Annual Year-End Best and Worst of GH: What Rocked? What Stunk?

[yowsah1]

Since all the soap mags are rolling out their Best and Worst lists this time of year, I thought it would be fun if we here at Previously.TV did so too!  Post your pics for Best Actor, Actress, Story, etc., commentary optional.  I'll get us started with the categories I thought up, feel free to add more categories or ignore categories as you wish.  If you don't feel like picking Bests and Worsts but instead would like to comment on others choices, that's cool too.  (Just remember to critique the choices, not the chooser.  :)  ).

 

It was really tough for me to pick a "Best" in many categories this year - not because there was plethora of choices, but because so many of my "Bests" actually were "Least Worsts".  (Although there was one "Best" that truly was "Best").  I had the exact opposite problem with the "Worsts" categories for the most part - so many candidates vying for the bottom of the barrel, so little space to list them all...

 

So with that in mind, here is my picks for "Best and Worst of GH for 2014":

 

BEST ACTOR

William de Vry

The best of a bad lot.  No matter what kind of crap story he got handed, he consistently delivered.

 

BEST ACTRESS

Maura West

The best of a good lot.  Most of the ladies came through this year - even Laura Wright, who's character was despicable, put over her part with conviction.  But Ms. West was a class above this year.

 

WORST ACTOR

(Tie)Tony Geary/Maurice Bernard/Jason Thompson/Roger Howarth

Which was worst this year?  The crappy accent?  The incessant stutterbarking?  The lack of eye contact couple with the somnabulent line delivery and substituting a "Duh?" face for actual emoting?  Or the clowning and snarking through scenes that were supposed to be played straight and serious?  I pronounce it a tie!  To add insult to injury, all four of these gentlemen are capable of so much better then what they delivered.  and, to add injury to insult, all four of them are on probably on the Emmy pre-nom short list for this show, while far more consistently excellent performers (see above) get ignored.  Rage blackout in 3...2...1...

 

WORST ACTRESS

Kristin Alderson

In all fairness, she wasn't all that bad.  It's just that she wasn't all that good either.  And, given the massive amount of hype and screen time she receives, "not all that bad" just doesn't cut it.

 

BEST CHARACTER

(Tie) Dante/Silas/Morgan

What tied all these characters together to make them the best was the fact that, for the most part, they were all good guys.  Sure, they had their flaws - Dante cut his loathesome father far too much slack, Silas was a sucker for a damsel in distress, and Morgan was a dimwit, but their hearts were all in the right places and when the chips were down, they all strove to do the right thing.

 

WORST CHARACTER

Levi

Whether passing himself off as a goofball guru or revealing himself to be the vengeance-obsessed son of whoever-the-hell-that-one-guy-was, this character was a dud from the word "Go".   The actor portraying him tried his best, but Daniel Day-Lewis himself would not have been able to save this character.  We can only be thankful RC had enough sense to cut his losses with this terrible character and kill him off.

 

BEST STORY

The Downfall of Sonny and Carly

Sure, it was only a temporary blip in their obnoxiously charmed lives, and it won't stick, but while it lasted, watching Sonny and Carly's worlds go up in flames when the truth about who killed A.J. came out was deeply satisfying.  For me, the most satisfying moment came when Michael uttered the words we've waited almost decades to hear - "My real name.  Michael Quartermaine".  But a close second was Sonny finally getting hauled off to the Big House - there to be beaten up repeatedly by everybody.  A storyline to be savored.

 

WORST STORY

The Levi Saga

The setup was weak, the payoff was stupid, the nods to history were sloppy and slapdash, and the villains motivations made even less sense than villain's motivations on GH usually do - which is saying a lot.  And even Judge Cockblocker was a better obstacle to the True Love than horrible, terrible, no-good Levi.  Just a loser of a story from the jump.

 

BEST COUPLE

Julian and Alexis

It says something that the one pairing that really worked in 2014 was the one RC had to be forced into writing.  But, unlike so many pairings on the canvas this year (Michale/Kiki, I'm looking at you), there was genuine attraction and chemistry with Julian and Alexis.  While other couples sex scenes looked like the actors in question were filming them at gunpoint, Julexis looked like they actually physically enjoyed each other.  Alas, this being General Ron-spittle, the two were broken up by Christmas, but they were hot while they lasted.

 

WORST COUPLE

Franco and Carly

Ah, so many candidates for this category... Michael and Kiki... Morgan and Kiki... Sonny and Ava, the CryptSex Couple...the Kiddie Quad...Maxie and Levi... But the the couple that really captured the prize for jaw-dropping, eye goggling, gobsmacking stupidty was was Franco and Carly.  Even Carly Haters couldn't buy the depth of contemptibility Carly had to display to be in love with Franco, the man responsible for the rape of her son.  What, she fell for him because he was the only man in Port Charles she didn't have to lean down to kiss?  She should have been ceaselessly plotting to bring him down, not marrying him!  While this misbegotten romance did have the great payoff of the HalloWedding, the destination just wasn't worth the journey.  The only thing worse than a Franco/Carly pairing would have been Franco/Sam... and I'll shut up now before Ron gets ideas...

Edited December 30, 2014 by yowsah1

[jsbt]

It's all a very, very mixed bag even with the good, frankly, but off the top of my head:

 

BEST ACTOR: Chad Duell, fuck everyone! Runners-up: Dominic Zamprogna and Tequan Richmond, who both make a serious meal of what little they are given.

 

BEST ACTRESS: Tie - Maura West/Finola Hughes

 

WORST ACTOR: Jimmy Deshler! Still repping for you Rafe. Runners-up: Tony Geary for his clearly deliberate monotone turn as Fluke, along with Drew Cheetwood (Milo), Roger Howarth, and poor Ryan Paevey bringing up the rear. He has improved a lot.
 

WORST ACTRESS: MICHELLE FUCKING STAFFORD.

 

Distant runners-up: Kristen Alderson, Teresa Castillo, Kelly Thiebaud/Thiebauld/Thibideaux/Thighbolt

 

BEST STORY: Michael learns the truth about A.J., Sonny and Carly. Poorly written at times but as usual, the fallout is what Ron counts on (and ignores much of the before and after)

 

WORST STORY: All things Nina Clay (including the Franco relationship). Runners-up: Levi, Maxie and Nathan; Franco and Carly vs. Heather; the Britt and Nikolas saga with Spencer, etc; Obrecht rules the world; many, many more stories I cannot enumerate.

 

BEST COUPLE: Uh... Ned and Olivia? Julian and Alexis got pretty interesting and hot midway through. Patrick and Sam have been fun at times, too. Robin and Patrick would win but they only got about two months this year.

 

WORST COUPLE: [Dead Sea Scrolls unspool into endless infinity] If I had to choose, though, it would easily be either Franco and Carly or Franco and Nina at the top.

[Lillybee]

Best Couple: Lante when not suffering from Baby rabies, they are still sweet.

[annabel]

BEST STORY: Michael learns the truth about A.J., Sonny and Carly. Poorly written at times but as usual, the fallout is what Ron counts on (and ignores much of the before and after)

WORST STORY: All things Nina Clay (including the Franco relationship). Runners-up: Levi, Maxie and Nathan; Franco and Carly vs. Heather; the Britt and Nikolas saga with Spencer, etc; Obrecht rules the world; many, many more stories.

BEST STORY: Yes. The wedding that didn't and its aftermath, and the way lots of other stories and characters got umbrella-ed in during the first two weeks of November (to be fair it was probably only a week and a half) was far and away the best thing this show has done in years.

WORST STORY: pretty much everything else. Bonus points if it involved Michelle Stafford, Tony Geary or Kathleen Gati (unlike the other two, I appreciate what she is trying to do, but Dr. O needs to be gone like immediately.)

Edited December 27, 2014 by annabel

[Tiger]

Best Actor: William deVry

Best Actress: Finola Hughes & Maura West (tie)

Worst Actor: Tony Geary

Worst Actress: Michelle Stafford

Best New Character: Jordan Ashford

Worst New Character: Peter Dunkleman Jr.

Best Story: Michael learns the truth

Worst Story: Maxie duped by Levi

[OnceSane]

This thread has been locked per instructions in the Notes From the Mod thread.

[OnceSane]

The thread has been reopened, post away.

[TeeVee329]

The Worst: Kiki Jerome.  Everything about her - the day-to-day writing for her, the way other characters react to her, and the performance by Kristen Alderson - all combined into a hyper vortex of suck.  

 

Moment That Made Me Go !!!: Dr. Obrecht throws Brad off a parapet.

[sunflower]

Worst: the Pacing.  For example, we have the AJ reveal and then Michael essentially disappears.  I can't care about a story turn if a character goes poof. 

 

Worst # 2: the Boring.  This show goes in bits and pieces for me, the Michael/AJ reveal was riveting for a week and interesting for a second week.  Now, the show is boring again and has been for weeks.  It's so dull, I'm too disinterested to even fast forward. 

 

Worst # 3: Wasting Talent.  There are so many good actors on this show from FH as Anna, NLG as Alexis, RiH as Ric, RoH as Franco (not as Franco, if you know what I mean), WK as Ned..., and their stories blow.  I don't really care about Julian/Alexis as a couple, or maybe I would care, if I felt they had an actually storyline instead of scenes here and there.  Even Sonny/Carly, characters who eat the show...even their story blows.  Can't be more elegant than that. 

 

Best: Crickets....CD in AJ reveal...Crickets...Faison w/Anna...Maxie and Spinelli's kid was cute sort of...

Edited December 28, 2014 by sunflower

[Chairperson Meow]

Best actor: Tie. Roger Howarth for transcending a shit character as Franco and making lemons into lemonade by making me care about Nina. Chad Duell for pulling off The AJ Reveal with the right Q pizazz and fighting the Corinthos /Spencer side. Sean Kanan too because he played AJ perfectly till the bitter end.

Worst Actor: Felix. Dude. Stahp. Just. No. Ryan Paevy too, but he does try. He just does really well in some scenes, but can improve.

Worst Actress: KA. There are lovely west coast colleges. Please send your brother to the studios.

Worst story: AJ is murdered by Sonny. Then bangs Ava on his grave. Just.....nah......

Best Comeback: Johnny Z. Thanks for ruining Sonny's day!

Worst Comeback : Ghost Connie. Just go. Forever. Tied with Stavros. Please stay dead.

Biggest waste of an actor: Three way tie: Roger Howarth, Billy Miller, and Sean Kanan

Most Annoying Over Use of a Picture : Steve Burton's mug shot

[Lillybee]

Best line of the year; "I am Michael Quartermaine".  It is so sad that the guy has been locked in the Q attic and only let out to kick Morgan and Kiki out of the Brownstone.

[katie9918]

Worst: the Jeromes. I don't care that they're portrayed by supposed daytime royalty (that term ceased to have any meaning in 1994) William de Vry and Maura West. They are both horrible, and neither they nor their characters belong on this show. Particularly egregious is the fact that Frank and Ron continue to peddle the amusing lie that the beast that spawned Ava Jerome resembles Delia Reid Coleridge in any way.

Franco remains the second worst of this cesspit, and Nina isn't far behind. I didn't give them numbers one and two because they managed to torture the horrible beast Ava for a couple of days. If only it lasted longer!

I actually think Sonny in prison is the best idea this show has had in years because Sonny has had it coming for years. I hate that it brought back greasy disgusting Johnny (hopefully that doesn't last long), but Sonny is finally paying in some small way for his crimes.

I'm loving hearing about the fallout about the truth of AJ's murder (the only false note being how murdering Ava managed to stay out of jail as long as she did), especially Michael's part of it.

Jake sucks, Jake and Liz sucks. Anything having to do with Jake, unless Helena is involved, sucks.

Sam is pretty awesome, if only she wasn't shackled to pathetic Patrick after so many months of being shackled to useless Silas and a horrid paternity story involving a recast and far too young Julian Jerome (who is more suited to a swimsuit magazine than a gangster empire).

Worst: Too little of whatever vets aren't being destroyed in big story (I'm looking right at you, Anna "Scarface" Devane!), but then Ron doesn't give a crap about them.

Edited December 28, 2014 by katie9918

[sunnyface]

My favorite part of the year was staring at the wallpaper in Maxie/Nathan's apartment.

 

Worst actor - Sonny

 

Best waste of an actress - Jane Elliot

[TeeVee329]

Worst Recurring Joke: The tales of Nina's horse Allegra.

[LeftPhalange]

Best Actress - Laura Wright and Finola Hughes

 

Worst Actress - Kelly Thiebaud

 

Best Actor - Dominic Zamprogna and Tequan Richmond

 

Worst Actor - Roger Howarth

 

Favorite Character - Sam and Carly

 

Least Favorite Character - Franco

 

Best Moment - Carly and Franco break up, Brad is thrown off a parapet

 

Worst Moment - Ava and Sonny have nasty pig sex on the crypt of the man they killed

 

Best Villain - Helena (by default)

 

Worst Villain - Dr. O and Heather

 

Best Bitch Face - Liz

 

Worst Bitch Face - Liz

 

Best New Character - Jordan

 

Worst New Character - Jakeson and Fluke

 

Worst Rivalry - Sam vs. Liz

 

Most Useless Character- Rosalie, Levi, Brad, Felix, Sabrina, Kiki, Fluke, Franco, Rafe, Duke, Shawn, Nathan

 

Best Couple - Molly/TJ and Dante/Lulu

 

Worst Couple - Franco and Carly

 

Most Nauseating Story - Ava and Morgan, everything involving Franco

 

Best Mobster - Johnny

 

Worst Mobster - Everyone who isn't Johnny

 

Best Thing About GH: Actors and actresses who turn shit into gold

 

Worst Thing About GH: Ron Carlivati

 

Most Controversial Opinion - I like Carly; don't think Michelle Stafford is the worst; don't hate Nina (not sure how I feel about her); don't loathe Kiki, Sabrina, and Felix (didn't say I liked them); don't have any strong feelings on Kristen Alderson good or bad

 

Worst Character Still On Canvas- Franco, Ava, Brad, Felix, Sabrina, Fluke, Rosalie, Kiki, Liz, Duke, Shawn, Dr. O, Nathan, Madeline, Sonny

Edited December 28, 2014 by LeftPhalange

[tvgoddess]

Best Thing About GH: Actors and actresses who turn shit into gold

 



I have yet to see any male that does this since RC took over. The women so outshine the men in acting ability on this show, it's not even funny. It's the equivalent of Alabama playing an FCS team. 

 

Best Actress: Maura West with Finola Hughes a very close second

 

Best Actor: ...

 

Worst Actress: Michelle Stafford and Kristen Alderson

 

Worst Actor: Roger Howarth, Maurice Bernard and Anthony Geary

 

Most Boring Character: Silas

 

Worst New Character: Nina by a landslide

 

Worst Story: Nina and Franco, the fact that we were supposed to feel sorry for Nina (I didn't)

 

Worst Character Overall: Sonny, Carly, Franco, Kiki, Sabrina

 

 

That's about all that's worth saying.

[Rancide]

Best actress:  Finola Hughes and Maura West.  I don't relate to the MW hate.  I'm not particularly invested in Ava as a character, particularly once her storyline started involving Sonny, but MW shows up to work every day.  Sure, she's a cartoon.  But that still beats basically everyone else.

 

Worst actress:  Another vote for Kristen Alderson.  I feel bad.  I'm sure she's a lovely girl.

 

Best actor:  William deVry and the guy playing Brad.  The bar was set low for men this year.  Jason Thompson and Dominic Zamprogna,  perennial favorites of mine for this category, suffered from terrible material.  Not a huge Julian fan, but I appreciate WdV for really giving it his all with Alexis.  He's the first male actor in years who hasn't looked like he'd rather be anywhere but in a romantic pairing with Alexis.  Total sexist BS the way Sonny gets treated like a stud and Alexis like an old shoe.   I appreciated WdV's on-screen enthusiasm for the pairing.  I just find the guy playing Brad to be totally charming.  He's someone else who shows up for every scene.  Honestly, just looking like they're TRYING would do wonders for almost all the men on this show, with the possible exception of...

 

Worst actor:  The guy playing Nathan.  Neither his superhuman abs nor his beautiful sad puppy dog eyes can distract me from the fact that even the substantial improvement he's shown over the last 12 months leaves him still orders of magnitude worse than his nearest competitors (Mo', the guy playing Felix, the poor kid who played Rafe).  He's just terrible.  Literally the only time I've ever watched anyone on any TV show trying to act and thought "man, even I could do better than that."

 

Best thing on GH this year:  Brad and Lucas.  Yum. 

 

Worst thing on GH this year:  Effing Nina.  She somehow managed to stink up not just the 6 months she was actually present but also the entire 6 months prior to her arrival.  I actually liked Sam and Silas okay--certainly better than I liked anything the other members of the OLTL3 were doing--up until their story became Sam and Silas:  the Quest for Nina. 

 

What a Waste Awards:  Ric Hearst (WTF?),  Sam (wow, she's had some bad material this year), Nikolas (ditto).  But most of all--characters over the age of 50.  Remember the days when vets who were beyond their story-driving primes were treated with dignity and respect and allowed to become the town matriarchs and patriarchs, people who the younger generation turned to for support and advice?  If Anna Lee were still alive today, I'm sure they'd trot her out once every six months just to grab Luke's ass.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Rancide

[magnolia11]

Best actress:  Finola Hughes, Maura West, Laura Wright (as has already been mentioned, the three of them managed to spin gold out of sheer crap)
 
Best actor:  Dominic Zamprogna, Rick Hearst
 
Worst actress:  Kristen Alderson
 
Worst actor:  (sorry, you are gorgeous and you seem like a really nice guy, but gotta be honest here...)  Ryan Paevey; Robert Kelker Kelly
 
Best character:  Anna, Dante
 
Worst character:  Carly, Sonny, Carly, Franco, Carly, Kiki, Carly, Spencer, Levi, Shawn
 
Best couple:  The couples are written so poorly on this show, so I guess I'll pick Dante and Lulu by default
 
Worst couple:  Carly/Franco (good riddance)
 
Best story:  I am Michael Quartermaine
 
Worst story (yeezus, so many to choose from!):  Levi, Fluke (started off interesting, but is now so tedious I don't care anymore), Heather kidnapping/sticking Carly in the picnic basket (and Heather not killing Carly -- for god's sake, if you're going to start a job, finish it already), anything with Patrick/Robin/Scrubs, Nina yanking Ava's baby from the womb
 
Best scene:  Michael telling off Carly at the wedding that wasn't
 
Worst scene:  Any scene with Fluke and Julian (which means, I guess, that I have 1,427 least favorite scenes that are all exactly the same)
 
Biggest waste of a character:  AJ
 
Worst execution of a (re-) entrance of a character:  Jason/Jake
 
Most destroyed character:  Patrick
 
Biggest waste of an actor:  Roger Howarth as the worst recast/character in the history of soaps.  He's so much better than this (one need only go back as far as PP OLTL 2013 to see this).  Also, Billy Miller.  Let's get his freaking story on the road already.
 
Most welcome newbie:  Vinessa Antoine/Jordan

 

Most welcome return:  Rick Hearst/Ric.  I get the feeling he isn't going to stay around, though, which is a huge mistake on the part of TIIC.  He has tons of charisma and he's a terrific actor.  But hell, at least there's the consolation of knowing that Maurice Benard signed a new contract.  :snicker:
 
Least welcome return:  Stavvvvrrrrros.  And I love Constance Towers, but I have to mention Helena here.  The fact that everyone fears/no one can snap this 100-year-old woman (or Fluke, for that matter) in two is ridiculous.
 
Most welcome exit/character death:  Levi.

[ulkis]

Best actor - I don't know, no one really got any stand out performances this year. What the hell, I'll give it to Brian Craig. He moves like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz a lot but he gets it for his delivery of "Are you insane? No, we don't have an agreement!"

 

Best actress - Finola Hughes.

 

And best actor/actress in general because it's not like athletes where it makes a difference if you're a man or a woman - Finola again.

 

Worst actress - Michelle Stafford for being unbearable, Kristen alderson for being incompetent in general.

 

Worst actor - I would choose Jimmy Dee too but I can't in good conscience because he was on a couple of times in January and a week in July. I think he was on less than Alice. So it goes to good old Paevey. 

 

Worst overall - Stafford.

 

Best story - the fallout from AJ's murder.

 

Worst - Nina and her revenge.

 

Best couple - I'll actually say Lante. Who else is there really? Anyone else who has good potential has been rushed and all the other old couples are pretty much gone now/have gotten zero screentime.

 

Worst couple - Carly and Franco. Nina and Franco are bad too but Carly and Franco get the top spot for decimating both characters in order to make it work. Or I should say, try to make it work cause it never worked. Ever.

 

Least welcome return:  Stavvvvrrrrros.  And I love Constance Towers, but I have to mention Helena here.  The fact that everyone fears/no one can snap this 100-year-old woman (or Fluke, for that matter) in two is ridiculous.

 

 

Yup. Fluke is not exactly inspiring fear either. Carlos and Julian letting themselves be cowed by him, even when he's unarmed, is ridiculous.

[CPP83]

I'm going to try and show some restraint and keep it simple since I could easily rant on and on and on and on for pages and pages, heh.

 

The Worst Thing about GH for 2014: GH Itself.

 

The Best Thing about GH for 2014: This Forum.

[Chairperson Meow]

Best UCG: Dante for all the background faces. Though, RKK was weeclose to winning with just the what the fuckery of everything Stavros did.

Best Scene Stealer: Bryan Craig. Because dammit he wuz robbed. The scene where Morgan yelled at Sonny and Micheal at the not wedding reception was awesome. I can't remember if it was 2014, so I'll go with him outshining Mo during Morgan steps to Daddy SonnyBucks to protect Ava, but the next day gives up her location because Connie.

Most Improved : Chad Duell. We were wondering, damn can he handle the AJ reveal? Yes. He did and with less derp face, too. From the single tear to the declaration of Micheal Quartermaine, he won. Big.

The You Still Got It (Clap, Clap) Award: Anders Hove. Damn this dude was awesome this year. From holding Anna in the palm of hands, to twisting the strings of Patrick and Sam gleefully he won. And I'm only counting one appearance.

Future Gamechanger Award: Tequan Richmond. Dude can act. He's good looking and charming. Hopefully they give him a good story before he ends up on a talk show saying "Yeah I used to be on General Hospital. "

[TeeVee329]

Best "Fuck Yeah!" Moment: Carly gets arrested!

[tvgoddess]

Best "Fuck Yeah!" Moment: Carly gets arrested!

 

Too bad it only lasted for a minute.

[Chairperson Meow]

Mother of the year: Liz. She was the mother to everyone's kids. Runners up: Monica who broke my heart when AJ "died" in the hospital. No, you did nothing wrong! Dammit! Ellie was also a great mom to Georgie II, who's not even her kid!

Father of the Year: AJ. Says a lot when your kid hangs with you for a year and he learns more from you than the people who raised him. Damn you Sonny and your meat hook. Runner up: Morgan because unlike most parents in town, he wanted to hold his kid. (Don't believe it's Sonny's )

Dummy of the Year Award: Carly. Dude. Um, a serial killer not good. And um he has a history of filming people......you know what? Just take the award, Carly. Your hair is pretty. Though Patrick was not far behind to win this.

[Lillybee]

Worst couple, Sonny and anyone be it, Snarly, Kannie, Olivia and Ava.

[ch1]

Worst couple, Sonny and anyone be it, Snarly, Kannie, Olivia and Ava.

 

 

Depending on how you look at it Best couple/worst couple:  Sonny and his penis?

 

I don't have it in me to do a best/worst because I ff way too much but for me the worst story:  AJ dying.  It may have given the show Michael Q but it shouldn't have come at AJ's expense.

[Chairperson Meow]

Worst hair choice: Roger Howarth becomes Link. Wtf was was that? Second worst: Tracy Quartermaine becomes Julius Caesar.

Best hair: Liz Webber. Dat long bob. Second best: Michael Easton. Meow. Lifetime achievement award: Anders Hove because of the commitment.

Worst casting decision : All the doctors are criminals

Best Couple: Morgan and Hats. Keep the dream alive, yo!

Worst couple: Sonny and Carly. Again. Or Carly and Franco.

[sunflower]

Worst couple: Sonny and Carly. Again

 

 

FTW.  I thought it was decided long ago that these two assholes were toxic together.  I thought that was the party line.  For them to be together for reals, Michael has to be made to be the asshole and/or AJ 2 from the POV of The Sonny/Carly contingent. 

[movingtargetgal]

The Worst of General Hospital:  any storyline and character remotely having to do with Luke, Fluke or Duke.  

[yowsah1]

 

WORST CHARACTER - Patrick Drake (Honorable mention goes to Kiki)

 

(I honestly still can't believe that Sonny is not in this slot or even the honorable mention, Patrick is that loathsome, and Kiki is that useless.)  I never loved Patrick, but I sorta liked him before and briefly really, really liked him and Robin when she came back and they reunited, but now? I loathe him with the fiery passions of a thousand burning suns.   He's just so gross and disgusting and... my goodness! I don't even really like Robin, but MY GOD!!! Seriously, Patrick!!!  How he's treated her, how he's acted, and this whole thing with Sam just yucks me out so deeply.  Gross, gross, gross.  He's like the human equivalent of slime to me.  Yuck!

 

Patrick was in very strong contention for Worst Character for me, in nearly a three-way tie with the perennially awful Sonny Corinthos and uber-asshole Levi Dunkleman, but the Dunklemonkey just barely edged him out.  Never fear, though, there is all of 2015 for Patrick to let his douche flag fly!

 

WORST STORY - Patrick's Descent into Complete Douchebaggery

Patrick has always been a bit of douche, but his complete and utter descent into absolute douchebaggery which has included his obsession with banging Sam has led me to a place I'd never thought I'd go even temporarily (which I have a time or two now):  The Barge.  But yup, that's what happened.  Not Fluke, not Nina (which I don't mind), not AJ's death (still stupid), not the stupid Maxie story, not so many other stupid, WTF? things, but Patrick's 'staring at Sam's boobies/"that baby/even if I wasn't so mad at Robin"/Emma neglect/world's worst impression of a spy' has sent me to the Barge a time or two because looking at his STUPID, STUPID FACE make me see flames, I tell you, flames on the side of my face.

 

I don't think this was a story, more, a side effect from writing Patrick true to character without the thing that made him at least semi-palatable to audiences - the love of his wife.

 

Seriously, ask any self-identified Patrick fan what it is they actually like about the character, and count how many sentences in you get before they start talking about the character of Robin Scorpio and her love for him instead.  In Scrubs, GH had a popular couple where the male half basically functioned as an appendage to the female half.  So naturally they jettisoned the female character - the character that made the couple work - and kept the appendage.

 

Best waste of an actress - Jane Elliot

 

The biggest waste of an opportunity as far as the character of Tracy goes was the misfire of the Pickle Lila story.  I still think an story where Tracy either builds her own company from the ground up, or takes over a failing company (like the MetroCourt ::cough cough:: ) and makes it into a success, would be just the ticket for her.

 

And also, it should have been her running for mayor rather than Felicia.  She should have won, too.

 

 

Best Villain - Helena (by default)

 

Worst Villain - Dr. O and Heather

 

I didn't do this category because to me there are basically no villains on canvas that work.  I mean, when for "Best Villain", the only logical choices* are either Judge Cockblocker or Johnny because at least they have explicable motivations, you know the villain contingent is in a bad way.  

 

* - IMO, of course.

 



I have yet to see any male that does this since RC took over. The women so outshine the men in acting ability on this show, it's not even funny.

 

This x 1000.  The women this year, with few exceptions, all managed to turn shit into gold, and to do so consistently.  No matter what kind of crap storyline or horrible characterization they got handed, they made it work, and if they didn't make it work, it wasn't for lack of trying.  (Even poor meh Kristin Alderson gave it her all, it's just that her all wasn't all that much).  Hell, Kelly Monaco even went so far as to bite her screen partners lip to try to get him to stop tanking the scene and start selling it!  For me, it was hard to try and pick just one actress as "Best", because there were so many contenders.  On the other hand, I ended up with four "Worst" actors and I easily could have listed more, but you have to stop somewhere, you know?

[Kitty Redstone]

Best Actors:  Finola Hughes, Maura West, Rick Hearst, Sean Kanan, Anders Hove

 

Worst, Most Intolerable Actor:  Michelle Stafford

 

Best Story:

 

Worst, Most Intolerable Stories:  Robin being kidnapped again; Nina drugging a pregnant woman, forcing her into labor, and stealing her baby; Jason being alive; all things Fluke; everything mobular (including anything Sonny and Carly).

Edited December 31, 2014 by Kitty Redstone

[boes]

Best Story:  .......

 

How much do I love this post?  Let me count the ways....

[Chairperson Meow]

Biggest Waste: Sean Kanan is OG AJ who gets to bond with Ghost Alan, Monica, Liz, Micheal, but then shows chemistry with Carly (more than Roger had), looks stronger than Sonny, and is generally punished because he's not 25 year old Sean Kanan. And Steve Burton went to Y&R. So literally months after Ron shits on a legacy character, the character's brother Jason is recast by an actor who resembles him in face and build

Micheal is rarely around after declaring he is AJ's son, and we are watching Sonny the Good Mobster and Carly the Mobster's Troubled Moll. Billy Miller, the recast who would have been great with Sean Kanan and Chad Duell is walking the set, biding his time till pilot season. And AJ only saw his nephew like once. Honorable Mention: Roger Howarth is cast as Franco and not Stephen Lars.

Best Acting of a Character that is Annoying: Laura Wright. 9 days out of 10, Carly annoys the crap out of me. I've never gotten Carly, but I've always liked LW. It's why I was like oh why when she got cast as this character. It was like.......She's Carly and I have to watch her with Sonny. So I still remain surprised that I love her portrayal to this day. She upped her game this year. I get that her story was stupid, but I bought every minute of it. I believed she loved Franco. Not for Jason reasons, but because at her core, Carly wants to be loved unconditionally and she liked being someone's savior. Then she broke my heart at the "not wedding". I wanted the truth out. I was just surprised that she got me with that damn face. But I don't want Micheal to forgive her.

[Aymery]

Okay, here goes!

 

Best Actor: Chad Duell. I've always had a soft spot for Chad and his portrayal of Michael, but this year he really got to step up his game and he delivered. I'm beyond thrilled that Michael has rejoined the Quartermaine fold and divested himself of both his awful parents and equally terrible girlfriend. Now one can only hope that he will receive halfway-decent plots in the new year and take back neither the Corinthos name nor parents.

 

Best Actresses: (1) Maura West. For taking a thankless character and spinning it into gold. Ava is simultaneously despicable, vulnerable, passionate and cunning, and it's down to Maura's talent that this character works on any level, let alone works this well. She has been a fantastic addition to the cast - IMO, the only really successful one of the last couple of years. I do hate that she conceived a child with Sonny; two of my 2015 wishes are that the child's paternity will be retconned to Morgan, and that Ava will find her way out of the slammer - not thoroughly reformed, but tenable without losing her edge.

(2) Finola Hughes. I think Ava (as a character) did have a slight edge over Anna this past year, but Finola's performances have been spot on and redeems even the worst character assassination they can throw at Anna. I love that Anna is police commissioner, and hope she will build up a better record of success in that field in 2015, while steering clear of the once-lovable, but now-irredeemable Duke Lavery. Anna needs a new, hot, young(er) man!

 

Worst Actors: Jason Thompson & Roger Howarth. Good lord, where do I even start? How do these guys even get paid to insult the audience, their employers and their colleagues on a regular basis with lazy, lackluster performances? I give the likes of Jimmy Deshler and Ryan Paevey a pass - at least they tried. Thomson and Howarth don't even do that! I don't doubt that they were given terrible characters/stories to play, but so were most of their castmates, and they put in a worthy effort. There really is no excuse for turning in rubbish performances that tanked stories which were already dire to begin with.

 

Worst Actress: Michelle Stafford. I pity the actors who have to share the set with her. What a complete and utter trainwreck, and not in a "I can't bear to look away" manner either. I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt when she transferred over from Y&R, but her particular brand of "acting" is still in full force. Playing a character that was poorly-conceived didn't help matters, but most of Nina's failure as a character is down to Michelle's "performance".

 

Best Recurring Actor: Parry Shen. Another one who manages to pull off a terribly written character. I'm choosing to ignore how he was introduced and to focus on the positives, namely his friendship with Britt and romance with Lucas. Given Britt's exit and Ryan Carnes' other projects, we might not see much of Brad at all in the new year, so this may be his only chance to appear on this list.

 

Best Recurring Actress: Constance Towers. Helena is my favorite villain, and I'm willing to overlook the eyeroll-worthy way in which she was resurrected this time around just for the chance to have Constance on my screen again. I hope this stint is a longer one.

 

Biggest Waste: The deaths of AJ Quartermaine and (much lower down the scale) Rafe Kovich, Jr. I appreciate that Ron brought AJ back at all, and that AJ was in a much better place when he died a second time, but he never should have died at all. Making Sonny accountable for his death was the only remotely palatable payoff from this storyline - if it lasts.

Rafe should have been recast, not killed off - Ron managed to decimate the last Barrington (save Laura's never-mentioned brother, Mike) during his alleged homage to Port Charles. There was certainly space for another teen besides Molly and TJ (although I am glad that the rumoured teen pregnancy never came to pass!)

 

Best Storyline: It's a tough pick to find anything remotely worthy of this award, but I settled on the capture of AJ's murderer. My grouses about AJ re-dying aside, the public reveal of who'd shot him was one of the few (only?) decently executed umbrella storylines this year. It had a domino effect that shook nearly the entire cast - from the HalloWedding reveal to Sonny's incarceration and everything in between. There was hardly a character who wasn't affected by the fallout, and I felt that the cast (with a couple of notable exceptions) turned in solid performances. Now let's hope the fates of the culprits stick.

 

Worst Story Trend: The return of the mob. Honestly, I thought we were past this, but they're front and center again. I can't for the life of me fathom why they think this is a good idea. Can 2015 please be the year of the titular hospital?

 

Best Couple: Lucas and Brad. Man, this took some scouring, because there weren't many couples that took my fancy this year, but I guess it goes by default to the gays. They look good together, and what little we see of them is pretty sweet. Another 2015 wish is for more of them. Runners-up are Lulu/Dante and Julian/Alexis.

 

Worst Couple: Everyone else.

 

Best Eye Candy: Ryan Paevey. Poor guy, I felt we needed to give him something. He still hasn't tuned up his acting chops, and probably never will, but at least he looks damn good in a towel.

[NutmegsDad]

Oh hell, here's my pics:

 

Best Actor: Chad Duall. Angry Michael is Fun Michael.

 

Best Actress: Maura West. She actually has more than two emotions, and even when she in her "Ava-as-Daffy-Duck-SHOOT-HIM!" mode, it's fun.

 

Worst Actor: Tyler Christopher. He plays bored and temper-trantrum

 

Worst Actress: Teresa Casillo. Where's Missy when you need her?

 

Best Storyline: Michael finds out the truth, Sonny goes to for-real prison.

 

Worst Storyline: Judge Cockblocker. Runner-up - Robin is held captive by the Legion of Doom and has to divorce Patrick because reasons.

 

Best Couple: Brad/Britt. The Britch had her detractors, but these  two need to get a show. Runner-up: Mava. Morgan was actually mature around her.

 

Worst Couple: Tracy/Whoever TG is playing, Kiki/Whoever She's Sleeping with (tie).

 

Best Newbie: Rosalie. Not ruined yet.

 

Worst Newbie: Nina, Nina, Nina.

[Francie]

I have some smaller categories:

 

best wedding: None. 

 

worst wedding:   All of them. I can recall only 3:  Tracy and Fluke; Maxie and Levi (seriously, I couldn't even remember his name for a couple minutes and came back and put it in); and Carly and Franco.  Maybe I'm forgetting one or two or three.  Maybe not.  But Tracy and Fluke's was virtually a non-event, given that as much time was dedicated to is as was to Kiki singing at the nurses ball.  The Maxie/Levi affair was ridiculous and forced us viewers to believe that Maxie would be that so completely empty-headed.  And Carly and Franco's wedding served primarily as an excuse for Franco to call Carly a slut.  Or was it a whore?  Probably both.

 

best engagement:   Coming up with nothing again. Love in the afternoon?  An entire year without one couple sharing a loving or passionate declaration of love and request for hand in marriage? 

 

Edited to add: I think Nikolas and Britt got engaged and it was supposed to be heartwarming declaration, but frankly I FF-ed through or missed entirely their scenes and episodes. Plus, the engagement truly only served two purposes:  1) give Spencer an opportunity to talk about diamond rings; and 2) set up for the engagement party, which was more about Dr. O than it was about Nikolas and Britt.

 

biggest waste of money (non-actor's salary):  The rights for the popular pop songs lip synched or sung at the Nurses Ball.  Did we really need to watch Kelly Monaco march next to and in front of 3 or 4 co-stars while they lip synched "I love it." I'm sure Kelly was supposed to lip synch too, but she apparently only bother to learned a line and a half of the song.  

 

Those rights are expensive.  Always on My Mind? Raise Your Glass? Just Can't Get Enough? Ron even admitted that the cost for the rights to Wilkommen was ridiculous.  Yep, putting vet actors on salary (cough, Tristan Rogers, cough) is too expensive, but gotta make sure we watch Molly and TJ butcher Just Can't Get Enough. Or have Perry Shen auto-tuned. The point of the Nurses Ball was to showcase the talent of the cast (and raise awareness about AIDS and AIDS research).  It never was to hide the flaws of mediocre performers. Until 2014 (admittedly, in 2013, at least the performers were, by and large, talented).

 

biggest waste of money (actor's salary): Billy Miller or Michelle Stafford.  Take your pick.  Billy probably costs more because he's male. No joke about that.  I don't have anything terribly against either actor, but they are being wasted.  Michelle's Nina is a cringe-worthy actor's exercise about taking risks.  And repetition. And repetition.  I call Billy Miller "doughy" mainly in large part because he acts like a Pillsbury dough boy.  His Jason is too soft.  Maybe they were going for a distinction, but I see him and I just see a nice guy. Perhaps a lovable loser.  A Dillon or a Lucky maybe.  But not anyone who could, under any circumstances, be described as Stone Cold.  Maybe he'll impress me down the road and show me some range.  But, for now, he's a bore.

 

best storyline: Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero.

 

most cloying moment: AJ being ushered up to the higher floor of the hospital,  errr heaven, by ghosts from his decimated core family. Happy fuckin' anniversary, y'all.

 

best moment: There isn't a single moment from 2014 that I saved on DVR. Not a single one.   It was all one big waste of opportunity and talent.

 

best thing about GH currently:  I can honestly think of only two things for me:  1) The existence of Anna, Dante, and Nathan so that I can imagine a passionate and playful affair off screen; and 2) Anna's hair.  Granted Anna's hair was a big factor in my watching as a kid back in the 80s as well.  I guess some things do never change.

 

So, here's to 2015!

Edited December 31, 2014 by Francie

[SlovakPrincess]

Best story: well, the only one that mostly made sense was the Sonny killed AJ reveal and Michael's reaction. But I still say AJ should've been in a coma or injured, not dead, and Sonny in jail for attempted murder.

Worst story: literally everything else.

Worst character destruction: Patty and Duke tie for this one - for all their flaws, neither of these guys would be so insensitive to the loves of their lives. Carly gets an honorable mention for even looking twice at Franco. I refuse to buy the writers' attempts at making Anna Fucking Devane look dumb, so I won't even acknowledge it at this point.

Worst characters: Franco, Nina, Dr. O, Fluke whoever the fuck he is, immortal Helena, Faison if he comes back (like the actor, sick to death of this character returning) .... Just die, die, die all of you! Levi at least had the good manners to die.

Most sensible reaction to life in Port Charles: Dante and Silas. Dante seems to know he's surrounded by utter lunacy but is taking it all in stride. Silas looks depressed and wants a nap ... which makes perfect sense.

Most wasted potential: I so wanted Britt to turn on her parents and rat them out to the government somehow - alas, the government officials were more interested in scolding Anna.

And honorable mention to Sam. Just in general, because I like the actress but none of the character's stories appeal to me. Like, ever.

Edited December 31, 2014 by SlovakPrincess

[ulkis]

Now I want Silas and Dante to be roommates for a week, with Dante as the optimist who is always trying to get depressed Silas to cheer up.

 

Worst characters: Franco, Nina, Dr. O, Fluke whoever the fuck he is, immortal Helena, Faison if he comes back (like the actor, sick to death of this character returning) .... Just die, die, die all of you! Levi at least had the good manners to die.

 

 

Hee. Now he's my favorite.

Edited December 31, 2014 by ulkis

[Rick Kitchen]

Check out Michael Fairman's list of Best and Worst of soaps this year.  You'll be amazed, amused, and infuriated:

 

http://michaelfairmansoaps.com/news/on-air-on-soaps-names-best-and-worst-in-soaps-2014/2014/12/30/

Edited December 31, 2014 by Rick Kitchen

[Tiger]

His comments about Tony Geary and Roger Howarth are just strange. Is Fairman's affiliate getting a different feed than mine is? Because I don't see "acting acrobatics" from Geary; I see pursed lips and a different accent in every scene. And Howarth's "tour de force"? It's more likea tour of every bad acting tic in daytime.

[yowsah1]

Best Actor: Chad Duell. I've always had a soft spot for Chad and his portrayal of Michael, but this year he really got to step up his game and he delivered. I'm beyond thrilled that Michael has rejoined the Quartermaine fold and divested himself of both his awful parents and equally terrible girlfriend. Now one can only hope that he will receive halfway-decent plots in the new year and take back neither the Corinthos name nor parents.

 

... nor girlfriend!  ;)

[FireFoxy]

Biggest Waste

 

Nik and Britt. Two grey characters with a ton of history thanks to their families and actual chemistry. They were sparkly together and it takes a decent actress to take a one note villain and make her rootable. If written well they could've actually been great. Plus Britt's relationship with Spencer was actually sweet to watch. She is probably the first person in his life to truly love and care for him.

 

Ellie being wasted on Spinelli and not being made a Q. She can act, had great chemistry with the cast and I could've easily seen her as Tracy's daughter. Ugh. This stupid show.

Edited January 1, 2015 by FireFoxy

[annabel]

Most sensible reaction to life in Port Charles: Dante and Silas. Dante seems to know he's surrounded by utter lunacy but is taking it all in stride. Silas looks depressed and wants a nap ... which makes perfect sense.

Most wasted potential: I so wanted Britt to turn on her parents and rat them out to the government somehow - alas, the government officials were more interested in scolding Anna.

FLOVE this take on Dante and Silas, it is perfect. And it is too bad they did not do something like this with Britt; I did like the actress and always wanted better for her. And the sooner we are rid of Dr. O the better in my opinion.

[SlovakPrincess]

Britt was a jackass, but unlike her mother she wasn't beyond redemption and an insult to common sense and good taste. And she was attractive and filled out the younger set of characters. So of course they got rid of Britt and kept her fucking cartoon of a mother.

Just absolute fucking worst: Dr O. and Franco and Fluke. The characters, their stories ... Everything about them is a black hole of irritating nonsense to me.

[sometimesfan]

FLOVE this take on Dante and Silas, it is perfect. And it is too bad they did not do something like this with Britt; I did like the actress and always wanted better for her. And the sooner we are rid of Dr. O the better in my opinion.

 

In fairness, I'm not sure if it's Silas or Easton always looking like he wants to take a nap. My bet is it's Easton.

[ulkis]

can one of the mods change the year to 2015? Anyway, here are my selections for 2015:

 

BEST ACTOR
Oh, lord. I'm almost forced to go with Nathan Paevey. Gah. Okay, kid who played young Luke/Bill Eckert. Everyone else sucked/checked out/didn't get story. Okay fine fine I'll pick a main cast member. I think I'm gonna have to go with . . . Mo? Shoot me. He tried though.

BEST ACTRESS
I'm gonna give it to Becky. She didn't back away from Elizabeth's villainous role in the never-ending Jason plot.

WORST ACTOR
Tony Geary. Thanks for eating up every last piece of scenery on your way out and forcing Frank to replace all the sets with a variant of a metro court hotel room.

 

WORST ACTRESS
Michelle Stafford. 

BEST CHARACTER
The airplane flight attendant who told Sam and Liz to shut up.

WORST CHARACTER
I don't even . . . Nikolas? Nikolas I guess? I would give it to Spencer if he hadn't disappeared in the back half of the year.

BEST STORY
 . . . .

 . . . .

 

I'll give it to the wrap up of Fluke. There were a couple of genuinely moving scenes in there.

WORST STORY
............... I guess the whole Nina/Franco/Ric/Donna Mills shit. With Denise a super close second.

 

BEST COUPLE
Michael and Sabrina, who showed a surprising amount of chemistry.

WORST COUPLE
Carly/Sonny. They're finally happy, y'all! They've been through so much!

[LeftPhalange]

Worst of 2015

 

90% of the show this year. 90% is probably being too generous. Probably 93% of the show. 

[Tiger]

Best Actress: Finola Hughes

Worst Actress: Michelle Stafford

Best Actor: Tristan Rogers

Worst Actor: Anthony Geary

Best Character: Nurse who called Sonny a criminal

Worst Character: RAPIST SERIEL KILLER

Best Couple: Patrick & Robin

Worst Couple: Franco & Nina

Best Story: Patrick, Emma, Anna, and Robert rescuing and reuniting with Robin

Worst Story: Everything else

Edited December 25, 2015 by Tiger

[Lillybee]

I hate to say it but I think that Best Actress should go to LW. She turned in some amazing work this year especially playing Luke's mother and during the time that Michael hated her.

[Oracle42]

I don't always like Carly but I think LW is consistently excellent. She deserved better story than the SERIAL KILLER and Sonny appendage