GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[UYI]

6 hours ago, jsbt said:

They're soap babies. They get recast. It happens everyday. You know who played one of the first little baby Jacks on OLTL? The little kid from Insidious, Iron Man 3, Jurassic World. He got recast too! It's babies!

Here's a topical comment: Remember when one day little toddler Spencer just turned up Latin? That kid didn't last long. Do they still have that kid Danny who doesn't talk too much?

Vinessa Antoine and Donnell Turner look as surprised to still be on the show as I am to see them! They are talented but good grief, the show could not give a fuck. More blondes! Interchangeable Josslyns! Lulu's magic rape kid is a blonde! Even Nurse Amy is a blonde. Did they ship off Valerie yet?

No, I know that, I'm sorry. I just understood why some people missed them. 

And as a (smart, natural) blonde woman, I just have to remember it's nothing personal ;) .

[ulkis]

http://michaelfairmansoaps.com/the-bold-and-the-beautiful/chad-duell-courtney-hope-interview-gh-and-bb-44th-annual-daytime-emmys-red-carpet/2017/05/09/

When Fairman mentions that MB should have gotten a nom:

CD: oh yeah I mean should have been, he can't seem to get over that, yeah, he should have.

Edited May 10, 2017 by ulkis

[Melgaypet]

Shaaaaaade.

[ulkis]

2 minutes ago, Melgaypet said:

Shaaaaaade.

It wasn't shade lol he said it quickly in a sympathetic way. But it sure explains Frank's major asskissing emmy night.

[Melgaypet]

I so prefer my interpretation.

(I'm sure you're right. But wouldn't it be awesome if I was?)

Edited May 10, 2017 by Melgaypet

[dubbel zout]

Shade isn't coming out and saying someone is still upset. Shade would be something more like CD saying, "Oh, he wasn't nominated?" knowing full well MB wasn't and how much that irritated him. Shade is subtle.

I have to laugh that everyone thinks it's automatic MB will be nominated. I think having only four soaps gives more actors the confidence to put themselves in the lead category, where in years past they may not have. In some ways, the competition is as high as ever.

[ulkis]

One of his friends needs to gently explain to him that his acting is not like it used to be.

Edited May 10, 2017 by ulkis

[ulkis]

Interesting post from Daytime Dish on Geary, Francis, and Luke and Laura:

Quote

Having lived through it, I think I can tell you what caused [TG to dislike Luke and Laura].

AG considered himself a versatile actor. A very talented versatile actor And actually I think he was right. But after the fall of 1981 all roads leading away from Luke Spencer were closed to him. He didn't really know that at the time but it proved true. 

At the height of the Luke and Laura popularity, I'm talking a regular viewership of close to 25 million, 33 million for the wedding, Genie said screw it and walked away. Now to be sure she had some good reasons for that but the manner in which she left was highly unprofessional. In the early 90s, shortly after returning, she won a soap opera digest award and in her acceptance speech she apologized for leaving everyone hanging in late 81. As she grew up, she realized she had made a mess. 

Tony still had a year to go on his contract and Gloria was just convinced Tony was so loved that fans would rally behind him in a new romance so she immediately cast Demi Moore as a new relationship. Fans rebelled and i think they lost about 8 million viewers in a week. Those people never came back and suddenly he went from being the hottest thing in Hollywood to the guy who couldn't hold an audience without his teenage co-star. The pairing with Demi failed, so Gloria cast Emma Saams. Not quite as much fan anger but ratings continued to drop while that story was going on. Then the unthinkable occurred. Gloria though Tony was more popular than Tristan and would win in fan support with a triangle. Only people fell in love with Robert and Holly. That is two failed stories in about a year. For Tony. 

His contract ran out, he decided to leave and Genie came back to escort him off campus but she was still a little brat about the whole thing. She was busy with several other projects and the show, and Tony, had to bend backwards to accommodate her schedule plus they paid her half a million dollars for the few episodes she deigned to do. But anyway...

I think he was disgruntled then but he would have still been ok if he could have found work but once he left GH but he was in a different situation than Genie. She played a pretty young adventurous blonde on GH. There are a lot of parts for pretty young adventurous blondes. So she found a lot of work on episodic tv as the pretty blonde. There are less Luke's Spencer's and no one was really interested in hiring him as anything else. He went from superstar on the cover of Newsweek to washed up has been in about 4 years. Genie went to Days of our Lives where she essentially played a more grown-up Laura. Then on to AMC where she was an even more grown-up Laura. But there just weren't a lot of Luke Spencer parts. 

Gloria went back to GH in 91 with the great idea that Tony could come back as a different character but Gloria mishandled that as well. another bomb and at the end of the day another round of Tony will only be accepted as Luke. ABC convinced Genie to return. Tony was told Eckerts are over . You can return to Luke's Spencer role or be unemployed. And then the final insult, Wendy Riche saw Laura, not Luke as the stalwart, of the Spencer family and that's the story she told. She played the grown-up and he played Luke Spencer 1971. No character growth at all. 

They say hindsight is 20/20 and no one knew how this was going to play out but I really think things would have been different for Tony if Gloria hadn't cast an new love interest for him a week after Laura wandered off in the fog. She was mad at Genie and into her spiteful, vengeful, I'll show you mode and she put Tony in a situation of being the one who couldn't make it without his teenage co-star. He just never came back from that perception, imo, and that was on Genie, who was young and impetuous and Gloria who was a big time B word. So I understand his bitterness.

I knew a lot of that but did not know about the ratings dropping so low with Demi Moore as his love interest.

Edited May 10, 2017 by ulkis

[TeeVee329]

Interesting read, though it's clear the author of that post is biased in one direction.

[ulkis]

8 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Interesting read, though it's clear the author of that post is biased in one direction.

The way they came across to me, I think they just wanted it to be known that GF was equally to blame for having negative feelings about Luke and Laura. I think she probably did act diva-ish, but given that she had been doing cocaine on set and Monty didn't care, it's hard to blame her.

[dubbel zout]

I have some sympathy for TG being unable to separate himself from Luke, but that was the fault of the industry at the time, not all those uppity women he worked with.

Edited May 10, 2017 by dubbel zout

[Oracle42]

I love GF and Laura, but I also think TG was the more talented of the two while GF is a chemistry machine. Having said that, L&L were a phenomenon - a perfect confluence of writing, acting and chemistry. You can't just recreate that.

Edited May 10, 2017 by Oracle42

[Melgaypet]

45 minutes ago, ulkis said:

I think she probably did act diva-ish, but given that she had been doing cocaine on set and Monty didn't care, it's hard to blame her.

I mean, seriously. She left in 1981 to go into treatment. I'm not totally unsympathetic to others being left in the lurch by her departure, but come on, was she supposed to prioritize Geary's career or the show over her health, even her life?

I don't think Genie Francis is some kind of saint - for all I know she could be a total pill - and I'm sure a teenage cokehead who had been thrust into worldwide fame didn't behave with utmost professionalism, but an addiction is just a little bit different than being a spoiled brat. I'm bristling a little.

Still, that was an interesting read.

[dubbel zout]

Even if she hadn't been an addict, being thrust into worldwide fame as a teenager is an enormous thing to handle. Plus, she'd become the main breadwinner, which changed her family dynamic in a weird and difficult way.

Of everyone, I'm inclined to give GF the most slack, as she was the youngest at the time all this happened.

[jsbt]

Genie is not a saint, but that take leaves a few things out. (Including, to be fair, one popular BTS story from the late '90s which reflects poorly on Genie if true, and which I do find plausible and which I suspect she regrets today.) Anyway: ABC forced her off AMC as Ceara to return to GH, which she didn't want to do. And Tony was desperate to bring Luke back to stay employed.

And yeah - Genie was a kid. She started on the show at what, fourteen? She got hooked on drugs on the set of the show and Gloria Monty didn't give a shit. She got her life together afterwards. The epic tragic poem of Tony's career kind of pales in comparison to that. I think they both have blame to go around and I don't think Tony is a monster - he was and still can be an incredibly gifted performer and writer - but only one of them has spent the better part of the last decade running as far away from his only legacy as he can.

Edited May 10, 2017 by jsbt

[ulkis]

4 minutes ago, jsbt said:

Genie is not a saint, but that take leaves a few things out. (Including, to be fair, one popular BTS story from the late '90s which reflects poorly on Genie if true, and which I do find plausible and which I suspect she regrets today.)

Does that involve Anna Lee? I was going to ask if anyone remembered that. I actually didn't necessarily blame Genie (who knows, if true, why she wanted to leave), but I did think of that story. (Which I refer to as "the story" because I actually don't remember much. Something about Anna Lee was held up for a scene, but Genie was no longer obliged to be there and she wanted to go, so she left.)

Edited May 10, 2017 by ulkis

[UYI]

16 minutes ago, jsbt said:

 Anyway: ABC forced her off AMC as Ceara to return to GH, which she didn't want to do. 

 

Her exact quote about THAT situation is that she said yes to returning to GH, and then: "I cried all night." She later felt like she had come home, but it took time, and clearly that left a very bad taste in her mouth. 

[TeeVee329]

Was Genie's character on AMC popular?  I feel like I've heard it both ways.

[UYI]

3 hours ago, ulkis said:

 

I knew a lot of that but did not know about the ratings dropping so low with Demi Moore as his love interest.

I have a very well-known book among soap fans from 1987 called the Soap Opera Encyclopedia. In it, it acknowledges that there was a loss of viewers around the time Demi Moore was on the show, but that because the show had had such an unprecedented amount of ratings growth during the Luke & Laura era, the amount of viewers they lost actually didn't hurt them all that much in the long run. And it wasn't all that long afterwards that Robert & Holly and Frisco & Felicia were paired up (and then Laura came back briefly), and the ratings rebounded again. 

Edited May 11, 2017 by UYI

[Melgaypet]

1 minute ago, TeeVee329 said:

Was Genie's character on AMC popular?  I feel like I've heard it both ways.

I don't think Ceara was popular, but Genie has said several times that she loved playing her and being on AMC.

[UYI]

24 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Was Genie's character on AMC popular?  I feel like I've heard it both ways.

 

Like Melgaypet said, Ceara wasn't exactly on her way to becoming an iconic AMC character, but Genie loved playing her and living in New York (where she also got to act in a play or two). Even more important--Agnes Nixon specifically created the character of Ceara FOR HER. That had to make the "you're fired from this show, but we'd LOVE to have you on this show again" treatment she got from ABC even harsher. (Plus, she had to move cross country from New York to LA--but because this was before she and her husband had kids, AND she's a native Angelino, that part might have actually stung a whole lot less.)

Edited May 11, 2017 by UYI

[Oracle42]

It might have been nice to play a character that didn't have the entire soap on her shoulders - less pressure, more of an ensemble

[jsbt]

2 hours ago, ulkis said:

Does that involve Anna Lee?

Nope.

[UYI]

12 hours ago, ulkis said:

Does that involve Anna Lee? I was going to ask if anyone remembered that. I actually didn't necessarily blame Genie (who knows, if true, why she wanted to leave), but I did think of that story. (Which I refer to as "the story" because I actually don't remember much. Something about Anna Lee was held up for a scene, but Genie was no longer obliged to be there and she wanted to go, so she left.)

I have been reading through the old TWOP Soap Dish thread on the Wayback Machine and read about that story recently. You more or less got it right. I'll post it here if you want.

I wonder what other story there is? I know she took a very long maternity leave (as in, over a year and a half or something like that) for her second pregnancy, and basically had to be threatened with a lawsuit to come back.

[ulkis]

3 hours ago, UYI said:

I have been reading through the old TWOP Soap Dish thread on the Wayback Machine and read about that story recently. You more or less got it right. I'll post it here if you want.

Could you, please? Thanks.

I do wonder what made her stay so long on maternity leave. Contract issues, I guess? 

Edited May 11, 2017 by ulkis

[UYI]

9 hours ago, ulkis said:

Could you, please? Thanks.

 

I have been trying to remember what page its on. I THOUGHT it was around the page where Anna Lee's firing/death was discussed, but apparently it was after it. Or before it. I honestly don't remember. But I will post it when I find it!

Here's where the Anna Lee's firing/death stuff starts though (at the very end of this page/onto the next). The valid question of whether Wendy Riche's promise that AL would work for GH for life was merely verbal or in writing is brought up, too. Also, it's so weird to find some of you here discussing the GH of nine years ago, and to see how things have changed since. :)

http://web.archive.org/web/20140411091918/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3173853-soap-dish-behind-the-scenes-drama/page-29

The full AL discussion is here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20140411144753/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3173853-soap-dish-behind-the-scenes-drama/page-30

[ulkis]

Thanks!

[ulkis]

Random question, but KSt left DAYS not too long before she came to GH, right? Is GH the reason why she left? She was very popular on DAYS so it weird she left that role to do GH. 

[UYI]

45 minutes ago, ulkis said:

Random question, but KSt left DAYS not too long before she came to GH, right? Is GH the reason why she left? She was very popular on DAYS so it weird she left that role to do GH. 

KS left DAYS in 2004, and joined GH in 2005, when Robyn Richards was let go for the final time. So I guess she left to do a Zenon movie for Disney or something and then got GH sometime later. 

[HeatLifer]

My two faves. 

[UYI]

It's so funny that JJ and Becky's birthdays are only a day apart. What more proof do you need that LL2 were meant to be? :)

(Becky will be 40 in just a few hours.)

[Melgaypet]

Welp. I'm old.

[UYI]

To be fair, Becky was already 20 when she started playing 15 year old Liz 20 years ago this year (she first aired on August 1st, 1997). 

[Melgaypet]

You're making it worse, UYI! 20 years? *cries* I remember Liz showing up like it was yesterday.

Resistance is futile, I guess. Just call me Old Lady Melgaypet.

(I'm actually years younger than Becky - and just six months older than JJ - but damn. Where did the time go?)

[UYI]

I'll be 30 in two years. Becky is part of the reason I'm very careful whenever I'm in the sun (although I haven't used sunscreen the last few times I've walked outside..oops). I don't have the fairest skin like she does, but I'm definitely very pale. I even used Purpose Skin Care for awhile on my face because she did ads for it a decade ago! I really do look to her in hope for how I will age. 

[UYI]

Since it's midnight on the East Coast--Happy 40th Birthday, Becky Herbst! :)

[ulkis]

3 hours ago, UYI said:

Also, it's so weird

It's definitely weird to read all the Ron praise. For instance, this post by @KerleyQ lol :

Much like David Vickers, Ron makes the sun shine. Hes fucking awesome.

[jsbt]

Because he did great work! For awhile.

Most HWs are not pure good or bad. I look forward to Ron's work on DAYS because I think he's had a break and is very appropriate for that show. In the right conditions and with counterbalances he can do well. At DAYS he doesn't even need that balance.

[HeatLifer]

Ron literally chained my favorite character to a bed or a wall for four years. Nope.

[In2You]

What great work did Ron do for GH?  He didn't have one solid storyline

4 hours ago, UYI said:

KS left DAYS in 2004, and joined GH in 2005, when Robyn Richards was let go for the final time. So I guess she left to do a Zenon movie for Disney or something and then got GH sometime later. 

No she had already done the Zenon movies whole on Days. She left for Primetime to do the short lived CBS show Clubhouse.  

[ulkis]

1 hour ago, jsbt said:

Because he did great work! For awhile.

I know, I still like to chuckle. Ethan-like.

ETA: "not pure good or bad". Hmm. What about Dena Higley?

Edited May 12, 2017 by ulkis

[jsbt]

1 hour ago, ulkis said:

What about Dena Higley?

I said most, bitch

Edited May 12, 2017 by jsbt

[Oracle42]

17 hours ago, In2You said:

What great work did Ron do for GH?  He didn't have one solid storyline

AJ's return was excellent, up until Ron decided to have him and Tracy fighting over fuckin relish. It all went downhill from there

I think Jason/Sam's fight over Danny being Franco's could have been good if he'd grounded it a little more and if it hadn't been transparently about McBain. 

And there was Robin busting up Patrick's wedding to the stupid babysitter - but the surrounding story was pretty terrible

Hmm. Mostly, RC had moments and squandered potential. I'm not sure he pulled off one solid storyline that I'd rewatch

Edited May 13, 2017 by Oracle42

[Harmony233]

I'm interested in rons  days I'm curious to see his work without FV.

I liked Robins return from the dead it was going to save Jason afterwards I found dumb.

I enjoyed Michael getting angry at Sonny too.

[UYI]

6 hours ago, In2You said:

What great work did Ron do for GH?  He didn't have one solid storyline

No she had already done the Zenon movies whole on Days. She left for Primetime to do the short lived CBS show Clubhouse.  

I wondered if I was wrong about that. Thanks.

I'll admit, I liked the Scorpio stuff Ron did in both late 2012/late 2013. Please don't hurt me. *runs* 

[TeeVee329]

7 hours ago, In2You said:

What great work did Ron do for GH? 

He, at least for a while, broke up the Sonny/Carly/Jason stranglehold on the show, which was a delightful breath of fresh air.

He also brought back characters I never thought I'd see in Port Charles again - Felicia, Lucy, Kevin, etc. - even if the writing for them wasn't always there. 

[In2You]

Just now, TeeVee329 said:

He, at least for a while, broke up the Sonny/Carly/Jason stranglehold on the show, which was a delightful breath of fresh air.

He also brought back characters I never thought I'd see in Port Charles again - Felicia, Lucy, Kevin, etc. - even if the writing for them wasn't always there. 

Ron did not write one solid(from start to finish storyline) he brought people back to languish in the background and be shells of their former selves and that's supposed to be praise worthy?  He broke up Sonny/Carly/Jason to put his similarly despicable faves at the forefront of the show. 

[peachmangosteen]

I mean I liked some of what RC did. And I'm not ashamed! He can and has produced good work.

I don't think Jelly have done one good thing tbh. 

[TeeVee329]

Yeah, I'm also not going to apologize for liking some of what Ron did when he first took over.  I mean, it wasn't perfect at all - D.I.D. Connie, anyone - but I found it infinitely more watchable than it had been under the Guz the last few years of his reign.

[UYI]

Yeah, we can all agree to disagree. Let's just be friends. At the end of the day, we are a big GH fan family and we all have a right to an opinion, and at the end of the day, that's all they are: opinions. I always try my best not to come across as mean or rude to anyone, even in the face of snark on the show. I try to be nice to everyone. :) 

...I hope I didn't make anyone puke just now. I probably sounded WAY too much like a kindergarten teacher, sorry. LOL. 

Edited May 12, 2017 by UYI