Spoilers and Speculation: Clink Boom and Cheese Fondue

[rur]

3 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

There's been RUMORS that Michael Easton himself wants to leave.  If that's the case, I could see that being the rationale to fire Rebecca Budig, because he's leaving and they need the coin for Steve Burton.

A long time ago, I made a half-joking remark that if ME noticed that he wasn't wearing 3-piece suits any more, then he should know his days were numbered. He hasn't been wearing them lately . . . 

[Darklazr]

4 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

According to this, Budig is filming her final scenes this week so Rebecca Budig (the character) will be gone by summer's end:

http://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/rebecca-budig-gh/

1) Because SBu won't be insanely overpaid?

2) I still don't miss Nik/TC.

SBu paid his dues on this show and should be compensated accordingly.  However, that does not mean that FV should not clean house of his overpriced pets / gets and bring some balance to the show.

I miss the old Nik (pre sleazy Niz romance) and his relationship with Elizabeth, Lucky, Lulu, Alexis, Laura etc...

[Fellaway]

19 hours ago, ulkis said:

Honestly, yes, I think so. They won't keep them, but I think it will draw people.

And, some of us, it will completely drive away.  I've barely been watching, as it is, but SB coming back, be he Jason or otherwise?  That's the final straw.  The Unholy Triumvirate was what drove me away for a huge swath of years, but, now, with BM there for extra added value...  Ye gads.  Good luck getting story, other actors!

[Asp Burger]

I guess it's a little early for tributes, but I thank Rebecca Budig for the great job she did with an all-over-the-place character and with stories that could have been unwatchable. I've said this before, but I was in and out of All My Children too inconsistently to ever understand why people loved her so much, and now I get it. Whether she was acting with Tyler Christopher, Donnell Turner, Michael Easton, Jane Elliot, or Rebecca Herbst, she always performed as though she cared about making the scene as good as it could be; she was generous to her scene partner and to the audience. I became a fan in her time on General Hospital, and I wish her the best on whatever she does next.  

I personally feel that I'm the one who has already paid dues with Steve Burton, and I thought I was paid up for life (to me, the Juicer's blank-looking ass is the definition of "checked-out" acting). But I won't stop watching right away. I'll admit, I'm curious about how they're going to untangle the Jason mess.  

Edited June 27, 2017 by Asp Burger

[Fellaway]

Yeah, I've liked RB on GH.  I agree the house needs cleaned, but neither RB or even ME would be tops on my list to kick out the door.  Finn is the one and only character of ME's, from two soaps, that I've ever liked.

Edited to add:  Much as I loved him as Todd (original run) on OLTL - My favorite soap character ever! - I'd kick RH to the curb first.  (Franco is the definition of ill-conceived characters.)  If we're talking newbies.  Tops on my list will always be MB and SB.  But, yeah, if wishes were horses...

Edited June 27, 2017 by Fellaway

[peachmangosteen]

33 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

But I won't stop watching right away. I'll admit, I'm curious about how they're going to untangle the Jason mess.  

This. And I hate myself for that. And I know it'll be even worse than I imagine. But I still wanna know what they do.

[dubbel zout]

3 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

38 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

But I won't stop watching right away. I'll admit, I'm curious about how they're going to untangle the Jason mess.  

This. And I hate myself for that. And I know it'll be even worse than I imagine. But I still wanna know what they do.

Save me a seat at this table, please.

I won't quit this fakakta show, no matter how unwatchable it is, until ABC pulls the plug. I have too much history invested.

Hayden was a pointless character. Rebecca Budig (the person) did what she could, but Hayden had no reason to be here. Linking her to Elizabeth did nothing for either character. Finn made a bit more sense in that he was a doctor, but losing him will not matter to the show. (I will miss him, though, as I adore his dry humor. Who can forget Silas Clay's immortal words to Morgan: "You're an adult. Supposedly." This show desperately needs more intentional humor of all kinds.)

[TeeVee329]

Trying to think - besides the DZ and ME RUMORS - who else could be on the chopping block.  Matt Cohen maybe?

Edited June 27, 2017 by TeeVee329

[dubbel zout]

I feel like just about everyone could go. I mean, I highly doubt MB/LW/CD/KeMo would be cut (or not re-sign). Jane Elliott was the last link to the glory days, IMO, and she's now gone. The show has changed so much that there's no one on contract who embodies GH to me. They're now just a collection of characters who appear on a soap called GH.

[UYI]

11 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

So not only is James dePaiva not playing Jeff Webber, I guess the idea is that his doctor character has been working at GH all along, but we've never seen him:

http://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/james-depaivas-gh-role-revealed/

ETA...oh, I wonder if he's Monica off-screen boyfriend we heard about that one.

I'm just going to ignore the return of the Cigar Store Indian Looking Monavie Pimper and enjoy this for now. :) 

Also, minor nitpick: The "D" and "P" in DePaiva are both capitalized; only the "e" is lower case. :)

Edited June 27, 2017 by UYI

[ulkis]

38 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I feel like just about everyone could go. I mean, I highly doubt MB/LW/CD/KeMo would be cut (or not re-sign). Jane Elliott was the last link to the glory days, IMO, and she's now gone. The show has changed so much that there's no one on contract who embodies GH to me. They're now just a collection of characters who appear on a soap called GH.

Not even GF? (I agree that not even GF holds the show the way JE did, but I'm just wondering what your reasons are.)

It's interesting you should say that because someone on DD said the network sees Jason/Carly/Sonny as legacy of modern GH (bleh), especially since TG and JE left. They also said Michael Sutton has filmed with MB. (And that they wanted to use BC, but Brydog actually was filming something else.)

[HeatLifer]

21 minutes ago, ulkis said:

They also said Michael Sutton has filmed with MB.

What!? When!? Please be true.

[yowsah1]

2 hours ago, Fellaway said:

And, some of us, it will completely drive away.  I've barely been watching, as it is, but SB coming back, be he Jason or otherwise?  That's the final straw.  The Unholy Triumvirate was what drove me away for a huge swath of years, but, now, with BM there for extra added value...  Ye gads.  Good luck getting story, other actors!

Over on the Y&R board, they are saying that BM got a role on the Showtime series RAY DONOVAN, so he may be leaving GH and Steve Burton will be picking up the role after he is gone.

[dubbel zout]

48 minutes ago, ulkis said:

Not even GF? (I agree that not even GF holds the show the way JE did, but I'm just wondering what your reasons are.)

I honestly forgot GF was on the show. Laura has been very peripheral.

[BlackMamba]

Seems like Mobster Hospital will be back in full effect soon. 

It's been confirmed by Mr Giddens that Rebecca Budig is out and Michael Easton will be out soon with a few more major exits to go. I won't be shocked if we hear MS, BM and/or RoHo will be exiting. 

These moves will definitely free up cash for SBu return.   

[coffee drinker]

25 minutes ago, BlackMamba said:

Seems like Mobster Hospital will be back in full effect soon. 

It's been confirmed by Mr Giddens that Rebecca Budig is out and Michael Easton will be out soon with a few more major exits to go. I won't be shocked if we hear MS, BM and/or RoHo will be exiting. 

These moves will definitely free up cash for SBu return.   

I will disagree that RoHo will/would exit.  FV just went through protracted contract talks with the guy.  I'm no big RoHo stan, but I don't see him exiting.  

[sunnyface]

Sbu is coming back as jason?  talk about a lump of coal (or whatnot) in your stocking.?

[Chairperson Meow]

1 hour ago, yowsah1 said:

Over on the Y&R board, they are saying that BM got a role on the Showtime series RAY DONOVAN, so he may be leaving GH and Steve Burton will be picking up the role after he is gone.

Tbh, that could be the best thing for him.  Dude has been fake smiling since he got to GH.   He's a great actor and deserves a real shot.  

11 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Oh geez, if Steve Burton is Real!Jason, we'll have to go through all the Franco "He's CHANGED" nonsense again.  Ugh.

Or Real Jason kills him on the spot? 

I will die of laughter if the alleged writers reuse the Todd in the CIA swamp dungeon scenes.  Steve can't pull that off.  

[BlackMamba]

33 minutes ago, coffee drinker said:

I will disagree that RoHo will/would exit.  FV just went through protracted contract talks with the guy.  I'm no big RoHo stan, but I don't see him exiting.  

That means nothing.  As we see RB is out.  And she signed a 4 yr deal.  Plus executives reserve the right to tell the writers to write characters off every 13 weeks.  

[coffee drinker]

8 minutes ago, BlackMamba said:

That means nothing.  As we see RB is out.  And she signed a 4 yr deal.  Plus executives reserve the right to tell the writers to write characters off every 13 weeks.  

My thought is perhaps the show will off the character of Franco and have RoHo return as Todd.  Now that the Prospect Park suit has been dealt with.  And in RoHo's case it wouldn't be 13 weeks, but rather 26 since he's a vet.  

Edited June 28, 2017 by coffee drinker

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, coffee drinker said:

My thought is perhaps the show will off the character of Franco and have RoHo return as Todd.  Now that the Prospect Park suit has been dealt with.  And in RoHo's case it wouldn't be 13 weeks, but rather 26 since he's a vet.  

Jesus, no. Please. Just...wish Roger Howarth well and say a nice prayer he can work on the other three soaps that are left. This show already had Todd for a while - and (disgusting) Franco. Having an actor keep returning with chance after chance has certainly done Michael Easton no favors.

[TeeVee329]

5 hours ago, ulkis said:

They also said Michael Sutton has filmed with MB.

 

4 hours ago, HeatLifer said:

What!? When!? Please be true.

I super hope it's not true.  Do we really need to see Ghost!Stone show up to fluff Sonny?

[ulkis]

Sorry teevee I think it's true . . . MB tweeted this the other day

https://twitter.com/MauriceBenard/status/878330943865372674

and when someone guessed Burton he said no, and Kim McC liked the tweet as well.

If Sonny actually leaves the mob I guess it won't be completely just fluffing.

[Auntie Velvet]

1 hour ago, ulkis said:

Sorry teevee I think it's true . . . MB tweeted this the other day

https://twitter.com/MauriceBenard/status/878330943865372674

and when someone guessed Burton he said no, and Kim McC liked the tweet as well.

If Sonny actually leaves the mob I guess it won't be completely just fluffing.

They have been setting the table for "two Jasons" here and there, I suppose in case they could get the contracts to work out. Just today Sonny said of nuJason "He's soooooo different now!" Way to complain about the guy who just saved your life, but that's another story.....

[Badsamaritan]

The only way I see SBu coming back is if the network overruled Uncle Frank and insisted and promised him everything under the sun. There is no way FV would bring him back on his own volition. He loves RoHo too much, and I can believe SBu would not want Franco tryna be an actual character and taking focus away from St. Jasus.

 

I still think this show is on life support so who knows if SBu coming back will stop the ratings freefall.

[dubbel zout]

6 hours ago, Auntie Velvet said:

They have been setting the table for "two Jasons" here and there,

It's been possible ever since BM returned as Jason with a new face.

[jsbt]

Actually, FV was pushing for Steve to come back the minute he left. Prior to that he was doing his usual hardball thinking Steve would take a deal more convenient to the show. Steve, whose ego had been bruised by loss of prominence on the canvas and the loss of the producer catering to his whims, left and went to JFP's open arms at Y&R. Frank miscalculated; he did it before at OLTL with Trevor St. John (Todd #2/Victor Jr.) in a similar situation. After Steve walked, Frank pivoted. Both Frank and Ron Carlivati fully expected him to make a deal and hang around on some basis a la Kimberly McCullough, and wanted to play story with Steve's Jason and Sean Kanan's A.J. When they lost Steve they also lost interest in Kanan. It was a stupid rationale, but that's what happened.

Acting like Frank would never bring Steve back is a misread because it's literally what Frank has wanted from the beginning. He chases big names and power moves, and losing Steve to Y&R was a huge loss of face for him. Billy Miller is irrelevant to that. Could he keep both, maybe - it's what they wanted to do with the Two Todds at OLTL before FV alienated Trevor St. John - but IMO it's much more likely Steve will go back to playing Jason and Miller will either go back to CBS or go off to his new cable role (which is likely temporary). And I guarantee you Frank and Ron had a potential rehash of Two Todds with Two Jasons on the books while waiting for Steve to become available, even when they first hired Billy Miller - a lot of us saw this coming. I do think it's more likely Ron would've established Miller's "Jason" as A.J. to tie a bow on things, while Frank may just dump him as anybody.

Edited June 28, 2017 by jsbt

[tveyeonyou]

So they're getting rid of RB (who has finally grown on me), as well as ME and who knows who else, and they're bringing back SBu, possibly Michael Sutton and a new Morgan?

When will they get it through their empty brains that we do not want more mob, we want more hospital? It's really not that crazy of a request to want a show called General Hospital to have more stories take place in a hospital, and not just stories of patients in the hospital because of mob-related injuries. I hate this show but as others have said, I'm watching until the bitter end, I can't not, too much time invested in this damn show. My SIL isn't a tv watcher at all and she can't wrap her head around the concept of "hate-watching", she thinks I should just not watch, which I guess is the sane thing to do, but it's like CarSon, I can't stop the cycle of self-harm.

[jsbt]

I'm pretty sure Michael Sutton is just making another random appearance as Ghost Stone.

Edited June 28, 2017 by jsbt

[dubbel zout]

He'll probably be urging Sonny to stay in the mob to keep Port Charles safe: "You're their only hope, Obi-Wan Corinthos!"

Edited June 28, 2017 by dubbel zout

[Oracle42]

I think Billy Miller is a good actor, although I haven't seen many signs of that on GH, but I do not think he could play AJ and the idea of him as SBu's older brother is so ludicrous that it makes me angry all over again that they killed AJ/fired SK

[jsbt]

I think he's actually much more suited to A.J. than Jason. That being said I've always doubted he'd be on the show very long once Steve returned - no matter who it turns out he's playing, A.J. or anyone else, he'll go quickly. That's if they do a Two Jasons and don't just swap 'em out.

Edited June 28, 2017 by jsbt

[Oracle42]

Didn't one of these writers establish that Jason does have a twin and Franco pretended to be him or thought he was? Or was that all supposed to be a weird Franco/Heather lie?

[Asp Burger]

They've made Jason's changed appearance such a front-and-center feature of the recasting that I don't see how they can just ignore it with a voice-over informing us that "The role of Jason Morgan is now being played by Steve Burton." Just a few weeks ago, it was a big story point that Jake was afraid of a picture of Jason "the way I used to look." If they bring Burton back now and just have the other characters acting as though nothing has changed, it will set new standards for shoddiness. Yes, "Setting New Standards for Shoddiness" could be the ABC Daytime slogan this decade, but still.  

I think they have to write themselves out of this corner somehow. That Burton will be Jason and not "Claude Zacchara," I have no doubt, jokes aside. It's what they do with Miller that is providing all of the curiosity. I'm thinking the obvious route out is the reveal of another level of Helena mind-screwery; he was never Jason after all.  

What are the rumblings in the JaSam and Liason hardcore fan bases? I wouldn't even know where to look these days. I'm so old-school that I actually looked at SoapZone, and then I remembered that it isn't 2002 anymore.  

[jsbt]

It's just the same old story as the Two Todds, which is why a rehash doesn't interest me tbh. The original story, with characters I actually cared about on a different show, was enough. I saw it coming when they first recast, it was inevitable Frank (and Ron) would want to do it again and relive a success while getting Burton back. Unless Billy Miller had somehow taken his leave earlier, this was always going to happen.

One way or another Steve will be Jason, Miller will have always been someone else (and likely leave), Helena will be blamed and less than six months later we'll be back to Steve doing Steve and phoning it in. Same as the Two Todds, although at that time Roger Howarth was not phoning it in. I knew Steve would be back someday but it doesn't make me watch. His Jason does nothing for me - which is not to say Miller's is great either. I just think Jason as is, in either incarnation, is a wholly uninteresting character.

Edited June 28, 2017 by jsbt

[TeeVee329]

The most glaring thing to explain away will be Robin having seen Jason with Steve Burton face (although we only saw his arms) when he first woke up/rescued her at Crichton Clark.

Of course, these are writers who thought Jason and Helena were hanging out on Cassadine Island when both were UNDEAD POPSICLES so I could see them ignoring that.

[jsbt]

Best guess, if they remember which is far from guaranteed: They'll say Jason got swapped out on the road before/after getting hit by Ava.

[Oracle42]

I'd rather see him just get caught in an explosion, survive it because Jason and ask for his old face back. Just skip the tortuous DOOL John/Roman explanations. 

Aside from the age thing, BM has no chemistry with Michael and Carly. Since that was the thing that I liked most about SK's AJ, the idea of BM as AJ just holds little appeal for me. I mean, Sam having a daughter with AJ would be decent drama but not if it demonizes AJ. 

Edited June 28, 2017 by Oracle42

[TeeVee329]

Any return by AJ would demonize AJ, which is why I'm reluctant to support an AJ return.

[dubbel zout]

7 minutes ago, jsbt said:

Best guess, if they remember which is far from guaranteed: They'll say Jason got swapped out on the road before/after getting hit by Ava.

This is probably the easiest way to explain it.

[Cheyanne11]

13 minutes ago, jsbt said:

Best guess, if they remember which is far from guaranteed: They'll say Jason got swapped out on the road before/after getting hit by Ava.

That was my immediate thought, too.

[jsbt]

16 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Any return by AJ would demonize AJ, which is why I'm reluctant to support an AJ return.

Probably. But even so I think if he is A.J. it'll be in and out to be honest. It will absolve Sonny, have a little narrative frisson and poof, gone again.

[TeeVee329]

I'm cringing just thinking about what they'd do.  Have Liz bitch and moan that she pariahed herself for AJ's dick instead of Jason's.  Have Monica scream at AJ for what he did to Jason.  Have Michael yell that Sonny is his only father over and over again. 

[TeeVee329]

In other news...nope:

Quote

#GH Nelle gets a make-over. {July 10}

[Oracle42]

I think the only way there's any decent drama is if Sam chooses to stay with BM as AJ. Liz would drop Franco like a hot rock for a shot at Real!Jasus and then we can finally !!!!! get the Who Killed Franco Murder Mystery

Edited June 28, 2017 by Oracle42

[jsbt]

That'll never happen. Kelly and Steve will be back together by the end of the year IMO. Same old boring couple.

[HeatLifer]

Everyone "hates" Burton until his character starts sniffing around someone other than Sam. Same old story every time.

[dubbel zout]

Nelle needs a better story, not a new look. The whole idea is dated and gross. Big, big nope.

[TeeVee329]

Shouldn't Nelle's story be Carly hating her guts and trying to split her and Michael up?  We've seen nothing to that effect in the spoilers, it's BS.

[Chairperson Meow]

15 hours ago, coffee drinker said:

My thought is perhaps the show will off the character of Franco and have RoHo return as Todd.  Now that the Prospect Park suit has been dealt with.  And in RoHo's case it wouldn't be 13 weeks, but rather 26 since he's a vet.  

I'd be okay with this.  BUT there needs to be a hair clause.  His hair must be washed and cut.  Todd is an infinitely better character who would be great for business stories.  I'd like a story where he buys Crimson and half of the Metro Court.  It would be better than the mob stuff and it'd involve GH characters like Maxie, Nina, Lucy, Dillion.. etc.  Maybe Maxie could be his new assistant, and Nathan hates it because well it's Todd Manning.