11 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Yeah... Laura is the worst Mayor ever 😂😂😂

I wonder if Genie Francis, or anybody on set for that matter, has a problem with the way that Laura's being written lately

Laura is awful. It kinda makes me glad she’s basically been reduced to a B-tiered character and an afterthought, for the most part, these days. If being a Sonny apologist is all they care for her to do, then keep writing her as an irrelevant spare part. 

Even with Lulu back and Lucky’s recent botched return and exit, Laura has felt so irrelevant and inconsistent as a character for such a long time. I wonder if this is all by design by FV though. 

22 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

Laura is awful. It kinda makes me glad she’s basically been reduced to a B-tiered character and an afterthought, for the most part, these days. If being a Sonny apologist is all they care for her to do, then keep writing her as an irrelevant spare part. 

Even with Lulu back and Lucky’s recent botched return and exit, Laura has felt so irrelevant and inconsistent as a character for such a long time. I wonder if this is all by design by FV though. 

To me she felt this way in the late '90s and early '00s as well. I suppose that could also be down to producer issues, and just how lazy and hollow the show is with many longtime female characters (look at Anna...look at Carly...) but I think there are longstanding problems with Laura as a character and Genie as a performer which nostalgia help to ease.

7 hours ago, carolineg said:

I think with the loss of Sam, which you and I care little about, Molly becomes more important in some fans minds.  Alexis needs her girls!  Frankly, all of them need (or needed in Sam's case) a long break. 

Molly being Rick/Alexis's daughter is interesting.  It's not as interesting as Kristina being Sonny's daughter though.  Outside of her parents there is nothing to differentiate her from any other woman on the show in the same age range.

I am not the biggest TJ fan, but I'd rather see him deal with his issues than watch Molly flirt with Cody.

I like Kristen Vaganos. I can believe her as a child of Alexis and Ric and I think it's natural that Molly is no longer quirky given the year of hell she's gone through. You're right though - Molly's just a very generic character on a show full of generic characters. The only ones who aren't generic are given layers by the performers. 

Edited July 4Jul 4 by DRW50

59 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

Laura is awful. It kinda makes me glad she’s basically been reduced to a B-tiered character and an afterthought, for the most part, these days. If being a Sonny apologist is all they care for her to do, then keep writing her as an irrelevant spare part. 

Even with Lulu back and Lucky’s recent botched return and exit, Laura has felt so irrelevant and inconsistent as a character for such a long time. I wonder if this is all by design by FV though. 

By Frank probably. In order to placate Mo. 

The lack of self-awareness that Laura had yesterday was ridiculous. She and GF deserve a lot better, especially after all these years.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

To me she felt this way in the late '90s and early '00s as well. I suppose that could also be down to producer issues, and just how lazy and hollow the show is with many longtime female characters (look at Anna...look at Carly...) but I think there are longstanding problems with Laura as a character and Genie as a performer which nostalgia help to ease.

I have to agree.  There have been moments when the show has tried to revitalize Laura and position her more front and center, but the character has been a mess for years.  Genie does still get a lot of airtime, but most of her scenes are rehashing what she said a few days before or hanging out with Sonny.  Unfortunately, with the failed Lucky return she has Lulu, a non-existent romance with Kevin, unseen baby Ace, and her purpose sometimes feels aimless.

I do believe it's been by design as far back as the Richie era though.  It's not specific to Frank, although he hasn't helped lol.

2 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I like Kristen Vaganos. I can believe her as a child of Alexis and Ric and I think it's natural that Molly is no longer quirky given the year of hell she's gone through. You're right though - Molly's just a very generic character on a show full of generic characters. The only ones who aren't generic are given layers by the performers. 

Good point about Molly's year taking some of her spark away.  The problem isn't just Vaganos, it's Molly as a character.   Molly's as aimless as Laura these days but without the legendary performer and history.

I think a couple years ago, around the time of the 60th and not just in that one sweeps period, Laura was pretty central. Virtually everything in town was run through "Mayor Collins" for a couple years, the most active town mayor in story since Luke himself lol. Spencer, Kevin/Ryan, etc. gave her a ton of story. I was happy with that, even if I don't care for the boring marriage to Kevin.

But Laura has been sidelined since NAC left, and the kowtowing to Esme before that followed by the quick 180 on Sonny after the first half-serious attempt at holding him accountable in decades fell apart (last year) as well as the Heather mess have all made her look like a fool. (As the Sonny quick change also did with Anna.) And frankly I think that is all the way FV likes it. I think either he or someone at the network always resented being strongarmed into a contract for Genie, and it's often showed. I don't think he's shedding tremendous tears about the focus moving away from the Spencers with TG gone seemingly for good.

I think all this could easily change for Laura again, as quickly as it did a few years back. But the show has to want it, and it clearly doesn't. I do though. And I think when she was the heart of the show again, Genie played it to the hilt.

Edited July 4Jul 4 by Vee

11 hours ago, cassadine1991 said:

It’s interesting how Gio no longer share scenes with Trina especially given how similar their paternity reveals were and once Kai’s betrayal is revealed 

 

The stat in that tweet, @Liberty City, is a pretty clear of example of what we’ve discussed here a lot about the show basically resegregating its Black characters. Kai and Trina are cordoned off together, as are Jordan, Portia, Isaiah, and Curtis, and their only link to the white characters atm is conflict over Drew.

16 minutes ago, bossruen said:

The stat in that tweet, @Liberty City, is a pretty clear of example of what we’ve discussed here a lot about the show basically resegregating its Black characters. Kai and Trina are cordoned off together, as are Jordan, Portia, Isaiah, and Curtis, and their only link to the white characters atm is conflict over Drew.

One amazing example, if you recall, was Spencer's funeral. White people on the left. Black people on the right. White people who crossed over to the right, only: Cameron, Ava, Joss. That was all. Laura did not. So, only those 3, so close to Trina, offered her comfort.  Or in a real sense acknowledged her as Spencer's chosen love. Alexis voiceover for the eulogy but she did not in any way acknowledge Trina. The sheer geography of it was sad but amazing, in the worst possible way. 

5 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

One amazing example, if you recall, was Spencer's funeral. White people on the left. Black people on the right.

Yes! And Trina didn’t even go back to Wyndemere after the graveside ceremony. I honestly thought I was going insane. But that really set the tone for the next year and a half. 

I am reading quite a bit that goes "Frank this" or "Frank that". Fairly usual, even to be expected. However, I'm going to say Frank & what follows is different. If you see the sense in it, great. If not, meh 

There is one thing that Frank is not going to tolerate & that thing is behavior on set, in the midst of trying to tape & trying to meet a schedule. This applies most to actors. No surprise there. If an actor has personal beliefs that are disruptive, possible problem. If an actor has legit health issues, that is different, as it is not their fault, etc. If an actor makes others on set cry by their chosen behavior, let's say that continues, that actor is going to find their time on camera begins a little at a time to be cut back but that is the kind of thing that can add up. Say it's taping a big event like a wedding, an anniversary show, or the Nurses Ball, people whose behavior seems to be holding the show hostage to their, we'll call them "issues", they might find themselves completely written out of, for example, the NB. 

I just present this as one theoretical where the problem is not Frank, it's fill-in-the-blank.

And, no, I am not naming names except to say one thing & that is, okay 2 things, I am on record as NOT being thrilled at NotBritt being back & I who used to love 11 yr old JJ/Lucky, well, the grown up version can go kick rocks. I said the other day that I did not come to put anyone down. When I said that I was overlooking KellyT & JJ. But most of this is not about any one or even two specific people. I just remembered I have had it with them, at the last here, so I am tacking them on. 

13 minutes ago, bossruen said:

Yes! And Trina didn’t even go back to Wyndemere after the graveside ceremony. I honestly thought I was going insane. But that really set the tone for the next year and a half. 

I, too, was crazed!!!! I mean, how could they present that & it be so obvious?!!! One thinks that scene was written, checked over, blocked & then shot & no one, in the booth or on the side of the set, thought, Wait a minute, this looks off?!!!

The show was honestly so good since the Nurse's Ball up until last week with Natalia's nonsense and this week with the focus squarely on Sonny. The show loses all momentum when it goes back to this dude. He's boooooring. The same conversations about him are boooooring.

The episode with the fire was one of the worst I've seen, looked like crap, bad blocking (Kristina could have gone out the back several times over before Marco showed up) the actors seems under-rehearsed, the dialogue was awful. Just bad TV.

Anything that focus's on Kate Mansi and her overacting is awful. She was horrible on DAYS and she's horrible on GH 

19 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Anything that focus's on Kate Mansi and her overacting is awful. She was horrible on DAYS and she's horrible on GH 

She's been really bad lately, especially this week. Kristina is nearly impossible to play as written in her defense.

5 minutes ago, Darn said:

She's been really bad lately, especially this week. Kristina is nearly impossible to play as written in her defense.

Truth.  Mansi has her flaws, but I don't know who could play Kristina in a likeable way.

Happy 4th to you GH: