3 hours ago, Vee said:

It's become the Frank Family Welfare Program. But I'd say that much more about characters like Sasha, pre-Drew Willow, Michael Easton, Roger Howarth, Chase, Curtis, Jordan, Molly, T.J., etc. It took everything short of an act of God to finally get Sasha, Howarth and Finn out. I do think Nina has run her course whereas I think Ava could still go on in the proper gear, but it is insane that you have so many of these other pointless characters who have been here either a decade or over (or close to a decade) and their history amounts to very little. It's Uncle Frank's house.

Totally. Again, letting people like Mac, Ned, Lois, or whoever linger and hang around is one thing. But heaps of these others need to be gone. I still can't believe how long some of these people have been standing around doing nothing. I swear that it felt like back in the day they got the Jenny Eckerts of the world out of there in a few years and they didn't have these flops just hogging up space after almost a decade. It's been over ten years with various versions of Jordan!

About Joss, I know they love her over there and probably know she's a lifer. But she's just not a leading character or actress and their insistence on pushing her as one is wrecking their younger scene. I don't know what the answer is since she's not going anywhere, but her as a WSB agent is not it. It's the same problem they ran into with Maxie and ER version of Lulu where they pushed them for years and years despite both of them running their course years ago. But their younger female scene has been in shambles for almost two decades now. Outside of the Trina and Emma situations, they finally got a good Lulu and they don't do anything with her.

Each Jordan is worse than the last and in spite of Vinessa Antoine's best efforts she never had much personality to begin with. Frank clearly just doesn't feel comfortable investing in new Black characters who aren't immediately lashed to that one family.

FV also clearly decided Eden was the best he was going to get at redoing Kristen Alderson/Starr Manning on GH after several failed attempts (remember Molly and Rafe?), and he's not letting go of it. Even though Eden has had multiple turns at bat herself and not had a hit it's what he's committed to, despite the fact that a comic role would be much more appropriate if you had to keep her. He has to know she's not going to be a star at this point.

It's just part of the frustrating systemic rot at the show when it doesn't have to be this way. GH is in a lot better shape than most of the remaining soaps, and they have so many great pieces in place to make an excellent show. But these biases and private obsessions drag it down.

Edited October 11Oct 11 by Vee

42 minutes ago, carolineg said:

She's always giving me young JMB Lulu vibes where the show would just throw anything at her and it finally worked with Dante.

Julie's Lulu often annoyed me with their hyperfocus on her, but she was also much more talented. Eden has a specific set of skills and certain things I think she can do well, and I think she works hard but she's not a leading lady.

Edited October 11Oct 11 by Vee

JMB's Lulu was also able to do romance stories in couples people liked and she had a real connection with Tracy, Luke, and Laura. I also thought she was able to sell being the heavy in stuff like the Georgie and Dillon mess and when she thought she was going crazy. Eden has done basically none of that. Best I can say is that she can be amusing and does work well with Laura Wright.

44 minutes ago, AdelaideCate007 said:

JMB's Lulu was also able to do romance stories in couples people liked and she had a real connection with Tracy, Luke, and Laura. I also thought she was able to sell being the heavy in stuff like the Georgie and Dillon mess and when she thought she was going crazy. Eden has done basically none of that. Best I can say is that she can be amusing and does work well with Laura Wright.

To me JMB only really managed a believable relationship near the end of her tenure (and I didn't even think that one was fantastic), but I don't want to have to keep waiting to see if Eden will manage to get the right roll of the dice right before she leaves (or the show ends).

I keep seeing some talk about how great she and Dex were compared to how she is with Vaughn but I don't see a big difference. I think Dex just fit more of the traditional younger leading man profile for a soap that has appeal to some viewers.

The only difference between Vaughn and Dex is a handful of years and hair length. He's dogmeat soon enough.

15 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Increasingly it feels like we have a collection of twists, then favored performers kept onscreen no matter what, but few actual stories. Even soaps, where stories never end, told them with a beginning, middle, and end.

It is working for me somewhat in that it took how Valentini likes to produce the show already, and infused it with energy. So it has upped the fun factor and given it the illusion of a faster pace. But the seams and deep ravines still show up in stuff like the Ric story, where it is dropped for weeks at a time and the characters involved do not interact enough. Or Laura’s campaign, the Gio/Emma story, hell all of Emma’s story.

What is happening with Gio and Emma really reminds me of what they did with Spencer/Trina, minus the racism of course. I would think even with guarantees, these young cast members have to be cheaper than most, so use them!

Yeah, I agree. I had hoped that when the coven of ladies got together, we would get more of it with Ric. Even moreso because it had the deadline of a month. So I am sad we didn't get more since Alexis and Ava definitely worked well off of each other.

 

I think for me, it works now versus before because them New/Old Writers have found a rhythm that for the most part works. And just when they are about to give into their tics that I don't like...they do actually manage to not jump off the cliff. Some things work better than others though. Like what I said last week about how I dislike the start of the Monica's death storyline which everything not connected it had those annoying story tics. But the following weather bounced back, giving Monica's death with the same story elements around the story (Britt, the Nathan storyline), but they found a way to make it work so much better. 

 

Yeah...Gio/Emma really is another case of finding lightning in the bottle. And...doing nothing. 

 

14 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I think there would be a lot of struggles in knowing where to take characters like Laura or Anna even without them, but I do agree with those who believe the show has so many viable women in that age range they don't really know what to do with them.

Which is sad because the potential for both with the current story elements are there. 

12 hours ago, carolineg said:

Britt gives me Violet level hate and Violet was only a little girl.  Britt's an awful adult.

hehe. Oh, you.

 

12 hours ago, carolineg said:

Fair enough.  I'll just call her "Sunflower" from now on lol

Hehe. Yeah, I felt the same...and you know Candyman is no joke. 😜

 

8 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

I'll join you in the minority. I would hate to lose either Maura West or Cynthia Watros. They're not doing much now? Well, then, cut some weak actors and give them more to do.

THIS.

 

Ava still has legs to her, too. 

 

 

7 hours ago, carolineg said:

Even if it was, I certainly wouldn't have Britt wax poetically about Spencer.  That's not relevant in today's GH.

Unless they are surprisingly recasting him *runs and hides* 

 

5 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I don't think the show would have done more with Sprina than they did. 

And the most that got done was done by the strike writers. 

 

4 hours ago, carolineg said:

t you can't build a teen/young adult scene on her.  The show pushes viable leads like Trina and Emma out of the way for Joss and it's never really clicked.

Preach!!! Serviceable when written logically, but Trina and Emma...even with what little they are given...outshine her.

I still can’t believe that they’re ruining another popular likable young couple just to prop an extremely unlikeable character and her 🍆 of the year 😡

Frank, I understand but how has anybody else not read the room by now? I mean, if it’s true that ABC forced PM on him, I imagine that they’d also be able to force him/the writers to feature characters and couples that the fans actually want to see. 

Edited October 11Oct 11 by AbcNbc247

36 minutes ago, AbcNbc247 said:

Frank, I understand but how has anybody else not read the room by now? I mean, if it’s true that ABC forced PM on him, I imagine that they’d also be able to force him/the writers to feature characters and couples that the fans actually want to see. 

I think the numbers tanking during PM's brief tenure (which I do not put all on him - it was clearly a BTS clusterfúck) and then rising with a few moves after he was fired/quit have all but made FV bulletproof at this point. Though it's clear they are scrambling to shore up Jason after paying for his much-hyped return which has floundered for a year.

5 hours ago, DRW50 said:

To me JMB only really managed a believable relationship near the end of her tenure (and I didn't even think that one was fantastic), but I don't want to have to keep waiting to see if Eden will manage to get the right roll of the dice right before she leaves (or the show ends).

I keep seeing some talk about how great she and Dex were compared to how she is with Vaughn but I don't see a big difference. I think Dex just fit more of the traditional younger leading man profile for a soap that has appeal to some viewers.

The only time I enjoyed Lulu was when she was with Dante.  I found JMB unbearable most of her run especially during her mini-Carly era.  Maybe that's why I think she and Eden are similar lol.

I think Dex/Vaughn are interchangeable as characters, but I did think Eden had more heat with the actor that played Dex.  I still think Vaughn looks too old for her.

1 hour ago, Vee said:

I think the numbers tanking during PM's brief tenure (which I do not put all on him - it was clearly a BTS clusterfúck) and then rising with a few moves after he was fired/quit have all but made FV bulletproof at this point. Though it's clear they are scrambling to shore up Jason after paying for his much-hyped return which has floundered for a year.

It doesn't seem like ABC/Disney/Whoever care as long as Frank stays under budget and the ratings are steady.   Creativity doesn't appear to be a big concern.  GH is lucky that they have such a talented cast because they make the show seem better than it actually is.

10 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I still can’t believe that they’re ruining another popular likable young couple just to prop an extremely unlikeable character and her 🍆 of the year 😡

Frank, I understand but how has anybody else not read the room by now? I mean, if it’s true that ABC forced PM on him, I imagine that they’d also be able to force him/the writers to feature characters and couples that the fans actually want to see. 

Well, you know that Frank is going to Frank. Just look at the flavors of the month running around as I binge and type.  

 

That is a good point. But since the show is currently doing good in spite of his tics...I don't see anyone trying to step in any time like they did with PM.

7 hours ago, carolineg said:

I did think Eden had more heat with the actor that played Dex.  I still think Vaughn looks too old for her.

Could it be because Eden was dating the actor though? Allegedly.

 

7 hours ago, carolineg said:

It doesn't seem like ABC/Disney/Whoever care as long as Frank stays under budget and the ratings are steady.   Creativity doesn't appear to be a big concern.

 

7 hours ago, carolineg said:

GH is lucky that they have such a talented cast because they make the show seem better than it actually is.

Yep. Part of me feel like I shouldn't be enjoying it as much as I am. I really hate the writing tics, the clear agendas, the flavors of the month, and I don't see my favorite vets as much as I would like...but does it have its own rhythm, stories that intrigue, movement, vets on screen often, sets that switch often, and characters I care about. Why...yes. It's second only to BTG to me and that for me is high praise. And yes, the cast is soooo talented.

26 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Could it be because Eden was dating the actor though? Allegedly.

 

 

Yep. Part of me feel like I shouldn't be enjoying it as much as I am. I really hate the writing tics, the clear agendas, the flavors of the month, and I don't see my favorite vets as much as I would like...but does it have its own rhythm, stories that intrigue, movement, vets on screen often, sets that switch often, and characters I care about. Why...yes. It's second only to BTG to me and that for me is high praise. And yes, the cast is soooo talented.

Yes, I think Eden was dating the actor, then wasn't, and he got fired.  Not saying that's connected, but it could be lol.

I still find Gh watchable and it's fun to complain about.  I don't think they are working far outside the box in writing.  Who's going to pregnant this month?  Portia? Sure, that's 9 months of Curtis family drama.