General Hospital Watching General Hospital

[Daniel Avery]

Not sure what to make of our dear Esme. She seems intent on getting together with the other teens (Spencer, Trina, Josslyn, Cameron) to rent a cabin for a weekend. First of all, girlfriend obviously has NO money, even if she's covering it well. Spencer is also cash-strapped these days (and out on bail), and the other three teens are newly enrolled in college (read: busy). It's nearly winter in upstate New York, so it would not be the most comfortable weekend. Now that we have confirmation that Esme has some sort of connection to Ryan Chamberlain, I'm wondering if they're taking us back to the classic teen slasher movies of the 1980s (a group of teens in an isolated cabin in the woods with an insane killer on the loose) with Esme as the insane killer.

Not sure how it would translate with these teens, though. Esme is manipulating Josslyn into having sex with Cameron (and vice versa), and one of the tropes of slasher movies is that two teens sneak off to have sex, only to be murdered by the insane killer. But another trope is that the black character is always the first to go down, and we all know Trina ain't going down---she's the smartest girl in the room most of the time. If anything, she'd be the one to save them all. And what about Spencer? Would Esme also kill Spencer just to silence him? I guess it depends on whether Esme really does care for him (or his money), or if she's doing all this just for Ryan's benefit.

 

[Monzo]

Queen Grahn got what she wanted or at least she's going all the way to get it.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1457573714439118850

 

[AZLiam]

She's such a hypocrite:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1458438688375902208

 

[Daniel Avery]

You'd think she would have learned by now that if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. She will probably realize too late that if you assemble the Twitter mob against an enemy, that mob will turn on you just as quickly because you can never be "woke enough" for them. She need only look to that model (is that what she was?) Chrissy Tiegen, who went from hero to zero in the blink of an eye.

 

[Monzo]

What I like about GH is that, unlike other soaps, there are still minor characters like N'neka and Yuri around. Ms Wu could be on the rise, which I would enjoy.

I was surprised to see Kip and Linc again this week, also scout Wyatt was back a while ago.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Another thing I noticed was that series of scenes at Curtis's nightclub had actual EXTRAS in the background. The show (like everyone else) has been pulling all the tricks to make public places seem pre-Covid normal, but of course there is only so much one can do. There was a running joke that Phyllis and Lenny's bar in Nixon Falls never had customers, and of course that nifty new pool set only had cast members around it. If the show can now have extras, it's another step back to normal.

I get a kick out of how Yuri appears to have a thing for Monica---his attention to her well-being is more than just bodyguardish concern. I get the feeling he would gladly take a bullet for her if it came to that. If they could also get Alice back to the Quartermaine mansion, then that place would be more secure than Fort Knox.

After viewing the scenes between Sonny ("Smike") and Nina on Thursday, I'm going to call it right now: when Nina's case goes to court, Sonny's going to make sure the case falls apart. Not only will he not cooperate, he will make it clear to the judge that he doesn't feel Nina "victimized" him and wants the case to go away. Oh, the joy of seeing Carly's head explode. Oh, the added bonus of seeing that spineless brat Michael see his plan go down in flames.

It had been suggested in dialogue many years ago that Brad was part of the Wu family (from the Asian Quarter storyline many years ago), but now they're saying that Brad is Ms. Wu's nephew. Nice call-back, but now it makes no sense that this was never brought up before. Julian Jerome would have faced some retaliation from the Wu family for trying to kill Brad, and Sonny would have been more "nuanced" in his efforts to make Brad pay for keeping Wiley from Michael, for fear of rubbing Ms. Wu the wrong way.

 

[Monzo]

Even Variety is worried about Steve Burton's Jason:

Questions Loom About Steve Burton’s ‘General Hospital’ Status, as Ingo Rademacher Ousted After Refusing to Comply With Vaccine Mandate

With Ingo Rademacher ousted from "General Hospital" after refusing to be vaccinated, fans wonder about Steve Burton's status on the show.

variety.com

GH is doing so good in ratings compared to two years ago aka pre-Covid times. While the other soaps all lost a few hundred thousands viewers compared to two years ago, GH still got the same, so I'm worried what the loss of two fan favorites might do to the ratings.

I am stunned that only two actors decided against the vaccination. Of the primetime Disney shows, it was only 911's Rockmond Dunbar, whose role is not important to the series, so Disney's strategy seems to work or there are many fake vaccination certificates in circulation.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Note: I posted a story I read online that said SB was hastily written out because he had gotten the first vaccination, but had not gotten #2 before Nov. 1st arrived. They only wrote him out temporarily, since he'd get #2 and be welcomed back in the New Year. Well, NOT TRUE! (I deleted the original posting)

CONFIRMED: Steve Burton OUT at General Hospital - Daytime Confidential

Like he said, it is a pity that such a choice---get vaccinated or get fired---had to be made, but there ya go.

 

[Monzo]

Since GH is the only one that has instituted a vaccine mandate Steve Burton could return to Y&R. I never liked Jason much, so I was worried when SB joined Y&R, but I don't know why he won me over on Y&R and since then I like him more on GH. Maybe Billy Miller could return as the real Jason and viewers find out that Susan gave birth to triplets and that the real Jason was hidden for 10 years.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I think his time on Y&R was purely at the behest of then-EP, Jill Farren Phelps, who had an annoying tendency to hire refugees from other soaps she destroyed. Once she was deposed, he did not stick around there much longer. My guess is that SB will be rehired once the vaccine mandate is either dropped or the rules loosened up to the types of precautions the other soaps have.

I know my mind should not go there, but I can't help it: notice how Miss Grahn seemingly has no Twitter opinions on SB's departure? She never passed up an opportunity to drag Ingo R, even firing up the Woke Child Mob on Twitter to cheerlead for his firing. And yet Burton's departure elicits not a single snappy retort? One would think her "workplace safety concerns" were actually the product of a personal feud with a certain colleague whose politics she detested. Maybe his well-chosen, positive comments were such that even she knew she'd end up looking like a shrew if she weighed in. Or maybe now that she has her pound of flesh (IR), she's satisfied for the time being.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I’m just curious as to why the other soaps haven’t followed GH with vaccine mandates of their own? You would think they’d all be in sync with their policy considering it’s all part of the same genre. Am I missing something here?

 

[Monzo]

Maybe too many cast members aren't vaccinated on the other soaps. I suppose no soap can afford to lose a lot of cast and upset fans. Cancellation is never far away for any soap, so the status quo is better. As part of Disney, GH couldn't have made any exceptions. Actually, they were lucky that only two actors decided against the vaccination.

 

[Daniel Avery]

As part of Disney, GH couldn't have made any exceptions.

Disney can make exceptions to their vaccine mandate for employees---rather LARGE exceptions when someone stands up to them.
Disney lifts COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees at Disney World after DeSantis signs law prohibiting enforcement - CBS News

It goes without saying that Disneyworld and its satellite operations employs substantially more people than Prospect Studios (where GH tapes), and the employees interact with many, MANY more strangers than the employees at Prospect. It's difficult for them to say with a straight face that their decisions have more to do with prevention of Covid spread than any other concern, since they folded like a cheap tent when the Governor of Florida stood up to them.

 

[Monzo]

The only good thing about Jason and Jax being gone is once that Carly finds out the whole truth about "Mike" and Nina, she's got no ex to turn to.

 

[Daniel Avery]

....and no one else wants anything to do with her! Even her mother Bobbie cast some high-quality shade on her the other day (pointing out that Carly destroyed Bobbie's marriage to Tony). I guess Olivia is civil to her (since they co-own the hotel), but they've never been buddy-buddy.

If they are going to throw the baby out with the bath-water in regards to Jax, someone will need to re-purchase the 50% of Aurora Media that Jax bought when he returned to town. If you recall, Crimson magazine is part of Aurora, the company Drew and Sam once owned together. In the period Drew was away, Jax bought the magazine/newspaper half, while Sam still owned the publishing (books, I assume) half, with Michael running it for her. Now that Drew is "alive again," I guess they will be able to put the two halves together again if Jax sells it to them off-camera. That is if they even remember the company exists. Other than Nina, you never see any of them working there.

I get the feeling that Sam/Dante will fall by the wayside as they reunite Sam with Drew, which I think would be a better pairing anyway. The family linkages between Sam and Dante (which would only be amplified if they were to get married) makes me uneasy anyway. For example:

**Sam was involved with Sonny and even miscarried Sonny's baby long ago. Had Sam and Sonny remained together, Sam would currently be Dante's stepmother and that baby would have been Dante's sibling. Instead, we'll just have Sam's father-in-law being her former lover.
**Dante's mother Olivia had a baby (Leo) with Sam's father Julian. Leo's brother and sister would be getting married and possibly having more children. Those children would be Leo's siblings AND nieces/nephews
**Sam's mother Alexis had a child (Kristina) with Dante's father Sonny, so Kristina would become Dante's sister AND sister-in-law.
**Dante's father-in-law (Julian) was killed by his father, Sonny; Dante's mother-in-law Alexis went to jail for trying to kill him.

But like I said, it looks like Sam/Dante might not be much longer in the world, which is okay with me because they felt a bit forced....sort of like the writers said "Oh, we have these two characters with nothing to do. Why not have them do nothing, together?"

 

[Monzo]

The episode Drew told the Qs about Jason's death Chase was there, but only said one and a half sentence in the entire episode. How do soap actors get paid: by episode, by diagloge or by airtime?

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

....and no one else wants anything to do with her! Even her mother Bobbie cast some high-quality shade on her the other day (pointing out that Carly destroyed Bobbie's marriage to Tony). I guess Olivia is civil to her (since they co-own the hotel), but they've never been buddy-buddy.

If they are going to throw the baby out with the bath-water in regards to Jax, someone will need to re-purchase the 50% of Aurora Media that Jax bought when he returned to town. If you recall, Crimson magazine is part of Aurora, the company Drew and Sam once owned together. In the period Drew was away, Jax bought the magazine/newspaper half, while Sam still owned the publishing (books, I assume) half, with Michael running it for her. Now that Drew is "alive again," I guess they will be able to put the two halves together again if Jax sells it to them off-camera. That is if they even remember the company exists. Other than Nina, you never see any of them working there.

I get the feeling that Sam/Dante will fall by the wayside as they reunite Sam with Drew, which I think would be a better pairing anyway. The family linkages between Sam and Dante (which would only be amplified if they were to get married) makes me uneasy anyway. For example:

**Sam was involved with Sonny and even miscarried Sonny's baby long ago. Had Sam and Sonny remained together, Sam would currently be Dante's stepmother and that baby would have been Dante's sibling. Instead, we'll just have Sam's father-in-law being her former lover.
**Dante's mother Olivia had a baby (Leo) with Sam's father Julian. Leo's brother and sister would be getting married and possibly having more children. Those children would be Leo's siblings AND nieces/nephews
**Sam's mother Alexis had a child (Kristina) with Dante's father Sonny, so Kristina would become Dante's sister AND sister-in-law.
**Dante's father-in-law (Julian) was killed by his father, Sonny; Dante's mother-in-law Alexis went to jail for trying to kill him.

But like I said, it looks like Sam/Dante might not be much longer in the world, which is okay with me because they felt a bit forced....sort of like the writers said "Oh, we have these two characters with nothing to do. Why not have them do nothing, together?"

Wow, some great observation, Thanks!

Some of mine

Sam/Drew would seem more likely. Personally, I never cared much for the Dante character

The secret strength of the show, to me, is Charles S as Victor. I think that his plan to unite the Cassadines could lead to some
compelling stories.
James Patrick Stewart is really giving an award winning performance. I hope that they don't overdo his character
toward the dark side, because he seems to be a more layered Cassadine, with good qualities.
(Note: He was the "Desperado" fan on Seinfeld, His Father is Chad of Chad and Jeremy)

Can't stand Nina. No matter what Carly did (and she was really young when she seduced Tony,
not that it's an excuse, but Nina was far more culpable)
it does not justify Nina's callous disregard of people mourning Sonny.



Will Jeff Weber return? could be a great story for Liz. What about Liz's biological mother? Who is she?

Where are all the Spencers? Would like to see Lucky and Valerie return
Bring back Morgan

Not a Lulu fan. maybe a different actress would help.
Didn't care for the writing for the character

Would like to hear other observations that could improve the show.

Be Well!

 

[Daniel Avery]

The episode Drew told the Qs about Jason's death Chase was there, but only said one and a half sentence in the entire episode. How do soap actors get paid: by episode, by diagloge or by airtime?

I believe contract actors are still paid per-episode. They might film bits and pieces to be placed in multiple episodes in one day of filming, though. Sometimes an actor gets an "easy day" like the one you describe, but it balances out when an actor might end up having a 16-hour filming day a month later and get the same check.

Recurring actors get paid per day of work, I think (that is, if they film bits and pieces that end up in multiple episodes, they're still only going to get paid for a day's work).

James Patrick Stuart is really giving an award winning performance. I hope that they don't overdo his character

I agree, he's been doing great work for a while now. Finola Hughes has been handed some crappy material to play in the past two years, so the pairing with mostly-reformed Valentin feels like a gift to her to say "Sorry you've had to prop that awful Peter story for so long---here's a great scene partner."

Will Jeff Weber return? could be a great story for Liz. What about Liz's biological mother? Who is she?

GH had to do some hasty rewrites due to the very public departures of Burton and Rademacher. This means a lot of story points had to be tweaked or outright abandoned in order to reposition the show. All the talk about Jeff seemed to evaporate. In fact, Liz herself seemed to evaporate. Does she and Jake even know Jason is once again presumed dead? Of course she was not the only one who got lost in this shuffle--they were planning another Nurses Ball and nobody has mentioned it in over a month. Anyway, they could very well come back to this thing with Liz and Jeff eventually, or it might fall by the wayside once again. In all the years Liz has been on the show, Liz's mother has never been named or spoken about. Chances are her parents are no longer together, but we have no way of knowing. If I were given the chance to cast them, I'd cast Stephen Schnetzer (Cass Winthrop from Another World) as Jeff, and if they want to bring in her mother, Anna Holbrook (Sharlene Hudson, AW) would be a good choice. I don't think they will bring her mother into the picture, though, because it will be difficult enough for one parent (Jeff) to explain why he has not contacted or interacted with his daughter all these years (and after three grandchildren, countless traumas, and several marriages where she could have used her father's support). If Jeff and the wife are now split up, it's even more odd that neither of them would try to contact her.

 

[Monzo]

The secret strength of the show, to me, is Charles S as Victor.

It seems like he has won over many fans. I'm not there yet, because I'm still having problems seeing Victor and Valentin as father and son. But I enjoy the Cassadines, because there are so many different personalities in it.

The weakest link is still Peter. I'm worried Marshall might become a problem too. Robert Gossett is a good actor, but he's not in the same (aka worse) league as the rest of the Ashford family. He just doesn't fit in.

I don't like it when an actor returns in a new role shortly after his previous character has died. First Finn, now Austin. Both actors are not that important to the show and I doubt they have die-hard fans like Maurice Benard or Steve Burton.

Bring Morgan back? I'm happy that Saint Morgan is not mentioned anymore 24/7. If they bring him back, then it should be Bryan Craig, I don't want another recast.

The only way to spice up ratings would be to bring Brenda back. Her last run wasn't too popular among fans, but at least Vanessa Marcil draws attention to the show, still I don't really need Brenda back at the moment.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Maybe it's just my years (and years and years ) of watching soaps, but the Charles Shaughnessy thing doesn't bug me. I'm like "Oh, Mr. Sheffield's now going to be villainous Victor Cassadine? Sure, why not?" It's the same feeling when they kill off a character, then bring back the actor to play a different role. Michael Easton's situation was different, since he had been officially let go and then re-hired for the new role. Roger Howarth's contract status never changed---he just sat out a few months, then returned---probably even kept his dressing room. I saw no need to kill off Franco and have Howarth play a new role, and I was disappointed they decided to have the other characters not notice his resemblance to Franco. Ideally, Austin would have scared the ever-lovin' $hit out of Peter when they ran into one another and Peter could have landed on Chip Roberts's pitchfork.

I'm happy with Morgan being "dead dead" because when he was around, he was Jan Brady to Michael's Marsha....and I think the Michael character is problematic enough without adding jealous screw-up Morgan to the mix. Morgan bore more than a passing resemblance to the recent recurring character of Joey Novak, and we all know how well he went over. The same issues they had with making Morgan relevant can be seen when they try to make Kristina relevant. I think they killed off Morgan mostly because they could not fit him into the family dynamic, and they would have the same problem if he came back.