performance (whether it is missing his brother and sister or pining for Karen). I just find Harrington rather cold. He seems more than competent, but John Cates feels like a different person than Jagger.

I am definitely aware of Mulcahey's feelings on Carly. I also really enjoy Laura Wright as a performer (from not only "Loving," but "Guiding Light"). I still don't necessarily get a sense of where all this is going for Carly as she seems sorta consumed with Jason's return that I cannot really get a handle on what they will do with her. I think Eden McCoy does a good job emulating some of Wright's mannerisms and I don't find Joss as painful as I expected, but I definitely don't root for her as a heroine rather as a self-absorbed catalyst for drama. I thought Carly's role as talk-to for Joss' dilemma with Dex was compelling given Carly's only place in the mob world. I suspect we might end up with Jason/Carly/John, which I think could be a surprise hit or a complete disaster.

I am also curious to see how Mulcahey handles Carly without Bobbie. One of the strongest moments I saw in the last couple weeks (of many strong moments) was Carly trying to recount seeing Jason and discussing how she had to tell him Bobbie had died. 

Thanks. It doesn't answer my question, but it does in a way. I was wondering if they shoehorned in John Cates into other material that was already completed. It would also explain why he might have just meandered around if they were trying to lock the actor down in a role in a story they knew would be coming up. 

[Vee]

I have begun to wonder based on LW's public comments if they're not actually pairing them up again, which would be very intriguing since there's been a lot of internal exploration of Jason and his effect on his family and loved ones instead lately. Reconceiving both characters is badly needed IMO.

I have zero interest in Wagger and Carly, but AH has done a very strong job IMO with better scripts recently and there is a tick of chemistry. I still feel this would come off better for me with an actor similar in look to Sabato, like Paul Anthony Stewart or Jordi Vilasuso.

[dc11786]

I mean if you are faking your death and keeping away from your kids, I would hope that they would at least explore a relationship between Jason and Carly. Either way, Jason comes off pretty bad, but I think it's worse if they don't at least try and go there. Not that I necessarily need that. 

Paul Anthony Stewart would have worked. Hard pass on Vilasuso. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, I think that was what was happening when he was generally in many scenes, over & over, sticking out his hand & saying, "I go by John now." At first he was incredibly boring & repetitious. Now he fits, has purpose, etc. 

Spoiler

They are taping the wedding next week & it airs in April so it will be one of their quick turnarounds. Gregory does make it through the wedding but dies shortly after. 

 

Edited April 9 by Contessa Donatella
more info

[Aragorn]

The rumors I am hearing are that Gregory will die shortly after Chase's wedding and soon after Finn and Violet will leave town. Once Chase marries into the Quartermaine family the rest of his family is disposable. The new writers want to revive the Quartermaines so they are adding Chase to their clan. Jason and Michael will distance themselves from Sonny and be Quartermaines again.