I know this is the show that gets us all started, but since this is the most popular show on the web I figure we get a thread started back on this show.
Discuss.
Posts: 5275 | Location: New York/California | Registered: September 30, 2006
And I have a secret for yall. Now lean in friends I have been watching the show again for almost nearly a yr. and a half of tunning out. The show has improve a little bit after the clustermuck that was Jan. sweeps.
If you take the mob stuff out (for me it depends) it is a show that has potential to please the fans of old. The hospital drama has been there w/the death of the mayor's mitress and the arrival of Martha Byrne (who has been AMAZING. contract now!) And the arrival of the Corinthos kids grown up have definitly sparked my interest in that part of the show also. Drew Garrett has been a revelation on this show and he is bringing the best out of Laura Wright and Maurice Benard as far as I am concerned.
Now to my complaint. We need the Q's back on screen in some compacity (When John, Leslie, or Jane come on screen it is a treat to see) and no I do not mean having Natalia Livingston playing Emily under a new name of Rebecca.
Posts: 5275 | Location: New York/California | Registered: September 30, 2006
"Ellen" is on its summer hiatus, so I'm using the time to get caught up again. I did a snap judgments post with DAYS recently, so I'll do the same now with GH:
- Drew Garrett is quite a find as the new Michael, but somehow I still don't want to see him in this role. I wish Dylan Cash were still growing up with the character. And I wish the show weren't writing him as another violent, brain-damaged kid who can't control his temper, which seems to be the only way this show knows how to write its male characters. I wanted to see Michael grow up and maybe clash with his parents not because he's so violent but because he's so non-violent. That would be more interesting.
- Brandon Barash was very good today as he confronted Claudia about trying to kill Jason. (Shhh! Don't tell Crystal.) But no, I still don't want Johnny Zacchara on my TV screen. As he joined Jason on a mission on Sonny's orders, leading to yet another shootout, it confirmed to me that he's a thug just like Sonny and Jason. Though he and Jason clearly shop at the same undersized t-shirt warehouse, which kind of made me wish they would drop the guns and start making out.
- Claudia and Sonny had the most wretched love scene today -- angry, wretched, dirty without being sexy. And right after I was mentally scarred by the ungainly sex wrestling of Rex and Stacy on OLTL. I'm no fan of soft focus, slow-motion, carried-over-the-threshold sap, but I'd give anything not to watch scenes like I saw today. I've seen more erotic animal maulings.
- Um, so Rebecca and Ethan are in cahoots to do ... what exactly? Oh yeah, I don't care. But seriously, Rebecca dancing with Nikolas feeling like Emily had inhabited her or something -- give me a break.
- Characters I haven't seen in a while in any significant capacity: Elizabeth, Lucky, Tracy, Sam, Edward, Lulu. Congratulations, GH, you've streamlined the show to include only people I don't care about. Jax seems to have assumed the role of Voice of Reason, which probably means he'll be murdered in a couple of weeks. By Michael. Sonny and Carly will cover it up, cursing the heavens wondering, "How did our son turn out this way?"
This message has been edited. Last edited by: 742,
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
I tuned back in and Rebecca and Nicholas were talking so I fast forwarded that. Michael was mouthing off to Carly so I fast forwarded that. Olivia was looking for Johnny. I was mildly interested. Johnny and Jason were loading guns, and I had had enough.
742, Johnny telling Claudia that it's wrong to try to murder Jason is an example of how they have Johnny as the "voice of reason." I don't know what Johnny was doing with the guns or Jason and I no longer care. I don't know who the intended audience for this show is. Is it the same people who find a sociopathic stripper an enjoyable character?
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Crystal,
Crystal, I think you're grading on a generous curve when you call Johnny any kind of voice of reason or moral compass. Jason and Sonny have moral codes of their own, but when the it comes right down to it, there they are with guns in their hands, blowing people away. No, I don't know what the mission was and I don't care. He's no imperfect prince. He's a glorified goon like all the rest.
As for arguing with his sister, let's be honest. Appearing in a scene with Claudia Zacchara would make Mussolini look like the voice of reason.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Originally posted by 742: Crystal, I think you're grading on a generous curve when you call Johnny any kind of voice of reason or moral compass.
During the time I watched the show consistently (December to beginning of April], Johnny was the only one to speak out against murder, kidnapping, etc. He stood up to Sonny and called him out on his behaviour. He was the only to call out his sister on her dealings. He was trying to go straight and be an honest person. It's a shame that that storyline didn't continue because I find it interesting when someone struggles with being good. These goons/sociopaths don't interest me which is why I stopped watching when spoilers indicated Johnny would be getting back into the mob.
That's the main problem with GH. They write their mob characters as morally conflicted about their work, but then they get over their ethical concerns and gleefully get back to what they do best: guns and murder. Really, the show is only paying lip service to moral consequence and is only interested in telling sensationalized crime stories. Whenever someone gets out of the mob, it's a plot device, because before long they'll get back in it.
Jax on the other hand, was very good today when he warned Carly about how dangerous Michael was becoming, and when he criticized Jason for not doing anything to change the circumstances for Sonny's kids even when the kids suffer as the direct result of Sonny's business. Better, those lines were uttered by someone who has never been in the mob and has always found it reprehensible. Then again, I'm pretty sure Jax knows that Claudia was responsible for shooting Michael and is keeping quiet to protect Jerry, so I guess nobody on this show gets to come away clean.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
It hasn't even hit the half hour mark yet and I can understand why ppl are the way they are about the soap. Morgan unfortunatly rounds out all of Sonny children that has used "My do you know who my father is?" card.
But the plus side is that I think Johnny and "the ho" are hot and Martha Byrne can rock pearls like no other.
And one note if someone can help me w/Why does Robin & Patrick's baby looks Asian?
More later.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: east/west,
Posts: 5275 | Location: New York/California | Registered: September 30, 2006
How does ABC not get fined for airing this much sex and violence at 3:00 in the afternoon? I remember rushing home from school to catch this show back in the 90's when it was about the Spencers, Cassadines, Quartermaines and Jones'. I hope kids aren't doing that now.
Did anyone find the Nikolas & Emily/Rebecca sex wierd. From the bad music, to the funky camera work, and the most important how the two actos have no chemistry anymore and the whole thing feels forced.
I like how since I have been gone from the show and how I just recently tuned back in, the words "Eliminate" & "The line of fire" is still in this teams vocab.
And speaking of the writing team, I have to say as much as I hate the one mind direction of Bob and the power of the Frons, I do think the team does a good job of adding in some humor in the dialogue.
Posts: 5275 | Location: New York/California | Registered: September 30, 2006
The sex today between Nikolas and Rebecca was also creepy. What the hell is with Bob Guza and the directing staff? These sex scenes look more like mortal combat than romance.
I rolled my eyes throughout Morgan being taken hostage. The show made him cool under pressure and funny and undermining his kidnapper, but I think the comic writing was just meant to fool the audience into thinking that Morgan being held at gunpoint somehow isn't reprehensible. If Morgan were as scared as any normal child should have been, the viewers would be on the phone with Child Protective Services to take those kids away from Sonny in a heartbeat. But no! Morgan's fine! He's making fun of the guy with the gun threatening to kill him! Hardy har har!
And then Carly showed up and was threatened. And then Michael showed up and was threatened. I kept waiting for the rest of the family to jump in. Kristina, Alexis, Molly -- everybody join in, it's a party!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: 742,
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Could this be the start of something new?___________________________________________________________________ BREAKING NEWS: Former Y&R Exec Josh Griffith Lands Trial Writing Deal With General Hospital! Submitted by Jamey Giddens on June 23, 2009 - 4:53pm
Ah nothing like the taste of old blood! General Hospital has added a new scribe to its stable of writers. Word is veteran producer/scribe Josh Griffith, who co-created the late Aaron Spelling's short-lived NBC guilty pleasure soap Sunset Beach with current GH head writer Bob Guza, has been offered a trial script writing deal with the ABC sudser. When we last heard from Griffith, who also wrote for One Life to Live, As The World Turns and my beloved Santa Barbara, he was being bounced from his executive producer gig at The Young and the Restless for allegedly tangling with Auntie Ri Ri (aka Maria Arena Bell). Josh is alright and all I guess, but when is someone gonna hire Sri Rao?
This message has been edited. Last edited by: east/west,
Posts: 5275 | Location: New York/California | Registered: September 30, 2006
Hmmmm ... I remember liking Griffith early during his run on OLTL, but I'm not familiar enough with him overall to celebrate this news. But maybe TPTB are listening to viewer dissatisfaction and free-falling ratings and grooming Griffith to replace Guza.
But with Frons still in charge, goodness knows how much of the writing Griffith would actually do if he ended up replacing Guza.
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Frons and Guza has finally got me to shut up about the mob idology of this show. I won't complain as much, b/c until both are out it is not going to change. I hate how Michael's fascination of the mob is not, b/c he wants revenge (a story I could like), but for his daddy's & Jason's approval & love. Sigh!
Well anyways onto something good. Martha Byrne continues to amaze me and I hate the fact that they give something decent for Rick to do and he's going to B&B. I can see Marth, if they don't go w/the obvious her murduring the mitress, being a strong pressence on the show. Maybe she could be the mayor, but wait she a woman.
And I love seeing NLG breathing on my screen and for her & SB on screen sparing back and forth. And congrats to Lexi Ainsworth on getting a much deserve contract w/the show.
Posts: 5275 | Location: New York/California | Registered: September 30, 2006
that face off between nlg and sjb was a long time coming! back when sb played carly, people wanted a catfight to happen but guza and riche left, and the newer writers didnt care. if claudia wasnt pregnant there could be a full on catfight but i also forget guza/fronz don't let alexis win catfights.
and who are these "saints" that epiphany and toussaint are talking about? is it the football team saints(who are my team btw) or something else? i didnt follow nightshift that season at all so i wouldnt know if there was a finish off from there.
Just when I'm ready to give up on this show, they suck me back in by actually giving Nancy Lee Grahn some material that's worthy of her talents. I loved when Alexis called Claudia a living, breathing crime wave. Easily the best line of the day.
Frankly, I would much rather Nancy Lee Grahn be given scenes and storylines that don't involve having to explain to Sonny why his underage children hanging out in a bar is inappropriate, or why his lifestyle makes him unfit to care for children. (Alexis is being much too tactful today.)
It's kind of ridiculous. Sonny protests, "I won't let anything happen to my children," so matter-of-factly that he must have forgotten every single thing that has ever happened to them. He's forgetting the present too, because in the last week, both Michael and Morgan were held at gunpoint, and Kristina is upstairs helping an injured mobster escape his house.
I like the young actors. They're well cast. But they're all being folded into the mob storylines, and they're playing the mob storylines like lighthearted adventure. And Michael wanting to be in the mob is not only lazy storytelling, but also sets up continued glory for Sonny and Jason, who get to be noble and say, "This is no life for you. We have no choice but to lead dangerous, sexy lives, but even though we're super cool and totally worthy of your hero-worship, we want more for you."
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
