GH History Lessons: Because History is Always Repeating Itself

[Tiger]

CarnAJ could have propelled story for years.  I remember that hot as #### the scene in the Q living room where Carly was encouraging AJ to drink, he slapped the glass out of her hand, and they mauled each other like animals.

Seriously how did Ron & Frank throw away that elusive "IT" that Sean & Laura had?!?  

Of all of the bad decisions Ive seen writers and producers of tv in general make, not doing CarnAJ with Sean & Laura is easily in the top three worst.

[Melgaypet]

I remain torn on the idea of CarnAJ. My practical side agrees that they had explosive chemistry and the show was beyond stupid to not take advantage. My emotional, fannish side says it's CARLY, she is so awful and so awful specifically to AJ, and he deserved SO MUCH BETTER and also Quiz was sparkly and adorable and I wanted them so bad and this show ruins everything.

[TeeVee329]

I'm with Melgaypet.  I was all about Quiz, but there were still plenty of fun ways they could have utilized the chemistry between AJ and Carly.

Edited September 12, 2016 by TeeVee329

[HeatLifer]

I can't lie, part of me wanted Sonny to rage his face off, so AJ/Carly FTW!

[melody16]

Carly and AJ had a lot of chemistry but I liked Quiz a lot. I loved the stare down in the hospital after, I think, Liz found out Carly and AJ slept together. Unfortunately, once Liz and AJ got together for about 10 seconds, they weren't written for at all. 

[Oracle42]

I think with Jake and Jason alive, AJ/Liz had tons of story but Carly/AJ had tons of story regardless - in addition to  chemistry and history and the ability to change the focus of the canvas

On 9/12/2016 at 3:29 PM, dubbel zout said:

He paired up actors, not characters.

I think RC paired up characters, they just weren't GH characters. It was Livvie and Caleb and bootlegBlair and Todd. Because even on an actor basis SK/LW worked in ways that RoHo/LW never did.

Even when he was playing Todd I don't think he and LW managed more than friend chemistry - but the sad thing is, it was great friend chemistry and if RC had been even remotely interested in writing General Hospital that could've been an interesting story in its own right. Carly as best friends with Scott/Heather's slightly damaged but non-serial killer son, Not!Franco? I would watch them scheming. I'd even watch Not!Franco date Liz.

But I cannot and will not with the shit that's on my screen right now

Edited September 14, 2016 by Oracle42

[RedheadZombie]

46 minutes ago, Oracle42 said:

I think with Jake and Jason alive, AJ/Liz had tons of story but Carly/AJ had tons of story regardless - in addition to  chemistry and history and the ability to change the focus of the canvas

I think RC paired up characters, they just weren't GH characters. It was Livvie and Caleb and bootlegBlair and Todd. Because even on an actor basis SK/LW worked in ways that RoHo/LW never did.

Even when he was playing Todd I don't think he and LW managed more than friend chemistry - but the sad thing is, it was great friend chemistry and if RC had been even remotely interested in writing General Hospital that could've been an interesting story in its own right. Carly as best friends with Scott/Heather's slightly damaged but non-serial killer son, Not!Franco? I would watch that. 

I actually really liked the Carly/Todd sex scene.  I haven't enjoyed watching one for years, but I backed that sucker up and watched it again.   

[jsbt]

You could've played the triangle with A.J., Carly and Liz for years. They're classic archetypes and both couples were great.

[dubbel zout]

That was also a triangle with two legit couples. With Liz/Jason/Sam, it was always clear that Jason/Sam were the OTP. Liz was always the interloper. That's fine for a temporary story, but that beat gets really tiresome. 

[HeatLifer]

Does anyone know if there's a clip of Sonny/Robin meeting up at Kelly's in early 2014? And then there's also a Robin/AJ/Michael scene? 

Edited September 14, 2016 by HeatLifer
I got too excited and misspelled something

[ulkis]

Faison's first scenes. Hee at this

Faison: that new WSB agent.

minion: the one who sings?

Faison: So they say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ4OycFQcm8&list=PLKw03OGtVrT24RlVGyQbcKMWCEFmKsa-g

Edited September 14, 2016 by ulkis

[ulkis]

How is Frisco now a secret agent when he was an international rock star?

[Oracle42]

It was his cover?

[HeatLifer]

Look at all that glorious hair.

[ulkis]

1 minute ago, HeatLifer said:

Look at all that glorious hair.

Frisco's hair was an improvement on the mullet I suppose.

[ulkis]

11 minutes ago, Oracle42 said:

It was his cover?

I'm on part 4, and I think it actually is!

[ulkis]

https://youtu.be/vcYtsDQMDAM?list=PLKw03OGtVrT24RlVGyQbcKMWCEFmKsa-g&t=116

Kristina Wagner was so bad. "I don't want your flooowers!"

[ch1]

On September 13, 2016 at 5:02 AM, jsbt said:

You could've played the triangle with A.J., Carly and Liz for years. They're classic archetypes and both couples were great.

AJ could never be the center of a triangle.  It goes against the fat loser the writers saw him as.  Even though before they crapped on him the last time he was good to both Liz and Carly.  Two of AJ's best scenes were Liz/AJ outside Nik's hospital room and Carly/AJ when she lost it over Todd.  They were both viable.

But so what- you get Carly/Sonny for the billionth time and for Liz there's...Franco.

[SlovakPrincess]

4 hours ago, ulkis said:

How is Frisco now a secret agent when he was an international rock star?

He starts out as a pop singer in '84.   He gets pulled into the Aztec Treasure adventure and also becomes friends with Robert, Anna and Sean, and apparently gets the idea that being a secret agent is fun.

Of course, being a pop singer in the GH universe was dangerous, too ... Before any of the spy shenanigans start for him, he gets beaten nearly to death by thugs working for an evil record producer, and also loses one friend to death and the other to prison after a violent fight over a plagiarized song.  

[HeatLifer]

"I know that you loved me. I know that now. And I'm sorry." Always too little, too late with Jase. But I gotta say. SBu made me feel it. BM today? Atrocious.

[jsbt]

Eh.

[HeatLifer]

4 minutes ago, jsbt said:

Eh.

LOL, I'm not even gonna disagree. But I had to compare it to what BM did today. And it was better. I say this with  gritted teeth. But it was.

[jsbt]

I still prefer Miller on the show, warts and all. I think he has more range, though his is limited as well. And I think with good writing (which is not coming) it can make a more well-rounded Jason, which is something several writing teams have clumsily fumbled towards now by more closely tying Jason, Sam and their son to Monica and the Qs. I don't remember if it started with Wolf or Ron but there was a point where Sam and Jason stopped treating them like dung on their shoes.

Edited September 16, 2016 by jsbt

[HeatLifer]

3 minutes ago, jsbt said:

I still prefer Miller on the show,

So do I. I've been on his side from the jump when everyone was claiming he was quitting every other day. But he's just...off sometimes. This was one of those days. And there was that scene where he told Sam he remembered and I was underwhelmed. I have an on-again/off-again relationship with him.

[Francie]

On ‎9‎/‎14‎/‎2016 at 6:03 PM, ulkis said:

How is Frisco now a secret agent when he was an international rock star?

He was an international rock star first.

Then he became a rookie police officer.

Then he got bored with that, so he left his young wife to join the WSB. 

Then he got captured and spent a year in a Bulgarian prison.

Then he broke out and came home on Felicia's wedding day to Colton. 

That takes us up to, what, 1989?

[TeeVee329]

1 hour ago, jsbt said:

I still prefer Miller on the show, warts and all. I think he has more range, though his is limited as well. And I think with good writing (which is not coming) it can make a more well-rounded Jason, which is something several writing teams have clumsily fumbled towards now by more closely tying Jason, Sam and their son to Monica and the Qs. I don't remember if it started with Wolf or Ron but there was a point where Sam and Jason stopped treating them like dung on their shoes.

Wolf, I remember, was the one who started using Monica after she'd been languishing off-screen.  She even had a line about having been at every medical conference known to man, heh.  That's also when she found out about Jake being Jason's.

[HeatLifer]

To further prove that these Jason Speeches aren't new....

Jason tells Monica that he understands her now because of Michael. "I know you love me. And I love you." "Oh, my son!" I love this scene, IDC. SBu and Leslie were great.

[LeftPhalange]

I don't even necessarily think the BM vs SB comparisons are fair considering the character BM is playing is almost completely different from the character SB played, and the writing is far far worse. I'm not going to say there aren't areas where BM could improve, but even A+ acting can only do so much.

[HeatLifer]

I'm not exactly comparing the actors. Or the writing. I'm more comparing the emotion and feelings brought to a scene. I just felt nothing with BM in the Jason/Monica scene. I doubt he even knows the history of the characters beyond what's on his script.

[UYI]

3 hours ago, Francie said:

He was an international rock star first.

Then he became a rookie police officer.

Then he got bored with that, so he left his young wife to join the WSB. 

Then he got captured and spent a year in a Bulgarian prison.

Then he broke out and came home on Felicia's wedding day to Colton. 

That takes us up to, what, 1989?

The year I was born! :)

Which is also the year KMc won her first Emmy, at 11, I guess for the Grant Putnam story when she was catatonic.

Edited September 16, 2016 by UYI

[NiqueAlexis]

14 hours ago, Francie said:

He was an international rock star first.

Then he became a rookie police officer.

Then he got bored with that, so he left his young wife to join the WSB. 

Then he got captured and spent a year in a Bulgarian prison.

Then he broke out and came home on Felicia's wedding day to Colton. 

That takes us up to, what, 1989?

Damn my girl Bio Daddy jumped from job 2 job stupidity 2 stupidity. I never knew that about Frisco.

[Cheyanne11]

12 hours ago, HeatLifer said:

To further prove that these Jason Speeches aren't new....

Jason tells Monica that he understands her now because of Michael. "I know you love me. And I love you." "Oh, my son!" I love this scene, IDC. SBu and Leslie were great.

When SBu wanted to, he could really bring it.

[HeatLifer]

56 minutes ago, Cheyanne11 said:

When SBu wanted to, he could really bring it.

Yup. He's in so many of my favorite all-time scenes. When he was good, he was good.

[Cheyanne11]

45 minutes ago, HeatLifer said:

Yup. He's in so many of my favorite all-time scenes. When he was good, he was good.

One of my favorite scenes is when he and Robin talk about her going on the protocol in his room above Jake's.

[dubbel zout]

49 minutes ago, HeatLifer said:

1 hour ago, Cheyanne11 said:

When SBu wanted to, he could really bring it.

Yup. He's in so many of my favorite all-time scenes. When he was good, he was good.

Which made his obvious lack of effort so much of the time that much more annoying.

Edited September 16, 2016 by dubbel zout

[HeatLifer]

17 minutes ago, Cheyanne11 said:

One of my favorite scenes is when he and Robin talk about her going on the protocol in his room above Jake's.

That was one of mine, as well! All the scenes they shared on his birthday and then the protocol talk on the bridge (and his room) were freaking fantastic. 

[HeatLifer]

Sorry, I've been on a Jason/Monica kick.

Jason tells Monica that Mikey was shot in the head. Monica is a good ass woman and tells him it's not his fault.

[TeeVee329]

What the hell is Jason wearing on his hands/wrists?

I'd also kinda forgotten that Monica is an alcoholic too.

Edited September 18, 2016 by TeeVee329

[HeatLifer]

58 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

What the hell is Jason wearing on his hands/wrists?

I believe that was when he was trying to save Sam/Liz from Diego and hurt his hands falling off a car or something.

[jsbt]

On September 15, 2016 at 9:45 PM, LeftPhalange said:

I don't even necessarily think the BM vs SB comparisons are fair considering the character BM is playing is almost completely different from the character SB played, and the writing is far far worse. I'm not going to say there aren't areas where BM could improve, but even A+ acting can only do so much.

There's also the fact that SB's acting was largely in screensaver mode for the past 15 years while he pondered what he would get at Jack in the Box after work.

Edited September 18, 2016 by jsbt

[HeatLifer]

Heee. I miss JQ! 

Robin: I thought you came with Brenda.

JQ: I did.

Robin: How come she's been with Sonny all night?

JQ: We're not on a date. She just had some kind of argument with him and wanted to patch it up. To tell you Robin, I could do without Sonny. Especially when those two get together.

Also, for @TeeVee329...

JQ: I just get sick of people ragging on Lucy all the time. I'm not saying she doesn't make mistakes, but she has a good heart. Usually.

[Melgaypet]

39 minutes ago, jsbt said:

There's also the fact that SB's acting was largely in screensaver mode for the past 15 years while he pondered what he would get at Jack in the Box after work.

This is why I never understood his refusal to have Jason get his Q memories back because Jason Q was boring. How was he not bored out of his skull playing Jason Morgan? This show has been permanently damaged by the decades-long primacy of Jason Morgan and I weep at the thought that it was in part to indulge Steve Burton's limitations and laziness.

[ulkis]

23 minutes ago, HeatLifer said:

JQ: I just get sick of people ragging on Lucy all the time. I'm not saying she doesn't make mistakes, but she has a good heart. Usually.

Hmmph. Seems like something was wrong with his noggin even before AJ crashed him.

 

3 minutes ago, Melgaypet said:

This is why I never understood his refusal to have Jason get his Q memories back because Jason Q was boring. How was he not bored out of his skull playing Jason Morgan? This show has been permanently damaged by the decades-long primacy of Jason Morgan and I weep at the thought that it was in part to indulge Steve Burton's limitations and laziness.

Cause he didn't want to act anymore. He literally wanted to be in the same shirt all the time.

[HeatLifer]

6 minutes ago, ulkis said:

Cause he didn't want to act anymore. He literally wanted to be in the same shirt all the time.

Y'all. He could just stand there and fans would FIGHT over him. He had it made.

[ulkis]

4 minutes ago, HeatLifer said:

Y'all. He could just stand there and fans would FIGHT over him. He had it made.

With the shirt and the hair, it's like he wanted to be freaking Bart Simpson.

[Vella]

I know some really wanted CarnAJ, and the LW&SK chemistry was off the hook, but it would have taken A LOT to make them work.

1. It would have taken a major commitment from TPTB. Meaning, that they were going to spend a year making CarnAJ the root for couple. Working from the ground up. That Carly would spend a good deal of time regretting what she did to AJ, and in turn, regret what she, Jason and Sonny did for over a decade.  CarnAJ doesn't work unless Carly genuinely and wholeheartedly makes amends and makes that clear to EVERYONE involved.

2. Sonny loses.  Really and truly.  This was right around the time VM came back, so they could have done S&B for real and for good because that is the only way CarnAJ would have been allowed to happen and stay a couple, is if Sonny had an equally, if not more popular, couple to be steered into.

3. No alcoholism storyline.  Just take that noise right off the table. It had been done to death with AJ so many times already. Let it be dead and buried.

These showrunners? Were not going to do any of that, especially not let Sonny lose to AJ. Not in regards to Carly and not in regards to Michael. Hell, they weren't prepared to let Quiz have a chance. 

[jsbt]

It would've taken longer than a year to do A.J. and Carly, IMO. I would've milked that quad with Liz and someone else for Carly for years, just like they did Alan, Monica and Lesley. It's the same model. They'd swap partners back and forth but while they might fuck and fight and later have this tortured romance, Carly and A.J. wouldn't really get legit together - or have any full understanding of each other despite their sexual heat and a growing bond - for a long time. It would take forever for Carly to comprehend what she did to A.J., as you say. That's a year right there!

You don't have to keep Sonny her romantic partner either, therefore Sonny would not have lost to A.J. (Although the idea several of us raised - of switching people around in the Franco/Carly/Sonny triangle two years ago and having Carly cheating on Sonny with A.J. - is delicious.)

Edited September 18, 2016 by jsbt

[Melgaypet]

I have no idea what thread to put this in, so here it goes. I'm on an Agatha Christie kick lately and so I was watching an episode of Poirot this morning and I hear this exchange:
 

Quote

Hastings: Here it is, this week's sailings. Nothing for Bolivia today.

Poirot: Bolivia is a landlocked country, Hastings.

Hastings: Ah. That would explain it then.

Only you guys can understand why this made me laugh like a lunatic.

Edited September 18, 2016 by Melgaypet

[stlbf]

On Saturday, September 17, 2016 at 10:52 PM, Melgaypet said:

This is why I never understood his refusal to have Jason get his Q memories back because Jason Q was boring. How was he not bored out of his skull playing Jason Morgan? This show has been permanently damaged by the decades-long primacy of Jason Morgan and I weep at the thought that it was in part to indulge Steve Burton's limitations and laziness.

I can see why SB disliked JQ. Jason Q was a true golden child. He had rich doctor parents who adored and doted on him. He was popular and smart in school. He was the guy who was going to follow in his parents' doctor profession footsteps. He was perfect. I get that he was bored playing the goody two shoes.  But my problem is that SB claimed to hate playing the boring JQ, but he was stuck playing a similarly boring JM. He was still playing Mr. Perfect, damn it! Only this time he had black clothes, a motorcycle and a gun. The same fucking clothes it seemed for years, btw.

When SB was interested in a story, he could play it to perfection. It showed plenty of times. That is what kept me even remotely interested in the character. I knew that the guy could act. Too bad he wouldn't just leave when he got bored with the terrible storylines. Which he did at least once. Once Jason left town, after the big AJ is Michael's father reveal, i believe. I guess starting a family makes getting a regular paycheck look good. Even if you hate what your doing.

But sure, CarnAJ and Quiz could've been soap gold for years. Hasn't B&B been doing the same crap with Brooke and Ridge for fucking decades now? 

Ah, the sea ports of Boliva! 

[HeatLifer]

18 minutes ago, stlbf said:

Once Jason left town, after the big AJ is Michael's father reveal

I like to pretend he was sick of this kid. Heh.