GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[Tiger]

http://abc.soapsindepth.com/2015/07/new-twist-in-prospect-park-lawsuit.html

Do we have any lawyers, paralegals, or even "Suits" fans who can explain to me why this lawsuit has been allowed to drag out longer than a Ron Carlivati "plot"?

[Dandesun]

It's a bankruptcy case and those just tend to go for a very long time. My company has been engaged in such a thing with a customer that filed for five years now. Every few months we get about four copies of a new delay. Bankruptcy cases drag. They just do.

[yowsah1]

IANAL, but I think it is safe to say that if Prospect Park's biggest "asset" is a lawsuit they very well may not win, they are really in deep doo-doo.  I'm starting to think that all ABC will need to do here is wait them out.

[dubbel zout]

That always seemed the likely outcome to me, given that PP had money problems from the beginning. ABC can delay the trial indefinitely, while PP racks up legal fees.

[ulkis]

youtube recommended me this. Why am I getting all emotional over Steve Burton and Jonathan Jackson's friendship?

 

 

ETA: ratings. 

 

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2015/08/ratings-yrbb-up-in-women-18-49-demo

Edited August 1, 2015 by ulkis

[Oracle42]

I miss Lucky

[Francie]

Do we have any lawyers, paralegals, or even "Suits" fans who can explain to me why this lawsuit has been allowed to drag out longer than a Ron Carlivati "plot"?

Civil lawsuits take a long time. And, along the lines Dandesun said, bankruptcies take an especially long time. 

 

Here, PP first attempted a re-organization type bankruptcy.  Usually that means that the bankrupt company gets to tell their creditors "hold tight and we'll set up a payment plan."  Here, what I've read is that PP was attempting to liquidate their entire estate, but they wanted to remain in control of the process. 

 

PP's biggest asset was its lawsuit against ABC. It may have a low likelihood of recovery (having read the lawsuit, but without seeing the licensing agreement itself, it looked like a crap shoot), but if PP were to prevail, they are talking about a lot of money here.  So, the bankruptcy court gave them quite a bit of time to see how the ABC lawsuit played.  The more PP recovered meant the more that their creditors could recover. 

 

However, PP's lawyer bailed because they weren't getting paid.  No other law firm wants to chance it on the ABC lawsuit, so PP is giving up on trying to handle the lawsuit.

 

That article was basically saying that PP is now saying "take it, we're done."  The interesting this is that any creditor can now, theoretically, step in and take over the lawsuit.  For instance, Erika Slezak is a creditor of PP (if she hasn't had her debt recently paid).  If she wanted, and the trustee agreed, she could buy the lawsuit against ABC, and either litigate it or settle it as she pleases.

 

Now wouldn't that make for a great soap plot?

[dubbel zout]

The interesting this is that any creditor can now, theoretically, step in and take over the lawsuit.

 

If no lawyer will take on the lawsuit, why would a creditor? It doesn't seem like a winner on any level. Or is this just something that happens in cases like these?

[jsbt]

It's what happens to Prospect Park.

[kristabell]

It's what happens in bankruptcies. The case against ABC has not been dismissed, which means it has some legs. PP was previously trying to protect the TOLN brand, which they've had to give up. But so long as the case is allowed to go on, a lawyer will be appointed to the case to collect for those owed money.

[Francie]

If no lawyer will take on the lawsuit, why would a creditor? It doesn't seem like a winner on any level. Or is this just something that happens in cases like these?

PP had one of the most prominent law firms in the country representing it. They've probably only tried to have another blue chip law firm take over. The trustee can and will find a new law firm. There are plenty of hungry ones out there.

 

A trustee approaching a creditor with fire power to take on a lawsuit is a common thing. All I meant to do was play out a hypothetical based on that common practice.  

[yowsah1]

Civil lawsuits take a long time. And, along the lines Dandesun said, bankruptcies take an especially long time. 

 

Here, PP first attempted a re-organization type bankruptcy.  Usually that means that the bankrupt company gets to tell their creditors "hold tight and we'll set up a payment plan."  Here, what I've read is that PP was attempting to liquidate their entire estate, but they wanted to remain in control of the process. 

 

PP's biggest asset was its lawsuit against ABC. It may have a low likelihood of recovery (having read the lawsuit, but without seeing the licensing agreement itself, it looked like a crap shoot), but if PP were to prevail, they are talking about a lot of money here.  So, the bankruptcy court gave them quite a bit of time to see how the ABC lawsuit played.  The more PP recovered meant the more that their creditors could recover. 

 

However, PP's lawyer bailed because they weren't getting paid.  No other law firm wants to chance it on the ABC lawsuit, so PP is giving up on trying to handle the lawsuit.

 

That article was basically saying that PP is now saying "take it, we're done."  The interesting this is that any creditor can now, theoretically, step in and take over the lawsuit.  For instance, Erika Slezak is a creditor of PP (if she hasn't had her debt recently paid).  If she wanted, and the trustee agreed, she could buy the lawsuit against ABC, and either litigate it or settle it as she pleases.

 

Now wouldn't that make for a great soap plot?

 

I read somewhere that one of Prospect Park's biggest creditors was none other than ABC.  I don't suppose it could ever happen, but it would be rather hilarious of ABC bought out Prospect Park and ended up suing itself.

[Lobsel Vith]

I'm in a quandary about RoHo. I love the actor but why in the hell did the cast him as Franco? He would have made a great snarky Dr....and Lord knows we could use more at GH.

I don't think anybody really knows. The best guess is that Ron saw him as the best equivalent to Todd, for some reason. He could have been a recast Steve Lars, which would have allowed him to keep the Heather connection and avoided having to use magic DVDs and a tumor to explain away his horrible actions. He could have been anyone, really; anyone but Franco. Anyone but a character most fans despised long before the recast and rewrites.

[Tiger]

I don't think anybody really knows. The best guess is that Ron saw him as the best equivalent to Todd, for some reason. He could have been a recast Steve Lars, which would have allowed him to keep the Heather connection and avoided having to use magic DVDs and a tumor to explain away his horrible actions. He could have been anyone, really; anyone but Franco. Anyone but a character most fans despised long before the recast and rewrites.

IIRC, when the OLTL 3 were about to return and it coincided with Maura coming on, the rumor was that Roger was going to lay Alexander Cassadine who would have been the retcon child of Tony Cassadine & Alexandra Quartermaine, and Maura and Kristin were to be new characters as his wife and daughter who had come to town to steal both the Q and Cassadine fortunes.

As far as RoHo's ability to play "Steven Lars" or any other non Todd-like character, I don't think he could do it. He has an extremely limited wheelhouse; same for Michelle Stafford. I'm not making any excuses for Ron's atrocious writing, but if it's true that Frank went out and got certain actors and then told Ron to create characters for them, I think Ron's options were extremely limited.

ETA: On a related note, I never saw Laura Wright's previous soap characters, though I've been told they were very different from "Carly", but regardless I was really impressed that after 10 years of playing "Carly" heavily for 10 years that Laura played "Lena" without an ounce of Carly.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Tiger

[Francie]

I'm in a quandary about RoHo.  I love the actor but why in the hell did the cast him as Franco?  He would have made a great snarky Dr....and Lord knows we could use more at GH.

I too think Ron wanted to re-create Todd as much as possible.  Todd did something heinous, reprehensible, unforgivable, and he carried those demons with him (except when he was doing his light comical, aping act). It supposedly made him a somewhat dark, interesting character. And despite the fact that he led a gang rape of Marty and thereafter terrorized Nora, and kidnapped some kids, the town did forgive him.

 

So Ron picked Franco, who did these heinous, reprehensible, unforgivable things. And it was supposed to make him a dark, interesting character.  Ron could write Todd, errrr Franco, as this character who vacillated between wanting to accept love and kindness and caving to his darker impulses.

 

But Ron neglected to realize that Todd's retribution took years, not literally one episode where Franco says it was all (except the murders) a big punk.  And Ron didn't realize that the audience has to be the one who chooses to forgive; he just can't demand that the audience not hate a character or want to see it held accountable for his actions.  With Todd, a significant enough of the audience wanted to forgive Todd.  With Franco, Ron was shouting at the audience on twitter to "get over it!"

 

And Ron didn't realize that it was 2013, not 1995. We may have already come a long way in recognizing how violent and ugly the crime of rape was in 1995, but an entire generation had grown up at that time in a world where no meant no. And hearing that getting drunk isn't a license for rape. Today's audience isn't as inclined to forget and forgive.

 

Ron didn't also appreciate that James Franco's Franco created a type of character that invoked a certain kind of feeling in the audience -- complete and utter contempt and distaste.  That was not at all similar to the smarmy, but silver-tongued, frat boy that RoHo created in the mid-90s.  He was crafty and while the audience as a whole wanted Todd to be found guilty and cheered Nora when she deliberately chose to use her closing statement to throw Todd and his co-defendants under the bus, people still appreciated the craftiness of Todd -- he made for a good villain and it made for good television.

 

Finally, Ron wanted all this baggage for Franco, to make him like Todd in that way, but then Ron wanted to unload 90% of that baggage (he didn't do it!).  Ron just didn't get it.  What he did made no sense, but that's my understanding as to why he chose Franco for Roger Howarth to play.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Francie

[Tiger]

Genie continues to look amazing, and I loved Laura's gasp of anger and shock, when the words "I'll lose ELQ shares" came out of Nik's mouth.  Though I do agree, that her "I can't argue with that" when he threw her keeping him a secret.  It wasn't just to keep her family together; there was the threat of her family and loved ones being killed. Speaking of, too bad JJ and Tyler couldn't have written their own lines where Lucky could have thrown in "So you would have preferred that I hadn't come back from the dead, because you all had grieved for me and had moved on?" or something like that.

 

And the way Liz can manage to look sane one moment and then switch to a crazy woman who definitely needs to be sent away is causing me whiplash. Oh, if only Laura had said that what Liz was doing was keeping a man who wasn't her husband from a woman who was his wife and who he loved and loved him.  But no, Liz had to go and lie about Nik. Not the part about him putting a hit on Hayden (because, he did, right?) but the rest--him being cold and flat and acting like a killer that so SCARED her, and managed to manipulate Laura. I'm hoping this week, Nik will see what Liz said, not because I feel bad for Nik, because I don't want Laura to be manipulated.

It was interesting to me that Becky was one of the actors who allegedly went to the network about Ron. Yes, her character is being totally trashed, but from a purely acting standpoint she is killing it. Same for Tyler. Though, considering both were fired in the fallout from 'Niz', I guess I can see where a steady paycheck is more important than a chance to stretch acting ability.

[ulkis]

It was interesting to me that Becky was one of the actors who allegedly went to the network about Ron. Yes, her character is being totally trashed, but from a purely acting standpoint she is killing it. Same for Tyler. Though, considering both were fired in the fallout from 'Niz', I guess I can see where a steady paycheck is more important than a chance to stretch acting ability.

 

I don't believe Becky went to the network. I don't buy that Becky has ever complained to a higher-up unless she was asked. I can buy Becky was unhappy, which is a whole separate thing.

 

 

Watch that interview and it'll tell you that Becky is not the kind of person to complain/not in the position over there to go to the network and complain

[SpaceCases]

I don't believe Becky went to the network. I don't buy that Becky has ever complained to a higher-up unless she was asked. I can buy Becky was unhappy, which is a whole separate thing.

 

That's not true. She complained back in 2012 when the maternity test lie happened. She went to FV and complained, even tried to get  Burton to have it changed. 

[ulkis]

That's not true. She complained back in 2012 when the maternity test lie happened. She went to FV and complained, even tried to get  Burton to have it changed. 

 

Oh, did she? Did she say that herself?

 

In general though I can't see her being so super-aggressive about it. And the fact that she went to Burton shows that she probably knew she herself wouldn't have much sway.

[SpaceCases]

Oh, did she? Did she say that herself?

In general though I can't see her being so super-aggressive about it. And the fact that she went to Burton shows that she probably knew she herself wouldn't have much sway.

 

Yes, that's from her own mouth. 

[ulkis]

Yes, that's from her own mouth. 

 

Thanks.

[ciarra]

I was thrilled at all the talk of signing RB, then I realized it was Rebecca, not Richard Burgi.

[P3pp3rb1rd]

ETA: I wish they would initially use TG's opened up salary money to improve sets and give housing to actual vets.

 

 

A beautiful thought...and even more, I wish that they would use that salary money to give stage time and opportunity to the vets. Create actual story arcs for them, without involving Sonny or Carly in the mix! I've been unable to watch the show, and didn't even know Silas was dead. Hoping to rejoin when it's obvious that the new writers' storylines are playing, instead of MoRon's.

[Tiger]

Regardless of Becky either going or not going to the network in the past, I can where she and other actors who otherwise wouldn't say anything doing so in this situation as part of a contingent that included Mo and Kelly.

[HeatLifer]

youtube recommended me this. Why am I getting all emotional over Steve Burton and Jonathan Jackson's friendship?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olzrgyT-IWc

ETA: ratings.

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2015/08/ratings-yrbb-up-in-women-18-49-demo

Bc their friendship is adorbs! And that Becky vid made me miss Kim/Becky. I just love the old schoolers so much. <3

How can anyone look at those ratings and not just revamp the entire show? Nothing is working right now. There is not one great storyline, IMO.

[KerleyQ]

Regardless of Becky either going or not going to the network in the past, I can where she and other actors who otherwise wouldn't say anything doing so in this situation as part of a contingent that included Mo and Kelly.

 

I could see that, as well.  I think that Becky likely wouldn't have gone on her own to complain.  When she did complain in the past, she talked to a more influential cast member for back-up.  So now there were multiple cast members, including the one the network was most likely to listen to (Mo), her character has been thrown under the bus and dragged for about 100 miles or so, and the ratings show historic levels of suck.  I think even the most laid back "I'm just here to do my job" cast member would have joined in on that group.  And the best way for this to be done was in a group.  From the list I've seen of the actors who went to the network, they were smart in that they had the cast members who have huge and vocal fan bases.  It probably also helped to have cast members in there like Becky, who has apparently gone to the network once in the almost 20 years she's been there. 

 

When you take that list of actors coming to you, add in the horrible ratings, the slow tide of the media starting to turn on the show, the very vocal unhappy fan response, and add in Ron's horrific social media presence, the network execs would have had to be new levels of incompetent to not make a change. 

[Rancide]

Lawyer here.  With respect to the PP lawsuit news, I second (or third) the previous statements that civil lawsuits take a long time.  That said, this was from the beginning a lawsuit with strong incentive to settle quickly since the value of the what was being fought over (chiefly, the intellectual property rights to OLTL and its characters) was deteriorating by the day.  90+% of civil suits settle.  They just do.  A trial would take years, by which point even if PP (or ABC) "won," it's unclear what good it would do them.  

 

My best guess regarding what went down--regardless of the actual merits of the breach of contract claim, about which I have no opinion--is that PP realized it was in financial trouble long before the filing of the lawsuit or the launch of the online shows.  My guess is that they reached out to lawyers to examine their options once they knew they were in a tough spot and together the litigation strategy, possibly as a last-ditch effort at avoiding bankruptcy.  The lawsuit did not look like a bad idea in its initial inception.  At the time the lawsuit was filed, GH ratings were on the upswing, 3 OLTL characters were well integrated into the GH canvas (with obvious plans for more), and there was a head writer obviously vested in continuing to use the OLTL characters.  My guess is that PP saw the lawsuit as an opportunity to twist ABC's arm to get money and/or contract concessions from ABC since I think it was probably already pretty obvious at that PP was in trouble, and the perception was probably that ABC valued these characters much, much more than PP did (and would therefore be willing to pay out to PP to keep them).  

 

Except ABC called their bluff.  Rather than pay whatever was being demanded to regain/retain the rights to the OLTL characters, they just let them go.  Whether because PP's settlement demands were unreasonable or because ABC didn't care enough about its daytime line-up to fork over any money at all to help RC keep his plans going, I don't know.  So, enter Kiki, Franco, Silas.  And with each passing day, the original OLTL characters become less and less valuable, both because the original storyline momentum is well and truly dead, and because there are fewer and fewer viewers left to care.

 

I really do not think that anyone is going to want to "buy" this lawsuit off the estate.  It's pretty telling that they can't seem to find a firm to take it unless the firm gets out-of-pocket costs upfront.  The claim that ABC drove PP out of business and is therefore liable to PP for millions of dollars in damages owing to the general failure of the PP venture is the kind of highly speculative and fact-intensive claim that is not appealing to bankruptcy vultures looking to make a quick buck.  It's also the kind of claim that is extremely difficult to succeed on, especially given that I'm relatively sure PP was in financial trouble long before ABC ever touched those characters.  The "better" (i.e. more easily provable, though not necessarily more valuable) of the lawsuit's claims--damage to the intellectual property rights to OLTL done by ABC's "borrowing" of those three characters and then changing their storylines without permission--is... well... what exactly was the value to PP of Starr's baby?  Especially on a soap, where dead is never really dead?  These do not strike me as high dollar-value claims, even if PP were able to establish that ABC was in the wrong.

 

As I said at the outset, this was a case ripe for quick settlement.  ABC/GH wanted and had plans for the characters.  The characters were already worthless or nearly worthless to PP at that point.  If you own something that is worth 0 to you but is worth [x] million to your neighbor, it ought not to be too hard to reach an agreement to transfer that thing from you to your neighbor for some number between 0 and [x] million.  I do not know why that didn't happen.  But now?  These characters have got to be, if not actually worthless to ABC, at least significantly less valuable than they were two years ago.  Is Todd Manning really going to blow back into Port Charles next week?  Would anyone care if he did?  The fact that the lawsuit didn't settle at the moment when the best incentives on all sides existed for it to do so may mean that one or more of the negotiating parties was not a rational actor, i.e. was significantly over/undervaluing the claim and was being a settlement obstructionist.  My money would be on PP, but that's obviously just speculation.  It's more common for small companies or individuals to act nuts in litigation than big corporations if only because in big corporations litigation decisions are usually made by enormous legal departments with lots of experience valuing claims and little to no personal investment, whereas with people or small companies you're more often dealing with just 1-2 individual decision-makers who may or may not know what they're doing.  But it's obviously impossible to say for sure. 

 

The transition to Chapter 7 may be a good thing for anyone left who actually cares about seeing this lawsuit resolved.  Management of the lawsuit will be put in the hands of a trustee whose goal will probably be to get this thing done. 

 

As an aside, this announcement does sort of make me curious with respect to the firing of RC and the (apparent?) death of Silas.  Maybe it's just a coincidence.  The absolute worst thing ABC could do from a negotiating standpoint would be to tip its hand that it cares at all about anything OLTL-related.  But when the Starr girl was fired, wasn't it announced way in advance?  I wouldn't be surprised if ABC wasn't 100% finished with Todd/Starr/McBain, though they'd never, ever admit it.  I may be interesting to see what happens next.  Or not.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Rancide

[tessaray]

 I wouldn't be surprised if ABC wasn't 100% finished with Todd/Starr/McBain, though they'd never, ever admit it.  I may be interesting to see what happens next.  Or not.

 

I sincerely hope you are wrong about that.  It never occurred to me that getting rid of the OLTL actors' new characters could lead anywhere.  :-(

 

OTOH, now that you mention it, things are so awful on the show right now that bringing them back as their OLTL counterparts might actually bring some viewers back.  

[Rancide]

I did not personally hate the OLTL characters (though I did not watch that show), but since their appearance also coincided with actual good writing, it's hard to say whether it was the characters or the writing that worked for me.  And I affirmatively liked McBain.  Generally, I'd prefer the show focus on actual core GH characters and families, but if we must poach from folded soaps, I'd for sure rather see a character who already succeeded on another show (Todd, Starr, McBain, etc.) than I would an actor who succeeded on a another show playing an entirely new character (Neener, Madeline, Kiki, Silas, Greenlee's character, etc.)

 

But like I said, since there is 0 incentive for ABC to act in any way other than that it doesn't care at all about OLTL (because all acting like they care would accomplish would be to tip their hand that they're willing to pay more to get them back), I don't think we'll know for sure whether the OLTL phase of GH is well and truly gone until after the litigation settles.

[ulkis]

I wouldn't be surprised if ABC wasn't 100% finished with Todd/Starr/McBain, though they'd never, ever admit it.  I may be interesting to see what happens next.  Or not.

 

It's funny, but now I don't think I would object to Starr/McBain/Todd nearly as much, because the headwriter is no longer someone who so clearly prefers his old show over his new one. At least, imo, it seemed that way.

Edited August 2, 2015 by ulkis

[UYI]

I don't believe Becky went to the network. I don't buy that Becky has ever complained to a higher-up unless she was asked. I can buy Becky was unhappy, which is a whole separate thing.

 

 

Watch that interview and it'll tell you that Becky is not the kind of person to complain/not in the position over there to go to the network and complain

 

Aw, she's so nice. :)

 

It was a little jarring to hear KMc say the word "asshole", even though I know that's closer to her real personality to say stuff like that. :P

Edited August 2, 2015 by UYI

[Rancide]

I did some googling, and here's a more legally technical take one what's going on with the PP lawsuit for those who have the stomach for it:

 

http://www.law360.com/articles/682487/one-life-to-live-producer-blames-abc-suit-for-ch-7-bid

 

I think this quote is particularly telling:

 

"Give the numerous continuances already granted by the Los Angeles court, the debtor is gravely concerned that negative results may come to pass if the debtor does not have counsel in place by the next case management conference," the motion said. "Any further delay in the appointment of a trustee might prejudice the debtor's prospects in the ABC litigation."

 

The litigation is on the ropes.  

[tessaray]

I wouldn't be surprised if ABC wasn't 100% finished with Todd/Starr/McBain, though they'd never, ever admit it.  I may be interesting to see what happens next.  Or not.

 

It's funny, but now I don't think I would object to Starr/McBain/Todd nearly as much, because the headwriter is no longer someone who so clearly prefers his old show over his new one. At least, imo, it seemed that way.

 

I loved OLTL so my main objection to the characters on GH was where they were taking them.  Killing Hope?  Awful.  Todd & Carly? No thanks.  John & Sam?  Well, okay... I was kinda into that.  But no matter how it ends for PP, they gave T&B a HEA I can live with and can move on from.  Or not, depending on how they would write a Todd return. If it happened. 

[dubbel zout]

It's funny, but now I don't think I would object to Starr/McBain/Todd nearly as much, because the headwriter is no longer someone who so clearly prefers his old show over his new one.

 

It would be so ironic if those three characters returned now that RC is gone. It amuses me to imagine his reaction. I don't think the show needs Starr or Todd, but the PCPD could use a decent detective, and I loved the chemistry between ME and FH.

[Rancide]

I'll take Starr and Todd over Kiki and Franco any day.  And McBain is welcome any time.  Especially if he promises to snark hard on Detective Plywood.

[WendyCR72]

I...just no longer see the need for any OLTL characters. GH is fighting for its own survival. And love or hate them, OLTL characters had their time and their happy endings on OLTL. GH needs to focus on its own legacy and characters - not to mention the writing - and hope for the best.

 

But devoting time to characters of a long-gone soap when GH's own characters are so out of character and so ravaged seems a waste of time and resources.

[Oracle42]

I actually wish GH could get some of the PP writers.

[kristabell]

I too think Ron wanted to re-create Todd as much as possible.  Todd did something heinous, reprehensible, unforgivable, and he carried those demons with him (except when he was doing his light comical, aping act). It supposedly made him a somewhat dark, interesting character. And despite the fact that he led a gang rape of Marty and thereafter terrorized Nora, and kidnapped some kids, the town did forgive him.

 

So Ron picked Franco, who did these heinous, reprehensible, unforgivable things. And it was supposed to make him a dark, interesting character.  Ron could write Todd, errrr Franco, as this character who vacillated between wanting to accept love and kindness and caving to his darker impulses.

 

But Ron neglected to realize that Todd's retribution took years, not literally one episode where Franco says it was all (except the murders) a big punk.  And Ron didn't realize that the audience has to be the one who chooses to forgive; he just can't demand that the audience not hate a character or want to see it held accountable for his actions.  With Todd, a significant enough of the audience wanted to forgive Todd.  With Franco, Ron was shouting at the audience on twitter to "get over it!"

 

And Ron didn't realize that it was 2013, not 1995. We may have already come a long way in recognizing how violent and ugly the crime of rape was in 1995, but an entire generation had grown up at that time in a world where no meant no. And hearing that getting drunk isn't a license for rape. Today's audience isn't as inclined to forget and forgive.

 

Ron didn't also appreciate that James Franco's Franco created a type of character that invoked a certain kind of feeling in the audience -- complete and utter contempt and distaste.  That was not at all similar to the smarmy, but silver-tongued, frat boy that RoHo created in the mid-90s.  He was crafty and while the audience as a whole wanted Todd to be found guilty and cheered Nora when she deliberately chose to use her closing statement to throw Todd and his co-defendants under the bus, people still appreciated the craftiness of Todd -- he made for a good villain and it made for good television.

 

Finally, Ron wanted all this baggage for Franco, to make him like Todd in that way, but then Ron wanted to unload 90% of that baggage (he didn't do it!).  Ron just didn't get it.  What he did made no sense, but that's my understanding as to why he chose Franco for Roger Howarth to play.

ICAM with this whole post. I recall a statement RC made early on in 2012 about Todd on GH being Todd "without the rape" around his neck. Except, um, that's sort of what made the Todd character who he was. Hence, the scar. RC always wrote Todd as a ~wacky~, snarky asshole man child. This was true on OLTL with TSJ and it was definitely true on GH. (There was a brief reprieve when TH returned in 2011, but I'm pretty sure Ron wasn't too happy about that characterization.) He basically wanted "character played by RH" without any actual guidelines or characteristics; hence, no Blair on GH. I don't doubt at all that RC figured Franco was as good a character as any to be "Todd-like guy played by RH" (who does have an extremely limited wheelhouse, I agree.) And he figure everyone loved RH as much as he did and would presumably just squint and pretend he was Todd.

[UYI]

 

And despite the fact that he led a gang rape of Marty and thereafter terrorized Nora, and kidnapped some kids, the town did forgive him.

 

Well...not entirely. There were a good number of people who NEVER forgave him and hated him to the end. There were definitely a number of people who forgave him and were on his side, but never enough where he would have reached sainthood or anything.

 

Topic?

 

I honestly can't judge on whether or not to bring back OLTL characters. That's part of the reason I came to GH in the first place. I had watched quite a bit of GH on YT before early 2012, but I pretty much stayed away from current!GH because of what I had heard about Guza (and what became of Garin Wolf). GH has become the soap I care about the most after OLTL, but that's the point--OLTL is, at the end of the day, MY soap. I was upset when it went off the air, I was thrilled when the ratings got good enough to beat GH (you GH Firsters should hate me for that alone, tbh--still feeling the Redheaded Stepchild sting OLTL always had, I guess! :P), and happy when some of my favorite characters finally crossed over to GH. If Ron hadn't come over and brought them with him, I don't know if I ever would have given current!GH a chance to begin with (although, ironically, Ron drove me away to the barge eventually--and I may come back now that he's gone).

 

But even I think it's best to keep the OL characters away. Deal with what's going at GH. There's a lot that needs to be done right now.

[dubbel zout]

There were definitely a number of people who forgave him and were on his side, but never enough where he would have reached sainthood or anything.

The important thing is that people may have forgiven Todd, but they never forgot. That's the mistake Ron always makes. Characters and viewers are supposed to forget what Franco did to Michael and others, and everyone who doesn't is just a big old meanie trying to hold Franco back. Sonny kills AJ. Well, geez, Michael, he was fat; what else could Sonny do? Stop being unreasonable and forgive Sonny. And bringing it up just makes him feel bad.

[jsbt]

I went back to GH because they brought the OLTL characters over, that much is true. I didn't stay for them, though. The show earned that on its own, over the next year, with some bad stories and choices and some great ones, and then it lost its way. I stayed at GH for GH.

 

While I wouldn't mind it someday, I never need to see the OLTL stars on the show again in their old roles and I think it would be a bad mistake at this point in time. They've already gone far beyond trying the audience's patience with the massive failure of the new characters, which irrevocably crippled the show two years ago and is still in effect today.

 

Prospect Park is and always has been a shady outfit run by flighty gamblers, but the creative teams they assembled for their OLTL and AMC and the productions they mounted were, IMO, pretty excellent. The tragedy is that those productions and shows didn't have competent higher management or adequate long-term funding. I can't root for their lawsuit which I felt was always a very transparent cash grab and stick-up job, but I also never rooted for GH to get the rights back, and I can't root for the network.

 

To me, giving GH all of it back right now would only ensure they learned nothing from gambling with the OLTL rights, from forcing the actors back onto the show where they weren't wanted in new roles, and from disrupting everything on GH proper to try and salvage FV and RC's wounded pride as the alleged "keepers" of the OLTL flame. I loved OLTL at least much as those guys did, but the great experiment with the two shows is over, at least for a long time. Let it go. Focus on fixing this show before it's too late.

Edited August 3, 2015 by jsbt

[kristabell]

(I'm not quite sure where to put this, but we don't have a Bitterness thread here and it does technically have to do with an interview. But, mods, please move it if it's better somewhere else.)

 

It finally hit me what I hated so much about TG's exit interview. I mean, I like a good Ron bashing as much as the next person, but now I realize why it didn't work for me. You have one middle-aged wealthy white guy criticizing the writing of another middle-aged wealthy white guy to yet a third middle-aged wealthy white guy interviewer. And what are the critiques about? How the middle-aged white character of guy #1 didn't get the jaded, "dark" exit he wanted for his character. A character, who on a show in a genre supposedly about family and relationships, wanted to play a guy who felt those things held him back from being his presumably ~complicated~, dark self. I don't care; I don't care about Luke's man pain or his epic inner journey. I don't care because he made his bread and butter on this show in an entirely different capacity. But I mostly don't care because I have seen this exact same story approximately eleventy billion times: brooding white male anti-hero, who is just too complex and misunderstood. I've seen it; I don't care anymore. I don't care about Luke or Sonny or Franco or Jason or any other white male asshole. You know what I would like? I would like a story about the journey of one of the female characters on this show. Not about Tracey's reaction to Luke or Carly following Jason/Sonny's dick around town. An actual story about the female characters. 

It just struck me that these three men (four if you add FV) are the centerpiece discussion about what is supposed to be a women's genre, the largest audience demographic of which (the last time I saw any statistics anyway) is black women.

Perhaps that's a giant part of the problem.

[Badsamaritan]

There must be something in the water at GH for real. Apparently Ryan Paevey & Brytni Sarpi are dating. There's a periscope video filmed by BS of RP eating snails at a friend's birthday dinner. You can hear someone ask her if she's gonna kiss him after watching him eat the snails.

I'm not entirely sure the world is ready for them to procreate. That kid would be so fucking gorgeous it would hurt your eyes lol!

[ulkis]

There must be something in the water at GH for real. Apparently Ryan Paevey & Brytni Sarpi are dating. There's a periscope video filmed by BS of RP eating snails at a friend's birthday dinner. You can hear someone ask her if she's gonna kiss him after watching him eat the snails.

I'm not entirely sure the world is ready for them to procreate. That kid would be so fucking gorgeous it would hurt your eyes lol!

 

Ron sucks at on-screen romance but he's really good at starting off-screen romances!

Edited August 3, 2015 by ulkis

[tvgoddess]

I was going to post about this last night, but it got too late. There was also another Periscope a few days ago with them hiking together. I only saw the snails one though. They're very pretty together.

[dubbel zout]

Lisa LoCicero posted an adorable picture of her and her baby with MB. You might have to scroll down a bit. The caption is hilarious.

Edited August 3, 2015 by dubbel zout

[TeeVee329]

Cute pic.  Instead of running the mob, Sonny should open a daycare center.  Lord knows this town needs one.

 

And I guess that means Olivia will be back sooner than later?

[GHScorpiosRule]

From the episode thread:

 

This show sucks! Why do I have the feeling that Genie is not coming back to this crap fest?

 
 

Because we haven't heard about GF getting a contract but don't worry, Greenlee did get a contract. #priorities

 

My understanding it is Valentini who does the contract stuff? And that Carlivati's firing shouldn't have any bearing on when Genie returns, because as was stated, she's supposed to return in September. Or, are all bets off now?

 

But I agree. Genie should be given a contract.

[Chairperson Meow]

You know, I'd take McBain back.

[yowsah1]

 I can't root for their lawsuit which I felt was always a very transparent cash grab and stick-up job

 

Yeah, to me the lawsuit was a transparent shakedown effort once the scam of "producing AMC/OLTL" fell through.

 

You know, I'd take McBain back.

 

Me too.  His character was the only one of the OLTL 3 that worked.