GH: July 2024 Discussion Thread

[TEdgeofNight]

BAM! She fell for it!!! Oye vey. Shaking my head. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Oh, yeah, that's me. I fall for real people, places & things having to do with soaps every single time!!!

[detroitpiston]

Watched Maurice B’s latest State of Mind and he talked about this Sonny story being so difficult for him he had to take a couple of weeks off in the middle of filming and temporarily checked himself in to a center. I think this story was the right idea but from memory he’s never been able to do these Sonny off his meds and being a full out villain plots for too long and currently his performance hasn’t been great in it either. I don’t blame Frank and co for hitting the pause button.

Yeah I think the show has been pretty decent since the wedding aftermath and kicked into a stronger gear with Finn’s exit. Feels like the show finally got the dynamics and storylines this regime first began setting up going in interesting directions although half the canvas still needs a purge.

This is the first time I’ve found Deception drama kinda interesting since the Carly & Gia vs Laura & Liz days.

I loved that Natalia was unapologetic about the way she trashed Kristina and how they went head to head finally. Blaze and Lucy/Maxie going in on Natalia was great as well. I loved the scene with Natalia and Sonny and Alexis at the coffee shop too. Alexis going after DeWitt and Ava was good as was Nina and Maxie handing DeWitt his ass.

Maura West has been eating tf out of Ava’s vengeance and desperation but I do want them to up the stakes a bit.

I’m curious how this Drew campaign is going to go and I hope they get a soap vet for his opponent who they’ve spent the last few weeks talking up as a viper (Sarah Joy Brown, Gina T, or an AMC lady like Alicia Minshew would be nice)

Trina and Gio finally peaked my interest talking about shared grief. I want them to go deeper with him having lost his parents and how that has shaped him. That young set sorely needs a vixen and a darker male character. I kind of wish they had kept MB’s son for the summer at least he had the right angst and stronger chemistry with both Trina and Joss.

I’m looking forward to this week hopefully momentum keeps going. The show really needs to find a way to work around these guarantees, especially if they’re gonna keep the cast so large. The UK soaps do a much better job.

[Contessa Donatella]

Jacqueline Grace Lopez, long interview on YouTube. At about 21:00 she tells the audition for Blaze. Said pop star, flirtatious, confident, included 2 scenes & sing 1 song. Sang a cappella "Rolling in the Deep". Said it would be either 10 episodes or 3 months but it became 7 months. Got a call back. In Frank's office with Mark, his asst. Lisa, Frank & 2 or 3 other people. They told her that day she was 1st choice but they had to confirm something with the writers. The next day they told her she was hired.

Also later Mark called & said Frank wanted her back for this new part but it would mean playing queer & wanted to know if she'd be okay with that. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okc-W24N9wQ

[Kevin Roberson]

MB has said for years it takes too much out of him to play manic for too long when he deals with it in life. Guza and Carlivati showed respect for his mental health not having Sonny go through it except in short spurts for drama. Not for five months to toss stakes on stories as they try to find logic for Ava's dark turn and longevity for Valentin's exit style writing. Korte is moving this to the end from the casting news (IMO: Morgan coming to Sonny in a dream) and start the tossing of Mulcahey's stories into the lake. 

Sonny off his meds is to GH as Brooke's sex scandals are to B&B. MB and KKL don't want it. Lovers or Haters of Sonny and Brooke don't want it. Jean, Shelley, Chris, and Dan never touched it for eight years except for a few days Port Charles Time to start off 22. We had finally moved on from this for the better of the show recycling this plot, to the character growth he had for six years from Mike's dementia to the Nina divorce, and the actor no longer having to play bat ssshhiitt crazy into his 60's. 

Enter Mulcahey. Career changes. Shifts in personality. Retcons of history to about a half dozen who act like they didn't know what mobsters did for a living. Reverting the rest back to their worse. Ratings crash in two months in ways they never did from those he replaced in four years. Show is more boring than ever in the shift from drama to dialouge as the top priority. Sonny is off his meds in his second week on the job to take him back to a monster. Korte has been there for 30 years. I doubt she would let this go on for 5 months out of respect for one of the soaps icons psyche. Sonny is walking around out of his mind to raise hell for nothing. Most offensive thing he has done was making him sympathize with bigotry to the daughter he accepted when she came out to him. Out of character writing if there ever was to attach Natty to Sonny to secure ELR's place on a cast of 200.

Edited July 8, 2024 by Vince79

[Jdee43]

Mulcahey's GH feels very dated. He's great at character, but his sensibilities on the issues and times feels very early 1990s.

The actress who plays Blaze is not very good and has very little chemistry with Kristina. Is it really that hard to pair Kristina with someone she has chemistry with? Very rarely has that happened on this show.

Since there seem to be so many obstacles to playing Sonny as the SOB he is, why not finally change the character and get him out of the mob? That way he can be the cuddly wise uncle that everyone looks up to without any of the hypocrisy. 

Edited July 8, 2024 by Jdee43

[Aragorn]

Is the production dark this month like other years, or did they decide to film this month?

When will Genie Francis be taking her yearly vacation? Does anybody here know?

[Liberty City]

July is normally a down-month for them.

[Contessa Donatella]

GH is dark the entire month of July, as usual. Confirmed info. 

[TEdgeofNight]

Mulcahey sucks as a headwriter! Proven fact. He can write dialogue but not story. 

Don't get me started on Blaze. Whoever plays her is beyond awful! I don't even care enough to learn the actress' name because she'll hopefully be gone soon. She needs to go back to acting school. Kate Mansi is fabulous. She deserves a better acting partner. 

[Jdee43]

Yeah, they should have hired Mulcahey as a script writer or perhaps even story consultant. But as head writer, sorry to say, he's not the answer. 

[Contessa Donatella]

If Nostradamus had predicted it, I would not have believed it. But here we are, GH fans, two distinct camps based on Patrick Mulcahey.

Group 1: Sigh, now we will never know what might have been. 

Group 2: Good riddance. 

[John]

7.8.2024

HW: Elizabeth Korte & Patrick Mulcahey

BDW: Chris Van Etten

SW: Stacey Pulwer

DIR: Allison Reames-Smith

Group 1

[BetterForgotten]

Regardless of who is the HW, no one is empowered to put their best work forward under ABC, Varni, and Valentini. The show will continue to be what it is with this power structure still there and no one successfully challenging it. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Group 3! I'm in 1 & 3!! 

Edited July 8, 2024 by Contessa Donatella