GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[Oracle42]

Way to display the pettiness and lack of professionalism that helped him get fired in the first place!

[Chairperson Meow]

Now, for once, I'm hoping that Geary wins the emmy this year.

Because this shit is like a East Coast/West Coast rap battle. Except with two older pasty white guys.

Is it wrong that I'm looking forward to the next burn from either side? Both TG and Ron are stupid af and the show is suffering. Actually, Frank, TG, Ron, Mo, are stupid af and GH suffers. They all need to chill out. Drop a mix tape like Rickey Paul Walters.

[peachmangosteen]

I love this! I miss getting to see RC's pettiness on display daily.

[RedVelvetWaffles]

Is it wrong that I'm looking forward to the next burn from either side? Both TG and Ron are stupid af and the show is suffering. Actually, Frank, TG, Ron, Mo, are stupid af and GH suffers. They all need to chill out. Drop a mix tape like Rickey Paul Walters.

 

You forgot to add Nathan Varni to the list of the stupid AF folks.

[TeeVee329]

So what's this about Nathan Varni talking about actor contract negotiations with a fan on Facebook and then claiming he was hacked? #ohgirl

[Oracle42]

Meanwhile, they're PUBLICLY nickel and diming GH vets during contract negotiations while bringing ME back for his fourth character attempt.

[peachmangosteen]

Speaking of, do we have any idea when ME is coming back? I'll admit I'm curious to see what his new character will be. It's like a car wreck, I just can't look away!

[ulkis]

ME is already back. That's how subtle his performance has been! You don't even notice him!

[TeeVee329]

I thought that Wyndemere paneling had terrible hair!

[ulkis]

Speaking of, do we have any idea when ME is coming back? I'll admit I'm curious to see what his new character will be. It's like a car wreck, I just can't look away!

 

I'll put my speculation in the speculation thread.

[Chairperson Meow]

You forgot to add Nathan Varni to the list of the stupid AF folks.

Nathan Varni is the New Ron.

Dammit. I might go listen to some Kanye and write my own Ron/TG rap battle.

[BestestAuntEver]

This thread is more entertaining than anything I'm reading about the show.

Wow, Ron us truly petty. He wrote that shit down in case he won. No thanking his fellow writers, lover, family, friends, dof, etc... just pettiness

[jsbt]

No, I don't think Ron is untouchable. He didn't come out there or on social media ranting "fuck ABC!" I still half-expect him back at some point, which is not an endorsement. Particularly if GH/Frank/Varni continue digging themselves deeper.

Edited February 16, 2016 by jsbt

[Chairperson Meow]

No, I don't think Ron is untouchable. He didn't come out there or on social media ranting "fuck ABC!" I still half-expect him back at some point, which is not an endorsement. Particularly if GH/Frank/Varni continue digging themselves deeper.

Yeah. If we're looking at lesser of two evils here, Ron's GH could be improved upon. He also at least owns what he says. He's never claimed he was hacked.

[Oracle42]

Ron's GH could be improved upon by a reset.

[HeatLifer]

Ron's GH could be improved upon by a reset.

How, though? He still has 0 grasp of the characters and would continue to write them as if they were split personalities of their former selves.

[Oracle42]

I don't want him back ever! I meant that the only way to improve Ron's GH was to retcon it out of existence because it was shitty in the extreme except for some of the first year - AJ & Robin being alive and...parts of toxic water, I guess

Edited February 16, 2016 by Oracle42

[Pete Martell]

Ron's GH could be improved upon by a reset.

 

A reset back to 1995 or so would do fine.

[HeatLifer]

I don't want him back ever! I meant that the only way to improve Ron's GH was to retcon it out of existence because it was shitty in the extreme

Oh, whew! Thought I lost you there for a sec! ;)

[Oracle42]

I think too many of the actors have passed on/moved on for that to be viable

A reset back to 1995 or so would do fine.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Oracle42

[Chairperson Meow]

Ron and a strong co-head writer would work better than the dolphins writing the show currently.

[Sake614]

Ron and a strong co-head writer would work better than the dolphins writing the show currently.

Hey now, don't be insulting dolphins like that!

[BlackMamba]

DC: Varni Gate podcast

Jamey is hilarious getting on Varni

http://daytimeconfidential.com/2016/02/16/dc-818-varni-gate

[Pete Martell]

Ron and a strong co-head writer would work better than the dolphins writing the show currently.

 

I don't believe Ron's ego would ever allow for a strong co-head writer. I also have a feeling the cheerleaders for Ron in the soap "press" would undermine said writer at every turn, because they would need to have their man calling the shots. 

 

Ron's a hack but it's the chip on his shoulder (against actors, fans, you name it) that should make any show wary of hiring him. It dictates his writing, and even takes precedence when he's winning a major award for his work that many other writers never get to touch.

[jsbt]

Yeah. If we're looking at lesser of two evils here

 

I wouldn't go that far. I think they may well rehire him, but that doesn't mean I think they should. At least with only one of them there is a slight prayer of erasing Roger Howarth someday.

Edited February 16, 2016 by jsbt

[Pete Martell]

I think too many of the actors have passed on/moved on for that to be viable

 

 

I was mostly joking, because for me that's the last time GH was a truly good show. Still, there are some from that era I think could return and freshen the canvas, like Tom, Simone, Tommy, a bigger role for Kevin, a rewrite that will bring Justus back from the dead, etc. 

[jsbt]

I think the only way to reconceptualize some of those characters who sort of became long-forgotten historical wallpaper (Simone Hardy, etc.) would be to get an incredibly strong actress and have them take over Obrecht's role or something. Then there is a clear purpose for the character and reason to be there other than to say they're back. Same goes for Tom Hardy, who I fear would become another Stephen Lars, who was wallpaper long before he left with the opposite of a strong actor. You'd have to get powerhouses.

 

There has to be a way to highlight characters in a strong and bold new way, especially past historical characters with distant ties or characters of color, which daytime consistently does the bare minimum with despite our culture now tipping heavily in the opposite direction. The guy playing Curtis is charismatic as hell but what is his purpose? Sean Blakemore was the most beautiful man I've seen on soaps in years but he got nothing. Jordan is barely there or interesting to me and largely irrelevant, T.J. is consistently invisible, poor Valerie became a disaster. And if you go back to the Wards, they were an afterthought long before they all disappeared. If you got a strong actor for one of the younger ones - or Keesha - made them an activist or something, even played up the old Jason/A.J. tie, there are things that can be done. Soap Twitter would rend itself to pieces if you dared to do something with say, Keesha Ward, Billy Miller's new Jason and Sam, but it would at least be something different. (And something no regime in the past 20 years would have bothered considering, but it's something relevant to our current cultural climate.)

Edited February 16, 2016 by jsbt

[Ambrosefolly]

You have to write decently for whoever as well. A strong actor/actress will only take you so far. I firmly believe that JFP purposely botched the casting of Steve Lars because he would have directly been competition with Sonny and Jason (he was supposed to be a new love interest for Carly), since she rejected two the first two people presented to her. 

[jsbt]

I liked Shaun Benson, the young guy who took over the role in the mid-2000s, but I was under the impression he had Certain Problems BTS. I do agree most of the creative team had zero investment in his being a real rival for the mob regardless, but I thought the initial character sketch (working with Durant, possibly for Carly) was a great idea. By contrast, I don't think Scott Reeves' Steve was conceived as anything but an older talk-to/mainstay to support other storylines and give Steve Burton's buddy a job.

[Ambrosefolly]

I didn't mind Benson and thought he was better than Scott Reeves, but he lacked that charisma. At the end, the show wasn't giving him the writing. However, there were a lot of actors in the age range that could have done better. Nolan North was one of the people that auditioned. 

[KerleyQ]

I didn't mind Benson and thought he was better than Scott Reeves, but he lacked that charisma. At the end, the show wasn't giving him the writing. However, there were a lot of actors in the age range that could have done better. Nolan North was one of the people that auditioned. 

 

They definitely should have gone with Nolan.  He would have been so much better. 

[Ambrosefolly]

I wouldn't have minded if they decided to bring back Chris Ramsey. I think his character was the least involved with the vampire shit on Port Charles.

[Ambrosefolly]

People, it can always get worse. James Harmon Brown (the surviving half of the duo that brought the supernatural on Port Charles and clone Reva) could come in to replace either of them or both.  It can always get worse. 

Edited February 17, 2016 by Ambrosefolly

[ulkis]

Hey, there's an idea. Michael Easton can play an aged version of a clone of Rafe!

[jsbt]

I would've rather Nolan North played Chris if he was gonna come on GH. He'll likely never be back though, he's the king of video game voice work now and he allegedly did not care for his daytime experience. (I'd still try to get him to come in for an arc as scheming Dr. Chris)

Edited February 17, 2016 by jsbt

[Oracle42]

Dr. Chris would be a great addition and I'd like to see him in a chem test with BH but RC would probably recast him with a 30 year old mannequin instead

I think Daniel Cosgrove would be a good Steven Lars recast. Also, ER actually had chemistry with him on GL


I'd like to see a Maxie/NuDoc chem test and I wish NuDoc had just been a Matt Hunter recast

Edited February 17, 2016 by Oracle42

[jsbt]

I think if RC had been able to bring Chris Ramsey back he would've killed someone or something as revenge for Julie Devlin and then gotten carted off to jail. That was within the basic range of Ron's historical callbacks by the end.

Edited February 17, 2016 by jsbt

[TeeVee329]

I would have taken Nolan North either way, but yeah, I would have probably preferred him playing Chris.

 

As is, that is a character type the hospital canvas desperately needs - a rascally doctor who might engage in light scheming to one-up a work rival or get someone in his bed, but who's good with patients and doesn't get up to anything particularly evil.  Think Chris, think David Hayward before AMC piled on him towards the end, etc.

 

I think this might have somewhat been the template Ron was going for with Silas, but laziness all around ensued Silas became John McBain with a lab coat as soon as possible.

Edited February 17, 2016 by TeeVee329

[Oracle42]

Silas seemed more like a terrible House rip-off

[jsbt]

I don't think RC has ever been much of a fan of Easton's, and only used him when pushed to do so. I don't think he was terribly committed to Silas, but Silas (and Nina, who RC clearly adored, and everything else connected to Silas) was unbearable just the same.

 

I do think that if RC and FV had half a chance they would've brought David Hayward to GH. And I think that could've worked, within reason - which is not a phrase I've been able to apply to either Ron and Frank in years. I know friends who wanted them to bring Angie Hubbard over in 2012 (or resurrect Debbi Morgan's PC character Ellen Burgess), and I think that was an idea with merit for a guest stint or something. Back then, not now. Their overindulgence and their vision of a super-soap (which FV is continuing in other ways) basically shit the bed for any kind of crossovers.

Edited February 17, 2016 by jsbt

[Oracle42]

I would've forgiven them many things if they'd brought Vincent Irizarry to GH. I wanted him as Julian - but David and Angie? Hells yes.

[jsbt]

VI as Julian would've been incredible, but would've made MB at least ten times more insecure than the nonsense that is the real Julexis.

[tvgoddess]

Hey, there's an idea. Michael Easton can play an aged version of a clone of Rafe!

 

Jesus Christ, I completely forgot all about him. Completely unsurprisingly.

[yowsah1]

BTW, jsbt, does this change your opinion at all about Ron's prospects for returning to GH at some later point?

My guess is that he earned himself another year of being untouchable, but after that all bets are off.

 

I expect that after the current writers fall off the Glass Cliff, Frank will bring back "award winning writer Ron Carlivati".

[jsbt]

Sadly, when it comes to the soaps I don't think it's about the gender angle in the writers' room. Passanante and Altman are just hacks, old-style hacks who have been doing the same mediocre to awful slipshod work and giving the EP and the network whatever they want at soap after soap. They are classic cheap, 'safe' picks for a network with zero investment. There are also a dozen men just like them. The scope of failure is dense and gender-neutral in that end of daytime.

Edited February 17, 2016 by jsbt

[Oracle42]

It's sad that GH picked them up right after Y&R threw them in the trash. They didn't even jump ship, they got canned for sucking at their jobs and ABC snatched them up like hipster garbage pickers

Edited February 17, 2016 by Oracle42

[UYI]

The original Frank Smith--but to me, Henry from Punky Brewster!--has died. I was a 90's kid who watched Punky Brewster in reruns as a kid (and later got the DVDs!) and I also knew him from the movie Tootsie. RIP.

 

http://variety.com/2016/film/news/george-gaynes-dead-1201707777/

[WendyCR72]

Aww, RIP "Henry Warnimont"/George Gaynes! At least he lived a long life!

[Oracle42]

 Their overindulgence and their vision of a super-soap (which FV is continuing in other ways) basically shit the bed for any kind of crossovers.

 

It really is too bad. I could've enjoyed short story arcs with characters from other soaps if I they'd been temporary and GH characters weren't screwed to accommodate them. 

[UYI]