GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[ulkis]

I'll give you a thumbs up for saying it, General Days. :)

[General Days]

Oh, I didn't mean to imply I cared about Rebecca Budig (the character).  I just honestly don't get why she's still here, on contract, and what purpose she could possibly serve going forward, especially once the Jake(son) beans are spilled because she's been marooned on Spoon Island.

 

I get a little bit of what Ron was and Frank still is trying to do with Budig, Howarth, Stafford (and Alderson and Easton). There's this idea that an actor has a fan base. The fan base's way of seeing the actor has disappeared, so grab the actor and you'll grab at least part of his fan base. The thing is, that is not (all that) historically true of soap fans. When Genie Francis left GH in the early years and ended up on DOOL, she didn't bring a significant portion of the GH/Luke & Laura fan base with her.

Soap fans sure can be actor fans, but primarily, we're story and character fans. The only thing Frank (or Ron) needs to look at, to decide this is true, is the number of successful recasts that have happened in soap history, that never would have happened in primetime. Now by "successful" I don't mean, "more popular than the original or best known actor to fill a role," I just mean a recast who didn't cause a significant fan revolt (so, maybe NuLuLu or Kirsten Storm's Maxie). 

 

I think Frank doesn't (and Ron didn't) understand the nature of a soap fan's loyalty. We are, first, loyal to the story. Our actor loyalties usually come in second at best. This isn't to say we aren't loyal to some actors in some iconic roles. It's just that usually, we understand the nature of the beast and are willing to get over recasts, if we can just keep getting our stories.

 

 

So you are pimping a big disasterous wedding event in September and plan on pimping another disasterous wedding event in November. Great story telling there.

It would be something if the wedding were actual big lavious events vs being thrown together wit gray pain't aND a roll of gray duck tape. B&B sent twould actors to freaking Copenhagen to shoot honeymoon scenes. It looked abso-fucking-lutely beautiful.

 

You know, GH would only have to send its characters to San Diego, or hell, outside to L.A. The characters live in upstate New York. A Cali honeymoon would not be hard to swallow.

Edited September 4, 2015 by General Days

[Kitty Redstone]

Don't ratings usually come out on Thursday?

[General Days]

Aw thanks, ulkis. I know they don't fit, don't belong here, whatever. Maybe I just enjoy the break from the sturm und drang. Maybe I'm just frigging thrilled they're not in the mob. Mostly, I think I just like them, because I feel like I'm watching a hidden camera trained on Howarth and Stafford's improv class. In the show in my head, they've said, "Oh, this show is fucking nuts. Let's just do our own thing, because they're totally going to let us get away with it." I like to pretend it is some sort of subversive art form. Also, I think the actors are having a blast and it translates. 

[Kitty Redstone]

If Frank isn't going to get rid of RoHo and Michelle Stafford, then he should be fired so the the next EP can do the dirty work. 

 

There is still time to turn things around here.  DOOL has done a 180 in a matter of two weeks.  It's been amazing, really.

[jsbt]

I'll reserve my judgment on DOOL. That show has looked cheap as fuck and been boring as hell for years, and now it's written by Dena Higley, possibly the worst HW OLTL ever had, for the umpteenth time. Has the big 'primetime production value' started showing up?

[General Days]

I don't understand why neither of these shows (GH or DOOL) hasn't snapped up Wendy Riche and/or Shelley Curtis (unless they can't afford them).

 

 

If they really wanted to fuck with people they could say Hayden = Rebecca Shaw = Emily Quartermaine. Plastic surgery. That's probably way too much, though. And the personality is forever changed. And oh, eww, I forgot the Jake angle, never mind.

 

TC and Budig do have real chemistry, maybe the most he's had with a woman in a long time. It's the character and story that drags it down.

 

I don't think there has to be an eww to the Emily (Rebecca Budig)/Jake storyline, because they never had sex. Until now, I never accepted anyone but Amber Tamblyn as Emily Bowen Quartermaine, but I actually think Budig could do the character justice.

 

If Frank isn't going to get rid of RoHo and Michelle Stafford, then he should be fired so the the next EP can do the dirty work. 

 

There is still time to turn things around here.  DOOL has done a 180 in a matter of two weeks.  It's been amazing, really.

 

It's been okayish. I'm mostly pleased, but I'm reading interviews with Higley and am neither comforted nor convinced. I honestly think Corday is the big bad at DOOL, and I think he needs to be removed, but since his parents created the show and I think he has some ownership, I'm not sure than can or will ever happen.

Oh, to add on to my own post, since Emily isn't Monica or Alan's bio-daughter and Jason isn't Monica's bio-son, and since they weren't raised together as children, I could get over my "eww" reaction to Emily and Jason almost being spousal, but deciding against it. It's not even as bad as Britt and Nathan, imo.

[jsbt]

Yeah, Ken Corday is that show's biggest fan and worst enemy. Any time it makes progress, he destroys it again. And he likes to only keep creative/production people he knows - most of whom are hacks. It's tragic, because DOOL can and should be on top of the world and it's come back so many times only to fall right back into the dirt.

 

Unlike GH, DOOL appears to be making a real investment in a new generational youth scene - a classic one, with kids with real reasons to be there - and at least some of their veteran couples. The question with Ken Corday is always how long any of that will last before he returns from the golf course.

Edited September 4, 2015 by jsbt

[Kitty Redstone]

I'm not sure what that means, jsbt, and I agree about Dena Higley.  But Days had been pretty bad (not as bad as GH, mind you) ... endless repitition, tons of flashbacks, very little story movement and stories that made no sense, women that did nothing but grovel over despicable men, tiny sets, horrible lighting, etc.  Everything has improved.  Also, Stephen Nichols is back and MBE finally has something more to do than prop a useless character, Jen Lilley's character is getting some layers after being nothing more than a one-note near sociopath with a crush on a blockhead, and KdP is being allowed out of the Devereaux bubble she's been stuck in for months.

 

GH could likewise be turned around, but the people running it are apparently too lazy and stubborn to do it.

[Kitty Redstone]

DOOL also just cast Vincent Irizzary.  I'd have taken him on GH over all of Frank's Y&R gets combined.  It'll be months before anyone sees him on screen, but still.

 

ETA:  I wish they would give Jordan and TJ some family members.  TJ needs cousins, aunts and uncles to talk some sense into him.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Kitty Redstone

[HeatLifer]

DOOL also just cast Vincent Irizzary. I'd have taken him on GH over all of Frank's Y&R gets combined. It'll be months before anyone sees him on screen, but still.

Oh, really!? I love him. I might check out DOOL when he's on.

[jsbt]

Oh, I think Nik should go down, and if Budig were Emily she could help put him there. For a while. But as good as the chemistry is I could also just as easily let her go. The obsession with outside stars is one of this show's biggest problems and she is nearing the top of the list (Franco and Nina remain a shared #1 with a bullet).

 

Yeah, that push on the next generation with the mass SORAS seems like a good idea.  GH could easily do the same aging up Emma, Cameron, Spencer, and Joss, which would give the parents something new to play too.

 

It really revitalized the new All My Children on Hulu. They took a 5-year timeshift as an opportunity to SORAS all the kids and Agnes Nixon was back to doing what she did best, which was create those youth sets. It was clean, pure soap storytelling and it reminds me a bit of what DOOL is doing with the kids, though almost certainly not as well as AMC 2.0.

 

I don't know why GH has never been able to get its shit together with the kids, whether we're talking about Lucy's girls perpetually maybe coming on, or the current kids, or just T.J. and Molly. I think part of the reason Ron and Frank never committed there is because Frank was obsessed with finding another pretty white boy after Rafe failed as Cole Thornhart Jr. - T.J. does not 'measure up,' clearly. I also think they were far too preoccupied with Kristen Alderson and a million other, larger, ridiculous stories and priorities. And all these little-ass kids.

Edited September 4, 2015 by jsbt

[TeeVee329]

It really revitalized the new All My Children on Hulu. They took a 5-year timeshift as an opportunity to SORAS all the kids and Agnes Nixon was back to doing what she did best, which was create those youth sets. It was clean, pure soap storytelling and it reminds me a bit of what DOOL is doing with the kids, though almost certainly not as well as AMC 2.0.

 

Oooh, yes, very good analogy.  When it ended on ABC, AMC was swimming with kids around the same age that Emma, Cameron, Spencer, etc. are currently stuck at and had no teen scene to speak of.  The decision to age AJ and Miranda was so spot-on.

[jsbt]

VI along with Debbie Morgan

 

I don't want to talk about that! [flees thread, crying hysterically]

Oooh, yes, very good analogy.  When it ended on ABC, AMC was swimming with kids around the same age that Emma, Cameron, Spencer, etc. are currently stuck at and had no teen scene to speak of.  The decision to age AJ and Miranda was so spot-on.

 

Kendall and Bianca and Marissa had like eight thousand fucking children. There was one infamous scene where all these kids are running around in the park with them screaming and howling and you can't hear the goddamn dialogue over the fucking kids. It was insane. I didn't even know who a third of them were. It was barely controlled chaos.

Edited September 4, 2015 by jsbt

[ulkis]

Ugh, now you've made me remember that Bianca asked for Zach's sperm for her second baby. Thanks!

 

um, topic: Apparently the new writers called Sonny and CArly a destiny couple in the magazine previews. Damn it, I need Vanessa Marcil to make an overture now!

[Kitty Redstone]

Wait..they have Wally and VI?

 

 

Yes, as well as Stephen Nichols, Kassie dePaiva, Jen Lilley, Greg Vaughan, and Robert Scott Wilson (I don't care for him, but he has fans).  And Daniel Cosgrove, but sadly he won't be on much longer.  Oh <small voice > John Paul Lavoisier is coming in a few months, too.

 

I don't understand why GH isn't cutting its losses with some of these characters, which is something Days is doing.  There is nothing in the spoilers that make me want to leave the barge.

 

um, topic: Apparently the new writers called Sonny and CArly a destiny couple in the magazine previews. Damn it, I need Vanessa Marcil to make an overture now!

 

And neither does this.  There is something wrong with the people running this show.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Kitty Redstone

[HeatLifer]

Ugh, now you've made me remember that Bianca asked for Zach's sperm for her second baby. Thanks!

um, topic: Apparently the new writers called Sonny and CArly a destiny couple in the magazine previews. Damn it, I need Vanessa Marcil to make an overture now!

Are the new writers trying to alienate viewers or?? So freaking weird.

[SlovakPrincess]

I would be fine with a temp recast for Robin IF they were serious about giving her a happy ending where she has half custody of her kid offscreen, has some manner of closure with Patrick, and Anna makes up for being so oblivious for the last year and fixes her relationship with her daughter.

Again, decent writing, respecting the characters and letting them be happy when they deserve it. That's all I ask.

Not really expecting it at this point, though. :/

[jsbt]

IMO, both AMC and OLTL were good soaps in a bad situation with finances and their higher management. If they'd had proper funding and a better outlet I firmly believe they'd still be on. But that's a whole other conversation.

[HeatLifer]

I would be fine with a temp recast for Robin IF they were serious about giving her a happy ending where she has half custody of her kid offscreen, has some manner of closure with Patrick, and Anna makes up for being so oblivious for the last year and fixes her relationship with her daughter.

Again, decent writing, respecting the characters and letting them be happy when they deserve it. That's all I ask.

Not really expecting it at this point, though. :/

I'd only be OK with this IF Kim says she can't come back for a long time.

Because, ultimately, I think Kim should have the right to have final scenes with those actors/characters.

[yowsah1]

Let's put it this way.  I doubt I'm gonna be rewarded as a Lucy fan.  Or a Mac/Felicia fan.  Or a Lucas fan.  Or a fan of the Quartermaines en masse.

 

I know that as a AJ fan and a Liz fan, and as a Sonny ANTI-fan I'm going to get fuck all, so why even bother?

[Harmony233]

I know that as a AJ fan and a Liz fan, and as a Sonny ANTI-fan I'm going to get fuck all, so why even bother?

sad but true but I always seemed to like the underdogs lol but ecspecially on GH they never won much though.Poor AJ nothing ever good ever happened to him.

[WendyCR72]

Don't ratings usually come out on Thursday?

 

Maybe GH TPTB and ABC took a look at them and want to pretend they don't exist at this point!

[UYI]

I've decided that this is an inside joke/passing of the baton from head writer to head writer on this show.  "Make sure you mention that you are going to revitalize the Quartermaines when you're interviewed.  You don't have to, but the fans will eat it up!".

 

At the risk of playing devil's advocate and being run straight off the board, weren't Guza and Pratt more responsible for that than anything else (and Ron maybe once he lost his mind/was forced by ABC to stop featuring them? I don't know.) Didn't at least Richard Cullition or Megan McTavish or the writers in between Culliton and Guza in 1997 seem to like them a bit? Oh yeah, and Garin Wolf. Eh, he was under Guza originally. Whatever distaste he may have had for the Q's could have been rubbed off from him, LOL. He did at least write that fantasy scene with Jason Q and Alan.

 

Because it seems like whatever Q hate there may be only really started once Guza took over in 1996. The Labines certainly liked them. *shrug*

 

Anyway, I'm actually willing to give JP/SA a chance as far as the Q's go. For all we know, Frank stopped whatever good was coming for those characters (total speculation on my part). 

Edited September 4, 2015 by UYI

[twoods]

(I'm actually really loving The Love Story of Our Time: Franco and Nina, Their Love Is Stronger Than Each Being Falsely Accused of Murder. Yes, I'm ashamed of myself. No, I'm neither a former OLTL nor a The Y&R viewer. I just sort of enjoy these fey little freak over-emoters and their emotionally stunted love. OTP.)

I thought they had a lot of chemistry at first but their ridiculous storyline is making it hard to like them.

[UYI]

I don't understand why neither of these shows (GH or DOOL) hasn't snapped up Wendy Riche and/or Shelley Curtis (unless they can't afford them).

 

I'm pretty certain WR is on record as saying she's done with soaps for good. 

[General Days]

I'm pretty certain WR is on record as saying she's done with soaps for good. 

 

Well, I can't blame her for that. I do think though, that all the soaps would do better, with more women at the helm. I know the audience demo has changed over time, but I still think it is largely women who watch, but with all the callous hookups, etc. it's being written more for and by men, but that's not the primary audience.

I also think the soaps have gotten too explicit. Case in point: my first soap was DOOL. My grandmother and aunt watched it from the beginning. My mother started watching  a couple of years later, when she was home and pregnant with me. I watched it because mom, auntie and Nana watched.

Today? I wouldn't watch with my kids. There is stuff that is way too explicit and way too tawdry to share with my kids. I have, in fact, stopped watching, because I didn't want to expose my kids to sordid storylines. Between that and a failure to write junior storylines, it is no wonder soaps have failed to capture the next generation. Seriously, my kids think of my soaps as my guilty pleasure. "Mom knows better, but she watches this stuff, because she started when she was young." It doesn't even matter what I tell them about soaps.

[UYI]

The problem is, for every woman who has done good things for the genre, there are just as many who are capable of being worse than the men could ever dream of (JFP and McTavish spring immediately to mind). I do think soaps would change for the better if there were more women involved, but there have been just as many men who have proven they are capable of treating/writing for women right* (I'm a young woman in her mid 20's--I guess should be watching more stuff on Netflix/in primetime, but I've always liked the daytime soaps/older reruns on TV. It's quite a dichotomy for someone who wants to see good examples of women but likes more old-fashioned TV, LOL.).

 

*Doug Marland, for example. And as a kid, I watched Clarissa Explains It All on Nickelodeon--that show was written by a guy named Marshall Kriegman, who grew up in a family of all sisters, which seemed to help, because Clarissa was a great character for young girls in the 90's like me to watch. 

Edited September 4, 2015 by UYI

[UYI]

They did recast Anna. :p*

 

 

 

And not to troll too much, but Genie Francis was a recast herself. :P

 

Hell, even Felicia was recast for awhile in 2005, not that anyone likes to remember that, I'm sure. 

[Harmony233]

Its interesting was reading an old EP interview from like 1990 forgot what his name was but the thing that stood out to me was he said you can never take your audience for granted or they will change the channel.Also the most ironic thing he sid was the mob was old news remeber this was around the time of the Jeromes or the fallout of them.

[Francie]

Aw thanks, ulkis. I know they don't fit, don't belong here, whatever. Maybe I just enjoy the break from the sturm und drang. Maybe I'm just frigging thrilled they're not in the mob. Mostly, I think I just like them, because I feel like I'm watching a hidden camera trained on Howarth and Stafford's improv class. In the show in my head, they've said, "Oh, this show is fucking nuts. Let's just do our own thing, because they're totally going to let us get away with it." I like to pretend it is some sort of subversive art form. Also, I think the actors are having a blast and it translates. 

I'll give you props, too!  I have strong negative feelings about Nina and Franco and their impact on GH, and I express them loudly. But I like that this place isn't an echo chamber of opinions.

[rur]

(I'm actually really loving The Love Story of Our Time: Franco and Nina, Their Love Is Stronger Than Each Being Falsely Accused of Murder. Yes, I'm ashamed of myself. No, I'm neither a former OLTL nor a The Y&R viewer. I just sort of enjoy these fey little freak over-emoters and their emotionally stunted love. OTP.)

 

I will grudgingly admit that I can understand where you're coming from on this. The story itself could be a nice B-day feature, IMO.

But, for me, the fact that the characters were one-dimensional cartoons for months after they first appeared on the canvas makes it hard for me to care for them now. 

 I suggested this before, and I'll suggest it again: If he and MS have to stay until their contracts run out, put them both in a hospital for the criminally insane. We can see them for 30 seconds at a time plotting escapes so they can meet their minimums, but they get foiled each time by major characters from GH: Espionage! or GH: Medical! or GH: Quartermaine! story lines. I think they're good with each other, but not so much with anyone else. 

[TeeVee329]

Hell, even Felicia was recast for awhile in 2005, not that anyone likes to remember that, I'm sure. 

 

Oh yeah, I remember her.  Not great, Bob.

[Oracle42]

I'm officially jealous that DOOL has a serial killer running around getting rid of worthless characters

[Harmony233]

I'm officially jealous that DOOL has a serial killer running around getting rid of worthless characters

Lol I'm jealous that DOOL seems at least be trying.

[TeeVee329]

At the risk of playing devil's advocate and being run straight off the board, weren't Guza and Pratt more responsible for that than anything else (and Ron maybe once he lost his mind/was forced by ABC to stop featuring them? I don't know.) Didn't at least Richard Cullition or Megan McTavish or the writers in between Culliton and Guza in 1997 seem to like them a bit? Oh yeah, and Garin Wolf. Eh, he was under Guza originally. Whatever distaste he may have had for the Q's could have been rubbed off from him, LOL. He did at least write that fantasy scene with Jason Q and Alan.

 

Because it seems like whatever Q hate there may be only really started once Guza took over in 1996. The Labines certainly liked them. *shrug*

 

Anyway, I'm actually willing to give JP/SA a chance as far as the Q's go. For all we know, Frank stopped whatever good was coming for those characters (total speculation on my part). 

 

Yeah, I was talking about more recent years.  I specifically remember an interview Guza gave when he brought in Maya/brought back Skye/announced that sister of Maya's who never showed up that he loved the Q's, wanted to revitalize them (after he spent years killing them all off), blah blah blah.

 

Then came Gavin Wolfe.  Same rap.  Then came Ron.  Same rap.  And now JP and SA.  All these writers keep saying they LOVE the Q's, they're important to GH, they want to revitalize them, but it never seems to happen.  It bums me out.

Edited September 4, 2015 by TeeVee329

[KerleyQ]

‏@AllTTV2015  8h8 hours ago Redondo Beach, CA

@bryan_craig your such an incredible actor ignore all the hate , your an incredible man and will be an incredible husband and father someday

Bryan Craig ‏@bryan_craig  6h6 hours ago

 

@AllTTV2015 wow thanks, that's all I want

 

 

Maybe it's my mood today, but this made me laugh.  Seriously, people, all Bry-dog wants is to be told how incredible he is.  Is that too much to ask?  

[Harmony233]

Yeah, I was talking about more recent years.  I specifically remember an interview Guza gave when he brought in Maya/brought back Skye/announced that sister of Maya's who never showed up that he loved the Q's, wanted to revitalize them (after he spent years killing them all off), blah blah blah.

 

Then came Gavin Wolfe.  Same rap.  Then came Ron.  Same rap.  And now JP and SA.  All these writers keep saying they LOVE the Q's, they're important to GH, they want to revitalize them, but it never seems to happen.  It bums me out.

yep all they care about is the corthinthos and Jeromes it seems like.

[Francie]

Don't ratings usually come out on Thursday?

They be out.  Small bounceback.

 

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2015/09/ratings-gh-finally-has-a-positive-week

Maybe it's my mood today, but this made me laugh.  Seriously, people, all Bry-dog wants is to be told how incredible he is.  Is that too much to ask?  

 

I wish I could vote up a post twice.

 

Oh yeah, I remember her.  Not great, Bob.

Madmen reference?  If so, love!

Edited September 4, 2015 by Francie

[Oracle42]

FV can't just integrate the Serial Killer and his 50 year old Tweenage girlfriend because there's no one on canvas who'd realistically want to interact with Franco/Nina.

The characters are repellent and they have actively alienated most of the rest of PC

Edited September 8, 2015 by Oracle42

[TeeVee329]

Madmen reference?  If so, love!

 

But of course!  I assume Pete is my spirit animal as far as the Felicia recast is concerned.

[Tiger]

But of course!  I assume Pete is my spirit animal as far as the Felicia recast is concerned.

Put down the brain pills and toxic face cream, @TeeVee329. Felicia was never recast. Felicia never slept with Lewq. And Jasus is still dead at the bottom of the harbor.

[UYI]

But of course!  I assume Pete is my spirit animal as far as the Felicia recast is concerned.

 

See, I thought you meant Guza. I haven't seen MM past the first episode. (But my mom is a fan and plan to watch with her soon!)

[ulkis]

They be out.  Small bounceback.

 

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2015/09/ratings-gh-finally-has-a-positive-week

 

The headline is cracking me up. "GH Finally Has a Positive Week".

[UYI]

Right? But at least they didn't have yet another week of falling ratings! Damning with faint praise and all that.

[testardo]

She should try being an artisan; there are people out there that will say rude and denigrating things right in front of you, like you're not even there.  Luckily it's only happened to me twice, but it does indeed hurt.  Still, I choose to do it, and it doesn't even pay enough for a new car or vacations or anything like that!

 

 

 

She's one entitled idiot.

[HeatLifer]

They be out. Small bounceback.

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2015/09/ratings-gh-finally-has-a-positive-week

I'm honestly wondering more and more why Ron was fired. If no one cares about the ratings, which I think is evident by the new writers essentially not really changing anything (except saying generic shit like Quartermaines! SNARLY is destiny! Romance!), what was the reason?

[ulkis]

I think they cared, marginally. I don't think whoever hired them really listened to their exact plans. Ron didn't exactly love Sonny/Carly, he just had no idea what else to do with them.

Edited September 4, 2015 by ulkis

[HeatLifer]

I think they cared, marginally. I don't think whoever hired them really listened to their exact plans. Ron didn't exactly love Sonny/Carly, he just had no idea what else to do with them.

I'm not defending Ron in any way, trust me, but I kind of feel sorta...bad...for him in a sense because it's almost like they hired people to repackage HIS stuff and pretend it's different. Nothing is changing. It's the same characters, same stories, same crap. Just a different "Written By" tag. The only definite thing that changed is the timing of the Jason reveal.

And just LOL @ NLG on Twitter, screaming about the ratings going up. Nancy, sweetie, that's still Ron's stuff, babe.

[TwistedandBored]

I'm officially jealous that DOOL has a serial killer running around getting rid of worthless characters

 

We do have serial killers in PC. They are useless idiots who take up too much space. What we need is Dexter type killer, a serial killer who goes after other killers in town.