GH: June 2024 Discussion Thread

[Khan]

I agree.

[carolineg]

1997 was awful.  I thought 1998-2003 were okay.  There were missteps and a lot of poor casting, but I still found it enjoyable.  I think the balance Labine/Riche were trying to create couldn't last much longer with soaps getting canceled and Days blowing up in viewers because of ridiculousness.

I think Guza had a few good stories up until the James Franco debacle along with the awful Brenda story.  I still felt the show had moments of riveting and exciting stuff even if the day to day outside of sweeps was messy.  I think Guza just got creatively spent about 8 years before he got fired.  But even using the bag of old tricks still worked in some sense.

I feel like the show is at the opposite end now.  The day to day can be okay, but nothing is happening at all.

[Khan]

Good.  He should fit right in with Ron and Jamey.

I agree.  Look at what happened to AMC: one of the most grounded soaps on the air suddenly had a story about voodoo.

[DRW50]

Is Jamey still at DAYS? I thought he was leaving for some other show I won't be watching. Then again if he wrote a script today it would air in 2124.

[Contessa Donatella]

I believe there to be considerable fan interest in having Emma back & that would give Robin a drop-in (and drop back out) rationale. Although Robin would probably be easy to write as a drop-in from several perspectives. 

I wish we could think of a fan campaign to run to get Frank to move on some aspects I am quite sure he spends no time at all thinking about. 

Jamey was gone, wrote for SISTAS & is already back. So "still" isn't the operable word!! 

[DRW50]

Thanks. Well, it's nice for him he can always count on a job.

Your other comments made me think of Emma Samms. I still see "Robert and Holly" trend on Twitter at times. I wonder if they will ever bring her back again this year (when was Robert last shown anyway)?

[titan1978]

Truthfully, I feel the same. Even though it wasn’t as strong, I credit Riche getting the ball rolling with Levinson, and then between Labine and Guza/Harris and Culliton using their outlines, it was nearly perfect from late 1992-1996. Good casting, romance, action based around reality, medical stories with a lot of depth and heart, an economic structure again between the wealthy Q’s and everybody else, character based humor sprinkled in. An honest to god Black family with major ties to the core of the show, which GH had never done well before.

I recently rewatched Guza’s portion of 1996. I forgot just how good that show was, and why I stayed hoping his team and Wendy would ever recapture it when he came back.

I think there was a lot of great stuff from 1998 on. But every piece wasn’t working like that run of years. The casting wasn’t as strong, and the stories started to get hopeless, dark,  and more gimmicky (Roy back from the dead, Lucky recasts that were to sex him up, Faison skulking around for a year doing nothing, etc).

Well he certainly treats his female cast members better than their last bosses, Frons and JFP did. Must be nice to be able to feel safer at work. Look at what they had to deal with on DAYS and Y&R with those EP’s.

[Contessa Donatella]

This is when I began to watch GH!!! So, in a way I was incredibly spoiled from jump!!! My long deep history is with P&G, NY soaps & NBC. My #1 is AW, my #2 is GL & my #3 is Santa Barbara. I got into AMC with Ted/Tad & I'm still sad that Barbara Rush died this past year. (Nola Orsini) Then I stayed with it till the end. When AW was canceled in 1999 I couldn't get enough soap to fill what was missing. Anyway, my GH virginity was lost to Wendy Riche. 

Hmm, supposedly Tristan just didn't feel like driving over just for photos. 

Edited June 9, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
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[Vee]

A lot of stuff in the late '90s and early 2000s (or even late 2000s) slowly got messier and/or very flawed over time, sure. A lot of analysis is weighted by hindsight to me. (And even Labine had bum stories or characters) Everything that's been said about the BTS turmoil or trends being set for the future is true. But compared to most of the last decade a lot of it looks like Shakespeare. I'd watch anything from '98-early '01 tomorrow. I still consider most of the show til JFP's arrival part of the golden era or its last traces, even as '99-'00 in particular had plenty of issues. And even Guza in the 2000s had some good stuff or solid daily scripts.

A couple weeks ago. But frankly I think Tristan looks and sounds frail so I wonder if that's part of his relative absence lately.

They've brought Holly back a number of times since FV took over, so I wouldn't be surprised to see her again.

Edited June 8, 2024 by Vee

[carolineg]

Everything in hindsight on GH looks better to me.  I know that sounds cliche, but when I watch back a storyline or time period I can agree it wasn't awful.  Although I am sure there are multiple posts I made 15 years ago saying how Guza was a hack.

GH was very lucky with an embarrassment of riches as far as casting hires that popped and were charismatic in the 90's.  As the 2000's went on the show failed more and more.  I know we can probably circle back and say the Sonny/Carly/Jason show ruined a lot, but 20 years ago the stories were still fairly compelling.   

I think the show failed on levels of casting Jason, Sonny, and Carly's kids.  Dante's compelling and the Danny/Jake situation is still to be determined, but GH has the same problem as Days were they haven't really built up the next leading generation.    I can certainly tell you I won't watch a show built on Joss/Michael if Laura, Steve, and Mo retire.

[DRW50]

I do remember him not looking well when I saw him at Epiphany's funeral.

After I said all this, I realized I forgot he's with Diane...someone I just don't ever see him being interested in.

[NothinButAttitude]

Which one of y'all on Twitter dragging poor Laura Wright for fangirling about Steve Burton returning? 

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She is getting ate up to the point she's asking folks to stop being mean. 

[DRW50]

It really is so calm on here about GH compared to Twitter. The hate for Carly and LW there is often off the charts. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Absolutely. 

They loathe Cujo worse than I typically do. While Laura fangirling about Steve was odd last night, the venom she has been getting is a lot. 

[DRW50]

Tells you how out of the loop I am - I didn't even know until now. Maybe they should go back to the Emmys not being seen...