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

[Ambrosefolly]

Worst Romance and Worst Storyline: Franco and Liz. When an ex-con that sexually used young teenage girls comes across as the most sympathetic, you have a problem with your storyline. Probably the most unsavory romance to come along in a long while, in a show where unsavory romance is raison d'être, in FV constant need to make Franco happen, they managed to torpedoed one of the better rape storylines in the process by making a history driven storyline all about a fucking serial killer instead of the rape victim. At least when Laura's rape was revisited in the late 90s, half the point of the storyline was to show how fucked up Luke and Laura's relationship was and Luke was in fact not a great person, dispute all the good works he had done.

[rur]

On 12/30/2016 at 10:33 AM, LeftPhalange said:

Most Ruined Character: Anna and Lulu. Anna's Justice For Duke crap was unbearable and now her righteous indigestion is aimed at Valentin. 

I'm guessing this is an autocorrect problem, however, 1) it's pretty funny and 2) it certainly identifies the audience's feelings toward the Justice for Duke storyline, so I hope it explains Finola's feelings at having to play it as well. 

[LeftPhalange]

1 hour ago, rur said:

I'm guessing this is an autocorrect problem, however, 1) it's pretty funny and 2) it certainly identifies the audience's feelings toward the Justice for Duke storyline, so I hope it explains Finola's feelings at having to play it as well. 

It was actually my attempt at being clever since I felt like I had indigestion during most of her scenes this year. I'm sure things are only going to get worse once

Spoiler

Olivia Jerome comes back

.

[Chairperson Meow]

Worst actor:   Maurice by a landslide, but Roger is coming close.  

Worst Actress:  earlier half of the year,MSt but once the crazy was dialed back,KSt.  I can't watch her ruin herself anymore.  

Best Actress:  LW for making me care about Morgan dying.   

Best Actor:  Richard Burgi for making a stupid story make some sense.   Runner up, ME for actually being great in the right 

Worst Romance:  Liz and Franco.   Also, Morgan/Kiki.  

Best Romance:  Dillon/Kiki, Laura/Kevin, also Valentin/Nina

Worst story:   the hospital closing on General Hospital, Franco and all of his stories, Sonny feels sad after doing shitty things. Except for killing AJ 

Best story:  Um... Curtis/Hayden teaming up.  

Most Wasted Potential:  Curtis/Hayden, Ignoring that Sonny killed AJ/that Jason had a brother named AJ whom is Michael's real father, Aging Can

Best New Character:  the lizard

[dubbel zout]

1 minute ago, Chairperson Meow said:

the hospital closing

Has that been dropped, or are we waiting for the "mysterious" person pulling Julian's strings to appear and do something there?

[Chairperson Meow]

7 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Has that been dropped, or are we waiting for the "mysterious" person pulling Julian's strings to appear and do something there?

I have no idea tbh.  I watch and see Sonny moping, Michael about to bang a girl that's clearly his sister, and Julexis talking about murder and alcohol.  Oh and Franco doing dumb stuff while Liz assures him he's great.  

[peachmangosteen]

9 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Has that been dropped, or are we waiting for the "mysterious" person pulling Julian's strings to appear and do something there?

Depends on whether or not the writers a) remember they wrote that and then b) get bored with whatever they're doing and drop it to bring the hospital story back.

Edited January 3, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[TeeVee329]

10 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Has that been dropped, or are we waiting for the "mysterious" person pulling Julian's strings to appear and do something there?

I think it's eventually going to be a thing again, Jelly hinted at it in the 2017 preview.

[Bringonthedrama]

On 12/31/2016 at 2:00 PM, rur said:

I'm guessing this is an autocorrect problem, however, 1) it's pretty funny and 2) it certainly identifies the audience's feelings toward the Justice for Duke storyline

Why only the Justice for Duke storyline? I feel righteous indigestion toward Anna because of Robin (and Emma), toward the Franco and Liz horror show, toward Sonny and Carly pretty much whenever they open their mouths, toward Lulu's batshit attitude about embryo-now Charlotte, toward...well, you get the idea. *Sigh* Show is best at stirring up indigestion and/or rages in the audience. 

[Oracle42]

I don't think FV/JP/SA have done anything well. 

The best thing about 2016 was that GH wasn't cancelled despite them and I get to continue to hope that they'll be replaced by competent persons who actually want to write and produce General Hospital.

[IWantCandy71]

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2016 at 1:00 PM, rur said:

Anna and Lulu. Anna's Justice For Duke crap was unbearable and now her righteous indigestion is aimed at Valentin. 

I've always kinda seen Anna as the righteous moral judge of Port Charles. I don't think this is a new thing. It's just that before, she had other things going on as well. It wasn't constant harping about the evils of someone else like it is now. But I  clearly remember DukeOliviaJulianVictor over and over, from back in the day. Her obsessive behavior is not new. It's just that she had friends and other things taking up her time, and now she doesn't.

[LeftPhalange]

31 minutes ago, IWantCandy71 said:

I've always kinda seen Anna as the righteous moral judge of Port Charles. I don't think this is a new thing. It's just that before, she had other things going on as well. It wasn't constant harping about the evils of someone else like it is now. But I  clearly remember DukeOliviaJulianVictor over and over, from back in the day. Her obsessive behavior is not new. It's just that she had friends and other things taking up her time, and now she doesn't.

Maybe back then she was a little less hypocritical and showed concern for her daughter? She's screaming about Justice For Duke, meanwhile he's no better than Julian and was about to have Jordan killed. She's obsessed with finding something incriminating against Valentin, meanwhile Dr. O walks around town with no worries. 

[SlovakPrincess]

9 hours ago, IWantCandy71 said:

I've always kinda seen Anna as the righteous moral judge of Port Charles. I don't think this is a new thing. It's just that before, she had other things going on as well. It wasn't constant harping about the evils of someone else like it is now. But I  clearly remember DukeOliviaJulianVictor over and over, from back in the day. Her obsessive behavior is not new. It's just that she had friends and other things taking up her time, and now she doesn't.

I wouldn't necessarily call her the moral judge but, yeah, she would always fixate on whatever mystery she was trying to solve at any given time, and tended toward being obsessive.  But back when the writers actually liked her and wanted her to be loveable, she would fixate on more understandable things (like, she was actually getting paid to solve the mystery or was protecting someone)  and / or take breaks to have friends and be funny and actually do normal people things.  

You'll never convince me the writers didn't go out of their way to ruin this once great character.   Sigh. 

Of course, they seem to think Franco deserves love and Sonny is just misunderstood and that making Sam bland is a smart artistic choice.  So who even knows what they are thinking.  

Edited January 5, 2017 by SlovakPrincess

[IWantCandy71]

On ‎1‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 9:12 AM, LeftPhalange said:

Maybe back then she was a little less hypocritical and showed concern for her daughter? She's screaming about Justice For Duke, meanwhile he's no better than Julian and was about to have Jordan killed. She's obsessed with finding something incriminating against Valentin, meanwhile Dr. O walks around town with no worries. 

Maybe, IDK.
 

Quote

 

You'll never convince me the writers didn't go out of their way to ruin this once great character.   Sigh. 

 

I think they just write all the women, and all the men, pretty much the same. The women are de-fanged doormats, and the men are troubled and dangerous, but we're supposed to believe they are "good" men worthy of love, anyway. I think it's more a case of, they either don't know how to write Anna, or they are apathetic about her-but I think they are apathetic about most of the characters. They LIKE Rebecca Budig, and nuGreenlee is blander than day old vanilla pudding.

Edited January 5, 2017 by IWantCandy71

[Lunula]

Best actor: Michael Easton. I like Hamilton Finn, though it irks me that everyone calls him by his surname like he's on a high school football team and that the writers are dragging out this mysterious illness thing.

Best actresses: Kathleen Gati, Carolyn Hennesy, Maura West. I'd also have to put all three in the "most wasted talent" category.

Best couples: Valentin and Nina, even though I think the shotgun wedding idea has ruined much of the intrigue for me. I'd also nominate Hayden & Hamilton Finn and Laura & Kevin.

Best almost-couple: I'd have to go with Ava and Nik on this one, I would've loved to see if Tyler Christopher had chemistry with Maura. 

Worst couple: Liz & Franco, hands down. Distant second place: Morgan & Kiki. 

Most ruined characters: Lulu & Dante, Anna, Liz, Alexis 

Best story-line: The Valentin/Anna connection. The story of Nelle had potential, but it now appears to be a rewrite of Carly's intro to PC and it is making me squirm in my chair (in a bad way) that Michael is developing romantic feelings for her. 

Worst story-line: The "hospital serial killer" and the incredibly stupid, inane and completely unbelievable way they turned it on Paul. I think he's also nominated for the most-wasted talent. Also, about 90% of all remaining story-lines (w/ a big shout-out to the Lulu-baby-embryo crap we are currently enduring).  

Worst actor: Ryan Pavey, or as I like to call him...Captain Cardboard

Best new characters: Curtis, Valentin

[yowsah1]

On 12/30/2016 at 9:36 AM, IWantCandy71 said:

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.

Every time I see Jason and Sam and their New Adventures in Boredom, all I can think is, "They trashed Liz for over a year for this?!?!

On 12/30/2016 at 10:33 AM, LeftPhalange said:

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

This is a big problem with the show.  The writers seem absolutely incapable/unwilling of coming up with a couple that the audience can stand to watch, or maybe even stay awake watching.  I remember reading a quote from a soap insider about the last year or so of GL before it died for good, that person said that characters were being put together on the basis of their actors contractual obligations or their availibility or how much they cost, rather than any real organic reason.  I'm getting the same vibe off of GH these days.

[yowsah1]

Since 2017 is officially in the rearview mirror, I'll start with my thoughts about the year past:

Best actresses:  Maura West and Becky Herbst.  Make no mistake, they both got given absolute shit to have to play this year, but they both gave it their all and found a way to shine.  Honorable Mention:  Laura Wright - when she's given good stuff to do, she rises to the occasion, but so often she is stuck playing one-note CarlyShrew stuff.

Best actor:  James Patrick Stuart.  The best of a bad lot.  It's infuriating how many actors are allowed to dial it in, sleepwalk through scenes, or otherwise stink up the screen while the ladyfolk are out there giving 110% every day.  JPS was the rare exception to this rule - the stuff he was given this year was all over the damn map, but no matter what, he sold it.  It speaks volumes about his talent that he came off as the more sympathetic character in Charlotte custody saga, even though on paper Lulu was the one we were supposed to be rooting for.

Best couples:   Griffin/Ava, Laura/Kevin (for a hot minute), Brad/Lucas (in absentia)

Best almost-couple:  Jason/Ava.  They worked well together in the scenes they shared plus their pairing would have had a lot of potential for soapy goodness.  Naturally, GH made sure this couple died a-borning.

Worst couple:   Franco/Liz.

Most ruined character:   Liz, forever stuck on Franco-propping duty, and Nelle, who had potential as a scheming vixen type but had that potential utterly squandered.

Best story-line:   Maddeningly, the Return of Jason.  For a few short weeks, the writers proved that they could write suspenseful, exciting soap, could craft a plot that made sense and moved along logically, could come up with an umbrella story that brought in all sorts of different characters and showed how the big event affected them in different ways.  They could do it.  So why don't they the rest of the year?

Worst story-line:   Ass Man Landers.  Unfunny, badly plotted, nonsensical, and dragged out way to excruciatingly long.

Worst actor:   Maurice Bernard.  He gets worse every year.

Best new character:   Kim.  I have no doubt that GH will waste her like they do every other new character they bring on, but it's a treat watching Tamara Braun knock it out of the park.

Edited January 2, 2018 by yowsah1

[ulkis]

My Worst and Slightly Less Worse of GH 2018:

Less Worse Actress: Kirsten Storms, NLG.

Worst Actress: Kelly Monaco, who gets the Michael Easton subtle level of acting award this year. Tamara Braun.

Less Worse Actor: Dominic Zamprogna, probably bouyed by impending freedom, was great in his scenes with Mike, the ones with surrounding Nathan and playing bad Dante for an episode.

William Lipton. A nice last quarter of the year surprise. Instant connection with all his co-stars.

Worst Actor: Garren Stream Stitt feels too easy, but it is he.

Less Worse Story: Mike, before it descended into mob nonsense.

Worst Story: Harvey/Greg Evigan fracks Port Charles and oh by the way molested Franco.

Less Worse New Character: Chase and Cam.

Worst New Character: Margaux. The spelling of her name is irritating, her plot is dumb, her blazers oversized.

Edited December 29, 2018 by ulkis

[yowsah1]

My Bests (grading on a curve here) and Worsts of 2018:

BEST ACTOR
Max Gail/Jon Lindstrom (tie)
Max Gail was only brought on the show to be in a storyline expressly designed to win an Emmy for Maurice Bernard, but he totally stole the show with his heartbreaking portrayal of a man slowly succumbing to the ravages of Alzheimers.  Meanwhile, Jon Lindstrom showed exactly why vets should be cherished as he rocked the house as gleefully psychotic Ryan.

BEST ACTRESS
Maura West
Over and over again, Maura West spins gold out of the dross the writers constantly dish out to her (and other characters as well).  But when the writers finally deliver something good - the scene where Ava is confronted by the body of her dead, murdered daughter - she is heartbreakingly, devastatingly great.

WORST ACTOR
Steve Burton
C'mon dude, you can at least try...

WORST ACTRESS
Kelly Monaco
This is the performance of a woman who has just given up.

BEST CHARACTER
Liz 
2018 was the year the character of Liz finally came in to her own, as the loving mother raising three appealing children, dealing with their isuues while also balancing the demands of her career and her romance with Franco.  (Hey, I'm not claiming she was perfect or anything).  On a properly written soap, she would be the shows central heroine.  Instead she's a side character, and we are all forced to sit through the show expecting us to root for uber-shrew Carly.

WORST CHARACTER
Jim Harvey 
GH tried to make Jim Harvey the Swiss Army Knife of soap villains in his short time on the show - not only was he spearheading in a dastardly fracking scheme that caused a (supposed-to-be-but-not-really)) devastating earthquake to rock Port Charles, but he also turned out have molested Franco when Franco was a child.  But his role never came together in any meaningful way, he had no character beats beyond "I'm evil", and he was a total waste of the talents of Greg Evigan.  Just a dud all around.

BEST STORY
Nelle gaslights Carly, then gives Michael's son to Brad
Nelle finally became the schemer that the show kept insisting she was supposed to be in this storyline.  The highlight was when she flung herself down the stairs than claimed that Carly had pushed her - a callback to when Carly had tripped and fallen down the same set of stairs then claimed that A.J. pushed her all those years ago.  Even after she was discovered and her scheme revealed she had one last trick up her sleeve - she gave her newborn baby to Brad to replace the recently deceased Wiley, then passed off the dead baby as the one she had conceived with Michael.  On a show that keeps flubbing one story opportunity after another, this one stood out as a storyline that actually hit all the beats it was supposed to, and had forward momentum, a decent plot arc, and continuing fallout.

WORST STORY
Jim Harvey fracked Port Charles, molested Franco, and (worst of all) kicks off the Croton mess
Speaking of a storyline that hit all the beats it was supposed to, and had forward momentum, a decent plot arc, and continuing fallout, this had none of the above.  It was just a bunch of disconnected scenes that added up to less than nothing in the end.

BEST COUPLE
Anna/Finn
They were fun, flirty, and cute on a show that desperately needed some lightness to balance out the grimdark crapfest everywhere else.

WORST COUPLE
JaSam 
Whatever chemistry or appeal this coupling has had, it is long since gone.  Besides the fact that the two actors involved look actively repulsed by each other, the pairing also had to decimate every smidgen of character growth Sam had shown to happen.  It's just not working on any level any more.  Put them out of our misery and break them up already!

WORST POTENTIAL COUPLE
Sonny/Margeaux
"Hey other writer guys, this Croton storyline is nearly misogynistic enough.  I mean, we haven't hideously degraded one female character in the course of it yet!  So, I've got a great idea - let's have Margeaux get fucked by the very man that murdered her father and also have her throw away every moral, scruple, or even what basic decency she may have possessed to have it happen!"
"Wow, that idea is vile, disgusting, and shameful... IT'S PERFECT!!!  MarSon, here we come!"

MOST WASTED ACTORS
James Patrick Stuart/William de Vry 
Both these actors are talented and both of them try hard, but the show seems to actively hate their presence and constantly gives them shit to do.  Stuart is stuck in the Wash-Rinse-Repeat cycle of his relationship with Nina, while DeVry's genuinely compelling story - that of a bad man trying to put his past behind him and become a better person - is barely even touched upon.  Both these actors are way more gifted than the shows' supposed "leads", so naturally, they are ignored and their opportunities to contribute to the canvas bungled at every turn.

MOST WASTED ACTRESS
Tamara Braun/Elizabeth Hendrickson (tie)
These are mutliple Emmy-nominated (Braun actually won one) actresses, folks.  Bear that in mind as you watch the show contemptuously stick them in unactable dross.

MOST WASTED CHARACTER
Drew
A man with no memories of his mysterious past, who has been given someone else's memories and must cope with emotions he knows are not really his.  This should be a major story, as Drew tries to find out who he really is, as things pop up out of a past he can't remember, as mysterious shards of memory pop up that lead to more questions ...  Instead, it's a side note to a character the showrunners clearly can't figure out or don't care what to do with.  On a show full of wasted talent and wasted potential, this stands out as the biggest waste.

Edited December 30, 2018 by yowsah1

[Hater]

I've barely watched this side show this year, but the ones I can grade I will:

Worst Actress: Kelly Monaco.  She never was a great actress, she never lit up the screen.  Has been going through the motions for years now.  But she has been especially horrible this year and especially horrible after her preferred pairing was busted up in favor of JaSam.  The woman is lifeless and it's not only with Burton.  It's with 95% of the cast.  I can recall maybe two or three scenes where she has looked happy to be doing her job since March.  One when Lucas first named Sam godmother of Wiley and then when she shared a scene with Drew in July and November.  Everything else has drifted between coma level or "high on drugs happiness" to the point where it comes off as unnatural and you know she's not truly happy to be acting (see NYE with JaSam).  I know this sounds ridiculous but the woman has zero lightness in her eyes, completely dead and she can convey emotion with her eyes when she wants...it's just GONE.  The smile never reaches her eyes anymore.

Worst Actor:  Garren Stitt. Horrible horrible horrible. Giving a kid who cannot act his way out of a paper bag a cancer story! WTF is Frank thinking?

Best Actor: William Lipton.  Only decent addition to the cast this year.

Best Actress: Becky Herbst.  Never phones it in and has really found nice footing with the kids.

Best Character: Dante/Nathan.   Good men.  So good, their best option was to get out of Port Charles.  Good guys like them just can't hack it in Port Charles when the moral center is the unholy trio.

Honorable Mention:  Julian. Yes Julian actually tried to become a decent person this year.

Worst Character:  Sam McCall/Kim Nero.   This year 100% proved that she is defined by Jason and only Jason.  When he says jump, she says how high?  She has no personality and no defining qualities.  Shallow, vapid, stupid, brainless...and it is caped off with Monaco's acting this year.  Please throw Sam off a cliff.  Kim just goes from bland to blander.  A horribly developed character, I can't believe Tamara took on this dud role.

Worst Couple:  JaSam.   This is the most overrated pairing in the history of soaps. Passionless, coma inducing and the appeal of a wet fart. The truth is Billy's Jason brought some type of freshness to a stale, sexless, and dull couple.    They have zero story left to tell.  Pulling out some garbage from a decade ago when Sam was a  con and having Jason involved seems like the writers are desperate for something to give to them because there is nothing organic about them. Everything has been done to death with them and yet here we are at the end of the 2018 and this garbage, along with Carson is still being pushed.  Not only is there no story to tell, the chemistry is on life support. When you can almost always tell that Monaco is taking a deep breath/gulp each time Burton plants his infamous "duck lips"  on her mouth... you know it's bad.  I have no clue how this pairing has as large of a fanbase as they do.

Best Couple:  Franco/Liz, only because Becky and Roger have built a nice rapport with each other and they have chemistry with the children as well. As for the characters themselves, not a big fan but again the pairings are so horrible on this show that they stand out because they actually vibe well on screen.

Most Wasted Character: Drew Cain.  So much story to tell with his memories instead he's used as a prop for Franco's background in the child molestation story and now propping his dopey "son" who looks nothing like him.  He is completely isolated from the majority of the characters on the canvas and he should be used more often as a bridge to the Quartermaines.  GH doesn't give two shits about this character and it's 4 years now with Billy Miller playing a complete tool. Margo got a background story before he did.

Honorable Mention:  Dante.  I think this has been a given every year, but Dom was smart and left.....

The worst story that never was:  "The Triangle."  Whatever the issue BTS or writing this was a clear bust.  What should have been the biggest story of the year for GH turned into one pairing being completely pulled in favor of the sex-less and worst pairing of the year- Jason and Sam. I have no clue what the actors did backstage, but to pull a story because your actors are having tantrums seems like a bad move creatively.

Worst Story: Oscar's Cancer.  I don't care about this newbie getting cancer.  I don't care about his memory less dad moping about the kid he barely knows getting cancer. I also don't care about his mother lying about it for years.  Plus the make up department doesn't even bother to make Oscar look sick.  Nor does the actor act sick most of the time. 

Overall this has been the worst year of Frank's reign as producer. CVE and Altman are terrible and I have no kind words for them in 2018.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Hater

[HeatLifer]

23 minutes ago, Hater said:

I have no clue how this pairing has as large of a fanbase as they do.

Today? Nostalgia. And wanting their years-long investment in the couple not to go to waste. The fanbase is very much fractured, though. I don’t think the popularity is what it once was during the JaSam vs. Liason days, when “winning” Jason was seen as a badge of honor.

[Hater]

2 minutes ago, HeatLifer said:

Today? Nostalgia. And wanting their years-long investment in the couple not to go to waste. The fanbase is very much fractured, though. I don’t think the popularity is what it once was during the JaSam vs. Liason days, when “winning” Jason was seen as a badge of honor.

It has to be nostalgia because what is on screen is terrible, writing and acting. At this point those who still like them and are claiming "it's good"  and "they're great" are doing it out of spite and I truly mean that.  They want to be spiteful and "stick it to the other side."  An unbiased viewer can see how bad they are on all fronts.

For me there is zero story here, unless these characters are going to change and do something different they're going to be exactly like Carly and Sonny, a place to hold both characters.  Carly and Sonny do not engage in romance anymore.  That's what JaSam will be.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Hater

[nilyank]

2018 Year in review

BEST ACTOR
Max Gail
When I think of this past year and the actor that has moved me on multiple times, it was Max Gail and his portrayal of Mike. I don't care if this storyline was cooked up as Emmy bait for Maurice and to give Sonny his big story for the year. Max has done everything to make me care about his version of Mike  and he has great scenes with the actors that play various Corinthii and Stella in particular

BEST ACTRESS
Genie Francis. It has been years since she was given more than just handful of scenes with her kids or propping up Luke's character, so I am giving to this year as she has interacted with so many characters as she tries to figure out her life since returning from France. Did Maura West have the more showy role with the death of Kiki? Sure, but I am unmoved after the initial reveal of Kiki's death as Ava continues to act hateful to everyone except Ryan. 

WORST ACTOR
Garret whatever his name is, the kid that plays Oscar. Can't act, has no chemistry with the actors that play his family (except a bit with Monica), his girlfriend, or any actors that he has interacted in his big storyline with his illness. Giving Oscar this cancer story would be moving if it involved an actor capable of this material

WORST ACTRESS
Kelly Monaco
She was never any good but it seems that she has given up trying and too much BTS BS has tainted her scenes with SB and BM

BEST CHARACTER
Maxie
I think this year has been great for the character as she has lost her husband, gave birth to her son, and is trying to find her footing after losing Nathan. I like her relationships with Nathan's family after his death(yes I include Peter who I do like) 

WORST CHARACTER
Franco
For the actor, he had more offensive years, but I still cannot that Liz is stuck with his actor despite what chemistry the actors may have together. I would prefer if Liz was living her life and dealing with her boys without having Franco attached to make his character palatible.

BEST STORY
Nathan's death and the fallout.
I thought Nathan and the actor were pretty but mainly he just a tree stump. The storyline leading to his death and the fallout and the effect on his wife and family was extremely moving, and I thought it was all great

WORST STORY
Drew and his memories on the flashdrive. This story went nowhere despite being all the false starts and we still don't know what the hell they are going to do with Drew's memories for the upcoming 2019. The only part that I liked in this story was finding out Andre was involved and his scenes with Anna when he explained why he did what he did

BEST COUPLE
Mac/Felicia and TJ/Molly. Sadly the only stable relationships are those that we don't see because the charactes are recurring hence probably why they are healthy.
On the show, I have no doubt Valentine/Nina love each other or Franco/Liz are going strong, but I cannot support either couple

WORST COUPLE
JaSam 
BTS BS and horrible writing that has been drawing out the reunion, with no end in sight. 

MOST WASTED ACTOR
Dominic Zamprogna was great but wasted for the past few years and now he is longer on the show. If they did already do the death of Nathan, I would have preferred them killing off Dante rather than him going secretly undercover to find the guy that pushed Lulu off the Haunted Star. 

BEST FRIENDSHIP
Mike and Stella. Their scenes were great and in the case of Stella, they gave a better view of the character than her ongoing disapproval of Jordan

WORSE FRIENDSHIP
Drew and Franco. Forced bonding, retcon connection a children and even more forced bonding. Again, they used Drew to prop Franco when Drew would have avoided talking to him after the initial crisis of Jim was over

[sunnyface]

Worst Actor - Maurice/GS

Worst Character - Sonny

Edited December 30, 2018 by sunnyface
Sonny

[dubbel zout]

8 hours ago, HeatLifer said:

8 hours ago, Hater said:

I have no clue how [Jason and Sam] has as large of a fanbase as they do.

Today? Nostalgia. And wanting their years-long investment in the couple not to go to waste.

Jason returning after five years should have been a dynamite story, but it was completely botched on every level. That's the everyday problem of GH: Ideas with decent (or better) potential are completely wasted.

[HeatLifer]

4 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Jason returning after five years should have been a dynamite story, but it was completely botched on every level. That's the everyday problem of GH: Ideas with decent (or better) potential are completely wasted.

The writing was always going to be shoddy, so I blame the actors for how this one turned out. There’s a difference between not having natural chemistry but still trying to attempt a connection by ACTING and doing what you’re paid to do and literally just memorizing lines and waiting for cut.

[Cheyanne11]

Unpopular opinion of the year: I'm not impressed with Max Gail's portrayal.  He's gotten better, but he looks like he's going to bust out laughing sometimes.

[Nique]

2018

Best Actress: Maura West

Runner UP: Kirsten Storms even though she hasn't had shit to do since right after Nathan's funeral but prop Bootleg Juilliard. But she was a revelation earlier in the yr with the month & 1/2 of material she was given

Best Actor: Tie Max Gail & Jon Lindstrom

Worst Actor: Wes Ramsey. It's easier to pick the kid who plays Oscar but he has potential to grow. WR on the other is so fucking godawful that he gives Juilliard where he went a bad name. He is 43 & is outacted by the kids on this show. He has nothing going for him no charisma, no screen presence, no chemistry with anybody, no talent. It's clear the only reason he is still here & was cast is fucking LW. They got rid of the 1st Cam for less shit. 

Best Waste of talent: Shit I could name half of the cast but I go with the biggest Dom Z. Hands down the best actor this show had since Jason Thompson & they fucking Ran him away! You know instead of giving him a story we were subjected to WR non acting ass shoved where he didn't belong. Dom hasn't had much of shit since his introduction but when Nate died he gave an amazing performance showing what this show was wasting in him & Dante. Instead of going where the story was & where it wrote itself Maxie/Dante/Lulu we got Dante languishing on the backburner only being seen when he had to arrest one of his fam members. He never got to see his best friend baby say goodbye to his mom. What a fucking waste

Pt 2 coming up

[ulkis]

2 minutes ago, Nique said:

Worst Actor: Wes Ramsey. It's easier to pick the kid who plays Oscar but he has potential to grow. WR on the other is so fucking godawful that he gives Juilliard where he went a bad name. He is 43 & is outacted by the kids on this show

Now now, he's 41 lol.

That's why I said GS was too easy, but I'd give my worst actor runner up to Matt Cohen, who has two expressions.

Bootleg Julliard is hilarious though.

[Nique]

13 minutes ago, ulkis said:

Now now, he's 41 lol.

That's why I said GS was too easy, but I'd give my worst actor runner up to Matt Cohen, who has two expressions.

Bootleg Julliard is hilarious though.

I read he was 43 oh well take a yr or two away same objective😄

I actually think MC is a good actor & can act but isn't made out for Soaps. It's really sad that in almost 3 yrs they haven't been able to find shit to do with him. He should've have been Anna's son either tanker baby or jumping the ship(DnA fetus baby) but not in the Assassination of Anna kinda way like PLP. He has great chem with the Devane-Scorpio-Jones Clan but I can't have nice things.

[dubbel zout]

I agree that Matt Cohen hasn’t gotten decent material, but who has? Soap acting is a particular skill, but his stories haven’t been demanding at all. I’m not sure he’s all that talented. He’s super nice to look at, though, and that’s something.

[ulkis]

2 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I agree that Matt Cohen hasn’t gotten decent material, but who has? Soap acting is a particular skill, but his stories haven’t been demanding at all. I’m not sure he’s all that talented. He’s super nice to look at, though, and that’s something.

I think that's what I would be saying too if they could have at least found something for him to do. It's been three years of randomness. Well actually they were starting to hit upon something soapy with the Kiki/Ava/Griffin stuff but then they decided to kill Kiki off, so that's off the table.

[Nique]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I agree that Matt Cohen hasn’t gotten decent material, but who has? Soap acting is a particular skill, but his stories haven’t been demanding at all. I’m not sure he’s all that talented. He’s super nice to look at, though, and that’s something.

I'm not making excuses I'm just stating that he has been here almost 4 yrs & they still don't know what to do with him. He is just floundering round & like everyone except for the core 5 The Unholy Trinity+Sam & PLP they've no idea what to do with him. Unless they actually decide to do a double take & give fans something they want which was him as Anna's son, then they should just let MC go so he can use his talent where they would be better suited ie: Prime Time/Movies

[statsgirl]

I don't find MC that attractive because most of the time he looks like he's got a gut pain.

I agree that everyone gets crappy writing and that they don't know what to do with him.  But one thing that actors like HE and MW do is even when they have crappy writing, they commit to it. MC could have committed to being a priest of questionable morals, someone who is about saving women and moves on rather than genuinely loving them, and that would have grounded the character. But instead he floats through his scenes as if looking pained is enough.  My vote for worst actor.

[Ambrosefolly]

35 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

I don't find MC that attractive because most of the time he looks like he's got a gut pain.

I agree that everyone gets crappy writing and that they don't know what to do with him.  But one thing that actors like HE and MW do is even when they have crappy writing, they commit to it. MC could have committed to being a priest of questionable morals, someone who is about saving women and moves on rather than genuinely loving them, and that would have grounded the character. But instead he floats through his scenes as if looking pained is enough.  My vote for worst actor.

 

HE and especially MW were/are given more consistent writing. They love throwing those big dramatic scenes at MW so she can rack up another Emmy nom and HE got the topical #MeToo storyline and was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with her leaving GH, and they have family and friends on screen. Franco sucks, but they often have him talking with Kiki and Ava has Julian, Scott (which I never liked bc he is supporting a murder. He helped her get away with murdering an innocent woman). Griffin isn't friends with anyone and his on screen father was dead for a while. They didn't take advantage of his resembelence to Stuart Damon and make him a Q, and they never address the supposed friendship with Lucas.  MC needs to got to an acting coach if he wants to keep his job, but at least MW and HE get a coherrent storyline every once in while MC gets back to back crap storylines.

[dubbel zout]

11 hours ago, Ambrosefolly said:

Griffin isn't friends with anyone

He's got Anna, Emma, and Robin, but we don't often see Anna and Griffin together just to talk. There's always another reason, like it's Christmas Eve (and he didn't stay, the loser) or whatever. Griffin and Finn should be closer friends, but the show hates friendships of any sort unless your names are Carly, Jason, and Sonny.

Ugh. This fakakta show.

[Ambrosefolly]

16 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

He's got Anna, Emma, and Robin, but we don't often see Anna and Griffin together just to talk. There's always another reason, like it's Christmas Eve (and he didn't stay, the loser) or whatever. Griffin and Finn should be closer friends, but the show hates friendships of any sort unless your names are Carly, Jason, and Sonny.

Ugh. This fakakta show.

 

You mean Emma and Robin, who both live in California? So that just leaves Anna, and they don't interact nearly as much as Franco and Kiki did. And I am not joking about the acting coach: I really think he needs, especially considering how crappy the writing is for Griffin. 

[Nique]

My Best & Mostly just worst continue.

Best Story: Not a single damn one. Their are a couple that had potential but in good o'l GH fashion they either suck the life out of it(Mike's Alzheimer's, "Ryan's" Return)never got off the ground Jasam/Dream (the triangle from boring hell that never went anywhere),Exploring a Newly Widow(Maxie)dealing with being pregnant with her deceased husband baby & a single mother through various methods. Or a Maxie/Lante story in the aftermath of Nate's death that you know wrote itself. Liz's child being bullied by his aunts daughter while simultaneously ignoring they're related & Liz you know the one we have investment in being a afterthought in her own story.

Worst Story: Everything involving Nepotism in Nepotism gone very wrong. This is what happens when you got an executive who thinks his 2 leads are GH a soap that's been around longer then either has been alive. This is what happens when they decide to Cater to an Actress by hiring her boytoy.

Everything that has happened to Maxie/Anna is a pure result of a backstage agenda to make Wes fit/work on this show. Why Assassinate a beloved legendary heroine(by making her a rapist to the man who tortured her for decades & making him a victim of her's)to give her a "child" which isn't even about her & when she has real history of missing yrs when presumed dead with Robert in 91 aka Tanker Baby to give her a child?Cause Wes was to old to be the Tanker Baby. So Anna gets decimated to accommodate him & 33 yrs of history trashed.

Why systematically destroy a hugely popular legacy character & her hugely popular romance by killing of said love interest just cause the actor was leaving when their was absolutely no reason to put Maxie through this(death of someone she luvs again esp cause their is no follow through)?Cause with an alive/recast Nate GH couldn't force a PLP/Maxie pairing.

I have never seen a character come on & take down as many characters as PLP has in a matter of months.

I think it was Shelley(HW)who said they don't care about history & it shows. You've no show without history. It's what connects the past & present, it's what drives character their past/history, it is what connects us to a show, the characters, why we invest in them. Without that you're nothing.

Best Actor: Jon Lindstrom & Max Gail. Jon is single handedly the reason why any of this Ryan stuff is bearable given how awfully constructed is. 1st all the key players are missing, 2nd Laura is being dumbed down to drag this shit out(though I should be thankful this vile as show didn't have her raped again)Kevin is barely shown along with his struggle & one to many people who shouldn't be in this story are & leading it. GH is so good & not in a good way at screwing a story 6 diff ways from Sunday.

Worst Misuse of a Actor: Ryan Carnes in the babyswitch that on any other soap that isn't GH could've been good. First we barely ever see Lucas, no buildup to their adoption story, doesn't ever get to see his baby after it's born. We get some contrived nonsense that keeps Lucas away so we are already robbed of the impact of Lucas learning his child is dead. Now with the family connection Via his mother to Michael, we don't get the powerful fallout of Lucas learning he is raising his nephew baby.

We were robbed of the emotional connection cause it was never given or shown it with Lucas & the baby before it died. No beats were played, no family history was played upon.

RC has proven himself to be a great actor but one this show barely gives a fuck about. So what's the point of imploding Lucas along with his relationship with Brad? Esp when we knew the ending from the very beginning.

Worst Character: Same as worst story

Biggest Reason Why Frank & the writer's should be fired besides this show being a piece of shit? Firing Genie Francis & only rehiring cause backlash was so bad & then completely shit upon her & Laura weeks after she returned. Petty ass bitches

[Hater]

Bump.  Reading through this, the show managed to get worse in 2019.  

[mbluecpa]

Relatively new to posting here, though not to the show, but I’ll take a first shot:

Best Actress/Actor: Maura West/Jon Lindstrom (as Ryan).  She has chemistry with everyone and he is so good as Ryan, and completely opposite his portrayal of Kevin.  Glad the character and actor remain on, even if only sporadically.  

Worst Actress/Actor:  Kelly Monaco/too many to list.  KeMo for reasons that have been well-discussed here.

Best Character: Liesel.  A shame I had to go to a recurring character but I envision the writers arguing over who gets to write for her.  Soap evil, with a healthy serving of camp played very well by KG.

Worst Character: lots of choices, so I can only narrow down to three.  Mental/emotional Drew inside physical Franco, Dev, and Kim.  Dev is pointless and Kim brought the crazy in a bad way.  

Best Couple: Chase/Willow.  Yeah, they’re pretty bland, but they’re functional and they actually have honest conversations.  And JS is nice to look at.  Honorable mentions (non-romantic division): Curtis/Drew, Curtis/Hayden, Ava/Trina, Ava/Julian, Chase/Finn.

Worst Couple: Joss/Oscar.  I realize teen couples are a staple, so I pin this on the writers more than the pairing as it was a year of having them shoved down our throats.

Best Story: Codicil-gate, particularly of late.  The Ava tie-in, an unexpected alliance between Ava and Nina, and me hoping against hope that Constance Towers will unexpectedly walk into a scene....

Worst Story: The Wiley switcheroo.  These stories have soap potential but this one has way outlived its shelf-life and grown tentacles into other stories.  I keep forgetting the real story and who knows what. 

[dubbel zout]

1 hour ago, mbluecpa said:

me hoping against hope that Constance Towers will unexpectedly walk into a scene....

*cue Epiphany singing "You Are Not Alone"*

The Dev story has my vote for worst of the year, though I know someone will remember something worse from earlier. But of the current stories, I think it's far and away the most terrible. There's no point to it at all.

Edited December 31, 2019 by dubbel zout
typo

[nilyank]

Worse Story: Dawn of Day especially once they handed the bulk of the material to focus on Shiloh's fixation/revenge on Sam.

Best Story: I think a lot of the Ryan's doings and his capture was pretty damn good. 

Best Tearjerker: a lot of the Mike stuff has hit me hard so I will go with that

Worst Tearjerker: Oscar's dying/death. Who cares? No one. Can Joss fall into her next teen romance so that we could never hear that name again.

Best Actress: Maura did some great stuff with Kiki's death but I didn't really care for grief afterwards. 

Best Actor: JL as Ryan and Kevin. Two distinct characters well played by him.

Worst Actor: the kid that played Oscar. The show gave him material that he could not handle and we had to suffer for it.

Biggest Waste of Time: Franco as Drew. We all knew that we would never be freed from the character of Franco and knew that our least favorite serial killer would be back despite all the hemming and hawing about the procedure being impossible or even deadly, Franco as Drew talking ad nauseam about Kim, the pointless hookup with Kim, the stupid bonding scenes with Monica, and multiple characters being worried that Franco was gone forever. As if.

Biggest Waste of a Character: Hayden. They brought her back to tease some of Nikolas' stupid plans, act thirsty over Finn, and introduce Violet before being forced to leave town

Most Anticipated Secret to be Reveal: Ryan is alive and has been killing people while pretending to be Kevin

Most Anticipated Secret that has long gotten old: Wiley is Jonah

Secret that should get a ton of people angry: Nikolas is alive and has been in town for months

Best Couple Onscreen: Willow and Chase. Pretty couple that actually talk their problems with each other and have nice chemistry.

Best Couple Offscreen: TJ and Molly. They have one of the strongest relationships as they moved from friends to high school sweethearts, to falling in love, living together, and possible engagement in their future. A lot of their romance has been offscreen including when Molly lost her virginity. 

Worst Couple: Liz and Franco. HATE is too mild with what I feel when it come to Liz and the serial killer. 

 

Edited December 31, 2019 by nilyank

[tvgoddess]

1 hour ago, dubbel zout said:

The Dev story has my vote for worst of the year, though I know someone will remember something worse from earlier.

I honestly can't remember if Oscar died this year or last, it feels like it's been going on for so long. If it's this year, I'll say anything involving his death and the ramifications. Runners-up: Shiloh and Dawn of Day, Carly is pregnant, Baby Gate, anything related to Nina. Okay, I'll say it. A lot of this show just flat out sucks.

52 minutes ago, nilyank said:

Biggest Waste of a Character: Hayden. They brought her back to tease some of Nikolas' stupid plans, act thirsty over Finn, and introduce Violet before being forced to leave town

I'll also say it's a waste of Rebecca Budig (actress). There's no good reason they wrote such crap for her and wasted her time and ours by not writing for her at all for at least two months. She started out good and soapy, then languished for most of the summer except bits and pieces with Jax, and unexplored chemistry with most of the canvas. It got better towards the end, but then she was kicked out and we lost out on Hayden getting to bond more with Liz and her nephews. Plus it would have been nice to see them try a ONS with anyone else besides Basic McBoring. Sorry, I know I've ranted about this until I'm blue in the face and you guys are sick of hearing it. But I'm still pissed as hell at the whole thing.

1 hour ago, mbluecpa said:

Honorable mentions (non-romantic division): Curtis/Drew, Curtis/Hayden, Ava/Trina, Ava/Julian

Trying to get on my good side, are you? Come sit by me. Agree with so much of your entire post. Great job.

Edited December 31, 2019 by tvgoddess

[ulkis]

Worst return: Jax. Jax is fine. But it's been so lackluster.

Edited January 1, 2020 by ulkis

[GHScorpiosRule]

10 minutes ago, ulkis said:

 

Worst return: Jax. Jax is fine. But it's been so lackluster.

I’d say Boris’ return was the worst. Both character and story line, even if it’s linked to Jax’s return.

[tvgoddess]

Here's Fairman's Best and Worst of 2019 for all Soaps:

 

[dubbel zout]

Maurice Benard gets a best actor nod from Fairman? LOL. MB hasn't put any effort into his performance for years. The only time I get any genuine emotion is when he's with the bebes, and that's Mo coming through, not Sonny.

Michael Easton in that tie also is LOL-worthy. The acting nods I do agree with are for Max Gail, Maura West (I'm not a fan of her acting style, but she gives it her all), and Kathleen Gati as a scene stealer.

[BlancheDevoreaux]

I'm going to leave out the child actors and characters here, but teens are fair game.

 

Best actor: Jon Linstrom. There are times I actually forget it is the same actor playing Ryan and Kevin.

Worst actor: Maurice Bernard. I considered Steve Burton but he at lest learns his lines.

Best actress: Maura West. She had chemistry with everyone and gives Ava such depth.

Worst actress: Kelly Monaco

Best male character: Jax

Worst male character: Oscar. Zzzzzzzzz

Best female character: Ava

Worst female character: Kim. 

Best couple: Chase and Willow. They have adult conversations and address problems maturely.

Worst couple: Carly and Sonny. They break up and get back together all the time.. and I'm never interested.

Best storyline: Ryan, especially as Kevin with Ava.

Worst storyline: Sonny and Margeaux Dawson. They had that disgusting flirting and actually excused Sonny killing her dad because the mom was having an affair. Gross. 

Edited January 1, 2020 by BlancheDevoreaux

[Asp Burger]

People I enjoyed watching in 2019: Maura West, Nancy Lee Grahn, Rebecca Herbst, William Lipton, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Rebecca Budig, Chloe Lanier, Jon Lindstrom (more for Ryan than for Kevin).  

Even when I did not like their material, I liked their performances. 

Honorable mentions: Max Gail is usually sharing the screen with people I don't want to watch, but credit to him for courageous, believable work in a tough story. I'd also love to see Coby Ryan McLaughlin in a different role somewhere. 

Josh Swickard is likable and charming, and that usually is more than enough for what he has to do. I'm just not sure I like him enough to see him carrying a story.  

I would add Donnell Turner, but so many of Curtis's scenes are with Jordan. I tried to give Briana Henry time to settle in, but while she does not bother me, she and Turner don't have chemistry. He did have that with the original Jordan. I can't care much about their couple issues. 

I consider Cynthia Watros and Marcus Coloma very good recasts. They are very different from the actors we most associate with the roles, but they bring some pluses too.

Everyone else was somewhere on the spectrum between "Eh, fine" and "Go away." This includes some people I have a history of liking, such as Finola Hughes, who just did not in this year win the battle with lackluster material the way some of those at the top did.

The test I apply: Would I be unhappy, indifferent, or thrilled if the news broke that a particular character was being written out or recast? There are some of all three. 

Edited January 1, 2020 by Asp Burger

[TeeVee329]

Here's a more minor Worst, but it still sticks in my craw - Sonny being part of the Gail memorial episode.  He got her granddaughter hooked on drugs and put her on the pole, he doesn't get to enjoy a cute scavanger hunt and get covered in glitter.