GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[Francie]

OMG, this penultimate will never not be funny to me too now.

 

If not for Wolf's short stint as HW, I can see someone introducing Guza with, "He's the penultimate head writer of GH," and Guza saying, "Thank you! I'm so flattered!"

 

Somehow, some way, when GH goes off the air, I'll have to find a way to use penultimate in my send off.

[dubbel zout]

Scrubs, Lante, Georgie/Dillon were all couples I really liked. And I make fun of them a lot but I think Nem was genuinely popular. And Jasam. And Liason

 

Point taken, but those couples also suffered through some really gross stuff. And too bad Guza killed off Georgie and Emily (well, maybe not NL's Emily), and sent away Dillon.

 

Michael Fairman, please learn how to use punctuation properly.

Edited November 6, 2014 by dubbel zout

[UYI]

Ha, look what I found in the comments - apparently GH has been misusing this word for more than a decade lol

 

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/se5flm/headlines---dramacide

 

(for those who can't view it, it's Luke and Laura signing their divorce papers in 2001 and Laura says "we were the penultimate". Okay, and quick history question - was that penned by McTavish? Because there was a horrible montage featured in the clip too)

 

 

 

 

 

   Yes.  I swear I remember seeing someone call the show out for misusing that word in SOD back then (most likely, Carolyn Hinsey. Which makes me feel dirty, knowing she was right.). 

[jsbt]

I'll actually give him credit for the love part, especially compared to now - Scrubs, Lante, Georgie/Dillon were all couples I really liked. And I make fun of them a lot but I think Nem was genuinely popular. And Jasam. And Liason.

 

I think Guza's second run had some big couples and some great ones - I loved Scrubs, George and Dillon, even Liz and Jason and Spinelli/Maxie briefly, among others - but I think he mangled or badly wrote almost all of them, either from their conception or later on. Nikolas and Emily was something people had been waiting for since the '90s and it almost immediately went south due to their handling of the story and characters (including Zander). The primary issue, IMO, is that he let his obsession with the mob canvas and with trying to turn GH into a primetime drama override any focus he could've previously put on developing any classic soap romance properly.

 

And yeah, that whole divorce papers shit was McTavish. Cut to Mac sitting on the bench thinking a lot, because Mac was supposed to be Laura's new man!

Edited November 6, 2014 by jsbt

[ulkis]

I think Guza's second run had some big couples and some great ones - I loved Scrubs, George and Dillon, even Liz and Jason and Spinelli/Maxie briefly, among others - but I think he mangled or badly wrote almost all of them, either from their conception or later on.

 

Oh, yeah, definitely, but I feel like all soap couples go to shit sooner or later, so he's hardly alone in that regard. Although I suppose in his case some couples were went to shit a whole lot sooner.

 

And yeah, that whole divorce papers shit was McTavish. Cut to Mac sitting on the bench thinking a lot, because Mac was supposed to be Laura's new man!

 

 

heh. That makes more sense that who I thought it was - Roy Delucca.

Edited November 6, 2014 by ulkis

[jsbt]

IIRC, Guza had actually wanted Genie to be paired with A Martinez a year or two before, which is why Roy moved in with Laura when he first returned. They had quite a bit of chemistry, IMO; I remember wondering at the time if the show was going there, but I didn't know about anything more til years later. In any event, Wendy Riche was all about Bobbie and Roy, and that was just one of many rifts that led to them both getting x'ed out of the show in the ensuing conflict over creative control.

 

Plenty of soap couples go through bad stories or get boring or whatever. My problem with Guza's couples is that so often, he would have everything going for him - top production value (with the money Jill stole from OLTL), great actors with good chemistry, excellent scriptwriters, a good build-up, you'd like what you were seeing in concept. And then he would pivot the story onto something horrible and immediately kill a good romance in its cradle. Someone gets raped, someone gets killed, someone joins the mob, it becomes a sex farce, everyone falls in love with Lulu, the story becomes a B or C-plot while the mob takes focus. You name it. He fucked that chicken every time. Even Scrubs, where I thought the writing was pretty misogynistic for a long time because of the higher-ups in the creative team's disdain and resentment towards Robin and their having to go ahead with the pairing at all.

Say WHAAAAAA...they wanted to pair Mac and Laura?  Because it worked so well for Felicia and Luke?

 

Jill and Megan had zero idea what they were doing. They would pair a bunch of randos in scenes or chemistry tests and see what happened. So there was a brief period after they divorced L&L where they tried to pretend Mac was some legitimate romantic spoiler for Luke and Laura. I like Mac but I was like, please. It quickly dissolved and then they rushed the shoddy L&L reunion after Endgame, probably hoping to save their jobs. But it was so embarrassing.

[Harmony233]

I never understood why Kin wanted to leave PC to go back to GH.He was a lead on PC and got paid more.Granted PC got cancelled eventually but still lol.I also thought it was ironic ffor all the obessing scott did over Luke.Serena had no clue who the heck luke was lol.

[jsbt]

IIRC, PC had begun sort of downshifting him at the time, nudging Scott into the background. He was losing out with Lucy again and becoming irrelevant. GH offered him a key role in a courtroom story and to woo Laura. And it worked, early on, IMO, until Guza left.

[TeeVee329]

I have more questions, but it's probably time to mosey them over to the History thread.

[OnceSane]

I moved several posts to the Backstage and History threads, please continue those conversations in the appropriate threads. Thanks.

[Tiger]

I remember hearing that Guza and Riche were fired because the show was in complete chaos behind the scenes, and I understand that.

What I don't understand is why then did Felicia Behr hand over control of the show to the two people who, in her own words, had made OLTL "unwatchable"?

Edited November 6, 2014 by Tiger

[ThatGreyCat]

Okay, this is something incredibly random that I've always been curious about, and I guess this thread might be the appropriate one (Behind the Scenes).  For the hair department of a soap like GH, is there like a mini salon there with sinks and shampoo and conditioner / products where the actors go each morning to get their hair washed and styled?  Or do they go in with wet hair or clean hair and the stylists go from there?  For instance, someone like Laura Wright has really curly hair naturally but wears it straight on the show.  For some reason I'm pretty sure she lives quite a commute from the studio.  If she left with wet hair, wouldn't it have already dried all wonky by the time she got there?  I can see how going in with wet or air dried hair would work for people with naturally straight hair (Kelly Monaco, for example), because they could just add volume, but how would it work for other actresses.

I apologize for such a ridiculously specific and stupid question.  For some reason I have always wondered this.  I need a life!

[ulkis]

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure they must have a mini salon there. If you have twitter I'm sure that would be something one of the actresses would be happy to answer. I bet you a million dollars Kristen alderson would answer that, heh.

[kristabell]

I think it's different for everyone. I know some actresses actually do their own hair. 

[yowsah1]

It isn't even a matter of how popular Franco, Kiki, and Silas are - it is silly and confusing to bring back actors as whole brand spanking new characters a month after they were playing other characters, and the only reason that was done is because they were on OLTL.

 

I read somewhere was that the reason this was done was because all three actors had pay or play clauses in their contracts and it was felt that the wiser course was to try and get what mileage they could out of them.

[ulkis]

No. They were let go from their contract, or their contracts were broken, or what have you, when they had to write off the characters. They were given brand new contracts when they accepted the new roles.

[Harmony233]

IIRC, PC had begun sort of downshifting him at the time, nudging Scott into the background. He was losing out with Lucy again and becoming irrelevant. GH offered him a key role in a courtroom story and to woo Laura. And it worked, early on, IMO, until Guza left.

Guess you got a point there.I did notice that once scott left serena was hardly on not sure if CS was doing other things.I thought it was very telling that serena and Lee and Gail wasn't even at karens memorial.What was up with that lol.

[Sake614]

Oh FFS, NO! I like LeBlanc, but geez, must we get ALL of Y&R's castoffs?

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/y-r-star-christian-leblanc-is-rumored-to-be-moving-to-general-hospital

[dubbel zout]

We don't need any soap's castoffs. There are way too many characters on this fakakta show the way it is. Ron really can't stop playing gotcha. Ugh.

Edited November 7, 2014 by dubbel zout

[Tiger]

I'm sick of all these Y&R cast-offs. If Cartini wants to add to an already overpopulated canvas then bring back Lindze Leatherman, Brandon Barash, Genie Francis, Tristan Rogers, and Robin Christopher just to name a few.

[OnceSane]

FFS, no more Y&R castoffs! Hell, no more new characters at all.

[ulkis]

http://soapzone.com/boards/read.php/gh/main/13033719

 

Link to a paraphrased LW inteview. Just wanted to bring over this bit:

 

Said that she and Roger had to look away from each other during filming cuz they kept welling up with tears & how they kept saying...this is our last....kiss, fight etc....

 

Don't lie Laura. Those were tears of joy.

[TeeVee329]

Oh Laura Wright, stop it.  I mean, it's nice that she liked working with RH, but she of all people should know that pairings end.

Edited November 7, 2014 by TeeVee329

[ulkis]

Yeah. Plus, I'm sorry, but I have a really hard time RoHo was tearing up.

[dubbel zout]

Yeah, he doesn't strike me as someone who's going to bemoan the end of a soap coupling.

Edited November 7, 2014 by dubbel zout

[CPP83]

Oh good god...Ron has some sort of illness I am convinced of it if this rumour proves true at all. Someone needs to jab this damn show with a pin and pop it like a boil, it's past time, it's festering at this point, overcrowded with far too many pointless, pathetic figures.

[testardo]

Why doesn't Y&R and GH just play switch the whole show. I can't stand LeBlanc. Like someone said want new characters just bring back some the fans have been asking for. More actors who we know are not going to act at scale. ? Another reason to stay on the barge. Want something new Get New EP and HW.

[Dandesun]

Ms. Wright should join the writing team. She is quite the storyteller.

 

Oh, and sweetie, Todd's married to the love of his life. Stop trying to hold onto that prize. You lost. Live in the now. What's more, the attempt to recreate it failed mightily. Stop talking now.

 

No one can convince me that Howarth is broken up over the end of their pairing. Especially not her.

[TeeVee329]

Sadly, she's probably right that if Ron hadn't been forced to write out Todd, Carly and Todd would still be involved.  Wasn't his original grand plan supposedly sacrificing AJ at their alter and Todd becoming Carly's new Jason?

[MSquared]

Sorry, but the sound you here is me cackling at the idea of Todd Manning being a lapdog to anyone, especially Carly and fixing all her problems, a la Jason.  He can barely fix any of the problems he creates.  

 

Quite honestly, a correctly written Todd would be more likely to befriend an AJ.  They could compare some notes of their baby mamas and the drama they created.

[Dandesun]

Doesn't matter what Ron allegedly wanted to do. He overreached on that score from jump and lost all the way around. He doesn't have Todd. Carly doesn't have Todd. She didn't end up with Todd and she can whine all she wants since she clearly wanted the Big Name attached to herself and told all sorts of stories about how they went to the writers to beg for more Todd/Carly and how Sonny/Carly were in the past. What. Thefuck. Ever. PP took back what was theirs... Todd didn't belong to Ron. Ever. So what he might have wanted means shit.

 

And since he tried to do the exact same thing with Howarth as Franco... and it failed completely in every possible way? I think I'll just sit back and laugh. Too bad, so sad, now it's merely a question of who Wright starts touting next because she's going to have to start blaring the horn for her next pairing... be it Sonny or whomever. I imagine it's a mere matter of time before she starts in on nuJason.

[Francie]

Link to a paraphrased LW inteview. Just wanted to bring over this bit:

 

Said that she and Roger had to look away from each other during filming cuz they kept welling up with tears & how they kept saying...this is our last....kiss, fight etc....

 

Jeez. I could believe Laura shed tears at the thought of losing her meal ticket. Being tied to the OLTLer Franco was nearly a guarantee of permanent front burner status.

 

Edited to add:

 

And everything Dandesun just said.  Mercenary, thy initials are LW.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Francie

[Artsda]

So she gets sent back to MB/Sonny, sucks for her. LOL And Roger and MS are going to probably be written together. 

[ulkis]

Yeah. In the April interview she gave with Michael Fairman, she seemed pretty over Canco . . . I wonder if Michelle Stafford's arrival changed things with her.

 

Still, at least Laura Wright doesn't bleat about some #cancoarmy. I still like Alexis and I even still like NLG, but I kinda have to separate from all her twitter crap, which is really damn annoying.

Edited November 7, 2014 by ulkis

[Dandesun]

I think it's shitty to the extreme to keep trying to hold onto Todd, though. Am I a hardcore Todd/Blair fan? Yes. But that reeked of desperation. "Roger and I should have been STAHS! STAHS I tell you! Max! Max... bring me my Tarly mvids!" Take it easy, Norma Desmond. You will never have your picture with Roger in People Magazine, okay?

 

Although a part of me wonders if this is a means of keeping the Hardcore Howarth Girls on her side since they all turned on Carly the second she stared making out with Sonny again. "Carly's a skank but Laura and Roger love each other for reals!" Mercenary.

[MSquared]

Yeah. In the April interview she gave with Michael Fairman, she seemed pretty over Canco . . . I wonder if Michelle Stafford's arrival changed things with her.

 

Still, at least Laura Wright doesn't bleat about some #cancoarmy. I still like Alexis and I even still like NLG, but I kinda separate from all her twitter crap, which is really damn annoying.

 

Considering the fact that lldubs had a fit when HBS (OLTL's Nora) popped in for lunch with FV a couple of years ago, yeah, I think Stafford's coming (and stealing the pairing she's just put soooo much heart into) has to rankle her.

[ulkis]

I think it's shitty to the extreme to keep trying to hold onto Todd, though. Am I a hardcore Todd/Blair fan? Yes. But that reeked of desperation. "Roger and I should have been STAHS! STAHS I tell you! Max! Max... bring me my Tarly mvids!" Take it easy, Norma Desmond. You will never have your picture with Roger in People Magazine, okay?

 

Although a part of me wonders if this is a means of keeping the Hardcore Howarth Girls on her side since they all turned on Carly the second she stared making out with Sonny again. "Carly's a skank but Laura and Roger love each other for reals!" Mercenary.

 

heh. But I can see her point. I really do think they probably would have still been a couple if Todd were still around, unfortunately. Well, maybe. Depends if Michelle Stafford would still be hired in this alternate universe where PP never intervened. *g*

[jsbt]

I think LW is very smart and savvy about this business - she is always out for what is going to keep her secure - and I think she was smart enough to know this re-pairing with RH was never going to work a long time ago. The minute he stopped being Todd their buzz was gone. She's talented and they do have chemistry, but you can't overcome something like Franco no matter what you do. And I think Wright (and, I'm sure, Howarth) knew that well before Ron Carlivati did.

 

She has an interview to give about her current storyline, which is the end of her romance with Franco and her onscreen pairing with Roger Howarth - those are the things she's gonna talk about, so it doesn't offend me. There's nothing wrong with her talking about the stated topic. And Laura, from what I recall of her anyway, is too smart to come out right as a story is happening (or ending) and say, with the same HW in place, "this whole thing sucked and I hated every moment of it!" She's pretty outspoken but I don't remember her burning those bridges like her former costar Kim Zimmer, at least not while the story and/or writer was still in place. She'll take a few months or a year at least before she starts getting that candid.

 

I have no idea if any story remotely like this one would have happened eventually with Todd in Franco's place, repeating his "hell no" wedding. I can see Ron loving the idea. Then, of course, they'd spin him back to Blair for awhile for her guest visits. That was the problem with the character, while I enjoyed his crossing over; they basically used Blair in reserve to pop in from time to time and keep an half-offscreen love triangle (Carly/Todd/Blair) in play perpetually and I don't think they had any intention of stopping that until the show ended or Roger Howarth left.

Edited November 7, 2014 by jsbt

[jsbt]

I am gonna need more than an Examiner article. That's basically a fan blog where anyone can make shit up. That article has nothing remotely legitimate in it.

[TeeVee329]

She has an interview to give about her current storyline, which is the end of her romance with Franco and her onscreen pairing with Roger Howarth - those are the things she's gonna talk about, so it doesn't offend me. There's nothing wrong with her talking about the stated topic. And Laura, from what I recall of her anyway, is too smart to come out right as a story is happening (or ending) and say, with the same HW in place, "this whole thing sucked and I hated every moment of it!"

 

True.  But there's "You know, I had so much fun working with Roger, I thought we had great chemistry, but the story moves on" and then there's "OMG, we wept because we would never get to make out on-screen again, we're being torn asunder!".

[MSquared]

MHO, they would have taken Codd as far as a wedding.  It would have probably been a big, crossover event.  Viki would be there, maybe even a pop in visit by Tina.  Sonny in the audience, glaring at Todd.  They could have even done the S&C behind Todd's back.  Jack, Sam, and Blair would have also been there, though Blair would have been in the background, a la Robin for Sobby's wedding.  And instead of "Hell No!", we would have gotten a redux of "I Tina take thee Cord" when the groom was actually Max.  And that would be the end of Codd.  

 

Ron, if nothing else, pays wonderful lip service to soap history.  

[jsbt]

I could've gotten down with that, actually.

[dubbel zout]

there's "You know, I had so much fun working with Roger, I thought we had great chemistry, but the story moves on" and then there's "OMG, we wept because we would never get to make out on-screen again, we're being torn asunder!".

 

That's for the diehards, not us jaded, cynical fans. ;-) LW knows how to play the game, even if she goes overboard. Remember how excited she was to work with MB when she first came on and all of the "We rock!" nonsense she spouted?

[Dandesun]

It doesn't matter if Ron would have kept Todd/Carly together or not. The point is moot. Todd is gone and has been for a long time now. She got plenty of time with Roger as Franco, too, and now she's 'mourning' that as if she were leaving her real life husband. It's fucking ridiculous.

 

 

there's "You know, I had so much fun working with Roger, I thought we had great chemistry, but the story moves on" and then there's "OMG, we wept because we would never get to make out on-screen again, we're being torn asunder!".

 

Yes, it's too much. Who else does this? I mean, seriously, who else plays this 'We weep copious tears because our fake relationship is over!' card? The thing is... I know exactly who that shit is for... it's for the Howarth girls who are eating up with a spoon and lamenting the loss of such AMAZEBALLS chemistry and, oh, Laura loves Roger sooooo much... it's pandering to the worst part of a fanbase. Everyone has that group of fans. Every thing has that group of fans and that's totally who this is for.

 

Now, knowing catty backstage politics the way I do... it wouldn't surprise me at all if this were a measured way of turning part of the audience, that really nutty, frothing at the mouth sector, against the Franco/Nina pairing. This is pure conjecture and nothing more but, come on, there is nothing about this interview that isn't carefully parcelled out. MS was giving interviews the other day about how she was holding back and Roger told her to 'give me all of Michelle' and now LW is giving an interview where they can't look at each other because their overwhelming sadness at losing their onscreen pairing would make them fall apart weeping.

 

This is a battle between two on-screen long-term divas over the leading man who will never give interviews to refute or confirm anything that they're saying.

 

It's like watching two junior high school girls cat fighting in the hallway.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I think it's shitty to the extreme to keep trying to hold onto Todd, though. Am I a hardcore Todd/Blair fan? Yes. But that reeked of desperation. "Roger and I should have been STAHS! STAHS I tell you! Max! Max... bring me my Tarly mvids!" Take it easy, Norma Desmond. You will never have your picture with Roger in People Magazine, okay?

 

*snerk*

 

I now have this hilarious image of Laura Wright sitting around in the wedding dress Carly was supposed to marry Franco in like Miss Havisham or something. Either that or being all bug-eyed and saying, "I'm ready for my close-up now, Mr. Carvilati."

 

And I can believe that she might have shed a few tears, since this is the woman who a few months ago was taking the "haters" to task for "being negative" about the Franco/Carly pairing, or some such verbal manure.

[Dandesun]

Dude, the schmoopy music they played during the Franco/Nina phone call today is absolutely the answer to this LW interview. MS done come and stole her leading man. So she will tell the world that Roger is torn the hell up inside over not having her, LW, as his leading lady anymore.

 

Do I sound jaded?

 

Or right?

 

Or both?

[jsbt]

MS was giving interviews the other day about how she was holding back and Roger told her to 'give me all of Michelle'

 

Nobody has to tell Michelle Stafford to do that (or anything else). That woman is a rogue elephant on a good day. I have barely scratched the surface of her Y&R history myself but there are plenty of stories, and I don't even need to know any - she's unwatchable here. However terrible I thought Cranco was, and I thank God that's over, Franco and Nina is a nightmare dimension all its own. They're the two worst characters on the show and Ron is in love with both of them.

 

I think LW (like many long-running soap stars) only cared about the pairing with RH so long as it was popular and could keep her in clover. It stopped doing that a long time back. I think she's just being nice in the interview about the topics that are germane to the moment, and possibly trying to handle Howarth's crazier fans. That's about it. I am sure she's been looking for the next thing, and for the moment Sonny and MB, while uninspiring, is a relatively safe harbor.

Edited November 7, 2014 by jsbt

[ulkis]

MS was giving interviews the other day about how she was holding back and Roger told her to 'give me all of Michelle' 

 

Seriously? Oh boy. But if it is true . . . which I doubt . . . thanks for encouraging her, Roger!

[Dandesun]

I think it was a recent Fairman interview. (Frankly, I think he's one of the worst about asking about Roger. Not only will it always come up it, it tends to come up repeatedly in his questions.)

 

So... yeah... it's why this feels like two jr high school girls fighting over a boy in the hallway. Someone is going to get slammed into a locker very soon.

[LeftPhalange]

I think LW is looking out for her on career interests. Nothing more, nothing less.