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GH In The News: The PC Press Club


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Jill was definitely there until at least Dec 2011, and Wolfe's material continued to air until at least Jan 2012. I'm pretty sure Valentini was credited on screen for a month or more before Ron was. And I'm pretty sure OLTL didn't go off the air until early Jan 2012.

 

All of that is true.  But like I said, they were hired the summer of 2011 so I'm sure they started some kind of prep work prior to OLTL ending and them officially taking over.

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David A. Gregory ‏@davidagreg  Jul 25

@carlivatiron you're a champ! You gave me some of the best writing I've ever worked with - hope the next chapter rocks your socks

 

Sir, please, do you have an appointment

And I'm pretty sure OLTL didn't go off the air until early Jan 2012.

 

It did not. January 13th. They wrapped taping in November 2011, IIRC.

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I just want to know when Ron's going to return to Twitter.  I'm so disappointed that we're not even getting passive-aggressive internet meme tweets from him.  

 

Yeah, but you can be pretty sure that Jamey's "source" that ME is leaving is Ron. His petty payback.

 

I'm with jsbt.  I think he's done with that account on twitter.  I wouldn't be surprised if he deletes it.

 

Edited to add

 

I stand corrected.

Edited by Francie
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Vasectomies and/or sterilization FOR ALL.

The sad part is that if the show displayed adults acting responsibly, there wouldn't be nearly all these baby stories.  Condoms aren't expensive. 

 

And it doesn't have to expressly said on screen.  Just stop with all the unprotected sex by people who are clearly not in position to have kids or have kids with that partner.

 

It makes me cringe that they don't. Or maybe just more relieved that the young demo is nearly non-existent. Those are the kind of lessons that people who are impressionable pick up on.

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I don't want more babies exactly, just non Corinthi. Like, I'd welcome a Quartermaine baby (no, Olivia, your not dead mob baby doesn't count), a Spencer (nope Valerie not with Dante), or etc baby.

And I still maintain that AJ, the alcoholic, has a good bit of unknown kids out there. I don't buy that the drunk guy is the only one practicing safe sex.

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I'm praying the rumors of SORASing of the kids is true. I would miss Brooklyn as Emma, but there should not be a story line for 4th graders.

 

There's rumors they're SORASing the kids? 

 

Days just did the same with all their rugrats.

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Did anyone brave the DC Confidential podcast last night, and if so, could you provide highlights? According to twitter, Jamey Giddens was a pissy lil bitch and spilled some tea...

 

I'm listening right now. Apparently backstage GH is SO MUCH MORE EXCITING than onscreen GH. 

 

Edited: THIS IS HILARIOUS. He's so pissed right now. Every time he says, "RON!" I laugh. 

Edited by Box305
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Oooh, any fun deets?

 

Just that people (actors) were rejoicing and celebrating on set when they found out Ron was shitcanned, JG thinks Frank should take some of the blame for the show being so g-d awful (with which I agree) and then he was melting down about the combination of those two things. He thinks they will rue the day that they celebrated Ron's demise because JP and SA probably won't be that much better. 

 

He was really acted like a spurned lover. It was kind of hilarious. I didn't listen to the whole thing because I can only take so much ;)

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TG pitched a fit when he heard GF was returning.They talked about how shitty abc treated Genie.How that laura was on the show before luke.

 

Yesterday I was trying to think of any other soap actors who had (relatively) successful characters on 3 different network soaps like GF has had, as well as some prime time success, too.  I remember liking her Diana Colville on DAYS.  I didn't see most of her run on AMC but I know she had her fans there. They kind of messed up her character on Y&R but that really wasn't her fault.  (Well, I did flinch at a few of her acting choices but all things considered...) 

 

Next to GF making the best of her career options, TG looks pathetic. He can complain about the LnL legacy all he wants but it was fine when he wanted to milk GH's limited budget and screw with storylines with his endless vacations.  He's lucky that he has even that left, IMO. 

Edited by tessaray
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Yeah, I listened to that podcast. It is something. I'm not sure why Jamey Giddens is drawing what he thinks is a favorable comparison between Ron and Gloria Monty's disastrous second regime, and quoting extensively from this classic old EW article, in the new DC podcast but jeez, is he missing the point.***

 

The point of that old article was that Gloria Monty was out of touch and lost her way, and blaming everyone else, ranting about conspiracies against her. Ron also lost his way, but JG's takeaway from the old article appears to simply be that the ungrateful actors and EP are burying Ron "just like Monty". He seems outraged that "the actors are ready to mutiny" against RC’s writing and supposedly have been for some time - it seems like he's especially pointing the finger at people like NLG, either Jane Elliot or Finola, maybe Stafford or West - but he doesn't put much stock into why they’d all be upset. Suddenly it’s mostly Frank’s fault, or Nathan Varni, who I get the sense is little more than a glorified intern they feed to the onliners - and gee, if they’d all just supported Ron or sent him on a cruise to recover and recharge, it would’ve worked out. Did we watch the same show?

 

FV is no saint, that much is likely true, and he is responsible for some of what went down with their catering to TG, along with, I'm sure, many other things. The impression I get is that his only loyalty is to the show and what he perceives (rightly or wrongly) to be necessary to its survival, and whether or not I agree with what his choices I respect that he never makes any excuses for what he does. He's also very skilled at telling people what they want to hear and then pulling the rug out from under them without missing a beat when he thinks it's time to cut them. If he did that to RC as opposed to another member of the ensemble, RC has worked with him long enough that he should've seen it coming when it was his turn. I also know FV has shielded Ron before, including when he was starting out in the big chair at OLTL and Brian Frons found his work to be too multi-generational. My suspicion is that he shielded RC as long as he could until he became a liability, and then cut him loose with little remorse, which is what many of us have been wondering if he'd do for awhile. That's his business, that's what he is there to do. And every EP in this business has done it, yet somehow DC wants the EP to go with him this time because - solidarity? Share the blame? We all know the EP often survives the writer - FV has survived three. It's not some new phenomenon and it's not different because these two were once a dynamic duo.

 

If I'm being honest, I don't entirely disagree with them that Jean Passanante would've probably been preferable in a support role, as a backstop to rein RC's storylines in at the breakdown level. She did it before at OLTL. But at the same time, more than just Jean Passanante helping out was needed at this point. You had to either remove Carlivati or bring in someone very strong, with a real history and POV on the show, to be a co-HW. That was the only way to change what's happening at the show in a wholly positive way. Instead they chose Option A, remove Ron, and he brought that on himself with his stories and his attitude.

 

FV is an operator but I don't blame FV for what became of Ron. The actors are the actors. Ron was burnt out and he made himself a target. I would've handled it differently, but I can't fault them for firing him and I think RC's responsibility for the show's mess is at least 50% with FV, who has always given him tremendous creative latitude. The way RC was doing things had to be shut down. For DC to pretend this is some outrageous breach of trust is nonsense. We all saw it coming and we all knew why. We can't pretend everyone else made it happen to him. Whoever left Ron to swing, he put himself in the noose and he's been doing it a lot longer than just six months. But they've never been honest about the guy - they've been too enamored of him personally.

 

(*** - Minor trivia: Jamey also apparently completely missed the point of why Jane Wyman's lonely widow is horrified by her children shackling her to a TV set in Douglas Sirk's classic film All That Heaven Allows, which he name-checks in this podcast as being an indicator of people apparently being afraid of modernity/social media. That kind of ignorance of classic melodrama in cinema I cannot abide!)

Edited by jsbt
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Every EP in this business has done it, yet somehow DC wants the EP to go with him this time because - solidarity? Share the blame? We all know the EP often survives the writer - FV has survived three. It's not some new phenomenon and it's not different because these two were once a dynamic duo.

 

Exactly this.  This is not new, this is not some cruel and unusual punishment reserved for poor Ron.  Soap head writers are fired all the time.  Hell, both Y&R and Days swapped out their writers just this year.  Ron is not special in that regard.

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FV is no saint, that much is likely true, and he is responsible for some of what went down with their catering to TG, along with, I'm sure, many other things. The impression I get is that his only loyalty is to the show and what he perceives (rightly or wrongly) to be necessary to its survival, and whether or not I agree with what his choices I respect that he never makes any excuses for what he does. He's also very skilled at telling people what they want to hear and then pulling the rug out from under them without missing a beat when he thinks it's time to cut them.

 

 

As I understand it, that's pretty much exactly what he did when he'd had enough of Robin Strasser's ego on OLTL and her interference.  It just so happens that I think she was right about her concerns, but at some point her dissatisfaction became too disruptive and FV ushered her out the door.  It's a long time ago, now, but later, when Robin was reminiscing about those tumultuous days, she basically said she had overreached and she regretted the dent she put in their friendship - but that his first loyalty was to the show, above and beyond her.  They made up, as I understand it.  So, going on my admittedly limited and imperfect memory, I fully agree about where FV's ultimate loyalties lie.  

I think that he's been as flexible as he can be, as he was with Robin and probably was with Ron C., until it was too much.  

 

PLEASE don't read this as me defending his choices or his decisions, because I also think that we have ample evidence from both OLTL and GH that his partnership with Ron C. could also have - and did - disastrous consequences.  He let Ron C. get away with too much for too long.   And he probably did the same with Geary.  

 

I hope TG enjoyed all the fuss about his retirement, and he really means that he wants to be out of the spotlight, because now that he's gone, he's gone.  This extended goodbye tour has been exhausting, and I think whatever mild interest existed in his bloated opinions about the past and his talent, and his future, have mostly evaporated.  Some people in his position know how to conduct themselves with more grace and less assholyness, even if sometimes they concealed some of their true feelings.

 

I think of Robin Strasser in that regard - a lovely loudmouth with a big heart, admitting to her mistakes but always profoundly grateful for the years she got onscreen and while not always happy with the direction of her Dorian character, NEVER dismissive of the character, never expressing boredom about how the fans felt about the character.  

And Susan Lucci and Erika Slezak, who have said so many times how happy they've been to inhabit their characters for so long, and how grateful they've been to the viewers and fans.  I'm sure there were times they would gladly have ducked out a backdoor, times they groaned at what they would have to do onscreen, but they consistently gave us a cheerful and upbeat committment to the characters they portrayed.  

Hell, I always had my Erica Kane limit, but I never felt that way about her portrayer.  

Too bad Geary couldn't put his ego aside for a moment and learn a thing or two from his fellow vets.

Edited by boes
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Oh, I know what he did to Robin, and I love her. I agree with you on that. She is an eccentric old bird but FV knows who she is. I don't believe he would ever have kept her gone for good, and I am sure she would have returned had the show gone online with FV in charge. That doesn't mean I agree with her being gone for the show's last four months, but they had so much going on there that Dorian taking a happy ending early (and getting regularly mentioned) was the least of my issues in that crazy time.

 

I think Robin still shades RC on Twitter from time to time, though, so I wonder where the distinction is for her.

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Does Jamey's bitching about Ron take up most of the episode? Do the other people on the show chime in as well? I usually listen to every episode but I don't know if I can make it through this one if it's two hours of pro-Ron bullshit. 

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You had to either remove Carlivati or bring in someone very strong, with a real history and POV on the show, to be a co-HW.

 

Given Ron's ego, I don't think a co-HW would have made much difference; in fact, it might have caused even more problems. I think the only way for GH to change was to get rid of Ron completely.

 

I think Robin still shades RC on Twitter from time to time, though, so I wonder where the distinction is for her.

I think she can't help it. I don't blame her.

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I don't think there is any hill FV will die on other than the show itself. So it baffles me why he's tweeting that. Unless he's hoping to get the few clueless tweeters who like Franco and Nina and present their comments to the network, like, 'see?'

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Guys.  I'm scared.  Someone replied with "We need more Franco!"  How?  Why?  What?  I need to go lie down. 

 

There's a portion of RoHo's fan base who are willing to watch him do virtually anything, no matter how pathetic, as long as they get to keep him on their TV, and they're probably nervous after hearing the Easton rumors.  I've always loved Roger, but I'd rather get a colonoscopy than watch one more minute of him in this horrendous farce of a role.

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Well, Roger Howarth has his die-hard fans. They'll watch him strain to take a shit for an hour and call it magical. So this crap, I'm certain, is appealing to that contingent solely because it means Roger is on their television.

 

It's not a good enough reason for the rest of the dwindling GH audience, though.

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I don't think there is any hill FV will die on other than the show itself. So it baffles me why he's tweeting that. Unless he's hoping to get the few clueless tweeters who like Franco and Nina and present their comments to the network, like, 'see?'

It terrifies me that we have the EP loving Franco and the HW loving Budig.

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I don't think there is any hill FV will die on other than the show itself. So it baffles me why he's tweeting that. Unless he's hoping to get the few clueless tweeters who like Franco and Nina and present their comments to the network, like, 'see?'

 

My one charitable/hopeful explanation is that he's trying to be like "nope nope no one was fired on the show for having created at least 10 crap ass characters just a little backstage turnover la di da here's Franco".

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FV is no saint, that much is likely true, and he is responsible for some of what went down with their catering to TG, along with, I'm sure, many other things. The impression I get is that his only loyalty is to the show and what he perceives (rightly or wrongly) to be necessary to its survival, and whether or not I agree with what his choices I respect that he never makes any excuses for what he does. He's also very skilled at telling people what they want to hear and then pulling the rug out from under them without missing a beat when he thinks it's time to cut them. If he did that to RC as opposed to another member of the ensemble, RC has worked with him long enough that he should've seen it coming when it was his turn. I also know FV has shielded Ron before, including when he was starting out in the big chair at OLTL and Brian Frons found his work to be too multi-generational. My suspicion is that he shielded RC as long as he could until he became a liability, and then cut him loose with little remorse, which is what many of us have been wondering if he'd do for awhile. That's his business, that's what he is there to do. And every EP in this business has done it, yet somehow DC wants the EP to go with him this time because - solidarity? Share the blame? We all know the EP often survives the writer - FV has survived three. It's not some new phenomenon and it's not different because these two were once a dynamic duo.

 

 

I agree that FV's highest loyalty is to whichever show he's running and to himself. I would have more respect for him not pulling any punches with getting rid of people if he didn't lie to their face first and then pull the rug out from under them. I'm thinking specifically of the crap he pulled with KDP when "The Mannings" were originally supposed to be coming to PC. 

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OMG, what if we end up with a Phyllis/Todd/Greenlee triangle?

Take this back right now. I mean it. Take it back!

I like Roger but I don't give a shit about Franco and even less about Nina or Greenlee. In case an intern is watching, the above quote is not the way to fix the show. It may even kill it faster.

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In random related news, looking at the comments on various articles, I can't believe how many Internet stans are still blaming Prospect Park.  "Franco/Silas are HORRIBLE and it's all Prospect Park's fault!".  Um, Prospect Park didn't write Roger Howarth as a SERIAL KILLER.  Prospect Park didn't make Michael Easton completely unbelievable as a doctor.

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With so many fish and most of the ponds dried up, i.e. most soaps dead, I get how the recycling happens, especially since new blood may shy away from a dying genre.

 

But I think a mistake that is made is, for lack of a better explanation, the "type" of writer a show chooses. Ron, for example, was coming off of OLTL, the soap that did heaven arcs and time travel. So while there was reality, camp wasn't out of place and Ron fit the style. (This is said by someone who read soap mags; I never watched, so please correct any inaccuracies!)

 

He didn't fit GH. And he tried to make GH change to fit his campy vision and it didn't work. Now, I am well aware GH was also campy in the '80s, but it also seemed to try and ground the ridiculousness in a cloak of semi-reality, if that makes any sense. (It does in my head.)

 

But GH changed in the '90s. It became more "real" under Labine. And while Guza was all mob, all the time, he also wasn't about talking dogs or outright hamminess.

 

I can only hope JP/SA are a better tonal fit for the show.


That would be too much greatness for a viewer to handle. Greenlee will be in a triangle with Nik/Jason/Patrick.

 

Wouldn't that be a quad? And I know Hayden liked the guys and loved sex, but that's too many men for her. Share the wealth! (I know there aren't many women in the age range, but still!)

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