12 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

Oh? Do tell.

It's been a long time, but Kate seemed to be keeping a secret right up to the Sonny wedding when she got shot and after she did she started mumbling Dante or Olivia in her hospital bed. I think Olivia showed up shortly after and then Dominic/Dante a bit further down the road. It wasn't super obvious Dominic was Sonny son at first, but it wasn't difficult to figure out either lol.

2 minutes ago, carolineg said:

It's been a long time, but Kate seemed to be keeping a secret right up to the Sonny wedding when she got shot and after she did she started mumbling Dante or Olivia in her hospital bed. I think Olivia showed up shortly after and then Dominic/Dante a bit further down the road. It wasn't super obvious Dominic was Sonny son at first, but it wasn't difficult to figure out either lol.

Aww I remember the wedding, but I was an on and off watcher then. A nice bit of foreshadowing.

Team Willow!

I was worried that they were gonna make her look like this pearl clutching hypocrite today with Michael and Jacinda, but having her trauma from Dawn of Day be the thing that’s making her so anti-Jacinda was the right move

4 hours ago, CrazySexyQ said:

The writers need to give Jacinda some bite. She's turned into a weeping willow. At least we know where Willow's old personality went.

Maybe she could sleep with Drew when he recovers (or not). Sleeping with Drew always seems to bring out the worst in women, lol.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Khan

15 hours ago, carolineg said:

It honestly could be just a fan rumor I heard. It seems like Guza cast a really wide net for Dante, but found the right actor in DZ.

Tom P as Dante may have been just a rumor but it was fairly widespread in early 2009. Of course once Dominic was cast it was fairly obvious he was going to turn out to be Dante.

6 hours ago, Dion said:

Tom P as Dante may have been just a rumor but it was fairly widespread in early 2009. Of course once Dominic was cast it was fairly obvious he was going to turn out to be Dante.

Thanks! I thought I it was around for a minute back then. I remember hearing it was for Sonny's son, and there is a world I can see TP in the role. Not the Dante that DZ plays, but an angstier, darker version that probably would have chewed up scenery and won 3 emmys. I think it worked out the right way in the end lol.

Anyway on to yesterday's show. Is there a reason Rick, Alexis, and Sonny keep having the same conversation about Danny? They are all on the same page. No mob. Yet they keep reiterating that every other day with practically the same dialogue.

I thought Kristina and Ethan were good today. KM and ND were pleasant enough together. I am not sure if I am supposed to be thrown off by her saying he's not her type anymore (not female) because I still thought Kristina was bisexual. I also remember that was a huge debate post-Blaze so I won't go further into it lol.

Don't hate me, but I actually think Jacinda is playing this Willow situation as well as she can. She's calm while Willow is going off and she's being transparent with Michael about Brennan's offer. Jacinda is obviously underestimating Willow's crazy though and I think there is a real possibility Jacinda may not be long for this world.

My thoughts on JJ. I don’t think he was given or asked for story control. Asking to be in story with characters he had a connection with isn’t the same as dictating a story. We know he wanted to work with Genie and Becky, and neither one are a real priority for the current writers and Frank. So any promises there were DOA. He also wanted Lucky to be more in touch with his Luke side than the Lucky he inherited on his last run from GV. What they did with that sucked, but I don’t disagree that the GV version was sent through a more generic soap hunk path that doesn’t work for JJ or Lucky.

When Luke and Laura came back Genie had several meetings along the same lines with Wendy Riche. She talked about how important Lesley was for Laura. Even in those first meetings Genie talked about the period of time Laura was with the Cassadines was potentially fertile for story. Labine had other ideas, establishing the Spencer family unit. When Guza came on, she spoke to both of them and again said that period of time would be perfect for her to have had a child, and we got Nikolas. Is that dictating story or suggesting ideas for her somewhat neglected character?

JJ’s return was when Guza and JFP were practically nihilistic in the misery on the show. He was given dark material the whole time and hated it. The show wasn’t what he thought it would be, so he left. If I were him, and again saw clear signs I wasn’t going to be acting with Becky that much, or Genie, and was going to be paired with Kristina, I would probably want to go too.

I ultimately think JJ and Kristen Storms living situations caused more scheduling problems than they were worth, and that ultimately is why both of them are off contract. JJ because he wasn’t a priority even though they made those promises, and KS because she’s not reliable to schedule. I think that had way more to do with what went down than any story demands.

And yes, a lot of this was forced on Frank. Varni became involved again, and IIRC posted that GH was going to be recognizable to longterm fans again. This was either right before or after the primetime 60th special, which was the announcement about Steve coming back, and they had already been making changes when Roger got fired. Then Mulcahey was hired. I absolutely think pushing for Lucky and Lulu’s returns was not a Frank thing at all. Getting rid of Sam was all him though lol.

4 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

JJ’s return was when Guza and JFP were practically nihilistic in the misery on the show. He was given dark material the whole time and hated it. The show wasn’t what he thought it would be, so he left. If I were him, and again saw clear signs I wasn’t going to be acting with Becky that much, or Genie, and was going to be paired with Kristina, I would probably want to go too.

And yes, a lot of this was forced on Frank. Varni became involved again, and IIRC posted that GH was going to be recognizable to longterm fans again. This was either right before or after the primetime 60th special, which was the announcement about Steve coming back, and they had already been making changes when Roger got fired. Then Mulcahey was hired. I absolutely think pushing for Lucky and Lulu’s returns was not a Frank thing at all. Getting rid of Sam was all him though lol.

Yeah. I don't fault Jonathan for asking for Lucky and Liz, which I assume he did since it was an issue in his last contract stint in 2009-2011 and the lack thereof was stated as part of the reasons for his exit. He was told then that they'd get to it and they never did, and as you say the grueling miserable material he got instead turned him off continuing. I believe he'd have re-upped in 2011 if not for that. It was a massive fumble for a show in major BTS flux that year. And frankly I suspect if he'd still been there while Tony was there and FV arrived in '12 the situation would be very different today. Tony Geary was one of very few actors Frank has notably bowed to on story and he was very close to JJ, and they were entering a crucial anniversary period trying to save the show.

Jonathan was vocal again this time about wanting LNL2. He's been pretty consistent about that and I don't blame him. Most of the audience wants it, Becky wants it and he wants it. It's the show that doesn't want it simply because multiple regimes just don't have a vested interest in showcasing Becky vs. other women despite being stuck with her out of audience loyalty, and FV clearly doesn't have much use for Lucky either. IMO, as you also said he knows that if he centers Laura's family and children again it gets away from the people and stories he prefers to showcase. Alexa is getting a lot of airtime and story again atm but still she is the dupe for Cassius Faison, and is being painted by her nonconsensual mutant spawn and Valentin as an unreasonable helicopter mom. Her past romance with Dante is presently defunct, as Dante continues to mourn for his last girlfriend possibly longer than any other contract male in recent daytime history. That also is no coincidence IMO and speaks to FV's disinterest in DZ.

I have heard JJ's scheduling was a mess and I'm sure it's true. But to that I will raise them with skewing story around JPS and Valentin for years, which FV is more than happy to do with a less popular lead. Anyway it's all irrelevant now. He has Ethan and that solves his problem for the moment. It's just really too bad. Who knows if we'll ever see Lucky again or get the character fixed, which was clearly the hope last time round. For once the network had the right ideas about exactly what the show needed.

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Vee

Didn't see any chemistry between Ethan and Kristina?

Did we mention that Jon Lindstrom is now on contract at BTG? Time for Kevin to 'die' for awhile.

2 hours ago, Vee said:

I have heard JJ's scheduling was a mess and I'm sure it's true. But to that I will raise them with skewing story around JPS and Valentin for years, which FV is more than happy to do with a less popular lead. Anyway it's all irrelevant now. He has Ethan and that solves his problem for the moment. It's just really too bad. Who knows if we'll ever see Lucky again or get the character fixed, which was clearly the hope last time round. For once the network had the right ideas about exactly what the show needed

Oh I agree, the scheduling issues are almost all because of Valentini’s own making. I just think he was willing to do it and then more people wanted a version of it and it became more of a burden, especially since as you say, it’s not for a personal favorite actor or character he wants to feature with Lucky. And JPS is still recurring. It’s one thing for recurring, but contract players maybe not. Burton does it too IIRC, but he is more flexible from what I have heard.

I am still open to a Lucky recast because I believe the character is important, I think the show should invest in Liz and her family. But it can’t be just another soap hunk type. We need an attractive man who is also more openly sensitive, not just abs and angst.

1 hour ago, Vee said:

Did we mention that Jon Lindstrom is now on contract at BTG? Time for Kevin to 'die' for awhile.

Yeah it’s time to work on that too. Especially with BTG getting a two year pickup and MVJ’s open fondness of Jon. You know my wish. Mysterious and dashing man arrives with a WSB connection and Laura gets swept up in the story, slowly falling for the guy. Kevin is also falling for a fellow doctor in Paris. Neither one really breaks their vows, but end up admitting that it’s time for the marriage to end. You know, an adult storyline lol. I think I would like to see what Dan Gauthier could do with this, and with Genie.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by titan1978

19 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

You know my wish. Mysterious and dashing man arrives with a WSB connection and Laura gets swept up in the story, slowly falling for the guy. Kevin is also falling for a fellow doctor in Paris. Neither one really breaks their vows, but end up admitting that it’s time for the marriage to end. You know, an adult storyline lol. I think I would like to see what Dan Gauthier could do with this, and with Genie.

I know what I'd do with it and have talked about it before ad nauseam so I won't now, but yes it would be a WSB guy lol. But it would be a man of color most likely.

I love Dan Gauthier but I had him in mind to do a recurring stint as Tom Hardy Sr., should he ever appear again as a foil for his son who would be a new lead.

I would recast Lucky if I absolutely had to at this point. But I would hope to secure JJ once more.

Credits for Tuesday, April 21, 2026:

Created by: Frank & Doris Hursley
Executive producer: Frank Valentini
Head writers: Chris Van Etten and Elizabeth Korte
Writers: Suzanne Flynn; Kate Hall and Cathy Lepard
Director: Robert Markham