General Hospital Watching General Hospital

[Ray&Donna]

They never should have killed off Sabrina.

Yes, I know I've said it repeatedly. No, I'm not Teresa Castillo's agent.

They did so, clearly, in order to focus their efforts at the nursing station on Annoying Amy.

Sanctimonious Sonny and Carly are bad enough, but add self-righteous Jason into the mix (Billy Miller has seldom played the role that way, outside of interactions with Franco) and the entire show feels like a bad day at middle school. "You can't be friends with Ava, Jason, because we said so!" Harridan bitch. It's pretty clear that if the story goes the way of Jason #1 being the real deal, Sam will be excoriated as a slut and bigamist who had a child with her husband's twin while he was held captive in Russia for years...

(Are we absolutely sure Guza and Phelps aren't behind the curtain? )

 

[Daniel Avery]

That scene was really disappointing. They built up this bond between Ava and OGJason, and I was hoping OGJason would continue to interact with (if not defend) Ava, just to create a point of contention between OGJason and CarSon. It would have been a genuine means of keeping Ava in the mix with them...but it was seemingly dismissed in one scene.

Though they were not given much to work with the 'reunion' scenes between Monica and OGJason were nice.

I'm agnostic in the Liz vs. Sam fan wars, but one of the more annoying slurs the Sam fans used against Liz fans was the fact that all three of Liz's kids have different fathers (the implication being that makes her a slut). Well, guess what? It looks like Sam and Liz are on equal footing in this regard, since Sam miscarried a baby with Sonny years ago, and whichever of these men is the real Jason, there's no doubt Danny and Scout have different fathers. That's three kids with three different men.

 

[Ray&Donna]

That scene was really disappointing. They built up this bond between Ava and OGJason, and I was hoping OGJason would continue to interact with (if not defend) Ava, just to create a point of contention between OGJason and CarSon. It would have been a genuine means of keeping Ava in the mix with them...but it was seemingly dismissed in one scene.

I mean, OGJason owes her (and Griffin) his life, but can't have any tension between him and BFFs CarSon

Though they were not given much to work with the 'reunion' scenes between Monica and OGJason were nice.

Any scene with Monica is a good one, because it's a reminder that the show used to be about something other than who Carly hates this week...

I'm agnostic in the Liz vs. Sam fan wars, but one of the more annoying slurs the Sam fans used against Liz fans was the fact that all three of Liz's kids have different fathers (the implication being that makes her a slut). Well, guess what? It looks like Sam and Liz are on equal footing in this regard, since Sam miscarried a baby with Sonny years ago, and whichever of these men is the real Jason, there's no doubt Danny and Scout have different fathers. That's three kids with three different men.

While neither woman is lily-white (aside from skin tone), at least Liz doesn't seem to be sleepwalking through her scenes. Sam has the emotional presence of a vase at the Metrocourt. And having children with every man you meet is a hallmark of any longtime soap female character...Rachel Cory, Victoria Lord, Jill Abbott, Marlena Evans...but I prefer Billy Miller is the real Jason, if for no reason other than it makes the people who insist Jason 1 is the real deal look stupid.

But knowing GH, this story will dragged out until long after people have stopped caring...

 

[E-JULIAN]

...but I prefer Billy Miller is the real Jason, if for no reason other than it makes the people who insist Jason 1 is the real deal look stupid.

Me too, maybe it's because I began watching General Hospital at the end of October 2017 but I prefer Billy Miller to be the real Jason, also because is a better actor than Burton.

 

[Ray&Donna]

Billy Miller telling the town harridan to "go to hell" if she doesn't like him being Jason is the highlight of the story thus far.

Spinelli is the most grating character in soap history. Why he hasn't been killed in a mob war already is anyone's guess.

Franco is an unnecessary character--like, he could disappear without consequence--but everyone on Team Sonny constantly telling him how bad he is makes me root for him

 

[Daniel Avery]

Franco is one of the few characters allowed to criticize or mock Carly and Sonny since they've made him out to be as bad, if not worse, than them. Having him around to criticize them allows someone to speak for the audience, but his moral compass is so compromised that the words do not really hit the mark the way they would if spoken by someone like Monica or Anna. That's probably why they keep him around.

I recall a wonderful scene where Dr. Obrecht (when she was Chief of Staff) told Sonny off in the hospital hallway. I can't recall what set the scene, but she adopted that superior tone of voice and that cold stare as she called him a common street thug who didn't deserve to operate in polite society...and she told him to leave "her" hospital. And he did! Of course, this was when Ron C was writing the show. The scene between Dr. O and Sonny yesterday was much, much less sharp...but at least she didn't offer to give him a tongue bath the way 90% of the characters do.

Speaking of Dr. O, she would be the ideal person to give Ava a referral for her "experimental, illegal surgery" (or even do it herself). That's the kind of shady stuff Dr. O did for ~20 years at her clinic!

 

[E-JULIAN]

As a new viewer of GH I can't understand why a mob boss like Sonny and his wife Carly can be accepted with open arms by so many people, from the audience and the rest of characters. I believed people making money with crime (drugs, extortion or prostitution) were the baddies.

 

[Ray&Donna]

Unless they plan to toss another twist into the mix--after all, what incentive did Andre have to tell the truth--Friday's revelation was the biggest disappointment I've felt in daytime since Y&R turned Jill into a Fenmore. I feel like I just wasted weeks of my life on what was a compelling story...only to be completely underwhelmed.

Franco is one of the few characters allowed to criticize or mock Carly and Sonny since they've made him out to be as bad, if not worse, than them. Having him around to criticize them allows someone to speak for the audience, but his moral compass is so compromised that the words do not really hit the mark the way they would if spoken by someone like Monica or Anna. That's probably why they keep him around.

Even Anna has been forced to carry the Teflon Don's water since they have a mutual dislike for Julian...and Valentin, I suppose, since he tried to kidnap Spencer.

I recall a wonderful scene where Dr. Obrecht (when she was Chief of Staff) told Sonny off in the hospital hallway. I can't recall what set the scene, but she adopted that superior tone of voice and that cold stare as she called him a common street thug who didn't deserve to operate in polite society...and she told him to leave "her" hospital. And he did! Of course, this was when Ron C was writing the show. The scene between Dr. O and Sonny yesterday was much, much less sharp...but at least she didn't offer to give him a tongue bath the way 90% of the characters do.

While his writing does veer toward the campy and absurd at times, I still can't see how his work was any worse than what we are currently seeing. And it literally did seem like Spinelli was five seconds away from giving Jason a tongue bath last week. I had to mute the TV during part of it.

Speaking of Dr. O, she would be the ideal person to give Ava a referral for her "experimental, illegal surgery" (or even do it herself). That's the kind of shady stuff Dr. O did for ~20 years at her clinic!

Yes, but are those two characters acquainted? The canvas is so bloated that it is hard to be sure...

As a new viewer of GH I can't understand why a mob boss like Sonny and his wife Carly can be accepted with open arms by so many people, from the audience and the rest of characters. I believed people making money with crime (drugs, extortion or prostitution) were the baddies.

The mob has a long history in Port Charles, but Sonny, Carly, and Jason were written as heroic for so long that viewers came to accept it as the truth. Also, longtime fans cannot be engaged in a rational discussion about Sonny and Jason without words like "dimples" and "hard body" being thrown into the mix.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The mob has a long history in Port Charles, but Sonny, Carly, and Jason were written as heroic for so long that viewers came to accept it as the truth.

Yes to this, plus there was a period of time when the then-Head Writer was totally infatuated with his Sonny/Carly/Jason stories, writing Sonny as the "mobster with a moral code" (*vomit*) who safeguarded Port Charles from the "even worse mobsters" out to "take over his territory". The show utterly revolved around Sonny and his life. To this day they refuse to say just what Sonny's "organization" does. They claim he does not allow drugs in "his territory," but other than drugs, what else is there? Prostitution? Gun-running? They purposely avoid saying, because they don't want the actual crimes to stick to him. A fan theory a while back was that he dealt in counterfeit merchandise, so his detractors online referred his organization as the "Gummy Bear Mob".

In order for this to happen, all the police and feds were depicted as either utterly incompetent--so they were unable to make any charges stick to Sonny and his ilk--or were written as corrupt and needing to be run out of town (or simply murdered) since they were "the bad guys" of the piece. The absolute height of his disgusting reign (and the continuing emblem of the "up is down/bad is good" writing style) was Sonny's shooting of an undercover cop out to expose him. When Sonny figured out the guy was undercover, he coldly shot the man point-blank in the chest. The twist? The young cop turned out to be Dante Falconeri, Sonny's illegitimate son with ex-girlfriend Olivia. After a period of time, Dante and Olivia not only forgave Sonny, they are often two of his cheerleaders (though Dante has his moments of conflict). They framed the whole episode as "Dante deserved what happened to him, since he was trying to put his own father in jail," inferring that he wanted to bring Sonny down only because Sonny had knocked up Olivia and left her, and not because he was a mobster who killed people.

Worse still, the HW would write Jason as everyone's hero, saving them from various jeopardies all while being "forced by circumstances" to kill people, all while maintaining his stoic, tragic, heartbroken persona. The running joke nickname for him was "St. Jaysus the Holy Hitman".

 

[E-JULIAN]

Worse still, the HW would write Jason as everyone's hero, saving them from various jeopardies all while being "forced by circumstances" to kill people, all while maintaining his stoic, tragic, heartbroken persona. The running joke nickname for him was "St. Jaysus the Holy Hitman"

Well, as a new fan, not contaminated by this "mob love" I hate Sonny, Carly and Jason already! I'm on #TeamDrew and hope Sam stays with him...

 

[E-JULIAN]

Unless they plan to toss another twist into the mix--after all, what incentive did Andre have to tell the truth--Friday's revelation was the biggest disappointment I've felt in daytime since Y&R turned Jill into a Fenmore. I feel like I just wasted weeks of my life on what was a compelling story...only to be completely underwhelmed.

This story is what made me watch GH after all those years and I found it very interesting and well written. An intriguing and clever way to reintroduce Steve Burton to the soap when Billy Miller has been established as Jason Morgan for the last 5 years. That's why I expected the shocking conclusion to be that Miller was the real Jason, and Burton his twin brother Drew. But they choose the easy way, to favour the longtime fans making official what longtime fans wanted... Burton as Jason, kicking Miller in the ass being Drew. Dissapointing!

Worse still, the HW would write Jason as everyone's hero, saving them from various jeopardies all while being "forced by circumstances" to kill people, all while maintaining his stoic, tragic, heartbroken persona. The running joke nickname for him was "St. Jaysus the Holy Hitman".

As a new fan, not contaminated by this "mob love" I already hate Sonny, Carly and Jason! I'm on #TeamDrew, the Navy Seal and real hero, and hope Sam stays with him... (Why I'm seeing Miller in a navy uniform taking Sam in his arms and leaving Port Charles together in the sunset? An Officer and a Twin Gentleman???)

 

[Ray&Donna]

Yes to this, plus there was a period of time when the then-Head Writer was totally infatuated with his Sonny/Carly/Jason stories, writing Sonny as the "mobster with a moral code" (*vomit*) who safeguarded Port Charles from the "even worse mobsters" out to "take over his territory". The show utterly revolved around Sonny and his life. To this day they refuse to say just what Sonny's "organization" does. They claim he does not allow drugs in "his territory," but other than drugs, what else is there? Prostitution? Gun-running? They purposely avoid saying, because they don't want the actual crimes to stick to him. A fan theory a while back was that he dealt in counterfeit merchandise, so his detractors online referred his organization as the "Gummy Bear Mob".

LOL. More likely it's counterfeit toothpaste (apparently there's a market for everything).

In order for this to happen, all the police and feds were depicted as either utterly incompetent--so they were unable to make any charges stick to Sonny and his ilk--or were written as corrupt and needing to be run out of town (or simply murdered) since they were "the bad guys" of the piece. The absolute height of his disgusting reign (and the continuing emblem of the "up is down/bad is good" writing style) was Sonny's shooting of an undercover cop out to expose him. When Sonny figured out the guy was undercover, he coldly shot the man point-blank in the chest. The twist? The young cop turned out to be Dante Falconeri, Sonny's illegitimate son with ex-girlfriend Olivia. After a period of time, Dante and Olivia not only forgave Sonny, they are often two of his cheerleaders (though Dante has his moments of conflict). They framed the whole episode as "Dante deserved what happened to him, since he was trying to put his own father in jail," inferring that he wanted to bring Sonny down only because Sonny had knocked up Olivia and left her, and not because he was a mobster who killed people.

Oh yes. If Sonny has to kill, torture, or otherwise maim you, it's always your fault.

Worse still, the HW would write Jason as everyone's hero, saving them from various jeopardies all while being "forced by circumstances" to kill people, all while maintaining his stoic, tragic, heartbroken persona. The running joke nickname for him was "St. Jaysus the Holy Hitman".

Jason is the Todd Manning of Port Charles--but without the ability to run (or even read) a newspaper.

This story is what made me watch GH after all those years and I found it very interesting and well written. An intriguing and clever way to reintroduce Steve Burton to the soap when Billy Miller has been established as Jason Morgan for the last 5 years. That's why I expected the shocking conclusion to be that Miller was the real Jason, and Burton his twin brother Drew. But they choose the easy way, to favour the longtime fans making official what longtime fans wanted... Burton as Jason, kicking Miller in the ass being Drew. Disappointing!

They are probably trying to roll back the show to what it used to be; however, the soap landscape has changed so much--as has the show's canvas--that it is little more than a fool's errand.

As a new fan, not contaminated by this "mob love" I already hate Sonny, Carly and Jason! I'm on #TeamDrew, the Navy Seal and real hero, and hope Sam stays with him... (Why I'm seeing Miller in a navy uniform taking Sam in his arms and leaving Port Charles together in the sunset? An Officer and a Twin Gentleman???)

Miller did appear briefly as a Navy man in AMERICAN SNIPER, which is perhaps the inspiration for this storyline. He is a superior actor who has been more or less wasted in the role of a brain-dead mob enforcer, but with GH's inability to tell a complete story I am not going to get my hopes up for Drew to come out on the winning side in this game. The JaSam love is strong among the more vocal in the show's fan base. *retches*

 

[Daniel Avery]

Billy Miller is a leading man stuck playing what has been a supporting role since his hiring. He's been a sort of trophy handed off to various characters. If he had been hired to play a new character, he might have caught on better, but even as they hand him a "new" character, he has to carry around the baggage of being "The Drew Formerly known as Jason", not giving him the same freedom to play an independent role. He has a wife, but is she really "his", since she thought he was Jason when she married him? He has friends, but they also developed those friendships under "false circumstances". At best, friends and family tried to remain neutral ( shrugging or not rooting for OG Jason or NuJason to be the "real" Jason), while other characters were spending thirty seconds with OG Jason and declaring "He's the real Jason!" Sam was the only major character who openly stuck up for (and with) NuJason in that period, to her credit. But you just know they're going to write a triangle to tear that up, too.

And of course the fact that Steve Burton is once again playing Jason will make it necessary for the writers to re-establish his presence, and I don't think they will be able to do that without "taking away" from Billy Miller's efforts to make this new identity (his third) work. Miller's no longer the new, shiny thing orbiting Sonny World, after all. My guess is that Miller will honor his contract as long as they want him, but if he can get some kind of primetime gig they will quietly let him out of his contract.

They are probably trying to roll back the show to what it used to be; however, the soap landscape has changed so much--as has the show's canvas--that it is little more than a fool's errand.

Truer words never spoken. As if Days has not been trying to do this for twenty years--to recapture the days of Jim Reilly's insanity, the days of Sheri Anderson's supercouples, and all the other times when they were more popular. B&B seems to be falling into that trap, as well, but not to the extent that Days has been trying for so long.

 

[Daniel Avery]

A couple of blasts from the past:

The Britch Is Back: Kelly Thiebaud (who played Britt Westbourne for several years) will be making a brief guest appearance in December. I'm guessing it has to do with all this sudden talk about Faison, her father; they have supposedly been on the lam together for over a year.

Rosalie, Is that You?: Elena Tovar (who played Rosalie, Nina's fake nurse/partner in crime when Nina arrived in town) is playing Iris Machado, the sister of Dynasty's Cristal Carrington. When last we saw Rosalie, she was run out of PC in a ridiculous plot with fellow MIA characters Brad and Lucas.

 

[Ray&Donna]

Billy Miller is a leading man stuck playing what has been a supporting role since his hiring. He's been a sort of trophy handed off to various characters. If he had been hired to play a new character, he might have caught on better, but even as they hand him a "new" character, he has to carry around the baggage of being "The Drew Formerly known as Jason", not giving him the same freedom to play an independent role. He has a wife, but is she really "his", since she thought he was Jason when she married him? He has friends, but they also developed those friendships under "false circumstances". At best, friends and family tried to remain neutral ( shrugging or not rooting for OG Jason or NuJason to be the "real" Jason), while other characters were spending thirty seconds with OG Jason and declaring "He's the real Jason!" Sam was the only major character who openly stuck up for (and with) NuJason in that period, to her credit. But you just know they're going to write a triangle to tear that up, too.

The Drew/Sam/Jason triangle will be the biggest mess since the Lucky/Liz/Nikolas triangle--at least since the Sonny/Carly/Franco triangle...

And of course the fact that Steve Burton is once again playing Jason will make it necessary for the writers to re-establish his presence, and I don't think they will be able to do that without "taking away" from Billy Miller's efforts to make this new identity (his third) work. Miller's no longer the new, shiny thing orbiting Sonny World, after all. My guess is that Miller will honor his contract as long as they want him, but if he can get some kind of primetime gig they will quietly let him out of his contract.

It may not have the job security of the others (does anything in TV these days, though?) but I'd be curious to see if he could slot into DAYS as a male character obsessed with neither Sami nor Nicole. Or he could return to Y&R as a recast of his nephew, Philip IV, completing the Y&R/GH boomerang that began when JFP was tossed off the ABC Daytime lot.

Truer words never spoken. As if Days has not been trying to do this for twenty years--to recapture the days of Jim Reilly's insanity, the days of Sheri Anderson's supercouples, and all the other times when they were more popular. B&B seems to be falling into that trap, as well, but not to the extent that Days has been trying for so long.

Maybe that's why I always go back to DAYS, even after long hiatuses--something about the show forever trying to recapture its past glories but not able to. And Brad Bell never met a triangle he didn't like...to do until it's dead.

A couple of blasts from the past:

The Britch Is Back: Kelly Thiebaud (who played Britt Westbourne for several years) will be making a brief guest appearance in December. I'm guessing it has to do with all this sudden talk about Faison, her father; they have supposedly been on the lam together for over a year.

I wonder if she's hiding Morgan with her in the land of Faison

Rosalie, Is that You?: Elena Tovar (who played Rosalie, Nina's fake nurse/partner in crime when Nina arrived in town) is playing Iris Machado, the sister of Dynasty's Cristal Carrington. When last we saw Rosalie, she was run out of PC in a ridiculous plot with fellow MIA characters Brad and Lucas.

Poor Rosalie; once Nina and Michael were through with her she vanished like Sonny's murder conviction. It is interesting that Cristal's sister is alive in this incarnation when in the original, she was long dead.

 

[Daniel Avery]

As I mentioned in the NuDynasty thread, it will be interesting to see how they explain "Rosalie" having a son the age of Sammy Jo. If you recall, they wrote that Rosalie had gone to college with Brad Cooper (the lab tech guy married to Lucas), which sort of establishes her age as ~30. She was being chem-tested with Michael, as well. They must be planning on "aging" Elena Tovar if she's going to play the mother of Sammy Jo, who looks to be about 25.

 

[Maryann]

I never really liked Sonny from the beginning because of his stance as a mob boss especially after the bad things he did in the past and shooting Dante. Then watch how he dealt with Stone which was loving and empathetic and showed another side to him. The same with Jason after the accident, he was cold and unfeeling but then you see him with Robin, Michael and Sam the old Jason comes out. They have their flaws but they do have compassion and are capable of love. I am still not a fan of both but when they show they have a heart I give them a pass.

 

[Ray&Donna]

As I mentioned in the NuDynasty thread, it will be interesting to see how they explain "Rosalie" having a son the age of Sammy Jo. If you recall, they wrote that Rosalie had gone to college with Brad Cooper (the lab tech guy married to Lucas), which sort of establishes her age as ~30. She was being chem-tested with Michael, as well. They must be planning on "aging" Elena Tovar if she's going to play the mother of Sammy Jo, who looks to be about 25.

I don't think Lisa LoCicero is anywhere near old enough to play Dante's mother, but then soaps have a long history of this type of thing: Barbara Bel Geddes was only nine years older than Larry Hagman, and Lesley-Anne Down is a scant five years older than Jack Wagner. Joan Collins is only twelve years older than Gordon Thomson, though she would never admit to the gap.

I never really liked Sonny from the beginning because of his stance as a mob boss especially after the bad things he did in the past and shooting Dante. Then watch how he dealt with Stone which was loving and empathetic and showed another side to him. The same with Jason after the accident, he was cold and unfeeling but then you see him with Robin, Michael and Sam the old Jason comes out. They have their flaws but they do have compassion and are capable of love. I am still not a fan of both but when they show they have a heart I give them a pass.

Their business is a heartless one, and each man is far too hypocritical for me to give them a pass. Jason may have lost five years with his sons, but how many years did AJ lose with Michael?

 

[Daniel Avery]

So today's episode was quite enjoyable for me, even if the Shitastic Trio of Jason/Sam/Drew was on. The B-story of the day had Dr. Obrecht, Britt, and Nathan/Maxie interacting. Thiebaud and Paevey both have really good chemistry with their TV mom, even if most TV moms aren't international criminals. Britt is supposedly in custody because she helped Spencer stage his kidnapping, but since Nikolas was the one who filed the charges--and is no longer around to testify--those charges should not stick. The real focus seems to be re-visiting the mystery of Nathan's paternity, a good excuse to have them all around. Britt seemed genuinely thrilled her brother was going to become a daddy. Onscreen, Dr. O gave Nathan some paperwork that claims to be Victor Cassadine's medical history, since for some reason (to start a storyline, natch) Maxie and Nathan have this burning desire to have medical histories of their baby's grandparents. Maxie was never interested in the medical history of Spinelli's parents when she had Georgie, but hey...whatever. It's kind of obvious Dr. O cooked the books, so to speak, but that's because Victor C was a convenient lie she tossed out back when he had just died. (Okay, when she had just killed him).

Who's Nathan's real daddy? Right now I'm not concerned. I was just relieved that Nathan and Maxie were onscreen for the entire episode and the words "Man" and "Landers" were not uttered in succession.

 

[Ray&Donna]

So today's episode was quite enjoyable for me, even if the Shitastic Trio of Jason/Sam/Drew was on.

This dreadful trio isn't nearly as bad as the trio of Sonny, Carly, and Jason, but the whole thing still threatens to eat the show alive. Monday's episode was all but unwatchable. JFP would be proud.

The B-story of the day had Dr. Obrecht, Britt, and Nathan/Maxie interacting. Thiebaud and Paevey both have really good chemistry with their TV mom, even if most TV moms aren't international criminals. Britt is supposedly in custody because she helped Spencer stage his kidnapping, but since Nikolas was the one who filed the charges--and is no longer around to testify--those charges should not stick. The real focus seems to be re-visiting the mystery of Nathan's paternity, a good excuse to have them all around. Britt seemed genuinely thrilled her brother was going to become a daddy. Onscreen, Dr. O gave Nathan some paperwork that claims to be Victor Cassadine's medical history, since for some reason (to start a storyline, natch) Maxie and Nathan have this burning desire to have medical histories of their baby's grandparents. Maxie was never interested in the medical history of Spinelli's parents when she had Georgie, but hey...whatever. It's kind of obvious Dr. O cooked the books, so to speak, but that's because Victor C was a convenient lie she tossed out back when he had just died. (Okay, when she had just killed him).

Who's Nathan's real daddy? Right now I'm not concerned.

As long as he doesn't turn out to be a Spencer or a Quartermaine, I think it would be okay. Or a Corinthos. Lord knows they have enough members as it is.

I was just relieved that Nathan and Maxie were onscreen for the entire episode and the words "Man" and "Landers" were not uttered in succession.

Amen.