1 minute ago, Vee said:

Which was what was baffling to me. On paper I thought the idea was fun and buzzy for the show, but it quickly became clear Franco just wanted to piss on the show and they just kept giving him more airtime and big setpieces because Guza and Phelps were starstruck. I'm sure people remember that big MOCA thing with Franco's weird-ass Hollywood friends and it was certainly more entertaining than a lot of the last decade, but let's at least have some self-respect, GH.

Lol!  The MOCA thing is what I was talking about.  

I *think*  Guza got a great big idea about Franco being tied to Brenda and wanted the Balkan nonsense to be a Franco thing instead.  Not the Dante part, but the child and that whole thing.  I have only pieced that together through VM interviews and she is an unreliable narrator so take that for what it's worth.  When Vanessa dipped out of that idea because she got another gig or something I think Guza flipped the whole thought to Jason.  Because I think Guza's entire inner monologue in 2010 was "Jason! Jason! Jason! And also Brenda!  Dante!"

20 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I *think*  Guza got a great big idea about Franco being tied to Brenda and wanted the Balkan nonsense to be a Franco thing instead.  Not the Dante part, but the child and that whole thing.  I have only pieced that together through VM interviews and she is an unreliable narrator so take that for what it's worth.  When Vanessa dipped out of that idea because she got another gig or something I think Guza flipped the whole thought to Jason.  Because I think Guza's entire inner monologue in 2010 was "Jason! Jason! Jason! And also Brenda!  Dante!"

Yeah, I do remember the talk that the Marsha Thomason (from Lost) character was originally supposed to be Brenda or something, somehow. Can't really see Brenda being Franco's right hand and co-conspirator but I suspect maybe an old flame of some sort. It was all about Guza's primetime/film aspirations in the end.

1 hour ago, Vee said:

Yeah, I do remember the talk that the Marsha Thomason (from Lost) character was originally supposed to be Brenda or something, somehow. Can't really see Brenda being Franco's right hand and co-conspirator but I suspect maybe an old flame of some sort. It was all about Guza's primetime/film aspirations in the end.

From what i have gleaned over the years (and I don't want to look it up lol) Brenda was supposed to be his girlfriend/partner/wife whatever.  Not a co-conspirator as she, of course, wasn't wise to Franco's plans.   It checks they hired Marsha Thomason Vanessa's costar from Las Vegas though. Vanessa was very clear that she only wanted to work with characters Brenda knew on the show and didn't want a return to be a gimmick/publicity stunt.  I think she booked Lipstick Jungle directly after this so I think GH had to wait that out.  I do believe Vanessa came to the table with very specific ideas for Brenda and was pissy when they added Dante.  It seems like she was hyper focused on a Sonny/Brenda reunion when in the past she was always neutral on the Sonny/Brenda/Jax triangle.  Maybe Ingo was already weird, but she did seem to be close to him previously.  

Edited May 7, 20241 yr by carolineg

34 minutes ago, carolineg said:

It seems like she was hyper focused on a Sonny/Brenda reunion when in the past she was always neutral on the Sonny/Brenda/Jax triangle.  Maybe Ingo was already weird, but she did seem to be close to him the previously.  

I think (from what I recall of her press comments at the time) she just felt it was owed to the fans, which I admired and respected though I was never a huge fan of Sonny/Brenda in the '90s. She put her foot down and made them get it done vs. fúcking around (it also led to some of the best work MB had done in years or since IMO, during the wedding ceremony and later when they broke up). I assume she just thought the Jax thing was burnt after the botch of them in 2002-3.

VM and DZ did have chemistry, but it was right to not go further than it did with a child, etc.

Edited May 7, 20241 yr by Vee

13 minutes ago, Vee said:

I think (from what I recall of her press comments at the time) she just felt it was owed to the fans, which I admired and respected though I was never a huge fan of Sonny/Brenda in the '90s. She put her foot down and made them get it done vs. fúcking around (it also led to some of the best work MB had done in years or since IMO, during the wedding ceremony and later when they broke up). I assume she just thought the Jax thing was burnt after the botch of them in 2002-3.

VM and DZ did have chemistry, but it was right to not go further than it did with a child, etc.

I mean, obviously, Vanessa and MB owed it to me for being their most staunch supporter lol.  I really do think Vanessa gets Brenda as a character.  I don't dislike anything she did because I do understand.

DZ/VM did have some chemistry.  And I still don't think it would have been the worst for them to have been more than platonic buds.  It feels no fault to me because how would either know one another existed?  It's a bit creepy but Brenda literally said she liked Dante because he reminded her of Sonny

I feel like Jax/Brenda burned through so much story in 2002.  I will never believe Jax would willing leave Brenda at the altar after all the everything in 1997.  Franco should have probably just threw Jax in front of moving car Luke was driving.🤦‍♀️

Edited May 7, 20241 yr by carolineg

You guys were making me miss Drew Garrett. Damn, he was hot as hell.  Why was he replaced? I forgot, was it his Michael that was raped?

1 minute ago, allmc2008 said:

You guys were making me miss Drew Garrett. Damn, he was hot as hell.  Why was he replaced? I forgot, was it his Michael that was raped?

He was replaced because he looked too young for the rape story. That was the official company line. He always came across as possibly gay (except with his sister which was also strange), and I wonder if he was replaced because they couldn’t have his possibly gay Michael raped. So taller and more masculine Chad was hired.

One bit of context about Vanessa returning for the fans- soaps were circling the drain. I believe her when she said that was her reasoning, to give fans that romance. Guza and JFP were creating such a dark, miserable show and it felt like they didn’t really see much of a future so they just kept running it into the ground.

I was not surprised when she didn’t renew for another year. I was also not surprised that Jonathan Jackson quit because he was miserable and they were ignoring his wishes to rebuild him and Liz.

In-depth interview with Alley Mills about Heather. 
It mentions something from May 7 episode, so if you want to remain unspoiled, wait until after you watch that.
There's no spoilers about future stuff.
The interview is mainly insight into how she plays the character, and how she researched the cobalt poisoning condition, etc..
https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/exclusive-alley-mills-opens-up-about-heathers-medical-crisis/

 

edited to correct my name error

Edited May 8, 20241 yr by janea4old

3 minutes ago, janea4old said:

In-depth interview with Haley Mills about Heather. 
It mentions something from May 7 episode, so if you want to remain unspoiled, wait until after you watch that.
There's no spoilers about future stuff.
The interview is mainly insight into how she plays the character, and how she researched the cobalt poisoning condition, etc..
https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/exclusive-alley-mills-opens-up-about-heathers-medical-crisis/

Alley Mills. Her sister was in The Parent Trap and was Ms Bliss 

40 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

He was replaced because he looked too young for the rape story. That was the official company line. He always came across as possibly gay (except with his sister which was also strange), and I wonder if he was replaced because they couldn’t have his possibly gay Michael raped. So taller and more masculine Chad was hired.

One bit of context about Vanessa returning for the fans- soaps were circling the drain. I believe her when she said that was her reasoning, to give fans that romance. Guza and JFP were creating such a dark, miserable show and it felt like they didn’t really see much of a future so they just kept running it into the ground.

I was not surprised when she didn’t renew for another year. I was also not surprised that Jonathan Jackson quit because he was miserable and they were ignoring his wishes to rebuild him and Liz.

I remember this now. Around 2:30 he acts like he's coming out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocFNyshjmF4

Thanks @John  I have now fixed my typo.
Oddly, in my mind I was typing Alley but in reality I typed Haley.   I guess my brain did its own "incorrect autocorrect".

Edited May 8, 20241 yr by janea4old

I Bet that a huge part fans are having with GH now is due to the executives seeing themselves as writers. Wonder what PM is thinking? This is probably old hat for EK. Let the writers write and stop bothering them, Varni

I blame Varni more but a lot is FV too

I have suspected Varni might be in the mix. That guy seemed like a glorified assistant going way above his skis in the 2010s, constantly running his mouth and now he's back.

5 minutes ago, Vee said:

I have suspected Varni might be in the mix. That guy seemed like a glorified assistant going way above his skis in the 2010s, constantly running his mouth and now he's back.

Look I am loving the show now but I get the issues fans are having. Way to FIX: Let the writers write. Executives make sure you stay in and /or under budget.

Edited May 8, 20241 yr by John

Regarding Laura & Heather:

I think a lot stems from Laura's own history with mental illness and the fact Heather has no one. Shouldnt Steve be out of jail by now? Its been 11 years on screen.

Edited May 8, 20241 yr by John