GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[Francie]

I was just coming here to bring that

 

Rebecca Budig:

l I LOVE this. Amazing. And true!!

 

She didn't include Ron in the tweet so maybe he won't know.

 

ahaha, who am I kidding.

Blocked!!

 

~Ron

[Francie]

The fact that RC doesn't communicate with the cast explains a lot, like character motivations and why the stories are so bad. TG with Ethan and Lucky only worked in those scenes because TG rewrote it, I only wish he was allowed to rewrite everything including the Frank Smith/Jake resurrections. 

 

The first thing Pratt did when going to YR was sit the cast down and talk to them, having meetings as groups and individuals about their stories and where they were going. 

According to Kristen Alderson, she and Ron would talk on the telephone when she was on the show.  Which may explain some of Ron's favoritism.

 

I did like Tony spotlighting Ron's putting in stage directions.  Telling people when to pause, when to turn, etc.  It does take any sort of spontaneity out of the situation.  The writer has to trust the actors, otherwise, it's not a collaboration. 

 

It just goes to show how much Ron doesn't just want to be the head writer of GH, he wants to be its God.  He's too much of a fan fiction writer, who's imagining in his head exactly how the scene will play out. I remember once he gave Finola grief on twitter for putting air quotes around a word. Tracy had called Anna "Robert's girl," and Anna responded, I haven't been his [air quotes] girl [/air quotes] in a long time.  And Ron tweeted, what's with the air quotes?  Because god forbid someone in her 50s would find being called a "girl" -- of any kind -- offensive.

Edited July 20, 2015 by Francie

[jsbt]

I don't really want to root for anyone here, because Tony is wrong about the contemporary Luke in many ways, and he's let his own latter-day issues cloud his previously sterling judgment. That being said, he is right about the story being very poorly done. It might have been less so if he'd let them do more of what they wanted (Luke and Laura, etc), and Tony should be held accountable for the many roadblocks he's thrown up over the last several years. But at the same time, no one forced RC to have to rush this shit out after weeks and months of Franco, Nina, Ric, Madeline, et al, and a lot of this mess is simply attributable to RC and FV's long-standing erosion in quality control.

 

As for the comment about he and JJ rewriting their scenes, that does not surprise me. Anyone could see those excellent scenes - which ran longer than Frank's usual 30-70 seconds in deference to them, and felt like real GH again - did not come from the current writing staff. Which says a lot about how fucked the whole operation has become.

 

That being said, even if Frank is TG's complete enabler and I suspect he is, Ron kind of deserves this at this point:

 

I think the problems were always more with the writer than with Frank, although the writer and I have never spoken.

 

And this is also correct:

 

We used to have qualified publicity people who would respond to that sort of thing. Now you have actors and producers and writers going directly to the audience to defend themselves which is, if nothing else, without dignity. I just don’t see any good coming from it.

 

His story about Liz Taylor and Natalie Wood was also very touching.

[dubbel zout]

which ran longer than Frank's usual 30-70 seconds

That's a big problem with the show right there. Super short scenes have no way to build any momentum. One reason the Lucky/Luke scene worked so well was that we saw it play out. This should not be the exception.

[Sake614]

was just coming on to post the interview, but see others beat me to it. I found the part about Ron never having spoken to Tony, even while sitting at the same table during the Emmys, quite telling. And I absolutely LOVED the line about publicity people vs. writers/actors responding directly to fans via twitter.

[TeeVee329]

I found the part about Ron never having spoken to Tony, even while sitting at the same table during the Emmys, quite telling.

 

On the flip side, what was stopping Tony Geary from saying something to Ron, especially if he had questions/concerns?  Nothing, but he's a huge diva who felt he should have been approached.

 

You also have to laugh at how, in one breath, he's scornful of the writers knowing the character better than him, and then in the next, he has to admit he made a mistake i.e. Bill Eckert knowing Holly.

Edited July 20, 2015 by TeeVee329

[Harmony233]

I'm sorry but I don't believe RC has never spoken to TG.I mean hell hes talked to LH and kin mere lets face it at this point dayplayers.Also RC is horrible but I don 't see how FV is any any better.

[Sake614]

well sure, he could have gone to Ron at any point. But Tony wasn't the new kid on the block, Ron was. Did he have to bow down and kiss Tony's ring? No, of course not. But a phone call and/or in person conversation shouldn't have been asking too much. We know that Ron spoke to KA on a regular basis, and possibly others too. So why not Tony?

[TeeVee329]

I'd wager to bet they did speak, Ron said something about Luke and Laura being soulmates or Luke not drinking anymore, and a tiny wire in Tony Geary's brain fizzled and wiped out the whole conversation.

[ulkis]

well sure, he could have gone to Ron at any point. But Tony wasn't the new kid on the block, Ron was. Did he have to bow down and kiss Tony's ring? No, of course not. But a phone call and/or in person conversation shouldn't have been asking too much. We know that Ron spoke to KA on a regular basis, and possibly others too. So why not Tony?

 

I've heard people say Ron is very shy face to face. I could picture him being intimidated, especially knowing TG might rip his writing to shreds to his face.

[Sake614]

I suppose anything is possible, but at this point it just wouldn't surprise me if they never did speak.

[Francie]

well sure, he could have gone to Ron at any point. But Tony wasn't the new kid on the block, Ron was. Did he have to bow down and kiss Tony's ring? No, of course not. But a phone call and/or in person conversation shouldn't have been asking too much. We know that Ron spoke to KA on a regular basis, and possibly others too. So why not Tony?

You get the job as head writer.  How do you not, as a matter of practice, go and meet the cast.  You fly out.  You meet them. 

 

That's on Ron.

 

I do think Ron, in person, is a bit shy.  I saw it a lot at law school -- book smart by socially awkward and reticent.  I can easily see Ron at that emmys event and thinking, "I don't know if he wants to talk to me, so I'll wait for a clear signal from him."  And, then, nothing.

[Francie]

It's really interesting that Tony took credit for changing that line of dialogue about Holly and Bill, given that he wasn't even in the scene.  Just how far did his power extend? Don't tell me he had final cut. :P

 

Or was that a moment where, technically, Tony had no power, but they changed it on their own and no one on set noticed?  Or was it that typically Tony would never see such a scene, but because he was there, and said, 'hey, this should be changed,' Frank, et. al. just took him at his word?

 

Interesting to me that, over the 3 years, there've been on 2 lines of dialogue that I was flat-out impressed by -- and they both were lines that Luke said.  There's no doubt, in my mind, as to who was responsible for both of them.

[rur]

Interesting that he didn't see the need to sit down with anyone else to improve the dialogue in the scenes they were doing with him . . .

 

But, on the other hand, I have to give him credit for speaking his mind on other issues. (Any of us who've left a job after a long time have probably wished we could have had a forum to make some issues known. I know I have.)

 

I think the only reason he'd come back to GH would be for an appearance if the show were ending. I imagine that was his plan all along, but that he waited until he'd filmed his final scenes to put the cherry on the sundae and tick off Ron enough to make sure he wouldn't be asked back for anything else. Note that he stated  he'd only retired from GH. 

[BestestAuntEver]

Add me to the list of people that love how TG called MoRon "The writer".

I did like Tony spotlighting Ron's putting in stage directions. Telling people when to pause, when to turn, etc. It does take any sort of spontaneity out of the situation. The writer has to trust the actors, otherwise, it's not a collaboration.

It just goes to show how much Ron doesn't just want to be the head writer of GH, he wants to be its God. He's too much of a fan fiction writer, who's imagining in his head exactly how the scene will play out. I remember once he gave Finola grief on twitter for putting air quotes around a word. Tracy had called Anna "Robert's girl," and Anna responded, I haven't been his [air quotes] girl [/air quotes] in a long time. And Ron tweeted, what's with the air quotes? Because god forbid someone in her 50s would find being called a "girl" -- of any kind -- offensive.

Reading TG explain this made a light go off in my head. I bet MoRon and thw asshata spend more time writing acting emotions, directions ,etc than story and character development. Maybe we could get coherent stories with details if he worried about writing vs interpreting and directing a scene.

I would love to have been present when Ron read this article.

[WendyCR72]

You know, I pretty much loathe Luke Spencer like the rest of the majority here. But God Bless Tony Geary and his scorched earth exit interview.  :-)

[TeeVee329]

I did like Tony spotlighting Ron's putting in stage directions.  Telling people when to pause, when to turn, etc.  It does take any sort of spontaneity out of the situation.  The writer has to trust the actors, otherwise, it's not a collaboration.

 

But let's not also forget that Tony used that freedom to cram back in Luke's drinking because HE thought Luke should still be drinking, despite what happened with Jake.

[WendyCR72]

But let's not also forget that Tony used that freedom to cram back in Luke's drinking because HE thought Luke should still be drinking, despite what happened with Jake.

 

Fair enough. But acting is, by and large, an innate process. Feeling the emotions from the script and allowing the character to naturally convey emotion. Dictating down to the last millisecond strips out that very emotion. No wonder the show is so surface and sterile.

 

If an actor isn't allowed to work from within, what's the point except to be puppets or human chess pieces?

[jsbt]

I don't want to root for either party, not fully, because neither has earned it. That being said, watching Soap Media Twitter rend itself apart over Ron vs. Geary, particularly when the state of the show is indefensible regardless of what Tony has done to block some of RC's better ideas, is immensely entertaining.

[UYI]

I have never seen anyone bite the hand that fed him to the extent TG does.

I'll pencil in time next week to cry for him and the amount of money he's bilked out of the pairing he hates so much. 

 

I imagine this is Tony Geary right now. Get over yourself, dude.

 

Pfft.  The first thing Pratt apparently did when he went to AMC, according to Susan Lucci, was to announce that he didn't care about character-driven stories, just plot.  And he made actors cry by dismissing their characters' histories and motivations.

 

 

Didn't he dismiss Agnes Nixon's influence, too? What a dick. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I KNEW IT! Didn't I say he would trash talk the current regime? Okay, half of the current regime.

[jsbt]

He didn't trounce Frank because Frank bent the knee. I'm not sure Frank has done that for anyone else.

Edited July 20, 2015 by jsbt

[ulkis]

I almost feel bad for Ron. Not only does he have to know that the cast are probably ripping his writing to shreds, now he knows best pal Frank was probably also letting Geary subvert his writing and let all the blame fall on him (Ron), even though Frank is responsible for half the things Geary was complaining about, including hiring beefcake and encouraging more social media presence between the actors and the audience.

 

hmm, nothing from Ron since Thursday on twitter, no tweets or replies. I wonder if something has already happened backstage.

Edited July 20, 2015 by ulkis

[HeatLifer]

And he has Rebecca Budig chiming in and she's only been around for 3 days. It's classic.

[ulkis]

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2015/07/ratings-all-soaps-up-in-women-18-49-demo-2

 

GH got a bump, although the 18-49 demo is still tied for its lowest ever.

[jsbt]

I'll believe it when I see it.

 

I doubt anything Frank has done comes as a surprise to Ron. Frank has pushed the youth set, ME, etc. when Ron wasn't very interested for years, on both shows. I suspect that for the most part they consider their push-pull a necessary symbiosis. Which it usually is, with an EP and HW, to check and balance each other. Except these two check and balance all the wrong things these days.

 

I do wonder if the online press is now going to swing to going after Frank, which he will never, ever respond to. As cold as Frank can be and as deeply wrongheaded as I find some of his choices with the production, there is no way this show would've stayed alive past 2012 without him, IMO. I give him a lot of shit but his singular drive is only to keep the show on the air (even as many of his own recent choices sabotage that drive).

 

There comes a point where you can't just judge a writer on their good intent, or what they would've done if they'd had the chance - Ron has always wanted to redeem Luke and reunite Luke and Laura. I believe that, and I agree with it. He's done right, sometimes in a backwards way, by many characters or couples I cared for both on GH and OLTL. But he couldn't do this, and he's done all this other shit since or in the meantime. I can sympathize with what he wanted to do, but I cannot defend all the rest in recent months and years. It was the same quandary when Michael Malone returned to OLTL in the 2000s; this was the mythical HW who had created the great OLTL of my childhood. But without a strong EP, and with Brian Frons' micromanagement, I was left to only regard what he himself managed to get onscreen, and in the balance his work was vastly inferior. All he did was embarrass himself. He had to own that. Malone had good intentions, Ron has had some good intentions, but Ron has to own this. We can't make it a game of What If Frank Did This, What If Geary Didn't Do That. Luke (and Laura) aside, Ron's problems are much, much bigger and widespread than that.

Edited July 20, 2015 by jsbt

[Oracle42]

I think RC has been tied to a chair and physically prevented from throwing an epic Twitter tantrum- I'm kinda disappointed.

I was gonna make popcorn

[jsbt]

Oh, he's leaking to Jamey Giddens, if he hasn't already.

[HeatLifer]

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2015/07/ratings-all-soaps-up-in-women-18-49-demo-2

GH got a bump, although the 18-49 demo is still tied for its lowest ever.

That bump is like an ant-size bump. Lol. This show is off the rails, man.

[Box305]

hmm, nothing from Ron since Thursday on twitter, no tweets or replies. I wonder if something has already happened backstage.

 

please please please please please 

[Sake614]

Seriously?

http://soaps.sheknows.com/generalhospital/news/id/44388/

[TeeVee329]

I saw someone say this on Twitter and I agree - the only way for Ron to win or score any points in this one is to say.  Nothing.  Not as fun for us, but still.

Seriously?

http://soaps.sheknows.com/generalhospital/news/id/44388/

 

Genie herself mentioned it in an interview a while back, that she was gonna take a short break and then be back in the fall.

Edited July 20, 2015 by TeeVee329

[Tiger]

My affiliate has apparently had enough. Effective today, and totally unannounced, Family Feud is taking the 3pm hour leading into the 4pm News and GH has been bumped back to 2pm (again).

It's astounding to me that this affiliate had the same lineup after 1pm for 20+ years, but ever since AMC & OLTL were cancelled no schedule makes it more than a few months.

[SlovakPrincess]

Well wow, he hates RC's writing as much as we do.

 

Exclusive Exit Interview: Anthony Geary Leaves General Hospital With All Guns Blazing

http://www.tvinsider.com/article/28817/exclusive-exit-interview-anthony-geary-leaves-general-hospital-with-all-guns-blazing/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=TVGM

 

It's here!  It's here!   YAY!

 

Well, I can no longer enjoy the show, so all I have left now is to bask in the Schadenfreude (which I'm sure I just spelled incorrectly) ... but, anyway, YES, YES, BURN THOSE BRIDGES!!  SPEW THAT HONESTY!

 

I can't really disagree with one single thing TG has to say here.  And I don't even like Luke.  And I'm sure he was difficult and arrogant, but it sounds like he kind of knows that.  

 

My one quibble might be that he says the show went from nurses gossiping over coffee to big adventure -- but the reason I'm currently addicted to watching 80s episodes online is because it was a mix of nurses gossiping over coffee and big adventure!  That's why it was awesome.  

 

I'm not even slightly surprised that Luke's last scene is with Sonny.  Because of course it is.  So that doesn't even upset me at this point.  

 

Tracy had called Anna "Robert's girl,"

 

 

Well, Tracy and I agree on one thing, at least!!   (Love Jane Elliott, have never really completely liked Tracy).  

Edited July 21, 2015 by SlovakPrincess

[jsbt]

My affiliate has apparently had enough. Effective today, and totally unannounced, Family Feud is taking the 3pm hour leading into the 4pm News and GH has been bumped back to 2pm (again).

 

If the affiliates start fucking about with GH on an individual basis, what little I remember of the GL death spiral indicates that is bad news.

[dubbel zout]

The affiliates have a lot of say and sway over non-prime-time shows, I believe. This is not good.

[ch1]

I guess Luke's last scene is supposed to be significant. I read it as one over done character passing the baton to the next longest running over done character.

[ulkis]

If the affiliates start fucking about with GH on an individual basis, what little I remember of the GL death spiral indicates that is bad news.

Soon on ABC7 they'll just be like "breaking news! We're having a water balloon fight!" They practically do it already, although, to be fair they've gotten better at not interrupting GH since Soap Net went off the air.

Edited July 21, 2015 by ulkis

[Tiger]

I wish it meant something on a national basis, but my affiliate has been bouncing GH back and forth between 2 and 3 ever since it first moved to 2 nationally.

And they have moved View and Chew around too, sometimes over to the sister-station.

That said, my market is in the top 20, has a ballsy general manager, and I believe the highly influential Affiliate Board of Governors meet again at the end of the month.

Edited July 21, 2015 by Tiger

[Francie]

I'm sorry but I don't believe RC has never spoken to TG.I mean hell hes talked to LH and kin mere lets face it at this point dayplayers.Also RC is horrible but I don 't see how FV is any any better.

I've had a chance to re-read the article, and I don't take it as Tony saying they've never exchanged a word.  I took it to mean that Ron's never approached Tony to talk substantively about Tony's issues with his writing, or about Luke's motivation, or Tony's own writing/creative process, etc.

 

I imagine the "pitch" article that's being bandied about today from last year where Tony is raving about the story, and says that Ron was 3 sentences in before Geary said he was on board was something done in Frank's office, with Ron on the telephone.  That's what Frank and Ron did with Stamos.  Frank's there in person and Ron's in New York.  

[ulkis]

This is hilarious:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Natalia90131/status/623292823010430976

[jsbt]

Oh, God! Make it your avatar.

[HeatLifer]

They forgot the song "I Got 99 Problems (And They're All That Writer)"

Edited July 21, 2015 by HeatLifer

[UYI]

For a second I saw the name Natalia and I thought, "What is Natalia Livingston THINKING?"

[jsbt]

Even Jamey Giddens has given up on Franco. His weak defense of Franco and Nina a few weeks ago was beneath him, and I don't have the highest opinion of Our Jamey.

Edited July 21, 2015 by jsbt

[dubbel zout]

I don't see how anyone can defend Nina and Franco. It's not even a case of the actors doing their best with a terrible story—it's clear MSt and RoHo aren't trying.

[jsbt]

Oh, I think Stafford is trying. I think Roger Howarth is just cruising.

[magnolia11]

Even Jamey Giddens has given up on Franco. His weak defense of Franco and Nina a few weeks ago was beneath him, and I don't have the highest opinion of Our Jamey.

 

He still thinks Cartini are the ones to right the ship, though, and I just can't bring myself to agree with that.  I can see Frank ultimately doing whatever needs to be done, but Ron is too much of a petulant baby who doubles down on things that don't work when (gasp!) people have the nerve to dislike his ideas.  I just wish they'd cut him loose.

[jsbt]

They can't do it alone, that's for sure. As for coming to terms, it's a process with DC. Two weeks ago Jamey was still repping for Howarth and Stafford. Him admitting the '80s are over is a big deal for him.

Edited July 21, 2015 by jsbt

[ulkis]

Even Jamey Giddens has given up on Franco. His weak defense of Franco and Nina a few weeks ago was beneath him, and I don't have the highest opinion of Our Jamey.

 

Jamey: And then the next episode was Kiki, Nina, Silas, and I just can't lie anymore - well it's not that I've been lying - 

 

Nope! Too late. You slipped.

 

Also why didn't anyone warn me that he cackles like the Wicked Witch of the West. Scared the shit out of me.