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

[WendyCR72]

I took it upon myself to alter the title a bit so this can be used yearly (for however long GH has left, anyway!). Merry Christmas and/or Happy Friday to those who may not celebrate!

[Francie]

For 2015:

 

BEST ACTOR

Richard Whatever who plays Paul Hornsby (and the fact that I'm very uncertain as to his last name -- Brugi? --  is telling for my opinions of GH in 2015)
 

BEST ACTRESS

Tie: Finola Hughes and Maura West.  I still can't stand Ava. Neither actress got much great material. But they both showed up and tried to inject some humanity, comedy, pathos, and intelligence into their characters.

 

WORST ACTOR
Lieutenant Mayonnaise. And I don't want to even bother to learn his last name. Or his first.

 

WORST ACTRESS
Nancy Lee Grahn. She is capable of being great. But this past year, she's been on a quest to turn her character into a pre-middle-aged sexpot. Her portrayal of Alexis Davis is both insulting to viewers and to women in general.  

 

BEST CHARACTER

Tie:  Anna Devane and Carlos Rivera
 

WORST CHARACTER

This was the hardest one of all. But, Franco, Nina, Julian, Kiki, and Morgan turned out to be runners up to:  Valerie.

 

BEST COUPLE

Ellie and Spinelli, maybe? I guess? Ellie rocks. And they were a couple. And they were on, albeit briefly, in 2015.

Though, in my head Anna and Robert were knocking Santa boots over in their  Paris hotel room. And they are, for me, the best television couple ever.

 

WORST COUPLE

Tie:  Franco and Nina and Julian and Alexis
 

BEST STORY

Far and away, the best GH-related story for 2015 was the one about the middle-aged entitled man who thought he was better than everybody else.  He sat on his throne and mocked and belittled and insulted the people whom he considered his subjects and peons.  Until one day he was unceremoniously dethroned and became one of us. Chant with me now, "One of us! One of us!"

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the best story of 2015:  The Rise and Fall of Ron Carlivati.  Of course, like most things GH-related, this all played out on Ron Carlivati's twitter account. I mean, it literally was the story of Ron Carlivati and his twitter account. Deuces, Ron. Bye Felicia.

 

WORST STORY (Top 5)

 

5. The Luke Spencer Goodbye Tour.  Jennifer Smith wanted to sleep with Luke for no apparent reason. The villain, Frank Smith, was literally 105 years old and had to be wheeled out in a wheelchair. Genie looked pained. The storyline was strained. And our ability to care had been long ago drained.  Luke, don't go away mad. Just go away already!

 

4.  Alexis and the Her Dream Man. Alexis's Scwoompie Whoompie walking away from the mob AFTER killing a man, and the show being all "what's not totally fine about that?" And then a series of bad PG-rated porno scenes. All that's missing is a scene of Julian feeding Alexis bon bons while she lays on the couch watching tv.

 

3.  "It was a Holiday!" I like to re-imagine this as Dante's explanation (you have to imagine him saying it with Ross Gellar's indignant "We were on a break!"). Because at least then I could have a laugh at this ridiculous storyline.

 

2. Sonny and the Pardon. Finally Sonny is where he's supposed to be; and he gets out for the lamest plot contrivance ever.

 

1.  Who killed Si..... Hey, What's on CBS or NBC or even CSPAN? GH answered the question: "What happens if we throw a murder mystery where nobody cares about the suspects or the victim?" The answer:  A 360,000 demo rating.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Francie

[dubbel zout]

I really liked LW as Luke's mom. It showed she doesn't have to always go big. She did some exceptionally subtle work. I agree that Carly is consistently terrible, but LW is consistently very good.

 

I think the Fluke story was the worst, and his final episode was deeply, deeply disappointing. He had some nice moments with individual characters, but overall I thought it was a terrible way to send off what was probably the iconic soap character.

[jsbt]

Best Actress: Finola Hughes. Runners-up: Laura Wright, Dee Wallace Stone. Becky Herbst had some great days when Liz learned the truth about Jason and she's a great actress, but I thought she was struggling most of these last few months on sheer bravado in the face of terrible story.

 

Best Actor: Chad Duell or Joey Luthman, the kid who played Young Luke. Not to say Chad was Olivier, but he still put in consistently strong work. These are the pickings we've got here, people. Runner-up: Richard Burgi as Paul Hornsby.

 

Worst Actress: Michelle fucking Stafford. Runner-up: Maura West, sadly, during the Denise saga. When she wasn't being a blowsy Lois imitation she was doing Ava's usual pop-eyed Faces of Guilt. Other runners-up: Hayley Erin, Brytni Sarpy (sorry)

 

Worst Actor: It's a tie - Roger Howarth and Tony Geary. Runners-up: Robert P. "Ice Ice Baby" Watkins, Bryan Craig, William deVry

 

Worst Story:  No idea. No, wait, Denise. Followed by Who Killed Silas, followed by Fluke's Non-DID DID Saga and Luke's awful exit story. Followed by Ensign Mayonnaise vs. Dante, the cop who's just tryna fuck

 

Best Story: Nothing

 

Verdict: Wish I was dead. Merry Christmas

Edited December 26, 2015 by jsbt

[WendyCR72]

BEST ACTOR

Richard Whatever who plays Paul Hornsby (and the fact that I'm very uncertain as to his last name -- Brugi? --  is telling for my opinions of GH in 2015)

 

Not that it really matters, but his last name is Burgi. You're welcome!  :-)

[ulkis]

WORST CHARACTER

This was the hardest one of all. But, Franco, Nina, Julian, Kiki, and Morgan turned out to be runners up to:  Valerie.

 

 

Worst Actress: Michelle fucking Stafford. Runner-up: Maura West, sadly, during the Denise saga. When she wasn't being a blowsy Lois imitation she was doing Ava's usual pop-eyed Faces of Guilt. Other runners-up: Hayley Erin, Brytni Sarpy (sorry)

 

I wanted to pick Valerie/BS for these categories, but was afraid I was too biased. But Valerie is truly a wretchedly written character, that I can't even hate her with a clear conscience because the writing for her is so awful; at least Lisa Niles was fun . . . Valerie gives me second hand embarrassment. She's like the Ralph Wiggum of General Hospital. And maybe Brytni Sarpy would be great on another show a la Lindsay Morgan who turned out not only not horrific but actually great on another show where they get more than one take, but on GH . . . not so much. 

Edited December 26, 2015 by ulkis

[Bawoman]

Best actor: JT, who did pretty well with the little that was given him

 

HM: hate the character to pieces but I did think Bryan Craig did a good job as Morgan. Doesn't mean the character isn't annoying as fuck though

 

Best Actress: FH. While I hated most of her stories this year, Anna still had moments that really made FH shine. Her guilt and paranoia after what she did to Carlos was hard to watch, a bit OOC, but it was so well acted.

 

HM to Becky Herbst...not a huge fan of the character but she wasnt afraid to go down to the lowest depths of patheticness. She never phoned it in and gave it her all, despites the bus driving over her constantly.

 

WORST ACTOR

Ryan Paevey as Nathan......he makes trees look lively.

 

HM to MB....Sonny has barely done anything this past year but lift his eyebrows.

 

Worst actress:

 

TC as Sabrina.......there is something about her that reminds me of a potted plant. And she has a way of always sounding insincere in her scenes. 

 

HM: Brytni Sarpy as Val.......very pretty girl...that's all I got

 

Best Story:

 

This ones a hard one, lol. Ummmm.....Nik overtaking ELQ didn't suck. And while its new, I am very much liking the Crimson stuff. Also, I liked the introduction of Hayden, though I really hope we get to know more about her outside of Nik's realm.

 

Worst Story

Anything Fluke/Luke related. Ouch, that was painfull.

HM...the never ending Jakeson saga. No one really cared all that much in the first place, ffs

 

Worst Couple:

Michael and Sabrina (I seriously did not see the chem) 

HM to Maxie and Nathan...Nathan is mostly to blame here

 

Best couple:

Both controversial choices around here, but they are seriously the only couples that hold any interest to me 

and are not boring to me, mostly because they are new and don't have the baggage that has been thrown up, eaten up and regurgatated over and over again: Franco and Nina, and Nik and Hayden**phew, there I said it**

Edited December 26, 2015 by Bawoman

[KerleyQ]

Best Actor:  Um...hmmm...uh...how about...er.... was there some day player who played a corpse or something?  Jesus.  Oh, wait, even though they haven't been on much, and will only get a couple days in the year, I'll go with TR and SR.  Because no one else deserves it. 

 

Best Actress:  Either FH or BH.  Both have been given a steady dose of hot crap story lines, but they've played the hell out of them, so there's that. 

 

Best Couple:  Shit.  This is more difficult than best actor.  I guess I'll go with Michael and Sabrina.  Although, naturally, the show is shitting on that.

 

Worst Couple:  So...many...choices...  Nina/Franco, with honorable mention to Dante/Valerie.  Wait, they might win this category. Yeah, they're worse than Neens and Francs.  

 

Worst Storyline:  The Redemption of Sonny Corinthos.  Fuck that.  

 

Best Storyline:  .....Seriously?..... No.

 

Worst Actor:  Ensign Mayo.  He beat out a strong crop of suck.  

 

Worst Actress:  Michelle Stafford, edging out Brytni Sarpi by a slim margin.

 

I feel like no year in review discussion would be complete, though, without a shout out to BryDog's social media presence - the gift that keeps on giving.  

[Francie]

I wanted to pick Valerie/BS for these categories, but was afraid I was too biased. But Valerie is truly a wretchedly written character, that I can't even hate her with a clear conscience because the writing for her is so awful; at least Lisa Niles was fun . . . Valerie gives me second hand embarrassment. She's like the Ralph Wiggum of General Hospital. And maybe Brytni Sarpy would be great on another show a la Lindsay Morgan who turned out not only not horrific but actually great on another show where they get more than one take, but on GH . . . not so much. 

I may have vitriolic reactions to Franco, Nina, and Julian. But Franco and Nina are unabashedly bad, and they embrace and celebrate their warts. The biggest problems I have with them is how the other characters treat them.  Julian's character now is as cardboard as Ryan Paevey's acting when he started (he's moved up to paper now).  With something so simple, there's only so much hate you can shoot in that direction.

 

But Valerie's a hot mess of a character. We're supposed to not see her as a horrible character, and feel for her. But her actions are reprehensible and her motivations laughable.  She's a much more frustrating character because she acts like she has no control over her own actions. "Oh woe, poor is me, I have to go to Dante's now and cry to him about how awful I feel about going to him all the time and crying to him."

[TeeVee329]

Best Actor: This might be out of left field, but Kin Shriner  Scotty has gotten some shittastic writing this year, but Shriner is always present and energized in his scenes, unlike a lot of actors on this show who are sleepwalking.  Honorable mention to Ryan Carnes, who really does have dry wit and charm as Lucas that is shamefully underutilized.

 

Best Actress: Finola Hughes.  Like Kin above, she did her best to elevate some really horrible writing for Anna this year.  The show really hit the dregs acting-wise when she took her break.  Honorable mention to Dee Wallace and the teenage actress who played Patricia, both who made the most of a plot point character the show could have done some interesting stuff with.

 

Best Couple: Mac and Felicia.  Mac was very supportive of Felicia during the episode that "resolved" the mayoral election "story" and I assume their marriage continued to be loving and warm OFF-SCREEN.

 

Worst Couple: Franco and Nina.  The push this year on Francs (a SERIAL KILLER) and Neens (a loon with a penchant for jazz hands) as a rootable romantic couple, as star-crossed lovers, led to one horrible story after another - the repeat of Franco having to save his lady love from Heather, Franco injecting himself with LSD, Nina marrying Ric to spite him, the whole summer of The Francs and Neens Variety Hour, etc.

 

Best Storyline: Uhhh.  I guess Michael's hatred of Sonny and Carly earlier in the year?  Or maybe Jordan choosing the side of the law over mob peen and not hesitating to send Shawn's hypocritical ass to jail?

 

Worst Storyline: "Operation Alcoholic".  Gave me rage blackouts on the regular.

 

And a bonus...

 

Most OOC Action: You really could slot any character in here, but I'm going with a dark horse by the name of Lucy Coe.  Her siding with Nikolas over the Quartermaines - and the insane dressing down she gave Michael - was bull to the shit.

Edited December 26, 2015 by TeeVee329

[nilyank]

BEST ACTOR
It is a weak field but I am going to give it to Maurice Benard for sheer volume. No one really dazzled me this year, but Mo actually moved me for a few scenes with Chad, Laura, and even Bryan.

 

BEST ACTRESS
Laura Wright. She never phoned it in.

WORST ACTOR
What-his-face who plays Nathan. He can’t act, is tied to a horrible family, and has little chemistry with his love interest.

WORST ACTRESS
Michelle Stafford. Even though her storyline with Maxie is better, she had horrible material and made acting choices that made her scenes bizarre on occasion.

BEST CHARACTER
No one was really special but I will give it to Avery because everyone lights up around her.

WORST CHARACTER
Julian. His only storyline is tied to his boring and at times embarrassing relationship with Alexis. He has little to no involvement with his so-called family members, is supposed out of the mob for 15th time, and his plans for Crimson have me siding with Nina.

BEST COUPLE
TJ and Molly. They were mostly unseen but when they were together they were mature and supportive of each other and have been together for years. No teen pregnancy storylines, no cheating/third party love interests, and both of them are the rare teenagers on General Hospital who are actually attending college.

WORST COUPLE
Paul and Ava. No chemistry, no history and they as are embarrassing to watch as Julian and Alexis.

BEST STORY
The anniversary episode where we see what happened to Luke when he was a teenager. Sure everything related to Luke’s big and final storyline was the absolute worse (see below), however the acting by Laura Wright as Luke and Bobbie’s mother, and the two teens that played young Pat and Luke/Bill were so good. Plus everything else this year either fizzled out, took forever before ending anticlimatically or was just plain stupid.

WORST STORY 
Tony Geary’s ego driven final crapfest. We wasted so much time in order to be stuck with Luke having a split personality but not really. They could have done a million more interesting storylines but we were stuck with this crapfest. The final fuck you from Geary was his not even sharing a final goodbye with Genie who put his ungrateful self in soap Hall of Fame.

Edited December 26, 2015 by nilyank

[LeftPhalange]

I like the Crimson stuff with Maxie and Nina, I guess. Or something. I don't know. Maxie finally has a job and is away from the talking tree and if they're trying to integrate Nina into the canvas it's a good idea to give her something to do that doesn't involve serial killer. 

Edited December 26, 2015 by LeftPhalange

[Chairperson Meow]

Best Actor: Brandon Barash, Johnny Z. He entertained me. Runner up, Carrrrlos, Young Luke, and The Chad.

Worst Actor: Bryan Craig! You finally won! A haircut and yelling is not acting, but thanks for your social media presence.

Best Actress: Um.... Greenlee or Jordan.

Worst Actor: Alexis. Stahp.

Worst Story: Sonny is The Light of Our Lives So S'Ok He Murdered What's His Face, Tied With Jason Is Baaaacccckk Tied With What's A Robin (That Bitch!)

Best Story: Um the day they did ELQ stuff

Most Overused Stuff: Mah Dead Mum

[dubbel zout]

Brytni Sarpy (sorry)

 

#NeverApologize

 

Add me to the list of people who find Nina/Franco as the worst couple. There are other bad ones, but they're mostly WTF (Dante/Valerie, Ava/Paul) or zzzz (Alexis/Julian, alas; Ava/Paul). But Nina/Franco are being paired up so we'll feel sorry for these two crazy outsiders, alone against the world with only each other as support. Uh, no. Sorry, SERIAL KILLER, you don't get the sympathy treatment for redemption. And Nina is just a crackpot. I like her at Crimson with Maxie, as they're kind of an odd couple, and we get to see Maxie do something she's actually good at, but even then, Nina is overly girlish. That needs to stop. 

Edited December 26, 2015 by dubbel zout

[Tiger]

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

I hate Laura's version of Carly, and think Laura's public persona is extremely obnoxious, but I'll be the first to stand in line to say that Laura always brings it 100% in every single scene every single episode.

A great example of this was a few weeks ago when Carly was cackling about Jason coming back to Sonny, Carly was at her most vile but Laura totally sold Carly's motivation and mindset .

Another great example was the Wed or Thu show this past week when Carly told Sonny that Joslyn would rather spend Christmas with Jax. I think a lot of actors woumd have coneyed the line with the same tone Laura did, but she took a second to pause and made this great facial expression. To me, its little touches like that that make a great actor. I think Maura and Jane, and obviously Fin and Kim, are great at that too.

[JaneDigby]

BEST ACTOR
Chad Duell rocked his angry Michael scenes and unfortunately then had to go back to playing mob-cheerleader. Brandon Barash made his two returns fun. Other than that. I got nothing.

BEST ACTRESS
Tie: Finola Hughes and Maura West and Rebecca Herbst.  Each for different reasons. Hughes played Anna's grief over Duke perfectly, it felt old school in the best way. In nearly every scene Maura West takes shit material and finds an authentic emotional note to play. She can't make crappy stories work, nor should she ever wear a dark wig again, but she can make crap watchable. Herbst chewed through the most insane, most pointless character destruction like it was filet mignon. If this show doesn't give her a chance to play fully insane (with a gun!) it's missing a great opportunity. The show also needs to give the audience a break from Liz - I give RH credit for not trying to undercut Liz's insanity but the character needs a time out. And a new love interest not named Lucky or Jason or Ric.

WORST ACTOR
An embarrassment of riches here. Or just a plan embarrassment. Half a year was enough to give me PTSD episodes at the mention of the name Luke - Tony Geary owned this with ever overacted gesture. Dude overacted without lines. Kinda amazing. Dishonorable mentions: Bryan Craig. I only like Morgan when he's having an affair with Ava so ... BC may want to consider a career in soft core porn. Maurice Bernard. Not many actors would decide to play a spinal injury story as if their character was afflicted with acute constipation but that's Mo's genius. William deVry. I loved WdV on AMC and I loathe him here. It's not just the character. It's the fact that WdV knew his lines on AMC. Watch him in longer scenes, he's got the Mo Bernard "I'm gonna shake my head like I'm so weary of everyone's stupidity in hopes it covers me obviously looking at the cues cards" down. 

WORST ACTRESS
Nancy Lee Grahn. You know what this show needs? A female character with a career and children who sacrifices both for some prime salami. Said no one ever. The writing is bad enough but NLG chooses to play it like she's a giddy 16 year old who's just had her first orgasm. It's NLG's choice to play up the moral superiority in every Alexis scene.

Dishonorable mention: 

Hayley Erin. She's getting better but tone down the brat level and stop shrieking. 

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (my own category)

Tie: Jane Elliot and Emme Rylan Lulu had some of the worst lines of the year - spending an entire month telling her husband how lucky they are or spending three months yapping about Luke - and ER managed to keep Lulu from becoming a parody.

 

BEST CHARACTER
Is this for real? Ok ... Maxie Jones. I haven't wanted to kill her once this year.

WORST CHARACTER

There are horrible characters that are meant to be awesome like Sonny, Carly and Jason

Characters that have been twisted into pretzels for storyline purposes like Liz, Olivia, Dante, Franco, and Nik.

But I'm going to dedicate this category to the character who never fails to annoy the shit out of me: Alexis Davis Yes, folks, she has too much integrity to bang a mobster but a tax cheat is a-okay just strip down to your tight black undies. Daughter finds out her dead husband is not dead? What, huh, you want me to get out of bed? Hid your baby from Sonny because he's a mobster? Time to out Olivia instead of, you know, having a talk first. Double points for yammering on about how much Sonny loves his children. Die, Alexis, Die. Die with festering, weeping boils all over your body.

BEST COUPLE
Maxie and Nina - finally Maxie gets the be the mature one in a relationship. And tho I know they aren't universally loved, honorable mention to Nina and Franco, the only characters the show writes as actually being in love and wanting the best for their beloved. That's a former mental patient and a former serial killer ... this f'ing show.

Sonny and Avery - I hate that Sonny is the father but MB comes alive in his scenes with this baby so I'll take what I can get.

WORST COUPLE
Julian and Alexis, forever. Dishonorable mention: Sam & Patrick - if the actors aren't buying it, how can I?

BEST STORY
Uhhhhh ... I liked the car ride with Sonny, Julian, Ava and Franco bickering .... uh .... holy shit, I watched this whole year? Oh, ok, Maxie back at Crimson.

 

WORST STORY (Top 5)

5. Luke Spencer Adieu - what did we the viewing audience ever do to Tony Geary to deserve that shit?

4.  Alexis and Julian in their underwear

3.  Valerie and Dante - ruined a perfectly good Monkees song. Bitches.

2. It's a Wonderful Sonny - he's a murderer who can catch bombs AND bullets. That makes him a saint, ya'll

 

1. The triangle from HELL - CrazyLiz / ZombieJason / Semi-ComatoseSam Make. It. Stop.

 

Edited December 26, 2015 by JaneDigby

[UYI]

 

Oh, lord. I'm almost forced to go with Nathan Paevey. 

 

I love that you still forget his first name is actually Ryan. :P

For 2015:

 

BEST ACTOR

Richard Whatever who plays Paul Hornsby (and the fact that I'm very uncertain as to his last name -- Brugi? --  is telling for my opinions of GH in 2015)

 

Burgi. Had the u and r mixed up, but you're good. :)

[Lillybee]

Worst Actor: whoever plays Dillion makes RP look like a Shakesperian actor.

[dubbel zout]

At least Private Mayo isn't being given much to do. I shudder trying to imagine him doing any heavy emotional (i.e., non-anger) scenes. He can't do the straightforward stuff he's usually given.

[Chairperson Meow]

Remember when Sonny got his ass kicked in prison? That was some good stuff. And Michael hated him and Carly. Squee.

Remember when we saw Lucas and Brad?

If I had to say worst character, I'd say Morgan. It's like they took all of Sonny/Carly's worst traits, made them worse and more entitled then gave them a "reason" to be so. BC had raw talent, chemistry with MW, but then I don't know he threw that out the window and picked up LW/MB's worst acting tics, while the writers destroyed everything good about Morgan (his relationships with his brothers, that Jax raised him, his Sonny hatred, Ava), and all that's left is Sonny/Carly lite.

Most Wasted Character : Michael Quartermaine. 20 someodd years in the damn making, Show. The beauty in soaps is that fans do wait for a long con endgame. Are we still waiting for Brenda/Dylan/Kelly to be resolved on 90210? No. But we have waited to see Carly and Sonny pay for their schemes and crimes on PC. Imo this all began with keeping Michael from AJ. Michael learning the truth and being disgusted by it was pure payback. ......

Dumbest Back From The Dead Character : Jake Spencer. The biggest thing about Jason leaving Jake's life, then Jake dying imo wasn't Joss getting a kidney. It was Jason finally realizing he was wrong to take Michael from AJ. So now, Jason remembers nothing, has his creepy kid again, and Sonny got to kill AJ.

[Oracle42]

I don't think I've ever disagreed with so many thing on a best/worst list

Best and Worst of GH 2015 (Part 2) 

 

 

I miss Serial Drama

Edited December 27, 2015 by Oracle42

[admiralrodcocker]

Best Actor

 

I guess I'll go with Chad Duell for his performances at the beginning of the year. It's slim pickings as most of the men on this show are either here for eye candy (Nathan, Dillon) and can't act, or they could act at one time and just choose not to and phone it in (JT, BM, etc.) GH has the worst cast on daytime right now hands down.

 

Best Actress

 

Laura Wright for never phoning it in even though Carly's dialogue is cringe worthy. She sells it every time.

 

Worst Actor

 

The dude who plays Dillon. He lacks in charisma almost as much as Ryan Paevey and has no discernible talents as an actor. He's a generic wallpaper boy who has far too much air time. HM to RP, and BM who CAN act if he would try, but it pisses me off that he's just a lazy blob who gives off a vibe that he's oh so above this material now.

 

Worst Actress

 

Hayley Erin. See the scenes in which she found Silas' dead body for proof, though I actually think she's improved since then and Kiki doesn't annoy me near as much as she did when Ron was writing for her. I still wouldn't mind seeing her gone though. HM to the girl who played Darby. She was fucking awful. Also HM to TeCa. I want to feel for Sabrina, but TeCa just comes off as flat and lifeless in all of her scenes. Her best intensity is with the guy who plays Carlos.

 

Best Couple

 

I only cared about Brad & Lucas this year and thought their ILYs were sweet. They have since fallen off the face of the Earth and I have lost interest in them. You don't come to GH if you want romance or decently built up couples anymore.

 

Worst Couple

 

Samtrick. Dear God. No chemistry as romantic partners. Not only that, I think they had anti-chemistry. The kind that makes you feel revulsion when a pairing kisses. HMs to Julexis, Nik & Hayden, and Dante/Valerie.

 

Worst Story

 

Fluke. 'nuff said. And Michael forgiving Sonny as quickly as he did. What a waste of potential story that could have gone on for years. Familial conflict is what soaps are made of. 

 

Best Story

 

......

 

Patrick & Robin reuniting I guess. I have always loved them, but everything just feels so tacked on.

Edited December 26, 2015 by admiralrodcocker

[peachmangosteen]

Another great example was the Wed or Thu show this past week when Carly told Sonny that Joslyn would rather spend Christmas with Jax. I think a lot of actors woumd have coneyed the line with the same tone Laura did, but she took a second to pause and made this great facial expression. To me, its little touches like that that make a great actor. I think Maura and Jane, and obviously Fin and Kim, are great at that too.

 

+1. LW's best work is those subtle little things she does that most of the other actors just don't really do.

 

But one thing I really hate about LW's acting is her laugh. It's just awful.

Edited December 26, 2015 by peachmangosteen

[dubbel zout]

I don't agree with much of what she wants to happen, but the stuff she hated is basically the stuff I hated.

 

But one thing I really hate about LW's acting is her laugh. It's just awful.

 

She's been leaning on it especially hard lately. Ugh.

[peachmangosteen]

She's been leaning on it especially hard lately. Ugh.

 

I KNOW! It drives me slightly insane.

[yowsah1]

What I find sad about this thread is that last year we were all bemoaning how slim the pickings for the "Best" category was and how numerous the choices for the "Worst" categories were. And now here it is a year and new head writers later, there are more "Worsts" then ever and the "Bests" are nearly nonexistent.  It's just so sad.

 

And, so, in that spirit, I have many "Least Worsts", many "Worsts", and only one straight out "Best":

 

LEAST WORST ACTOR:  Jeffrey Vincent Parise (Carlos)

He was at least entertaining to watch, which is more than I can say for the rest of the stiffs stinking up the canvas this year.

 

WORST ACTOR:  Jason Thompson

Five minutes of decently acted scenes in December does not excuse months on end of deliberate scene-tanking shittiness. 

 

BEST ACTRESS:  Becky Herbst

Handed one of the most character-assassinating stories in recent memory, Herbst gave it her absolute all, and made her character compellingly watchable.  She was the only good thing in an otherwise horrible storyline.

 

WORST ACTRESS:  Hayley Erin

Shrieking like a banshee =/= acting.

 

LEAST WORST CHARACTER: Luke's Flashback Mother

Because she had the good sense to die quickly and get herself out of this shitshow.

 

WORST CHARACTER:  Spencer Cassadine/Denise (tie)

From "amusingly" traipsing around in a Hugh Hefner-esque smoking jacket to "amusingly" trying to kill a "romantic rival", everything about this character was obnoxious, sick, and wrong.  And calling Denise a "character" is giving her far too much credit - she was nothing more than a walking stereotype.

 

LEAST WORST COUPLE:  Sam and Elizabeth

Seriously, in those scenes on the airplane together they showed way more chemistry with each other than either of them did with their supposed mutual love interest.

 

WORST COUPLE:  Samtrick

One half this couple was a low-energy actress to begin with.  The other was a male diva who thought the material was beneath him, resented every single second he was forced to share scenes with the low-energy actress, and didn't bother to hide it.  Together, they were the human equivalent of Ambien.

 

LEAST WORST STORY:  Who Killed Silas

It was blessedly short.

 

WORST STORY:  Fluke Saga/KIddie Quad (tie)

The one-two punch that laid the show low.  When we weren't watching a storyline that shit all over the legacy of an iconic character that had once meant much to many viewers, we were watching something that came across as kiddie porn with the porn-y parts cut out.  Both stories were just completely disgusting and vile, and deservedly led to Ron Carlivati's ouster.

Edited December 27, 2015 by yowsah1

[testardo]

I can't think of anything left I like of this show unless its the Rescue and Reunion of Robin Drake and the Scorpios. 11minutes of the @#$%^&^ show. that's all I have for a year.

I HETE. the whole show and even all the actors. plus the HW and so called writers. my family wants to thank GH for all the free space now on the vcr because I cannot be bothered watching this garbage. This board is great though. You all make sure I am not tempted to watch.

[magnolia11]

Best actress:  Finola Hughes, Laura Wright (their ability to make the best out of the crap they are given always astounds me)

 

Best actor: Hmm. Tough one this year. I’ll go with Tyler for the scenes when Spencer was in the hospital – he was pretty moving in those. And JJ was great during his brief visit. And kudos to Young Luke.

 

Worst actress:  Hayley Erin for those post-Silas’ death scenes. I still have secondhand embarrassment thinking about them.

 

Worst actor:   I’ll give the tree a few points for improvement over the past year, but, alas, a tree is ultimately still a tree.

 

Best character:  Hmm, who didn’t make me want to punch a wall this year?  I’ll say Anna, just because (thanks to FH) she’ll never not interest me as a character even when her writing is complete and utter shit.

Worst character:  Gotta go with Valerie this year. She originally had potential, but was quickly revealed to be merely a poorly defined and pathetic plot device. HMs also to my usual suspects, Sonny, Carly, Franco, Nina.

 

Best couple:   Lucas and Brad, I guess.

Worst couple:  Sonny/Carly (though I do appreciate them being together for containment purposes, they’re virtually insufferable), Franco/Nina (sorry, a romance between a SERIAL KILLER and Jennifer Garner’s character from 13 Going On 30 just ain’t sexy), Dante/Valerie (just WTF-ever)

Best story:  What’s a best story? For lack of anything else, I’ll give props to the anniversary show, which was nicely done in spite of all the story fuckery that led up to it.

Worst story:  It’s a tough call, but I’ll go with Michael returning to Sonny’s rectum.  What a waste of years of potential story.  HM to the Luke exit.  HHM to Denise DiMuccio.

 

Most welcome return: Lucky Spencer. Seeing him again was one of the few bright lights of a dark, dark year.

 

Biggest waste of a character:  Ric Lansing (in other news, today is Saturday). HM: Lucas (Ryan Carnes is an asset that should be used far, far better)

Most destroyed character:  So, so many contenders, but I’m going with my heart here and giving this one to my soap ex-boyfriend, Dante Falconeri.

Biggest waste of an actor:  Jason Thompson.  This show should be kicking itself – hard -- for letting him go.

[katie9918]

I'm going against the crowd.

EH has been perfectly serviceable but hardly the best on this show. She's been lasting on her laurels due to her psycho fans, but she knows that she's untouchable right now, so she does whatever is required of her and goes home, using her fans to keep herself employed despite the psychotic actions of her character that will never be called to the carpet because she is some kind of "wounded bird," despite the fact they she did reprehensible things before this Serial Killer obsession thing.

Edited December 27, 2015 by katie9918

[HeatLifer]

Most destroyed character: So, so many contenders, but I’m going with my heart here and giving this one to my soap ex-boyfriend, Dante Falconeri.

I agree with this, although it's a close tie between him and Elizabeth. Like, I never thought anything could be worse than the way Patrick behaved at the beginning of the Lisa storyline. The thing that ultimately saved Patrick (to most fans) was the fact that he was remorseful the SECOND after he had sex with Lisa. This show has Dante screwing Valerie right and left, on holidays and in his wife's home.

[Chairperson Meow]

Sigh. Remember when The Dante/Silas show was a thing we were forced to want because they hated this show as much as we did? We got Dead Silas (with a bad cancer story before) and Dante The Cad in return. Though Silas going off on people before getting killed was great.

[TeeVee329]

That SiJohn McClay is off my screen qualifies as a "best" in my book.  No more mumbling, no more man pain, no more women inexplicably losing their minds over him, and no more Michael Easton, who I have never thought was all that and a bag of chips.

Worst Actor: whoever plays Dillion makes RP look like a Shakesperian actor.

 

I was so disappointed in this return.  I really wanted to like Dillon because I liked this character in the past and it was nice to see a younger Quartermaine back to help shore up the family.  But even moreso than the acting, which is...not great, the writing for Dillon this half a year has been inexplicable. 

Edited December 27, 2015 by TeeVee329

[KerleyQ]

BEST ACTRESS:  Becky Herbst

Handed one of the most character-assassinating stories in recent memory, Herbst gave it her absolute all, and made her character compellingly watchable.  She was the only good thing in an otherwise horrible storyline.

 

 

You would never know that Becky dislikes what's being done to her character as much as a lot of viewers do by watching her onscreen.  That should be a given, but on a show full of performances where you can tell exactly how the actors feel about their story lines, it's not a given at all.  So kudos to her for not phoning it in when confronted with the shit she finds on her script on a daily basis.  

[jsbt]

Sigh. Remember when The Dante/Silas show was a thing we were forced to want because they hated this show as much as we did?

 

I never wanted Silas. Ever. I sacrifice a kitten in thanks for his gory demise every week.

[Tiger]

That SiJohn McClay is off my screen qualifies as a "best" in my book. No more mumbling, no more man pain, no more women inexplicably losing their minds over him, and no more Michael Easton, who I have never thought was all that and a bag of chips.

I was so disappointed in this return. I really wanted to like Dillon because I liked this character in the past and it was nice to see a younger Quartermaine back to help shore up the family. But even moreso than the acting, which is...not great, the writing for Dillon this half a year has been inexplicable.

I've always been 'actor first' in the sense that I would root for and/or forgive a character if I liked the actor. For example, Ava and Ric could do anything except kill dogs and I would still root for them because I like Maura and Rick.

But in the past year or so, I find myself unable to separate an actors off-screen antics from my feelings about their character. At the risk of being boards-on-boards, I'm definitely not one of those fans who hates the actress Becky Herbst and blames for her Liz's actions. What I am is one of those fans who now sees Morgan, Alexis, and Dillon on screen and doesn't see the characters but rather Bryan, Nancy, and Robert and all the douchey things they did this year, Nancy's laughable rant against Viola Davis (specifically her claim that The Underground Railroad was an actual tunnel that Harriet Tubman dug) being the worst among them in my opinion.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Tiger

[tvgoddess]

I don't think you can compare RPW's lame music video, that was actually hilarious in its awfulness, to Nancy's ridiculous comments or Brydog's bizarre and cringeworthy thoughts on life.

[UYI]

I don't think you can compare RPW's lame music video, that was actually hilarious in its awfulness, to Nancy's ridiculous comments or Brydog's bizarre and cringeworthy thoughts on life.

 

Agreed. I have a feeling that he's a nice guy who was forced to do that video for the show due to publicity. For all we know, he's as embarrassed as anyone else for having to do it. Nancy and Bryan don't have that excuse. 

[JaneDigby]

I need to weigh in on Magnolia's brilliant new categories.
 
Most welcome return: Robert Scorpio. Because he's Robert Fucking Scorpio and the only person related to Robin who hasn't acted like she's been off at a sample sale for the last year. 

Biggest waste of a character:  Agree that Ric Lansing was pointless used as a relationship spoiler for not one but two couples. Useless. He should have been having sex with Sam. But a bigger waste was/is Michael. He was a Quartermaine. He had a set of balls. He stood up to the gruesome twosome. He was getting into a decent relationship with Sabrina. Now, he's another mob cheerleader.

 

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

[ulkis]

Agreed. I have a feeling that he's a nice guy who was forced to do that video for the show due to publicity. For all we know, he's as embarrassed as anyone else for having to do it. Nancy and Bryan don't have that excuse. 

 

I think he's a nice guy. I don't think he was forced to do that video. Even so, no, it can't be compared to Nancy and Bryan's shtick.

[Tiger]

I don't think you can compare RPW's lame music video, that was actually hilarious in its awfulness, to Nancy's ridiculous comments or Brydog's bizarre and cringeworthy thoughts on life.

Agreed that his 'crime' doesn't even approach Nancy and Bry-dog's, but on the douche scale of 1 to 10, that video was a solid 30.

[jsbt]

Agreed. I have a feeling that he's a nice guy who was forced to do that video for the show due to publicity.

 

No one forced him to do that shit. He thinks he's that hot and that that was a showcase for his 'music career'. That elevated him to Bryan Craig levels for me.

Edited December 28, 2015 by jsbt

[tvgoddess]

Weighing in on the categories:

 

BEST ACTOR

Kin Shriner. I looked through the entire male list of contract actors and couldn't find a single one that is impressive. So I went to recurring. Scott had some great scenes this year, and him being the only anti-Sonny character should give him this for that fact alone. There are no runners up.

 

BEST ACTRESS

Finola Hughes. I can't even say how many times this year I said that she just killed it. She was pretty much flawless in every single scene she was in. Runner up would be Laura Wright. Mainly for her performance as Lena, where she showed she can do more than just play Carly. Maura, as much as I love her, just didn't have the material this year thanks to her horrific writing that sadly not even she could save.

 

WORST ACTOR

Bryan Craig. Even though I think he has been good in some scenes this year, his asshole-ness offscreen combined with his insistence on being Maurice Benard, Jr. wins him this category. Runner up: Anthony Geary, for insulting my eyes with his work, time and time again.

 

WORST ACTRESS

Hayley Erin and Michelle Stafford. Kiki's reaction to finding Silas' body was the worst bit of acting I've seen in some years. Kiki has basically become an older version of Buffy's kid sister Dawn, screaming at her mom to Get Out!, GET OUT!!, GET OUT!!! of her life. Just as shrieky, and just as annoying. And Michelle's babyish affectations wound my soul.

 

BEST CHARACTER

Young Patricia. Played by an extremely talented actress that almost all of us wished could have stuck around that more than held her own against seasoned performers, her character was a refreshing bright spot in an absolute sea of darkness.

 

WORST CHARACTER

The male population of Port Charles that thinks with their dicks. This encompasses several characters, but they all suck just the same. Runner up: Kiki Jerome for reasons stated above.

 

BEST COUPLE

Lucas and Brad. Way too under-utilized, but always a pleasure to see both aesthetically and emotionally. Two actors that commit to their scenes 100% and deserve to be seen more.

 

WORST COUPLE

Franco and Nina. You will never be able to convince me that these two are anything but complete and utter trash. And just because you say that these characters are redeemed, that doesn't magically erase all of their horrible misdeeds of serial killing and womb raping. Runner up is Sonny/Carly for their sheer grotesqueness.

 

BEST STORY

I'll go with the anniversary episode, because it was well-crafted, well-written and well-performed. I would have to think long and hard about anything else this year that qualified as something that I enjoyed as a story.

 

WORST STORY

 

Worst Storyline:  The Redemption of Sonny Corinthos.  Fuck that.

 

A-FUCKING-MEN.

 

BIGGEST WASTE OF AN ACTOR

Maura West. When you have someone on your canvas that arguably even people who hate her character appreciate her acting talents, and you give her this utter schlock? There is absolutely no excuse. The Denise fiasco was Ron at his absolute worst, and I lay 100% of the blame at his feet. When she told him she couldn't do the Brooklyn or whatever accent it was, his reaction was basically, whatever I don't care. And even before that, when she was isolated for weeks and weeks with nothing but the human coma to work against, up to now with this bizarre out of nowhere icky thing with Paul, it's just been a year of hideous writing. Sadly, I don't expect it to improve any time soon.

 

And adding my own category:

 

BEST SCENE STEALER

Baby Avery. Her little "uh oh"s and all around adorableness makes her a welcome sight and many times the only thing to look forward to.

Edited December 28, 2015 by tvgoddess

[SlovakPrincess]

All of it was terrible. The end.

Oh, ok ....

Best Story: I agree that the best "story" was Ron getting axed for his insane and ugly storytelling. Unfortunately, they waited a year too long.  I do credit the new writers for some necessary fixes (retconing it so Anna's not a murderer, ending the Robin madness).  But they have an almost impossible job, now.  

And the show is still sloppy, unpleasant, ugly and plot driven. And Dr O, Faison, Franco, and (probably) Jerry and Helena still live ... FAIL!! I'm not even holding my breath for the stupid mob characters to die at this point -- but give me a break on the fucking cartoon villians.

Best actress: I'll give it a tie for Finola and Becky Herbst. The show doesn't deserve them, and it's sad to watch them act their hearts out in stories that seemed designed to gut their characters. But they deserve an award for being such champs about it.
For the love of all that's holy, someone please give these very talented women jobs on a better show!

Best stand alone episode that made no sense in the context of the show's history: flashback to Boy Luke killing his parents. At least we got some great acting (most of it from Dee Wallace and the teenaged guest stars, but still ...), scenes longer than two seconds, and no Sonny, right? In a vacuum, it was a good episode.

But sorry, Luke and Barbara Jean did not grow up in middle class 'burbs. They grew up in a shitty, impoverished tenement on the waterfront, their mom died for lack of healthcare, and their dad abandoned them. The Eckert family wasn't checking in on them back then, or the children wouldn't have gone to live with Ruby the Whore With a Heart of Gold in Florida.

 

And nothing about that giant retcon actually explained the Fluke story, which involved Fluke trying to take over the mob, some manner of involvement with Victor getting Baby Shamwow killed, a lot of uncertainty as to when Luke was nuts and when he was sane, and a lot of hallucinating in a smelly basement with a corpse in it. Of course, in fairness, I'm not sure anything could explain that mess.

Best line from a complete and utter failure of a story: Luke's exit was an embarrassment from beginning to end ... But we'll always have "YOU'RE OLD, LUKE!" ... and the hilarious The Soup reenactment.

Worst waste of a murder storyline: Silas.

Come. On.  Look, I know I'm one of the few who actually liked the poor little guy ... but he was mostly harmless, a non-terrorist doctor on a show allegedly about a hospital, and there were so many worthier candidates whose death I would've really enjoyed!  And yet Franco still lives!  Are you kidding me????

Edited December 28, 2015 by SlovakPrincess

[Chairperson Meow]

Here's to a Bryan Craig music video in 2016!

[UYI]

No one forced him to do that shit. He thinks he's that hot and that that was a showcase for his 'music career'. That elevated him to Bryan Craig levels for me.

 

Oh. See, I didn't know that. I also have kept myself from watching it, too, so yeah. I'm not ready.

[Francie]

Here's to a Bryan Craig music video in 2016!

We'd have to scrape Ulkis off the floor or the ceiling. I'm not sure which.

We might never see her again.

[testardo]

You would never know that Becky dislikes what's being done to her character as much as a lot of viewers do by watching her onscreen.  That should be a given, but on a show full of performances where you can tell exactly how the actors feel about their story lines, it's not a given at all.  So kudos to her for not phoning it in when confronted with the shit she finds on her script on a daily basis.

We all know that, and its the same reason JT s leaving and S K left, all the favorits are bleeting.the show has its pets, and the rest of the characters are the goats.

[ulkis]

We'd have to scrape Ulkis off the floor or the ceiling. I'm not sure which.

We might never see her again.

If a "music video" involving Brybro and Thighbolt making out while some blaring music is heard in the backround appears on his instagram, I'm blaming/giving credit to you.

[TessHarding2]

I can't make your well thought out lists because I'm not watching.  I can't watch Laura be tell Mama everything.  I'm a lifelong Luke Spencer fan.  As far as I'm concerned Guza started his slow, embarrassing death in 2005 and it continued for 10 years.  When that skeletal corpse was propped up in the chair, I knew it was all over for real.  So I'll just say Best Actress and Best Actor - Finola and Tristan, and I'll happily live in the past.  

Edited December 29, 2015 by TessHarding2

[Chairperson Meow]

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?