It was!!! I feel like we speculated that for a good minute. Meanwhile, I was just happy Laura and her kids were finally coming home. Heck I was even hoping for a Nikolas visit.

2 minutes ago, carolineg said:

There was also the very last minute recast for arguably the biggest Lucky/Liz scene in JJ's entire return.

shivers

That backlash.

11 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

It was!!! I feel like we speculated that for a good minute. Meanwhile, I was just happy Laura and her kids were finally coming home. Heck I was even hoping for a Nikolas visit.

shivers

That backlash.

Yeah, I don't think we ever got to the "WHO" behind the JJ and Lulu returns so it still kind of remains speculation. I applaud whoever it was that made the choice because it was the right decision. The execution was just so poor.

6 minutes ago, carolineg said:

The execution was just so poor.

I suspect the poor execution was deliberate on Frank's part.

8 minutes ago, carolineg said:

Yeah, I don't think we ever got to the "WHO" behind the JJ and Lulu returns so it still kind of remains speculation. I applaud whoever it was that made the choice because it was the right decision. The execution was just so poor.

Yeah, we never did. I really would love to know who did. Because his/her power play was the right thing at the time. The execution was definitely poor. But we know why that is. Since the beginning of soaps, when a producer/writer do not like something or someone, it definitely shows on-screen.

4 minutes ago, Khan said:

I suspect the poor execution was deliberate on Frank's part.

Very.

Yup. I think it was very deliberate by Frank and once JJ pushed back he became a "problem" that needed to be basically forced out. It's a real shame for the Lucky/Liz fanbase that waited so long for them to reunite.

Not even a problem (even though I'm sure Frank saw differently). An actor who knew his character's audience way too well. Even better than the producer. So can't have that. Not my first pick of Liz's single suitors at that time, but even I see the potential in them reuniting...or triangled out...or embarking on an adventure which them with Cyrus and the killings briefly gave them.

But...Frank's gotta Frank.

1 hour ago, Taoboi said:

Not even a problem (even though I'm sure Frank saw differently). An actor who knew his character's audience way too well. Even better than the producer. So can't have that. Not my first pick of Liz's single suitors at that time, but even I see the potential in them reuniting...or triangled out...or embarking on an adventure which them with Cyrus and the killings briefly gave them.

But...Frank's gotta Frank.

It's difficult because there was a lot of rehab that needed to go into Lucky's character for him to be viable for Liz. He was basically written as a deadbeat dad for a decade. I think it's a tough challenge for these writers to give any nuance to Lucky. He has Luke's wandering/restless streak, but Laura's heart and it doesn't seem like they could balance that well? That's not an excuse. It seems like a writing failure and Frank didn't care enough to change course for Lucky. I assume JJ wanted Lucky to have that redemption and it was half hearted at best and dropped for long periods at worst.

So Britt knew about this unknown twin? side-eye

39 minutes ago, carolineg said:

It's difficult because there was a lot of rehab that needed to go into Lucky's character for him to be viable for Liz. He was basically written as a deadbeat dad for a decade. I think it's a tough challenge for these writers to give any nuance to Lucky. He has Luke's wandering/restless streak, but Laura's heart and it doesn't seem like they could balance that well? That's not an excuse. It seems like a writing failure and Frank didn't care enough to change course for Lucky. I assume JJ wanted Lucky to have that redemption and it was half hearted at best and dropped for long periods at worst.

I totally agree. Just from reading here while Lucky was gone and then before JJ returned, I remember how much of a hard sell it would be for Lucky to come back because he needed to be redeemed for his decades long absence. And I hoped that with Aidan getting recast and a story, that would be part of said redemption. Otherwise, a Lucky/Liz reunion would be a hard sell even if the actors still had chemistry (which of course they did). It's also why he was not my personal first pick of her three also-single suitors who were back. Out of the 3, he had the most work to be done on him to make a reunion work.

Nuance? These writers? What's that? hehe. They definitely couldn't balance it. The weeks he was out of town with Sidwell and Isaiah could have been cut in half and they could have worked on that when he arrived in PC. Instead of him looking for any excuse to get out of town once he arrived in PC, Lucky could have been dealing with that internal struggle on screen. You are totally hitting it on the head for a great conflict for Lucky (Luke's spirt/Laura's heart). It's only a shame that some folks bts were bound and determined to not make it work cuz they wanted to keep with 'factory settings' for a character that the audience (and someone higher up) wanted back for ages.

I'm not really sure that grown up Lucky with JJ in the role can ever really work as a character, given how dark they made Luke and how peripheral they made Laura. The happy family we saw JJ grow up in was a total lie. They should have killed off Lucky for real in 1999 or never recast, bringing back JJ's Lucky in 2009 with no history of how his character had been demeaned from 2000-2009. Or never bring back JJ and stay with the demeaned recast.

I don't think Ethan ever really worked as a character either. He was rendered superfluous once JJ came back as Lucky. I feel like his whole stint was about Luke telling Ethan how cool he was, but we never really saw it. Maybe we'll finally see it this time? Ethan has no vets to hide behind now.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by Jdee43

1 hour ago, Jdee43 said:

The happy family we saw JJ grow up in was a total lie.

I don't think it was. I think that's just the revisionist history Guza and Tony believed in.

I think Ethan not having Luke to hide behind could work this time around? Part of the reason why I was never a huge fan is because Luke propped the character so hard. It immediately gave me a negative feeling for Ethan. Perhaps if Ethan stands on his own as a character he can define the role as more than Luke's bastard son.

I still wouldn't have brought Ethan back, but I am willing to give ND a shot this return. I don't have terriblly high hopes though.

On 4/18/2026 at 3:32 PM, Vee said:

Gina Tognoni would be a welcome addition in the right role, but this show has too many extraneous characters as is atm without adding even more. And Gina Tognoni as Skye isn't exactly gonna rake 'em in. JFP couldn't even put Gina over as Carly, and she may have tried it more than once.

Gina T to play Helena Cassadine Junior? Pull a Dr. Rolf (DAYS) story on this one...🤣

On 4/18/2026 at 6:31 PM, carolineg said:

I keep hearing she has many fans, but would anyone care? It's not like she has any history on GH. I don't see her bringing in new viewers or anything.

I believe she would if she's casted on GH. She's familiar with the many long-time ABC soap fans.

On 4/18/2026 at 7:36 PM, ranger1rg said:

I did. I loved Gina as Phyllis, and thought that Y&R really did her dirty.

Y&R really did, probably the dirtiest in years and couldn't recall when the last time a soap did that. For your sake, DO NOT TELL me it was Kelly Monaco (ex-Sam). 😡

On 4/19/2026 at 1:56 AM, Jdee43 said:

The Willow vs Jacinda stuff would have worked better with a stronger actor in the Jacinda role. I noticed they had Jacinda mention spending time in Australia in Friday's episode. I guess that means she was involved with Ethan and that we'll be getting a Michael/Jacinda/Ethan/Kristina mess. Like they have to make Jacinda more important on the canvas..

I really LOVED the Willow & Jacinda mini showdown. Showed a lot of POTENTIAL!

22 hours ago, janea4old said:

That Gina T scene is riveted in my mind. It's bringing me to tears right now, just remembering it!
Almost as amazing as Judith Light testifying as Karen Wolek.

For me it was one or two riveting performances Gina T when playing Dinah on GL. I love Wendy Moniz, they each had their significant marks with the character of Dinah.

21 hours ago, Taoboi said:

Oh, well...he will be pretty to look at from the one picture I've seen, still sporting the short do he had on the last season of ROSWELL where the storyline gave him some actual swagger.

Nathan was GREAT on Roswell and LOVED the show. Gone too soon. Now that Ethan is back, it was a great Friday episode of his return and went really smooth with instant chemistry...

15 hours ago, carolineg said:

I think the rumor was someone higher up forced FV's hand to hire JJ back and recast Lulu and he wasn't thrilled about it.

I heard that rumor too and I do believe it happens, from time to time someone higher up (perhaps Nate Varni) had his hand on this

15 hours ago, Khan said:

I suspect the poor execution was deliberate on Frank's part.

I don't like the block taping, but I understand it's cost efficient. Block taping is all over the place and the flow of the story/scenes feels rushed and chopped up.

2 hours ago, Vee said:

I don't think it was. I think that's just the revisionist history Guza and Tony believed in.

Wasn't the creation of this Ethan character inspired by casting of GL's Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan Randall) who's a phenomenal, tour-de-force actor? And boy Tom was mind-blowing and loved every second he was on which I believe gave GL a few more years to avoid cancellation.

3 minutes ago, Rocket Man said:

I heard that rumor too and I do believe it happens, from time to time someone higher up (perhaps Nate Varni) had his hand on this

There was definitely a real effort to make changes on GH with PM's hiring and bringing back Laura's family. Unfortunately, we will never know exactly why it fell apart, but I suspect the ratings dipping was enough to give Frank his way and gain control back.

5 minutes ago, Rocket Man said:

Wasn't the creation of this Ethan character inspired by casting of GL's Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan Randall) who's a phenomenal, tour-de-force actor? And boy Tom was mind-blowing and loved every second he was on which I believe gave GL a few more years to avoid cancellation.

I have never heard that. I don't really see many similarities to the characters, but I also was never much of a GL watcher. I don't think GH even had a clear plan for Ethan when he was hired. He kissed Lulu early on so I don't think the show was set on making him Luke's son lol. I thought TG stepped in and made it happen because he liked ND.

11 minutes ago, carolineg said:

I have never heard that. I don't really see many similarities to the characters, but I also was never much of a GL watcher. I don't think GH even had a clear plan for Ethan when he was hired. He kissed Lulu early on so I don't think the show was set on making him Luke's son lol. I thought TG stepped in and made it happen because he liked ND.

On GL, character of Jonathan kissed Tammy which found out that they were both cousins and it was a huge taboo storyline which spun off a long-term umbrella of stories. Tom Pelphrey was great, can't say enough good things about him. I did recall reading/hearing one of the interviews back in the 2000s that Anthony Geary really admired Tom P and wanted to work with him.

Could Ethan be working for sid?