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

[dubbel zout]

I'm upset we didn't get Silas rising out of a casket à la Mitch Lawrence (still one of my very favorite scenes ever) and telling everyone Denise was really Ava. 

 

So many missed opportunities.

[Chairperson Meow]

I'd have settled for one last good Morgan insult. We haven't had any good Morgan snark since Silas died and Dante has been all Valified. And don't even remind me about Michael. Ugh. I'd settle for McBain not really McBain but a doctor who hates Morgan onsite. RoHo is too hammy for me to believe his insults.

[IWantCandy71]

Biggest waste of talent: bringing Richard Burgi on to be just another mob thug. And the thing with Ava is just too gross for words. It's like they have this really good actor, and no idea what to do with him. How stupid is that?

 

And I don't know what category this falls into, but having Anna kill Carlos. I don't care that they have magically reversed it-she was SMILING about it when she and Mac mentioned Carlos. I cannot take this woman seriously as a carrier of justice ever again. It doesn't matter what they do to rewrite the shooting. The damage to me, is done.

[KerleyQ]

Biggest waste of an actor:  I'd put about half the cast here. 

 

Only half? 

[dubbel zout]

I don't think BryDog's talents are being wasted....

[KerleyQ]

I don't think BryDog's talents are being wasted....

 

Whatever BryDog's talents are, they're being completely wasted on this acting thing.  

[dubbel zout]

Touché.

[UYI]

If BryDog's main talents are embarrassing himself on Twitter and Instagram. I think it's safe to say his talent has been put to use quite well this year.

[tvgoddess]

I'm sure he could make a fine living doing porn.

[JaneDigby]

I'm upset we didn't get Silas rising out of a casket à la Mitch Lawrence (still one of my very favorite scenes ever) and telling everyone Denise was really Ava. 

 

So many missed opportunities.

 

Truth-telling zombie-Silas? I'm in.

[sacrebleu]

Best Actor: Ric Hearst (come on, show, give that man something to do)

 

Worst Actor: Mo-- he really needs to give it up if he's just going to phone it in. He is Victor Newman at this point, and I mean that in the worst way possible.

 

Best Actress: FH or RH (giving this crap their all)

 

Worst Actress: Haley Erin (just no, honey)

 

Best Story: Michael's all too brief re-Qing. 

 

Worst Story: Luke is Bill /no he's got a split personality/nope he's dark

 

Best Couple: Avery and anyone

 

Worst Couple: Franks and Neens

 

New Year's Resolution: This show needs to start hiring hospital personnel and stop bringing on mobsters. Or change its name to Sonnytown.

[Tiger]

I'm sure he could make a fine living doing porn.

Someone in some thread in the past few days commented that Bry-dog should consider doing soft core pornography. I don't think he has the acting chops nor abs for that industry.

I thought he had crazy chemistry with Maura and was legit good for the 8 or so months of Amor, but once they trashed that pairing, made Morgan a Sonny-ass-kisser, and Bryan started doing a piss poor intimidation of Mo's already laughable acting, it was all downhill.

[TessHarding2]

Holy shit! I totally blocked Skeleton in a Corpse out of my mind. It wasn't any Fonduke. However, it clearly beat Repent Repent Repent! and Tales of Horse Birth, as I laugh and shudder when I remember it. I think that's the scene that burnt DZ out and got Ron fired.

Where else could he have gone after Skeleton in a Chair?

 

I loved Fonduke.  I remember that I actually felt excitement when Ian Buchanan came back on.  I had no idea about it and glad I didn't know.  I usually watch the classic stuff, but I'm going to watch me some Fonduke this week.  And good ole Faison.  

[dubbel zout]

Fonduke was classic soap, IMO. It got a little hammy and went on a bit too long—typical RC faults—but for once, the basic story and its telling was in character and worked for everyone involved.

[Oracle42]

RC actually went to the trouble of giving Anna realistic issues with reuniting with Duke afterwards that he completely ignored

[dubbel zout]

Also typical Ron, alas.

[peachmangosteen]

I realized I haven't done my picks yet.

 

Best: The brief time when Michael hated Sonny. Baby Avery.

 

Worst: Everything else.

Edited January 1, 2016 by peachmangosteen

[Aprilshowers]

I realized I haven't done my picks yet.

 

Best: The brief time where Michael hated Sonny. Baby Avery.

 

Worst: Everything else.

 

That was most awesome Michael hating Sonny ah good times, then of course wasted like everything and everyone else on this stupid show!

[KerleyQ]

I will forever remain bitter that they ended Michael's very valid hatred for Sonny so quickly.  There was so much they could have done with it.  We should have seen an all out war, where Michael tried to take down Sonny's empire, backed by Jax (and Tracy?), with Dante siding with Michael and Morgan siding with Sonny (because he's giddy to be the number one son with Michael and Dante out of the fold).  Michael and Jax taking the Metro Court away from Carly.  There was so much to be done and it just got pissed away. 

[Francie]

Michael tried to take down Sonny's empire

Jason. It should have been Jason.  With memories or without, Jason somehow undermining Sonny and taking down his organization was the biggest missed opportunity of 2015.

[KerleyQ]

Jason. It should have been Jason.  With memories or without, Jason somehow undermining Sonny and taking down his organization was the biggest missed opportunity of 2015.

 

It would be better if it was with his memories, just because then it would be Jason, knowing his past with Sonny (and Carly) and still choosing to take his ass down.  I'd still throw Jax in there.  Actually, ideally, it would be Michael, Dante, Jason, Jax, Monica, and Tracy.  

[Chairperson Meow]

Jason. It should have been Jason.  With memories or without, Jason somehow undermining Sonny and taking down his organization was the biggest missed opportunity of 2015.

I think Billy Miller is trying to do that single handedly. Billy Miller might pop up as a dark horse for 2016 as Best Actor for being the AntiJason.

[Bringonthedrama]

I feel like the best moments were the Liz&Lucky's hug of joy over "our son" (Jake) and Robin and Emma's hug of joy upon being reunited. JJ and RH as well as KMc and BS have terrific chemistry no matter how long they are apart.

 

Best storyline was Michael turning on Sonny and Carly, calling them by name, embracing his Q family, etc.

 

Worst: So very, very many choices (for both moments and storylines).

Edited December 30, 2015 by Bringonthedrama

[jsbt]

I also don't think Billy Miller (or his Jason, at least) seems at all enamored with Sonny and his empire. I wish that would continue but I expect it to snap back very soon. People give the guy a lot of shit for keeping his non-GH options open but I think he generally comes to play with whatever muddled character they've given him here, and I think he could play a "Donnie Brasco" sort of arc, betraying Sonny out of disgust for the mob while still being torn by those very real relationships, very well. You could have Robert slap Jason with a lifetime WSB employment tomorrow and say he doesn't get out of the game until he dies because of his past crimes, that it's that or life imprisonment and all his offshore money taken by the RICO Act. That's it, that's the new paradigm for the character, done.

 

It's something Ron might have done, too - the problem is that for Ron it would be a 4-month plot point for Jason to rid himself of.

Edited December 30, 2015 by jsbt

[nilyank]

 

It's something Ron might have done, too - the problem is that for Ron it would be a 4-month plot point for Jason to rid himself of.

 

Ron did try that storyline already. When Sloane was blackmailing Jason to work undercover for him. I don't think that didn't even last 2 months let alone 4.

[jsbt]

That was just him working for lame-ass Sloane, though, and he was an amnesiac. We knew that eventually he'd learn everything and crawl back to Sonny. It was just more mob wars. This would be different. (Also that plotline was apparently truncated by the network - some people bemoaned its sudden end, but I much preferred Jason at ELQ with Michael investigating Nikolas vs. Jason hanging around another bike shop talking about the mob with Carly, Sonny and Julian.)

Edited December 30, 2015 by jsbt

[Chairperson Meow]

During the Jason at ELQ scenes, there was prime opportunity for "Jake" to learn why Michael was so pissed at Sonny/Carly, Michael going to prison, Michael getting shot, Michael getting raped. It should have been Jason growing with disgust over Sonny's actions or lack thereof instead of talking about fucking honor code.

[Oracle42]

Are they just not going to bring up Sonny murdering AJ?

[ulkis]

Nope.

[OnceSane]

Are they just not going to bring up Sonny murdering AJ?

He "saved" the governor's daughter. Bygones!

[TeeVee329]

I don't think it will ever be mentioned again.  And, I mean, that's Ron's fault, for writing Sonny doing something so inexcusable and unforgiveable that nothing would be able to walk that back, let alone the lame ass "He saved Ivy (who?) by grabbing a bomb away from the real hero, Michael, at the very last second" patch they ended up going with.  But that doesn't excuse the new writers/Varni/Frank just choosing to ignore it.

[Oracle42]

If Ron knew he was planning to revive Jason why on Earth would he have Sonny murder AJ? Aside from the fact that the only amnesia Jason story that would have been worthwhile would have been reconnecting with the Qs, especially AJ - how was he planning to address Sonny murdering Jason's brother?

[OnceSane]

If Ron knew he was planning to revive Jason why on Earth would he have Sonny murder AJ? Aside from the fact that the only amnesia Jason story that would have been worthwhile would have been reconnecting with the Qs, especially AJ - how was he planning to address Sonny murdering Jason's brother?

Jason will forgive/would have forgiven Sonny because AJ was fat.

[LeftPhalange]

It's not like Jason Morgan loved or cared about AJ. This happened when I first started watching so maybe I'm mistaken but I don't remember him being all that upset when AJ was murdered the first time. The only reason I could see him being mad is because it hurt Michael but Michael has already gotten over it and forgiven Sonny. 

[WendyCR72]

During the Jason at ELQ scenes, there was prime opportunity for "Jake" to learn why Michael was so pissed at Sonny/Carly, Michael going to prison, Michael getting shot, Michael getting raped. It should have been Jason growing with disgust over Sonny's actions or lack thereof instead of talking about fucking honor code.

 

As others have said, Jason never gave a shit about AJ once he became Jason Morgan, and the fact that it has been inferred that a great "hope" is Jason recovering his memories, which the show sees as a plus, I think Jason not caring about AJ will hold, especially to keep what Sonny did out of the memory of the audience.

 

So, actually, GH is consistent here. If Jason ever tried to act like he gave a shit about AJ, I admit it: I'd call bullshit.

[Chairperson Meow]

Actually, AJ and JBorg were tight. AJ and Lila were the only Q's that Jasus liked, tolerated, whatever. That's how Michael even came into his Dumb Bland Existence. AJ was looking to chill with his brother, and Carly was looking to bang his brother. The Jason Morgan. AJ knew Carly because she was dating Dr. Tony Jones, his neighbor, at the time, but Jason was her side piece. Because people had fucking stories with other people back then. This story was great until Sonny, Fucking, Sonny came along and ruined it like he did everything else. Spray tans, nice cars, Brenda, families, wires, explosions, criminal justice. During Guza's break from SonnyLovin and full commitment to The Jason, Mr. Morgan apologized to AJ's then grave for taking Michael. So, yes, I do think Jason- especially a Jason who's disgusted with his former actions and played by an actor not needing to be the hero nor interested in the mob life stuff- would be affected by AJ.

[Lillybee]

They sure ended 2015 with a whimper and not a bang. NYE was fairly boring.

[WendyCR72]

They sure ended 2015 with a whimper and not a bang. NYE was fairly boring.

 

To be fair, "boring" (as well as "nonsensical", "idiotic", and other such descriptors!) is GH's stock in trade.

[Chairperson Meow]

Just please no more babies. No more.

[sunnyface]

The Worst of GH continues to be the actor Maurice Bernard and TPTB insistence on making him the central character on a soap that is supposed to be about a hospital and NOT VIOLENCE.  The Jason reveal was a close second and sucked up the story line of the last TWO medical staff contract players.  The only thing that 'rocked' was Sam bringing up Jason's name nearly every time that she and patrick were in bed.

 

Improvements were seen from the actresses playing Maxie and Lulu - as long as they aren't under the 'baby rabies' spell.  Happy to see Jane Elliot still on the screen in small bit but would love to see her take a much larger role in 2016.

 

[mary2013]

Not sure what thread to ask this, but does anyone know of a site that recaps the whole year?  I'd rather not do daily or weekly recaps.

[LeftPhalange]

Not sure what thread to ask this, but does anyone know of a site that recaps the whole year?  I'd rather not do daily or weekly recaps.

 

http://soapcentral.com/gh/recaps/2015/index.php

[mary2013]

Thank you. :)

[TeeVee329]

So should we get this thread going?

[ciarra]

Best "good riddance": Sabrina.  While her death was over the top in unnecessary violence, I'm glad that the Disney princess is off my screen.  I thought we'd be stuck with her forever.

[ulkis]

I'll take on the challenge:

Best Actor:  um. Richard Burgi? Second runner up I guess is Michael Easton for showing he can actually act while being awake with new character Finn. Special shout out to guest actor Dominic Zamprogna for his performance when Morgan fell off a cliff.

Worst Actor: I'm gonna have to go with Maurice Benard. Usually he can serve up something but he was utterly atrocious during the Morgan story. Runners-up: Roger Howarth and Bryan Craig.

Best Actress: Genie Francis. Runner-up: Laura Wright.

Worst Actress: Kirsten Storms. Maybe it's not fair and her personal life affected her, but she's been mediocre/sleepwalking for years now, and this year was more of the same, and with the month of Molly Burnett, really showed just how much.

Best Story: Lord, I don't know. The wrap up of the serial killer story I guess. 

Worst Story: I can't even think what qualified as a story this year. Morgan's bi-polar, I guess. What was supposed to be a poignant story of two generations of bi-polar men came across on screen as an asshole whining at everybody.

Best Couple: Kevin and Laura.

Worst Couple: Do Michael and Nelle count yet? Them, but if they don't, Liz and Franco.

ETA: "Wow, I Can't Believe I Completely Forgot About You" Award: goes to Julexis, Julian, and Alexis. As I went back to read old posts I realized I completely forgot about everything Julexis related. I was trying to come up with stuff to choose and they didn't pop into my brain once. 

Edited December 30, 2016 by ulkis

[TeeVee329]

Best Actor: Jon Lindstrom.  Thanks to Kevin’s expanded screen time this year, he got to play a bunch of different comedic and dramatic notes – sturdy friendship, romantic infatuation, dry wit, etc. – and I thought he was just swell playing all of them.  Honorable mention to James Patrick Stuart, who I think is making edible chicken salad out of the chicken crap the writing’s giving him as Valentin.

Best Actress: Laura Wright.  This is a weird one because, on average, I loathe Carly more than I like her.  But that character bias aside, she did some great work in the aftermath of Morgan’s death.  Honorable mention to Lynn Herring, who – as I’ve said before – really sold those tiny moments where you could see Lucy was heartbroken over her estrangement from Kevin, but knew it was a status quo of her own making.

Best Couple: Laura and Kevin.  The contrived, needless split for Genie Francis’ break aside, Laura and Kevin were an oasis this year.  These two are really sweet together and the burn of their relationship was decently paced.

Worst Couple: Liz and Franco.  I hated the idea of this pairing from the very start, but how the show went about putting them together was even worse than I thought it would be.  It was bafflingly creepy and unsettling, with Franco trapping her in elevators and hiding in her car, and Liz accepting that first date just to spite Ric and getting up on a high horse on his behalf all the time.  And it’s replaying a lot of the same beats of Franco’s romances with Carly and Nina (“Franco’s a better man because he’s found love!”  “Franco’s been accused of a murder he didn’t commit, oh no!”) that I hated the first two times and have only decayed with age.

Best Storyline: Uhhh.  I guess maybe Tracy’s illness?  It irritatingly became all about Dr. Michael Easton, but Jane Elliot slayed per usual and there was some decent stuff in there with Tracy and the Q’s, and even with Tracy and Rebecca Budig.

Worst Storyline: This answer changed as the year wore on.  First, I would have said the mishandling of Helena’s will/gifts (remember Jake’s story book, Liz?).  Later, I would have given it to the hospital serial killer storyline.  Later still, I might have said the Claudette mess.  But as the year comes to a close, it’s Franco, Tom, and the SHOCK COLLAR, hands down.  Taking that cornerstone of the show’s and Liz’s history and making it all about Franco - about him whining and about him being whitewashed and now about him AGAIN being accused of a murder he didn’t commit - was extremely repellent to me, and was only made worse by the sleazy and unnecessary dog cage/SHOCK COLLAR crap the show decided to celebrate the holidays with.

And two bonuses...

Best Job Turning It Around: Kiki...but only with Dillon.  As you guys may know, I hated Kiki for a long time.  And I was dreading the idea of her and Dillon (who I was also not a big fan of this time last year) being chem-tested because I thought there was no way he was going to win out over a Corinthos.  But to my complete shock, they won me over and I’ve found them pretty cute together.  I’m skeptical about whether them as a couple will work in any bigger, dramatic story.  And I still hated every other flavor of Kiki – back with Morgan when he got out of the nut house, with her mom, with Franco, etc.  But yeah, this was the year I stopped completely loathing Kiki.  Weird.

Worst Disappointment: Nelle/Chloe Lanier.  I was excited when the show decided to bring back Chloe Lanier, that they took notice of a newbie that got a good response and were going with that over another soap get.  So while I was disappointed she wasn’t one of Lucy’s daughters, I really, really wanted to like this character.  And when it began, I liked the idea of history repeating itself, of Nelle being a scheming bad girl who would give Carly the karmic bite on the butt she so richly deserved.  But everything about this story has been a disaster – the plot points, the performance, and especially the pacing.

[dubbel zout]

Best Actress: Laura Wright. She's done a great job with Morgan's death, and it's not her fault this is what it takes for Carly to see the light about Sonny's bidness.

Worst Story: Everything Franco-related. A shit storm from start to finish.

Best New Character: Valentin. JPS is hitting all the right notes with him, IMO. It doesn't hurt that he's getting some of the better writing on the show, at least for now.

Most Boring Couple: Where to begin? Jordan and Andre, Michael and Nelle, Valerie and Curtis (never really got off the ground), Jason and Sam, Maxie and Nathan—just about every couple is super dull and very one-note.

 

Edited December 30, 2016 by dubbel zout
Formatting.

[IWantCandy71]

I don't feel I've watched enough this year-or any year-to really nominate anyone for anything. LOL

But I enjoy reading other's comments, so that's something, right? I can only really vote for a few  things: Biggest waste of talent: Richard Burgi.

Most irrelevant characters who pretty much always get focus even when they've got nothing to do and add nothing to the show: Jason and Sam. I realize they obviously have a vocal fanbase, but they are both so boring. I will never get their appeal separately as characters, or as a couple. It's mind boggling to me.

And I guess I can add JE to biggest waste of talent, too. Propping duty for Finn and Hayden is not my idea of must see TV.

[LeftPhalange]

Worst Almost Couple: Dillon/Kiki and Michael/Nelly. Dillon has more spark with Val and even Nina than he does with Kiki. And even if I didn't hate Kiki, all of the stupid obstacles keeping them apart would've made sure I never invested in them at all. Plus, putting two bland characters together isn't a recipe for success. The latter reason is also why Michael/Nelly will be a fail if/when they finally get together. That, and the fact that Nelly drugged his father, got him naked, and manipulated him into thinking he cheated on Michael's mother with her.

Honorable mention to whatever they were trying to do with Ava and Nik.

Most Boring Couple: All of them. Every last one.

Best Couple: Ned and Olivia. Probably because they're offscreen and therefore aren't getting any trash writing,

Worst Couple: Freako and Liez. Any pairing involving Freako automatically becomes the worst.  Second place would be Liez/Jakeson.

I guess Julian and Alexis deserve a mention since they're apparently still a thing even though he held a knife to her throat not too long ago.

Couple That Should Have Been: Curtis/Hayden and Dillon/Val, 

Worst New Character: Nelly. The fact that she's been here four or five months and we STILL have no idea what her motives are is just a huge fail. And CL is making some questionable acting choices.

Best New Character: I guess Valentin since I can't think of anyone else. This character benefits from Lulu being crazy.

Most Ruined Character: Anna and Lulu. Anna's Justice For Duke crap was unbearable and now her righteous indigestion is aimed at Valentin. Why is none of this anger directed at the people who kept her daughter held captive for years?

I feel forced to root for Valentin and Nina because the rabies that infected Lulu has now completely taken over and I can't support anything she says or does. 

Best Destruction of an Inanimate Object: The guns Carly threw into the water.

Best Actor: Richard Burgi. He sold Paul's downturn into a serial killer as best he could considering the material he had to work with. I'd give an honorable mention to Dominic Zamprogna and possibly Chad Duell for their work in the aftermath of Morgan's death.   

Best Actress: Laura Wright. She's done a great job with this otherwise awful story about Morgan's death.

Worst Actor: Roger Howorth (overrated and awful), Ryan Pavey (would make an excellent store mannequin), and Maurice Benard (needs a long vacation).