GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[jsbt]

I liked John and Sam a lot, despite hating McBain with a white-hot passion for years on OLTL due to my being a massive Natalie fan at that show (Natalie was John's longtime long-suffering love interest who was leagues better than him).

Having John divorced from his OLTL context helped, because GH was a show where I felt he fit but did not dominate. It also seemed like Sam was coming to terms with her life as a mob wife in the wake of her pregnancy, and wanted something more. Silas never worked, though. And Finn without Tracy holds little interest for me.

Edited May 17, 2017 by jsbt

[TeeVee329]

This can't possibly be true.  What was even in the previews for today's episode?

[ulkis]

29 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

This can't possibly be true.  What was even in the previews for today's episode?

uhm, Dante and Lulu with rocco and charlotte, Michael/Nelle, Carly telling Bobbie she's gonna go through with the divorce, Martina telling Sonny this was the best deal for him and Sonny saying she didn't know him at all, and something else.

[TeeVee329]

So Corinthii from top to bottom. #eyeroll

[ulkis]

40 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

So Corinthii from top to bottom. #eyeroll

Your Corinthii relief is Valentin and Nina and Anna lol.

[TeeVee329]

....

Well, to be fair, even if it's been stupid so far and will likely get even stupider, I am curious to see how the Anna/Alex story unspools. 

Edited May 17, 2017 by TeeVee329

[ulkis]

General Hospital‏Verified @GeneralHospital
It's almost showtime! Get an EXCLUSIVE Nurses Ball 2017 tidbit during today's FB Live Q&A w/ @HayleyErin & @TheRealStafford! #AskGH #GH

Ooookay.

[peachmangosteen]

Well, what'd they say?

[ulkis]

lol no clue.

[dubbel zout]

It's the best Nurses Ball ever!

[sacrebleu]

When my work and GH collide! Spotted this article on Anna's bone marrow cancer plot-- GH wrote it in at the request of a drug maker-- possibly dangerous precedent set: 

 

https://www.vox.com/2017/5/18/15655520/pharma-marketing-disease-awareness-soap-operas-general-hospital 

[TeeVee329]

Not to take a side, but shouldn't the author of that article have reached out to the show or ABC?  There's no mention of that in the article.

[dubbel zout]

The writing of Anna's illness was on the hinky side once FH did that PSA. It all smacked of promotion rather than public awareness. It's getting close to that not-Monavie crap Guza did that (rightly, IMO) annoyed Ingo.

[sacrebleu]

Quote

Not to take a side, but shouldn't the author of that article have reached out to the show or ABC?  There's no mention of that in the article.

yeah, I noticed that-- they also don't say whether $$ changed hands-- except to say the drug company didn't respond. It isn't the best researched article.

[TeeVee329]

Wrong.

[UYI]

2 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Wrong.

What's wrong? That IS when Fin started playing Alex on AMC. Am I missing something here? (This a genuine question; I'm not trying to troll you, my friend!)

[TeeVee329]

Describing Alex Marick as "villainous" is disingenuous.  There was some stuff about her being brainwashed in the past into being a spy or something, but for the most part, Alex was a good person, doctor, friend, sister, wife.

Edited May 18, 2017 by TeeVee329

[ulkis]

I'm getting @HeatLifer 's ticket for her:

https://mobile.twitter.com/debbyoconnor/status/865181159046754304

[UYI]

48 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Describing Alex Marick as "villainous" is disingenuous.  There was some stuff about her being brainwashed in the past into being a spy or something, but for the most part, Alex was a good person, doctor, friend, sister, wife.

Oh okay, that makes sense. Thanks. 

[HeatLifer]

1 hour ago, ulkis said:

I'm getting @HeatLifer 's ticket for her:

https://mobile.twitter.com/debbyoconnor/status/865181159046754304

I just busted out laughing. Add Teresa Castillo and it's perfect.

[Fellaway]

2 hours ago, ulkis said:

I'm getting @HeatLifer 's ticket for her:

https://mobile.twitter.com/debbyoconnor/status/865181159046754304

Geeze, what did they do to their faces in those pics?  They're photoshopped beyond recognition!

[jsbt]

Alex has a crazy, nonsensical backstory as a brainwashed black ops assassin (her awful origin story on AMC was also written by Jean Passanante, IIRC). I have no problem buying her as an evil twin, and had proposed the story myself once before in the Ron years. I just have no faith in JP doing anything interesting with it.

[TeeVee329]

Agreed on both counts.  I've always thought a story using Alex/more of Anna's AMC history could be fun and soapy, but the way JP is writing it is all wrong.  And I do think describing Alex as "villainous", which makes her sound like a Helena or even a Olivia Jerome, is disingenuous.

I think ulkis was right on the money in saying Anna and Alex should have been in cahoots.  You could have had Anna realize that a brainwashed Alex was the one who seduced Valentin, got him to give her the classified information, whatever.  She then goes to Alex and asks for her help in unraveling the thing.  And then you could have Alex go back to Port Charles as "Anna" to try and retrace her history with Valentin while Anna chases down another lead. 

[TeeVee329]

Nurses' Ball sneak peek from TVLine:

https://tvline.com/2017/05/19/general-hospital-nurses-ball-video-2017-lucy-valentin-backstage/

I like Lucy's handling of Valentin here and, of course, her talk of Kevin got me in the feels.  Although, ugh, what he wants

 

has to do with some grand gesture for Nina, which, nobody cares.

Edited May 19, 2017 by TeeVee329

[ulkis]

You know, I'm one of the few who didn't hold the whole "but he's supposed to be the one Cassadine Helena feared the most!" thing against them, since it was one line, but that's too much.

[dubbel zout]

It was a line that was repeated more than once, though. So why bring him on and make him a hunchback crybaby? Ugh, this show.

[peachmangosteen]

Lucy's dress is hideous and that scene was boring.

Edited May 19, 2017 by peachmangosteen

[TeeVee329]

Apparently there's a Jean/Shelly interview in SOD about the Anna/Alex reveal and one of them said this:

Quote

"It made sense. That's all we can say. Sometimes you go, "Okay, wow this makes sense." 

What's sad is that it could have made sense, but the way they wrote it made it not make sense.  Urgh.

[statsgirl]

I turned on the radio and my very serious public radio was talking about Doctors warn General Hospital cancer plot may be a sneaky pharmaceutical ad campaign

Quote

Doctors are sounding the alarm about a cancer plot line on the long-running soap opera General Hospital, warning that it may lead to the over diagnosis of a rare disease, and the use of a drug to treat it. The episodes were produced in collaboration with a drug company.

He and his colleague Sham Mailankody started looking into it, and quickly learned the soap's story stemmed from a partnership between ABC and Incyte Corporation, a U.S. pharmaceutical company whose only Federal Drug Administration-approved drug, ruxolitinib, targets the genetic mutation that causes PV

Their article in JAMA is here.

The radio show reached out to both ABC and the drug maker but they didn't want to go on air.

ETA:  I hated that "poor Anna has cancer" plot.  Yes, technically it is cancer but it's managed by donating blood.  Try surgery, chemo for a year and radiation and still feeling sick six years later and worrying that it's coming back.  She got off so easy.

Edited May 20, 2017 by statsgirl

[Badsamaritan]

http://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2017/05/ratings-new-lows-days-gh

18th straight week of lows in the 18-34 demo. EIGHTEEN WEEKS.

See, this shit right here is what makes me think they're not gonna renew GH. Eighteen weeks, y'all.

[dubbel zout]

The network doesn't have a viable replacement for GH. When it does, that's when GH is gone.

It's too bad these consistently terrible ratings don't spell doom for Altman/Passanante.

[ulkis]

It doesn't make a difference. They will get writers that are the same, or worse.

[Oracle42]

 FV is part of the problem. Changing writers won't necessarily improve the show even if they are better than JP/SA.

Although, I think the only writer worse than JP/SA is Higley

[dubbel zout]

Which no doubt means she's up next.

[OnceSane]

I'd sooner have Guza back.

[dubbel zout]

Same here. Definitely. Higley is a whole other level of terrible.

[ulkis]

I've heard Gary Tomlin thrown around. I think McTavish, Wolf, Tomlin, Higley, would all be horrible.

[Artsda]

Just bring back Guza.

[Chairperson Meow]

20 minutes ago, ulkis said:

I've heard Gary Tomlin thrown around. I think McTavish, Wolf, Tomlin, Higley, would all be horrible.

They should give each horrible writer 3 mos to head GH.  Then we vote them out.  Like the Hunger Games.   It would be more entertaining than the actual show.

[UYI]

1 hour ago, ulkis said:

I've heard Gary Tomlin thrown around. I think McTavish, Wolf, Tomlin, Higley, would all be horrible.

This is unpopular in some circles, but when he was EP of OLTL from 2001-2002, I didn't mind it (but that's when I started watching that show, so I'm admittedly biased). I actually think he would be a big improvement for this show. 

And McTavish's 2001-2002 GH tenure was so infamous, I don't think you have to worry about her coming back. Or Wolf, for that matter. 

Edited May 22, 2017 by UYI

[ulkis]

Does he write too? Because I heard him tossed around as headwriter, not EP.

[UYI]

15 minutes ago, ulkis said:

Does he write too? Because I heard him tossed around as headwriter, not EP.

He has, depending on the show he's on (he's also a director, too). I know he wrote for OLTL in 2008 during the Writer's Strike. 

[coffee drinker]

2 hours ago, Artsda said:

Just bring back Guza.

If Guza came back I'd almost bet even money that Burton would return.  *shudder*.

[TeeVee329]

And then the Guz would probably drop a safe on Ned.  "Too many Quartermaines!".

Edited May 22, 2017 by TeeVee329

[Oracle42]

I kinda wonder what Guza would've done with AJ if he'd come back before RC/FV got rid of SK. 

[Melgaypet]

I think Valentini is safe. Isn't his greatest talent that he can keep a show on or under budget? That's what matters to the higher-ups.

As for a headwriter - honestly, there's no one among the current crop of soap writers that I can get excited about. I think Ron Carlivarti is the best of the bunch, with all that implies. To revitalize this show, I think they'd have to go looking for some hotshot unknown and I don't expect the network would bother.

3 minutes ago, Oracle42 said:

I kinda wonder what Guza would've done with AJ if he'd come back before RC/FV got rid of SK.

I shudder to think.

[yowsah1]

On 5/12/2017 at 3:09 AM, In2You said:

What great work did Ron do for GH?  

Here's the thing about RC.  He was a good half a writer.  He could come up with good premises and construct a storyline well up to where there would be a big, dramatic, explosive scene...

... and then nothing.  I don't know if his constant dropped plots were the result of edicts from on high or if he just had writers ADD, but that was his big problem.  When he was "on", he was excellent, but all too often, he had lost interest and things just died abruptly.

One thing I will give him, however, is that the stuff he wrote could be infuriating, it could be ridiculous, it could be hilarious, it was sometimes dramatic and compelling but more often frustrating as hell - but it was never, ever boring.

(Two other things often complained of during RC's tenure was the herky-jerky nature of the storytelling - plots would start up, be heavily featured for a while, then get dropped like hot potatoes only to abruptly start up again months later - and the overstuffed, bloated cast, which made it even harder for any plotline to be featured for any length of time.  But since both problems are very much on display in Jelly's GH, I have to wonder if these problem don't originate with FV, or, worse, are structural).

On 5/12/2017 at 8:05 AM, Oracle42 said:

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

I'd watch the Downfall of Sonny Corinthos right up to just before the moment where Sabrina sweet-talked Michael into giving Avery to Sonny.  Up to that point the storyline was excellent.  Afterwards, it was yet another steaming pile of Sonny Uber Alles and absolutely unwatchable.

On 5/12/2017 at 10:39 AM, tvgoddess said:

Well, there goes my day. Knew it would happen, but I still held out hope.

One thing about RC, given his writer's ADD, is Franco would have been back-benched long before this..

*****

Saw this while at the grocery store today... yes, ladies and germs, that is Kristina Wagner showing off a faboo bikini body.  I am soooooooo jealous...

[yowsah1]

On 5/13/2017 at 0:59 PM, Chairperson Meow said:

He [RC] just got bogged down by budget, trying to please everyone and burning out, and rebelling against network and fans.   Also, dealing with certain male diva actors wasn't easy.

Oh, nothing fills me with more schadenfreudian glee than watching Jason Thompson, aka "The Butt Biscuit"*, flail and fail at THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS.  He was constantly whining to fans whatever pairing RC had him in, passive-aggressively whipping up hatred against poor Teresa Castillo, who's only crime was getting stuck in a crapwad story playing a wet drip of a Patrick love interest, and otherwise letting it be known that what he was doing was So Beneath His Talents, but he took his sweet time jumping ship.  He is now basically the Roger Howarth of Y&R - the so-called Soap Superstar that is widely loathed by fans pretty much across the board - mainly because all those GH viewers who were convinced Thompson was deliberately tanking scenes opposite TeCa and KeMo were giving him too much credit.  He really is that shitty of an actor, a fact which Y&R has put on cruel display.  But he's stuck - should Y&R give in to the fan's importunings and bounce his sorry ass out of the role that is clearly beyond his "talents", he can't go back to GH in any sort of leading man capacity because vocal Scrubs fans have made it clear they will not accept him with anyone except Robin - and he can't cut it without Kimberly McCullough carrying him through his scenes anyway.  That bridge has been well and thoroughly burned.  So he sticks with Y&R, hated and despised.

Couldn't happen to a more deserving male diva.

* - The nickname bestowed on him by posters over on the Y&R thread.  I laughed out loud when I figured out who they were referring to.

[In2You]

Reron did a lot of recycling plots and writing his own even crappier version.

Edited May 23, 2017 by In2You

[Oracle42]

12 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Quote

  12 HOURS AGO, ORACLE42 SAID:

I kinda wonder what Guza would've done with AJ if he'd come back before RC/FV got rid of SK.

 

I shudder to think.

Actually, I dunno. I think Guza liked LW's Carly and if he wasn't going to put Carly/Sonny back together after Michael's shooting - and I don't think he was- then I think AJ was her best story. The best story for the show, too. Also? Guza was pretty good about taking advantage of chemistry and he actually had a really good sense of soap when it wasn't clouded by his obsession with Jason/SBu