GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[Francie]

Why is Jamey Giddens acting like Ron was murdered?  He's a head writer on a soap opera who got replaced, like every other head writer on a soap opera ever.

Ron was Jamey's pipeline for information.  It was only because of Ron that he had a column with information worth reading. Thus, there has been a nail or two pounded into the coffin of one "soap journalist's" career.

[Box305]

Why is Jamey Giddens acting like Ron was murdered?  He's a head writer on a soap opera who got replaced, like every other head writer on a soap opera ever.

 

He's being ridiculous. 

[TeeVee329]

Oh, what's this?  Just an exclusive interview Jamey Giddens had with Ron last year where Jamey called Michelle Stafford "the casting coup of the decade" for GH:

 

http://daytimeconfidential.com/2014/05/02/exclusive-ron-carlivati-on-how-gh-snagged-michelle-stafford

Edited July 25, 2015 by TeeVee329

[SlovakPrincess]

Why is Jamey Giddens acting like Ron was murdered? He's a head writer on a soap opera who got replaced, like every other head writer on a soap opera ever.

I feel bad for anyone getting let go from their job, but I honestly don't know what his supporters were expecting. The stories are simply bad and have been for a while.

If the show were simply boring I'd think "aw, give the guy some more time." As it is, I wish the network had stepped in long before all the characters got ruined, and before a lot of the more campy and downright sadistic stuff played out.

Someone should have reined this in a long time ago. Now the new writers have a serious amount of clean up to do.

[Veronica]

I'm not sure what Maurice objected to. I was told there had been an actors' coup shortly after it leaked NLG would not be working much at all this summer. I assumed she led the coup, and was benched as punishment. I was told, "nope, it was Mo."

No one was happy with those scenes when Denise shows up and makes a comment about Alexis having a mustache. Maurice even tweeted the lines weren't funny even though they were meant to be because it wasn't true.

I do think his objections weren't just to how Sonny was being written. He had tweeted several times things that at first glance I might not have paid much attention to, but knowing he was not happy with RC, gave them new meaning.

It is my understanding that Jean Passante had been working as the unofficial co-head writer since joining GH. And she has been part of the rewrites. Maybe the actors as a whole are happier with what they are getting now with her there.

Psychoanalyzing the situation - Ron has a habit of being passive aggressive and taking out his anger at actors or fans of the actors through insulting the characters. The actors are all friends, so they don't like seeing each other attacked or pitted against each other and I think they felt like Ron was trying to do that.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Veronica

[jsbt]

Oh, none of us have forgotten the Sean Kanan affair. As much of a blowhard as Kanan can be, I didn't feel he or especially the A.J. character deserved that.

[Box305]

Psychoanalyzing the situation - Ron has a habit of being passive aggressive and taking out his anger at actors or fans of the actors through insulting the characters. The actors are all friends, so they don't like seeing each other attacked or pitted against each other and I think they felt like Ron was trying to do that.

 

He was a vindictive twat waffle. 

[ulkis]

oh God, I highly recommend recording the next showing of the Soup/searching out the clip. I just saw it and I was laughing so hard I was crying. they showed the part where Tim says, "you're old and miserable Luke. Come join daddy in hell!" and then they have a guest star pointing a gun at Joel McHale and he starts growling, "yes come join daddy in hell Luke where you can do a scene in this over the top manner and no one cares enough to make you a second take" and then I couldn't hear the rest cause I was just laughing too hard.

 

I wonder if whoever wrote that joke actually knew how accurate they were about the "no second takes" stuff.

[Artsda]

James Giddens is the worst. He attacks YR at every turn and praised RC for the destruction he did at GH. He was always so personal and bitter with his hate too. It does appear like he was in Ron's pocket.

[Box305]

oh God, I highly recommend recording the next showing of the Soup/searching out the clip. I just saw it and I was laughing so hard I was crying. they showed the part where Tim says, "you're old and miserable Luke. Come join daddy in hell!" and then they have a guest star pointing a gun at Joel McHale and he starts growling, "yes come join daddy in hell Luke where you can do a scene in this over the top manner and no one cares enough to make you a second take" and then I couldn't hear the rest cause I was just laughing too hard.

 

I wonder if whoever wrote that joke actually knew how accurate they were about the "no second takes" stuff.

 

I saw a screenshot and was laughing. This sounds even better. 

[jsbt]

I mean, I liked the line when I heard it the first time despite TG's Ol' Hickory Ham performance as Tim, which is much sillier this time around and possibly in color. But yeah, that is hilarious.

[HeatLifer]

Oh, none of us have forgotten the Sean Kanan affair. As much of a blowhard as Kanan can be, I didn't feel he or especially the A.J. character deserved that.

He really didn't. And he's missed.

[ulkis]

I saw a screenshot and was laughing. This sounds even better.

I rewatched it and the guy goes on to say, "You're ooooooold Luke! Ya see! Ya see how silly that sounds? But does anyone say "cut"? Nooooo, it goes in the show just like I say!"

And the prior to that he goes, "and this bourbon is ghost bourbon! Evidently there's ghost bourbon. And evidently there's no ghost subtlety."

[Ambrosefolly]

Heard the news, and surprising to me, I am not overjoyed that RC has been canned. Why? The potential that the next writer can be as bad or worse than ReRon. So I am going to list the pluses and minuses I found in his writing

 

Pluses:

• He killed off Jason for 2 years, and he dead as he lived, a fucking thug
• He brought back Sean Kanean as AJ
• He brought back the Nurses Ball
• Lucas is a doctor played by Ryan Carnes
• Sonny, Carly and Jason no longer dominate the show
• Michael turning on Sonny and Carly
• He brought back Anna as the Police Commissioner
• He loves Soaps

Minuses 

• He brought Jason back
• He killed off Konnie instead of her leaving Sonny and moving to Europe, and rarely mentioned. Now we have Ava in a wig.
• He let AJ languish in prison for months
• The scene where Nina stole Ava's baby
• He killed off AJ and let the audience know he was for real dead
• The kiddie quad
• Spencer Cassadine
• Dr.O as Chief of Staff. I more bothered that it didn't lead to any storyline where the staff would try to get rid of her. Ron lied.
• Having the majority of the screen time occupied by his "get" actors
• How sociopathic he has made Nik and Liz look in the Jakeson story
• His lack of believable motivation
• His refusal to build storylines
• He tendency to  have characters start in the middle of the story. (Nina and Ric)
• Having Robin being tortured off screen and her family seemingly not giving a shit
• Babies
• Trolling the audience (Carly saying she was insane getting together with Franco, Tracy calling Luke's good bye story convoluted was). 
• Having the most interesting things happen off screen
• He makes everyone look like fucking idiots 
• He too quickly kills off character instead of writing them off

I feel bad for anyone that loses their job but like Guza, he refused to listen to the complaints from the audience and would talk back to them. There is a balance between having the show be run by fan factions and writing for yourself.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Ambrosefolly

[UYI]

 

Eh, I never had any hope. I'm a little surprised you did, given you're a  . . . wee bit cynical. Just a tad! ;) 

 

 

She's pretty happy and upbeat in other threads. You should see her in the Fast Food thread in the Food forum. The difference is...quite stark, to say the least. (Love ya, Wendy!) ;)

 

Damn, I am still behind from last week on the show and the TFGH thread. I can't keep up. :'(

 

But to see this...on one hand, and I'm saying this as someone who started off liking Ron on OLTL (and, yes, his early GH stuff), I'm like this:

 

 

But then, with Jean...I don't know what to feel right now. I really thought at one point Ron would be here to the end. Now I don't know WHAT to think.

 

I said on another soap forum that GH should have just said "Fuck it" and promoted Liz Korte to HW/co-HW. Yes, Carly is her home girl...don't care anymore. She's been here longer than any other writer, and most importantly, clearly knows her shit. She deserves this. She was an interim co-HW with Val Jean back in 2001 before McTavish got there. Why not now? 

Edited July 25, 2015 by UYI

[WendyCR72]

She's pretty happy and upbeat in other threads. You should see her in the Fast Food thread in the Food forum. The difference is...quite stark, to say the least. (Love ya, Wendy!) ;)

 

Feelin' the love!  :-)

 

And 'tis true. I save my cynicism and general snarky bitterness only for things that deserve them. And GH qualifies!  :-P

[ulkis]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QwGOw0vKXEQ

Here's The Soup clip. The way Tony Hale is shaking when he cries out "you're old!" is getting me every time.

[HeatLifer]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QwGOw0vKXEQ

Here's The Soup clip. The way Tony Hale is shaking when he cries out "you're old!" is getting me every time.

LMAO. I need a clip of Ron watching this clip.

[dr. gailey]

I don't feel bad that Ron was fired.

 

He got exactly what he deserved.

 

He was an asshole to fans and actors on Twitter so karma is a bitch. He told fans that if GH is not the show for you then to quit watching. Which they did for a record 13 week lows.

 

I hope Sean Kanan is on hand if Ron acts like a jackass on Twitter at some point and hope Sean hits him with the line he told him. Just say thank you for the time you had on the show and don't say anything else.

Edited July 25, 2015 by dr. gailey

[LeftPhalange]

Finally got around to reading that Daytime Confidential post. Wow, Giddens really should've deleted that passive aggressive post before he hit publish. The butthurt is strong. And some of Ron's cheerleaders in the comments section are...something.

Edited July 25, 2015 by LeftPhalange

[sunnyface]

I really thought at one point Ron would be here to the end. Now I don't know WHAT to think.

 

 

I feel some HOPE for this show which is the LAST feeling that I had after the Nina/Franco/Kiki/Denise episode yesterday.  Good luck new writers!  Hopefully, they can take a look at some late '70s and early '80s (pre-Helena) episodes.  If the actors playing Nina/Franco/Ava/Julian are on contract - just switch these characters to playing the role of doctors.  Instant improvement. 

[SlovakPrincess]

Finally got around to reading that Daytime Confidential post. Wow, Giddens really should've deleted that passive aggressive post before he hit publish. The butthurt is strong. And some of Ron's cheerleaders in the comments section are...something.

That made me laugh almost as much as the Soup clip ("you're oooooold Luke!" ... The joke about nobody caring enough to do a second take was also on point.)

But those commenters lamenting that Rons firing ensures cancellation ... please. They apparently believe this show is worthy of staying on the air in its current state.

I hate Sonny, but good for Maurice if he stuck up for all the actors unhappy with the writing. I feel like these people are trying their hardest with writing that is impossible and absolutely humiliating at times. I'm sure it was motivated by some self-interest, too, but if this sexist network will only listen to or respect him or TG, at least he spoke up for everyone.

[MSquared]

I do think this is the last chance for GH.  Frank is trying to save the show and, if he made the call on Ronnie, he's trying to stave off the execution.  Don't they have the renewal decision coming up in September?    

[Gigi43]

In this case I can get why someone would find a need to go over Franks head. Frank and Ron were brought on as a team from another show. Frank was EP when Ron was a breakdown writer for years. In this case, I can see any actor going to Frank about Ron feeling like a pointless effort. They're regarded as a team of sorts. When Ron was writing shit about characters that really mocked the actors (SK being fat, NLG and the 'stash), Frank allowed that shit to air. So, yeah, I get feeling like going to Frank was going to be a wasted effort... And maybe result in more catty writing by Ron.

[Tiger]

Finally got around to reading that Daytime Confidential post. Wow, Giddens really should've deleted that passive aggressive post before he hit publish. The butthurt is strong. And some of Ron's cheerleaders in the comments section are...something.

Giddens is coming across like a full-on psycho. Seriously, do he and Ron have some personal relationship? Because he's acting like his spouse/partner was fired and now they're gonna lose the house, etc,.

Regardless, I hope Frank, Shelley, and Jean freeze Daytime Confidential out.

I do think this is the last chance for GH.  Frank is trying to save the show and, if he made the call on Ronnie, he's trying to stave off the execution.  Don't they have the renewal decision coming up in September?

The show was technically already renewed through Sep 2016, but ABC could cancel it at anytime. I think, and I could he mistaken, that if they did cancel it say tomorrow that everyone would be paid forested they would have had the run show until that whatever day in Sep 2016.

[MSquared]

 

The show was technically already renewed through Sep 2016, but ABC could cancel it at anytime. I think, and I could he mistaken, that if they did cancel it say tomorrow that everyone would be paid forested they would have had the run show until that whatever day in Sep 2016.

 

What I was thinking was that September renewal.  Frank would be ramping up to for a renewal beyond 2016.

[SlovakPrincess]

"You're oooooooold Luke!"

I should be doing laundry and yet I am just sitting here, watching that Soup clip multiple times and laughing.

[LeftPhalange]

But those commenters lamenting that Rons firing ensures cancellation ... please. They apparently believe this show is worthy of staying on the air in its current state.

 

I'm like, the ratings have been at an all time low for 13 weeks straight now. What did they expect to happen? Did they want the network to do nothing while the ratings continue to decline until the show is no longer profitable and they have to cancel it? They probably would like it if the show got cancelled with Ron at the helm because it would feed their agenda of making him out to be a martyr or a victim of ABC. It's unfortunate that someone has lost their job but he brought this on himself and it needed to happen.

[Tiger]

My ABC affiliate's weekend meteorologist used to live tweet GH but hasn't since last year was acting downright giddy this morning and I checked her Twitter and she said she'll be live tweeting GH again starting August 10th.

In another "news", I really the Monday morning headline to be "Howarth, Stafford, Easton, Erin, Bechtel, Mills, wig: out; McCullough, Rademacher, Marcil, Damon, Leatherman: in". And then a second sentence stating Tamblyn & Kanan will both be back for a few episodes this fall.

ETA: I'd be totally fine with Freaks Neens, Keeks, Si, and Mags just up and vanishing and no one ever referencing their existence again. Rest Ric for a few weeks and the next time he's on give a line of dialogue about having been out of town working on a case. I'd also be totally fine with resuming Amor and forgetting this Denise debacle. Just say Ava was given a pardon and move the fuck on.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Tiger

[SlovakPrincess]

I get th point that the airtime is more balanced under Ron, and he brought back long time, well liked characters.

BUT. I think budget concerns are really what led to the show no longer paying over time for Sonny, Carly, Jason, etc. And if Ron had his way, I get the feeling we'd have even more Franco and Nina airtime.

As for vets, yes that's good ... but the fan bases Ron initially lured back in with Robin, Anna, Duke, Robert's short term return, AJ, Lucy and Kevin -- well, now it seems like a big bait and switch and they're pissed. Not good judgment.

[UYI]

This name scares me.  She was co-HW with Passante when Another World got canceled. She was Associate Headwriter when P&G pulled the plug on ATWT's.  

 

Her first soap job was on GH from 81-84 as a script writer.  She's jumped from soap to soap. She worked on GL, DOOL and OLTL.  

 

I'll never forget the nickname a few soap fans had for her online during the early 2000's--Lethal Leah. 

OMG, terrible!  Is that Billy Warlock getting karate chopped in that clip?!?!

 

ETA...his character was named Dusty?!?!

 

To be fair, Dusty was short for Dustin. He was originally a teen character in the 80's played by Brian Bloom. 

 

And yes, that's Billy Warlock, next to his RL wife, Julie Pinson.

 

Random, but: Grayson McCouch's last name always makes me giggle like a 12 year old. Oh well.

Edited July 25, 2015 by UYI

[Oracle42]

Sure he brought back Mac and Felicia - when's the last time we saw them? Not even in a story - just an appearance?
He brought back Lucy and Kevin too. Broke them up, turned Lucy into a delusional "vampire slaying", Q betraying asshole who really only pops up for the Nurses Ball/Annual stripshow/DisneyPrincess talent show.
The vets are MIA and the lion's share of screen time and POV has gone to Ron's shitty creations, especially in the past year.
He deserved kudos for his first year - and he got them.
He also deserved to be fired for the work he's done for the past 2 to 3 years.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Oracle42

[UYI]

McTavish was so hit and miss for me. On the one hand when she wrote AMC from 2003-2006 for the first year or two at least I was glued to my TV screen. Her show was dark, but it had umbrella story lines that connected the entire town, character development, amazing family interactions  that made me cry (she beautifully built up Bianca-Kendall-Erica as a unit and every beat was played), excellent dialogue writers and she did romance pretty damn well. However, as I said, she was horribly dark, obsessed with rape, murder, and baby-swapping. She killed Dixie, turned Tad into a murderer, ruined David Hayward by making him Babe's father by way of ass-pull, and as you said, undid Erica's abortion. The only thing worse than McTavish is Pratt IMO who only knows how to write women as completely crazy.

 

I really only saw bits and pieces of AMC when it was still on the air and waiting for OLTL to come on, but I know she was also there when the show was really good in the early 90's, but I think she also had Felicia Minei Behr (then-EP) and Agnes Nixon (as a creative consultant) constantly on her ass to make sure she didn't fuck up (kind of like Wendy Riche with Guza on late 90's GH, actually). That probably made the difference with her work later on.

 

That said, I'm curious: What did McTavish do on GH that was considered good? Was putting Jax & Skye together basically the only thing she got praise for? 

[Ambrosefolly]

Claire Labine was fired for less. At least her stories were character driven had a beginning, middle and end, something that his storylines lacked. 

[ulkis]

That said, I'm curious: What did McTavish do on GH that was considered good? Was putting Jax & Skye together basically the only thing she got praise for? 

 

Gia and Nikolas were a fairly popular couple, and I think Stefan and Chloe seemed to be okay liked, but they killed her off.

 

Gia and Nikolas were a good couple if you took them out of context, but imo the character of Nik had changed so much to accommodate the recast I couldn't really enjoy him or anything he was involved with.

 

I think McTavish wrote some of Zander and Emily too? I was not a fan but they were popular.

[UYI]

In other news, here is another #farewelltony video, featuring no beautiful young men. Instead, we have a sweet and emotional farewell from Kirsten Storms, with a brief if slightly awkward mention of the fact that Brandon Barash put a baby in her inside Tony's house while, presumably, he stared at the night sky, sipped his sherry and thought of other young rogues in other parts of the world. Also, there's those assholes from The Chew, and Anders Hove Skyping from an undisclosed location in what looks unfortunately like a terrorist video.

 

Also: Ian Buchanan, who says he knows "just where to find Tony" overseas. I'm sure.

 

OMG, that Anders Hove video. I started laughing like a fool. The ominous music in the background really helped sell the terrorist video wannabe aspect of it all.

Gia and Nikolas were a fairly popular couple

 

 

I was going to mention them, too. Did Guza pair them up first, though, or was it McTavish?

 

And didn't Liz and Jason first date under her, too? 

[Tiger]

Sure he brought back Mac and Felicia - when's the last time we saw them? Not even in a story just an appearance?

He brought back Lucy and Kevin too. Broke them up, turned Lucy into a delusional "vampire slaying", Q betraying asshole who really only pops up for the Nurses Ball/Annual stripshow/DisneyPrincess talent show.

The vets are MIA and the lion's share of screen time and POV has gone to Ron's shitty creations, especially in the past year.

He deserved kudos for his first year - and he got them.

He also deserved to be fired for the work he's done for the past 2 to 3 years.

As a Mac fan, as a Felicia fan, and as a Mac & Felicia fan, I will always be grateful that he brought Felicia back, undid the deadbeat mom bullshit, put Mac & Flea back together, and then put them in the vet closet. Until yesterday, I was always in fear that Ron would trash them both with some wacky "plot".

Heh, remember when the Fri cliffhanger was Felicia having to make a choice between Mac & Frisco? Remember that Monday with her decision had huge ratings?

Now, remember all the cliffhanger involving RAPIST SERIES KILLER & WE (-2) NEVER CARED the last year? Remember the rating they brought in?

Hey Ron, hey!

Claire Labine was fired for less. At least her stories were character driven had a beginning, middle and end, something that his storylines lacked.

Why was Labine fired?

I loved her GH. And when I've watched her stuff in retrospect as an adult now, it wasn't just my naive tween self that loved her; IMHO, her writing was excellent.

[Apprentice79]

Gia and Nikolas were a fairly popular couple, and I think Stefan and Chloe seemed to be okay liked, but they killed her off.

 

Gia and Nikolas were a good couple if you took them out of context, but imo the character of Nik had changed so much to accommodate the recast I couldn't really enjoy him or anything he was involved with.

 

I think McTavish wrote some of Zander and Emily too? I was not a fan but they were popular.

She also wanted to put Tamara Braun's  Carly with Jax, but Maurice threw a hissy fit putting an end to their coupling....She was good on All My children with the Janet/Natalie storyline, in the summer of 1991, All my children actually became #1 beating the Young& the Restless....However, years later left to her own devices, Megan Mctavish had Bianca a newly out lesbian raped, derailing her gay romance with Lena, getting her pregnant with her rapist's child, and swiched her baby girl with Babe's child a gold-digging tramp who  wanted JR for his money. She  deified Babe, and had Bianca declare her love after she deliberately kept her daughter from her after finding out that her son was switched with Bianca's daughter. She did not want to lose JR and his money. She thought that by naming Bianca Godmother to her own daughter, that would somehow make up for keeping her from her daughter.. The endless Babe propping was too much for me and I stopped watching the show, until the last episode..She started the death of AMC and it got even worst with different writers as time went on, until the show died....

Edited July 25, 2015 by Apprentice79

[Ambrosefolly]

Ratings dipped from what was written.

[Harmony233]

I don't think CL was fired I think she left because she wanted to work on her soap where the eart is but they chose port charles instead.That said TG hated her.

 

While I think RC sucked I'm terrfied there going to go bak to sonny/Carly/Jason show.

[Apprentice79]

Clare Labine's stories were too dark at times and it would not let up....We went from BJ's death to Stone AIDS storyline with no respite. Her stories were good and character-driven, but she needed to balance her stories with romance, adventure and just plain happiness...

[Harmony233]

I loved her but honestly I totally get why some peeps wern't fans especially when it had been more an adventure/cop type of show before.

[TeeVee329]

As a Mac fan, as a Felicia fan, and as a Mac & Felicia fan, I will always be grateful that he brought Felicia back, undid the deadbeat mom bullshit, put Mac & Flea back together, and then put them in the vet closet. Until yesterday, I was always in fear that Ron would trash them both with some wacky "plot".

 

Yeah, I'm unhappy with how Mac and Felicia - and Lucy and Kevin - were ultimately treated, but that doesn't erase the fact that Ron deserves props for bringing them back at all.  I literally never thought, after the reign of Guza, I'd see Lucy and Kevin on this show again.

[UYI]

Clare Labine's stories were too dark at times and it would not let up....We went from BJ's death to Stone AIDS storyline with no respite. Her stories were good and character-driven, but she needed to balance her stories with romance, adventure and just plain happiness...

 

There was also Monica's breast cancer story. I've watched a lot of that story on YouTube and I love it. At least she got to live.

 

A planned story where Audrey developed Alzheimer's was dropped for the reasons you stated, though. 

 

I think she did leave GH on her own, though. I know she wanted to do/was developing a Ned & Lois spinoff for ABC called Heart & Soul, which was ultimately scrapped for Port Charles. And then she went to OLTL for awhile. 

Edited July 25, 2015 by UYI

[Ambrosefolly]

At least the actors seemed to enjoy playing out her stories. When they did the GH Anniversary special in the 90s, Leslie Charleston was smiling when she was discussing her storyline, and Brad Maule was very earnest  describing BJ's heart. Post 2000s, it almost seems the majority of the cast is complimenting their storylines through gritted teeth or cherry picking the parts that didn't completely suck.

[Artsda]

Labine left, she wasn't fired. She had her own soap project she was working on. 

[dubbel zout]

Anders Hove Skyping from an undisclosed location in what looks unfortunately like a terrorist video.

 

It so hilariously does. The sound quality doesn't help that impression, either. Where does he live that he's an hour way from TG in Amsterdam? Or does he mean an hour's flight from Copenhagen?

 

Also: Ian Buchanan, who says he knows "just where to find Tony" overseas. I'm sure.

 

That was rather chilling.

 

when that hashtag heated up

 

It helped that a lot of the criticism wasn't of the crackpot variety.

[Apprentice79]

She also wrote for Brenda and Sonny...She did make Sonny more prominent with his childhood abuse storyline and brought in Lois...He was supposed to be a short-term villain for Jagger/Karen..

Edited July 25, 2015 by Apprentice79

[LegalParrot81]

 

That said TG hated her.

 

I don't think TG hated her as a person, I believe he hated the writing for Luke.  As we've all heard from him, ad nauseum,  he hated how she domesticated the character.  CL & TG butted heads for sure where the character of Luke was concerned,  CL's been very clear that she adored him.

 

I adore Tony Geary! That man is a fabulous actor, and I wish he would take the time to do some stage work. I saw him in one production in Los Angeles and he broke your heart and repelled you and made you love him all at once........  He deplored what I did with Luke......Wendy [Riche] would send me downstairs to talk to him when we had something she anticipated he wouldn’t like very much. I had to go into the lion’s den. And he was so gracious to me, he really was. I’m a great fan and admirer.

[Ambrosefolly]

A planned story where Audrey developed Alzheimer's was dropped for the reasons you stated, though. 

Considering how marginalized Audrey ended up becoming (she is nicknamed Honk! Honk!), maybe a long story thread with Audrey eventually succumbing to Alzheimers in the mid 2000s would have been the way to go. Let Rachel Ames go out on  a high note. She put in more years on GH than anyone, she deserved a good send off instead of her being Liz's invisible babysitter.  I hold a lot of contempt against Guza for how he treated Audrey, considering how the amount of detail he went into when Luke was on vacation. If they wanted her back, she could return as a ghost for the special occasions. 

Edited July 25, 2015 by Ambrosefolly