GH: May 2024 Discussion Thread

[John]

Was that his real life wife in the scene with him?

5.21.2024

HW: Elizabeth Korte & Patrick Mulcahey

BDW: Chris Van Etten

SW: Stacey Pulwer

DIR: Jillian DeDotte

I say make Charlotte Gibson currently a SW, the new HW. 

Positions held[edit]

All My Children

• Script Writer (1997-2001)

As the World Turns

• Breakdown Writer, Headwriting Team (2002-2005)

Days of Our Lives

• Breakdown Writer (2006-2008)

General Hospital

• Script Writer (June 30, 2016 – present)

Guiding Light (Hired by David Kreizman)

• Breakdown Writer, Headwriting Team (October 2005 - August, 2006)

Edited May 21 by John

[Liberty City]

Sorry but it shouldn't be a fireable offense for not doing love scenes. No one should be forced to do anything they're uncomfortable with for any reason.

[John]

Exactly. Hell AS never did a love scene on OLTL as Kim  and no one wanted her fired. 

[carolineg]

Yup.  Robin/Jason didn't have love scenes for years because of obvious reasons.  They weren't overtly hot like, say, Sonny/Brenda, but they had passion and love and tenderness that was visible and you believed their love.  It's not impossible to do.  JS/AS just seem overtly against even showing that undercurrent.  Perhaps it's out of respect for their partners.  I am truly not judging anyone for their beliefs, but at some point the line has to be drawn.  This just isn't the job/pairing/lifestyle for you if that's how you want to portray yourself on camera.

[BetterForgotten]

I don’t think it’s a fireable offense if the EP/network didn’t outline these expectations before contracting these actors. It’s on the EP for catering a role to an actor’s preference and the limitations that entails. 

But if the expectations were outlined to the actors and there is no specific clause in their contract against it, then yes, I do consider it a fireable offense to not play what’s written - at the end of the day, it’s network TV, not porn. 

I don’t think the characters should have to mirror the actors personal beliefs if it’s not consistent with who those characters are, but I don’t excuse the EP/network from this if this is a limitation they’ve gotten the show into and now have to work around. 

Edited May 21 by BetterForgotten

[carolineg]

I'll be honest, I think it should be.  No one should be forced to do anything, but at some point the job might just not fit your needs anymore.  Many soap stars have been fired for less.  

I could see if it was really objectionable content, but two married fictional people faking a fictional love scene for a few minutes does  not cross that line for me.

But at least there would be a free role for GT to take if AS gets the boot!  

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Edited May 21 by carolineg

[BetterForgotten]

I, personally, don’t care one way or another if AS is fired or remains for the record. 

I don’t particularly think she brings anything unique to the table and I think BLQ can be played by a dozen other actresses sufficiently. This has nothing to do with how she plays love scenes however. 

Edited May 21 by BetterForgotten

[Liberty City]

But, that opens the door for an HR shoot in the #MeToo era. It's just too messy and too uncomfortable for me to justify firing a female actor for refusing to film love-making scenes. Clearly, the job fits her needs without doing the love scenes, otherwise, I do think she'd quit of her own choice.

[carolineg]

I get your point.  It does makes sense and it is a slippery slope with all of this.   I think I'd have more sympathy if AS was newer to the business or didn't know how soaps worked.  She does and chooses to openly speak out about how she basically dictates the character of Brook Lynn.   To me it's still crossing the line of an actor having too much say in a character vs. a modesty issue.   I misspoke.  The job perhaps fits HER needs at this point, but not the shows.

I think the show could do a lot better with casting Brook Lynn, but GH has many more pressing problems at this point.

[BetterForgotten]

Curious, why do you feel this way, John? What is it about her dialogue that makes you think she can be a great HW? 

[John]

I liked the last episodes she did plus she has experience in Daytime since 1997

Plus we need new vision

[Khan]

Why?

I...tend to agree. 

This is a tricky situation, especially in the post-#MeToo era.  For better or for worse, love scenes have become an intrinsic part of the storytelling on soaps, so to have an actor or actors refuse to participate in those kinds of scenes on ANY grounds is, well, frustrating, lol.

But, on the other hand, if you fire an actor simply because they won't do love scenes, or because they won't show even a modest amount of skin, you're opening up yourself and your show to lawsuits.  Plain and simple.

IOW: as boring as JS and AS/Chase and BLQ are, we're kind of stuck with them, with how the writers have to write for them, and even with how they choose to play - or, rather, NOT play - even the smallest moments of affection between them, until something changes.

I agree with all of this.  I, too, respect how JS and AS feel, but you can't tell me that it's not tying a lot of other people's hands at the show.

I know that if *I* were HW, I'd be hesitant to write for them AT ALL - let alone something as potentially salacious, say, as an infidelity story - for fear of how they think their kids will respond to the material down the road.  (As if my job was to worry about their kids' emotional well-being, lol.)

[John]

I always seem to enjoy the Episodes of GH she writes. Plus she has been in the daytime game since 1997 and has written for AMC, ATWT, Days & GL before GH 

[Khan]

If that's how you feel, then you probably want to avoid watching Perry King play Dex's long-lost, Parkinson's-stricken father.

 

[carolineg]

Yeah, there really isn't a "right" answer on how to solve this situation.  I wouldn't outright fire either of them because their beliefs aren't wrong or awful.  I think in less than a year Brook will get pregnant and the show will end up "running out of story" for both characters and let them live happily ever after off screen for awhile.