good things on a Thursday (plus a GH digression)

[gwynnega]

It's a few hours before my three-day weekend begins, a weekend which will include (on Saturday) a trip to LACMA to see the women surrealists exhibition and (on Sunday) Japanese food downtown.

I got an early birthday present from ljs: an Amazon gift certificate, which I promptly used to buy a John le Carre novel!

General Hospital's ratings are up, thanks to Ron Carlivati's writing and the influx of OLTL and classic GH characters. (This week it was announced that Roger Howarth (Todd Manning) is on contract.) The show isn't perfect (I wish Robert Scorpio was staying on canvas longer), but it's worlds better than it was a month ago. Finola Hughes is doing a superb job as Anna Devane, and Carlivati is writing her in the nuanced, authentic way Bob Guza almost never did. My FL friends who were driven away from GH by craptastic writing: it is safe to come back!

In the "I have to laugh" department: apparently Nathan Parsons is the one person on the planet not happy that Garin Wolf got demoted from head writer (well, two if you count Wolf himself!):

Exiting GH Star Nathan Parsons on Garin Wolf's 'Woman In White': "He Was The First Person Who Wrote a Great Story For This Character"

A great story? It just goes to show that talented actors aren't always the best judges of their material. I hadn't been thrilled when they first brought on Parsons as Luke and Holly's son Ethan, but eventually Parsons won me over--especially when they paired him with Lexi Ainsworth as Sonny and Alexis's daughter Kristina. I thought Ethan/Kristina could be the next Luke/Laura, and they were one of the few bright spots in Guza's final days. Then Ainsworth got the axe, and I felt so sorry for Parsons, saddled with the dreadful Woman in White story. For weeks (months? it felt like months) he was reduced to having to act opposite A PAINTING OF GENIE FRANCIS--and then he had to act opposite the terrible actress who played the Woman in White (I think the painting of Genie had more acting chops). I cackled with glee when Helena Cassadine had the Woman in White shot! (And so, apparently, did most of GH's audience.) But apparently Parsons actually loved this turkey of a storyline, and he's leaving the show just when it's good again. Oh well...

Comments

[skogkatt]

I love hearing you talk about soaps. I have zero context, so it's sort of like reading scrolls from an ancient civilization and then trying to imagine their stories from the fragmented references.

Also, yay! Three day weekend! And Yay birthday present! I hope your weekend is lots of fun!

[gwynnega]

Hahaha! I think ABC would prefer for soaps be like scrolls from an ancient civilization, no longer cluttering up their network! (But hopefully that won't happen...)

[lanterne_rouee]

Cassandra (or Irina) wasn't so bad before she started talking. I actually liked it up until that point. It was kind of gothic and fun compared to everything else going on at the time. I was never convinced that portrait was of Laura though. It looks nothing like GF, (unlike the old portrait of her in the orange dress).

I'm really excited about everyone who's returning! I want more and more returns. They're like jellybeans. lol Sad that Nathan and Jonathan left though, right when it's loaded with potential to get good again.

[gwynnega]

I had thought it would be hilarious if, when Cassandra/Irina finally started talking, she had a nasal, whiny voice. But alas, no! :-)

I'm excited about the returns too! I hope Jonathan and Nathan come back at some point--though I have to wonder at Nathan for leaving just when the good writing kicks in.

[leobrat.livejournal.com]

I have no words for NP. Like, this summer? He was perfect to me. I don't know, I know it's no use to speculate what goes on behind the scenes, but I was kind of getting the feeling that he was whinging about the Ethan/Kristina storyline and somehow might have had a hand in getting Lexi axed (I know, intellectually, that he doesn't really have that power, it's just my knee-jerk reaction).

Sigh. I don't know. It's been such a big part of my life, but I was honestly *furious* about everything having to do with Robin's death and nothing- not Fin and Tristan and Jason's performances, not anything- could save it for me.

[gwynnega]

Well, Carlivati was handed Robin's death (his first day as head writer was the day after her death, before that he was only a consultant), so all he could really do was to try and make it work for the show as best he could. (And what with the "burned beyond recognition" thing, I strongly suspect this is going to end up like Lucky's "death.") Also, I shudder to think about how Garin Wolf's original conception of how to write Robin out would have played out--having her desert Patrick and Emma because her viral load was unstable. Not only would it have been medically irresponsible and disrespectful of the HIV storyline, you can bet Wolf wouldn't have bothered to bring Anna or Robert back. At least Robin died (or "died") like a Scorpio.

As for Nathan...I got nothin'!

[leobrat.livejournal.com]

No, I mean I do get that RC got handed a pile of crap and did the best he could with it and under GW it would have been so much worse, but...like, so many people that made this show for me are just gone. So I don't really know what to come back to? I have sort of random favorites leftover, but...I tuned in at some point last week or a few weeks ago and this show is always going to be tipped in the wrong direction while it still revolves around Sonny and Jason (especially Jason).

[gwynnega]

I'm hoping that the influx of OLTL characters will help shift the balance. John McBain's not one of my favorite characters, but I think he will actually be allowed to be an effective cop and a moral presence, which the show desperately needs. I'm hoping Anna will get to play that kind of role too. Since her return, she's already come to seem like the heart of the show for me--and since she's one of my all-time favorites, I'm so happy to see her written well again.

[usedtobeljs]

[hugs hugs]

[gwynnega]

Thanks again for the gift!

::hugs::

[fishsanwitt]

Oh Nathan...

::shakes head in disbelief::

[gwynnega]

I hope Nathan has a good agent or manager to pick his future projects. He clearly can't be trusted to pick 'em himself!