As for the awards...I have to laugh at GH winning Best Writing. If I had to pick between this year and last year...I would expect them to win for THIS year. So with that in mind, I do look forward to GH vs BTG in writing next year for sure.

 

And we know how I feel about JJ so I'll leave that alone.

18 hours ago, titan1978 said:

It was a special circumstance, but the ratings growth during the 50th year anniversary was on the back of the OLTL audience that came for the crossover, the return of many popular vets not seen since JFP’s reign of terror, the big umbrella water poison story, and Robin Scorpio. They rested a lot of the driving story on Finola Hughes, from Faison in a mask, Duke, and Robin. While Sonny and Carly were there, they were not the center of the show like they used to be.

Who knows how soap audiences, especially the Nielsen households react anymore. Sonny is still very popular, even if I have tired of him ages ago. But much like Reva leaving GL in the early 90’s, I think if the rest of the show is strong enough, people will stay tuned in. But right now they are both pretty marginalized. Jason has more going on, but it’s because they made his circle larger.

Oh god, a time!!! But one thing that RC had always done well is his first year as HW on a soap. And it was an excellent idea to have so much of it centered around Anna. I can still hear her scream from the Faison reveal in my head. And I agree, I don't remember Sonny and Carly being the center at all then either, but I was probably blinded by having REAL Brenda back...for better or for worse. But all of what you listed gave the anniversary such a perfect storm of story and I loved it.

 

I would agree with that. It makes me think of when Alison Sweeney and James Scott left DAYS in 2014. They been so central to story for YEARS and the writers at the time, knowing they were leaving, did nothing to set up interesting stories to keep people watching when they left so the show suffered. I definitely feel if Sonny was to leave after begging Brenda back and they ride off into the sunset, it could carry on quite well with Jason. I've been saying that for a while. While agendas and some bad writing might have gotten in the way, this second third coming of Jason really has been good to watch for me. Jason came back more mature as a father than I've ever seen him outside of Michael, gets scenes with people outside of the mob he should be getting scenes with, and he still gets to have his adventures while also emoting. Carly is still around as the female lead, but she really needs to be leading, not off in what feels like side stories. And I just feel it's down to bad writing for her because LW can and has done everything. If they both had story...along with stories that the audience are invested in...Sonny could easily fade away like Reva did with little reaction. I feel. 

 

18 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

The linear ratings for GH have been consistent. It's behind Y&R and B&B in total viewers, but it's RIGHTTHERE in the 18-49 demo.

Just as importantly these days, GH has been streaming really well.

In the weeks before the new primetime season began, GH was finishing in the streaming chart Top 5 almost every day of the week, sometimes at #1. I thought it would disappear from the chart once the new TV season began, but that hasn't happened, and GH is still finishing in the Top 10 on every weekday. ABC has to be pleased.

Thank you for the info.

 

It is definitely something I noticed on my system as well lately. GH is consistently in the Top 10 even with the shows starting to come back. I also thought it would disappear, but it holds surprisingly strong.

17 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Just makes it all the more remarkable he was seemingly willing to wreck the show in whatever went on with Mulcahey. 

I do wonder if that period is another reason for an idea of Sonny misuse hurting ratings. Ultimately, I think that story was going to exonerate Sonny, due to the med switching, but I know some still vocally hate the idea of him being morally questioned by other characters.

Same.

 

17 hours ago, DRW50 said:

Finola deserves better, but this is the end result of being defined by the "Vanna" pairing. She could have more with Emma, but the show doesn't have a great deal of interest in Emma.

Same. The Anna/Emma scenes are too far and in between. 

From The TV Ratings Guide:

"Daytime Emmy-winning soap General Hospital charted six days this week, continuing to impress as it peaked at #3 and performed better than most primetime series."

http://www.thetvratingsguide.com/2025/10/whats-trending-on-streaming-daily_18.html

Yep. Frank is never leaving. 

 

 

Just now, Taoboi said:

Yep. Frank is never leaving. 

 

 

To be fair, why should he leave and why would they tell him to leave?

The numbers are there. The show looks good and it's firing on at least as many cylinders as any other soap. On top of that, he wins Emmys. I have a ton of problems with the entire Daytime Emmy process, but it's not a negative to win. 

I know all the criticisms of Frank Valentini, and I agree with many of those. I just don't think he should lose his job.

30 minutes ago, ranger1rg said:

To be fair, why should he leave and why would they tell him to leave?

The numbers are there. The show looks good and it's firing on at least as many cylinders as any other soap. On top of that, he wins Emmys. I have a ton of problems with the entire Daytime Emmy process, but it's not a negative to win. 

I know all the criticisms of Frank Valentini, and I agree with many of those. I just don't think he should lose his job.

Exactly!

 

This is the most I've watched GH since I gave up on it at the beginning of the year. Tired of the micromanaging agendas. But I'm not above giving credit where credit is due. I actually look forward to next year's Daytime Emmy because GH has had a solid writing year versus last year and I want to see how it stands up to BTG. 

 

But some of what needs to be fixed won't be fixed until Frank exits. I'm real enough to see that not happening due to what you said above.

 

I will settle for him eating crow and bringing Vanessa Marcil back onto my screen personally. But I'm bias.  

3 hours ago, Taoboi said:

But did Stefan lose his edge, or was he only expanding on another side of himself, making him more complex? I remember him being so dashing, the thinking man's bad boy, as a teen. I know I live for Natasha popping out. But I agree that Val...after hearing about how he came on the show since I was not watching then...has been so miltuqtoast that now I don't look forward to him at all being on screen. They could have easily had times when he made decisive moves that would bite him in the tail...and he did...but his soft side come out with Charlotte and Anna. The issue for me...especially with his rep per Helena...has been it comes across as propping to get him out of what he on screen did or a case of man pain. Say what you want about the other Cassadines, but there was never any prop. 

I don't think I would call Drew's dark shift fast as much as I would say abrupt. The potential for it has always been there since the start of PM's run when he dropped Carly like a hot potato with the knowledge of Jason being back. I felt this side of him grew organically over time. But he (well the writers) leaned into it this past year and it's done wonders for that character and gave the show a villain who is powerful BUT is not over the top. But going back to Cameron...yeah, he's really not playing vulnerability well at all as Drew so he probably couldn't do it if he was AJ which the actors who came before did very well.

I thought he became very dull around 1997 and that rarely went away for me, but YMMV.

I do think there was a clear shift under Mulcahey with Drew no longer being heroic or caring about being heroic, but he did try for a little more nuance. CVE and Korte then tripled down on making him so vile. It's lazy writing that squanders more complex potential, but I don't think Cameron can really play an anti-hero (as he could never really play the attempts to write Ryan that way on AMC - his best work was early on when he was still very fresh and charismatic), so maybe it's for the best.

3 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I thought he became very dull around 1997 and that rarely went away for me, but YMMV.

I do think there was a clear shift under Mulcahey with Drew no longer being heroic or caring about being heroic, but he did try for a little more nuance. CVE and Korte then tripled down on making him so vile. It's lazy writing that squanders more complex potential, but I don't think Cameron can really play an anti-hero (as he could never really play the attempts to write Ryan that way on AMC - his best work was early on when he was still very fresh and charismatic), so maybe it's for the best.

I think you are right. There are so many soaps I watched as a teen that I would LOVE to have the time to go back and watch with adult eyes now. That period of time is one of them. I love gothic and my mother had talked about Luke and Laura from as far back as I can remember. So seeing the promo with the hand and the ring and asking my mother about it...who called it being the Cassadines...always stood out for me. So when I saw one on screen...well...lol. Like I said...a thinking man's bad boy. 

 

I totally understand. I love the nuances PM brought to Drew. I definitely agree on CVE/Korte. There was so much potential there. Thankfully CM could still run with what he was given, giving a good villain. My only problem is him going after kids, and they really don't have anything or anyone that can allows him to show a softer side so he's not a complete villain.

 

Yeah, now that I am thinking of my memories of Ryan Lavery, you are probably right. Up until PM's writing and this current darker turn for Drew, CM never did anything for me as Drew. Unless he had a beard. 

I haven't watched GH in probably 18 years (yikes haha), but Erika Slezak got me to tune in because I was curious. I watched the first few episodes only for her scenes, but I started letting the rest of the episodes play out and I got sort of hooked (go figure, I'm easy haha). 

Few thoughts:

1) There are SO many characters, I need a manual and family tree to study.

2) There are SO many hot men on this show, I've been missing out. Nathan, Gio, Chase, Cody, Lucas, Michael, Brennan... just to name a few.

3) There are SO many soap alums on this show, which I absolutely love seeing.  Seeing GL's Annie and Cassie together again is amazing.   They just need to get Zimmer to cameo and we'll have a fun trifecta.

I'm still trying to piece some things together, like why is Willow so important?  She seems way too young for Drew and why would she want to shoot Drew if they seem to be a couple.  Some of these family members are so spider-webby, hopefully I can figure it out after a few more weeks, if I last that long haha.

The sets, budget and traditional umbrella storytelling seems better than other soaps out there right now.

 

 

Edited October 20Oct 20 by alwaysAMC

Stefan lost a lot around the time they ran out of Bob Guza’s original 1996 bible. It got wobbly around the time they faked Laura’s death, and the Spencer’s were just off the show for like an entire month, I think it may have been two. They had him shoot Katharine (by mistake), and just kind of stopped his momentum. He was panicky about the shooting, was stuck in a lame romance that didn’t do either of them any favors. They just dropped the marriage with Bobbie months before it actually ended trying to make Stefan/Katharine have some heat from Patch/Kayla rub off on them. While not as pathetic as Valentin, he didn’t have that heat/menace anymore either.

Edited October 19Oct 19 by titan1978

16 minutes ago, alwaysAMC said:

I'm still trying to piece some things together, like why is Willow so important?  She seems way too young for Drew and why would she want to shoot Drew if they seem to be a couple.

Here you go.

https://general-hospital.fandom.com/wiki/Willow_Tait_(Katelyn_MacMullen)

@alwaysAMC

One of the main reasons Willow/Drew got together is because she idolized him. She came from a cult and transferred those issues onto him. And I think Drew wanted the power rush and also probably wanted to spite his nephew, Michael, who is the golden boy of the Quartermaines and of Sonny's mob caravan.

Stefan had his issues later in his run but SN always sold presence and menace. I'd still be happy to have him resurrected. I've always missed him.

I do think Cameron plays villainous Drew to the hilt and is clearly relishing it. I think he works very hard and plays that smarm so well. It's not his fault the writers give him very little nuance. I do think you could add more layers (his relationship with Jake, etc.) without softening him too much. He's gone too far past Mulcahey's grayer conception of him in the (IMO) GL Ross Marler mold so you might as well leave him as the villain, but I would give him more shades and POV.

Edited October 20Oct 20 by Vee

1 hour ago, Vee said:

Stefan had his issues later in his run but SN always sold presence and menace. I'd still be happy to have him resurrected. I've always missed him.

I do think Cameron plays villainous Drew to the hilt and is clearly relishing it. I think he works very hard and plays that smarm so well. It's not his fault the writers give him very little nuance. I do think you could add more layers (his relationship with Jake, etc.) without softening him too much. He's gone too far past Mulcahey's grayer conception of him in the (IMO) GL Ross Marler mold so you might as well leave him as the villain, but I would give him more shades and POV.

Yeah they don’t even play him as even truly loving Scout, she’s more of a pawn for him to spite his family.