Sunday, February 2, 2014

Sunday Surgery: Insert Here

Oh boy, it's difficult to write the blog on weeks like this!!  You'd think with a Cassadine return, I'd be all a twitter. Not the case. This week dragged for me, big time. How about you? Are you feeling like the show is a cohesive collaboration of streamlined stories? 

I didn't think so.





Ok, let's get our gear on and go to work!  I'm having a Bloody Mary this morning. I'm going to need it. 
GH has been great on one thing--one liners, funny moments, props, wigs  and some pop culture mentions. For that, I salute the writers. Bottoms UP! 
Well, at least she found out the story of the BLT 
Carly and Heather. For pity sake STOP. Just make it. STOP. It's not funny any more, it's not even a good tale. It's a bore. Franco running around can be entertaining and his little detour with the chick from Grey's Anatomy was fun but--other than that?  Do I really want to see him locked up next to Silas? We did that with Todd and John. Same difference. Kiki's going around trying to 'save' him, I guess because she's got no other story. Michael is obviously not worried about the 'restaurant' and seems to be really the only person trying like heck to find Carly. Sonny sure doesn't care. LOL 
The "Heahter's BLT Trauma" story was nice, RM did a good job acting it. But again, stuck in the middle of a weird kidnapping story that has no end. I'm still not sure why Heather hasn't killed Carly yet.  I mean, she says she plans to..so?? Why wait? 
Spanky and Alfalfa
The chupacabra was fun the first time out. I love the kiddies--and now, they took it too far. Come on. The wiki  stuff was cute too, but Cam and Spencer can't tell that's a person moaning?  I can buy Cam not being able to but Spence is way smarter than that!! And why would Heather risk staying there after they saw her?  


The Luke reveal was a goodie. He could have been old Laura in the rocking chair. Remember that!?  Nicely written scene-- the girl with the magazine, Kiki getting in and the BLT chomping orderly.  Perfection. See, I DO like individual scenes and parts of dialog, it's the "big picture" of production I'm having a prob with. 


Morgan/Sonny-- that's also draggin out.  Morgan double crosses Sonny, Sonny double crosses Morgan, Ava's just trying to get laid and Julian? Well, he got beat up.   For godsakes, either Sonny or Julian walk into a bar and shoot the other one. Get it over with!  Alexis and he had a good scene but again, DON'T STICK THEM TOGETHER when they haven't BEEN ON FOR MONTHS in the same orbit! If there was a build up to Alexis getting all hot, I'd buy it. This? WEIRD.  I couldn't remember the last time they saw each other and now they are frenching on the couch. 

There was a bizarre insert of the Jr. Mints, which if you blinked you missed it. Even the scenes within shows are chopped up. They were on the first few minutes, then not seen again until almost the end. I forgot they were even on!! 

Anna still doesn't know about Sabrina and I really wish she and Robin had been together when Robert left. You could tell they were taped totally separate. Robin and Anna haven't been in the same room since Christmas.  


OMG..then there's LUCY! WTF!  Her story is absolutely the most boring thing ever. First of all, you have to be a long time fan of GH to understand the dynamics of those 3. They haven't been on long enough this stint to even get into their individual characters. Lucy gets hot for Scotty, sleeps with him, gets all guilty, breaths heavy, goes and hides somewhere when someone shows up. That's it. I guess the spa isn't any kind of a story anymore, why bother, right? Again, it's a little side story that's plugged in here and there. I guess with Maxie gone, I should be happy Felicia is even ON, right? It's very telling though that Flea and Mac have no house and 99% of their scenes are in Floating Jake's.  Don't get me wrong, you know I love the vets but when they are used as fluffy inconsistent filler?  I get a little angry.

Well, he did make an "Appearance"!! 
AJ. Let's talk about AJ.
Oh, wait..he wasn't even ON this week (again). When we last saw him he was ..remembering the elevator and...

and.. I suppose we'll find out when it's the next time to insert some of his scenes at random intervals. 

Silas is arrested--because some shady pharmacist came in from Syracuse and said Silas filled a prescription? Why didn't Sam and he yell out: OMG the  TWIN!!??  and..isn't this a NYC thing? OH whatevvvvver. And the other thing that really bugged me?  (I can suspend disbelief on some of the above) SAM totally flipping out over the WILL. Silas was married to the woman. Um, don't you usually leave your stuff to your spouse??? Why is that a shock? That scene was double strange. 

Oh, Lante got back together.  snooze


Lucas. Glad you're back. You were back 2 seconds, talked to Bobbie for 4 minutes, went to get her a BLT...and had slept with Brad. Talked to his sister, found out about Julian, and yet, why don't I feel he's been on a lot? Because he's RANDOMLY shoved in there. Was he even on this week? I can't remember.  Lucas coming to town should have had a nice arc that went over several days. Not choppy little scenes here and there. 

Dapper...AND tan!! 
And this is my point. RANDOM. Everything is just--tossed together. I never know if a story I'm interested in is going to continue or just--go on the shelf for a week or so until it feels like coming back. Now Victor Cassadine has returned- and heading  the WSB (LOL) so I suppose that part of the story is going to be moving forward. It does explain the Dr. O appointment. I wonder how one becomes the head of an international police type organization when one has tried to freeze the world?  
Interesting? 
Maybe.
Are Helena and Stavvy alive?  Hmmmm. 


Pretty yes..but... needs inflection
I'm afraid for Ric's return. How many days will he be on? Will he see Liz?  Will Sonny bring up Deke again? (please let the writers forget about that damn story---PLEASE!!!)  I'm thrilled Rick Hearst is back...
but..dare I say?
TOO MANY CHARACTERS in the canvas?? Yep. 

SCENE OF THE WEEK: Robert saying goodbye to Emma and telling her to take care of her parents!!  Awww.  Runner up was Robert saying goodbye to Anna. These two have such history and are such great friends,  I love their scenes --always. 

PROP(s) OF THE WEEK: The Ribs!! Those ribs! Those poor, poor ribs...never eaten. wah..and I see a Rib Bib right there too! 


RUNNER UP: Laptops and WikiPedia



FACE OF THE WEEK: Duke, losing it about not being a "man" unless he 'saves' Anna from Julian. By beating him up. Not actually killing him, mind you but..beating him up.  But maybe he'll kill him later. Not sure. 
SCENE OF ANOTHER NOTE: Tracy goes into the PCPD in her sable coat to ask for help finding Luke..and she brings in the racoon Net!! ahahaa. LOVE. Maybe she thought it was evidence?

I had a friend text me during the show Friday to say: WTF is going on? LOL (this was during the kids in the stables scene). Sometimes I feel the same. GH can be a ton of fun on a moment's basis. Taken as a whole though? They have to stop chopping things up so much and finish/streamline stories to keep my interest. Who cares who killed Connie now or if AJ is going to go to drink? Baby Ben? I don't care if he stays with Britt or not.  In fact,  Wyndemere is so fun, I kinda think I want him growing up there and not the tiny fan-loft!!  

I've said this for years and people don't like it, but I sort of wish soaps were 30 min long again. With that amount of time, they pop and move really quickly. Just an idea. I also  wonder what they are going to put in place of Katie. Maybe that GMA show they tried this summer? 

Well, have a good Sunday. We are thawing out a bit. My cold is a cough and I'm hoping it's done for good soon. See you Monday! 

16 comments:

  1. Well, good morning Karen, I'm the first one on Sunday again!!

    NOOOOO, I don't want my soap to be cut to 30 mins.--I'll take my hour of GH, the good, the bad and the ugly!!

    I thought that the Chupacabra was the prop of the week, or Carly's "magic gag."

    Did you see on the magazine the nurse was reading (that you showed a photo of), that there was a story about what happened to Lucy's spa? I wish we could read that story, LOL!!

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  2. Karen, no one has answered me, has Victor Cassadine been on GH before? My chiropractor's secretary (you know we dish about GH), said that the actor was on another show (she has watched many soaps), but she doesn't recall Victor being on GH, and neither do I. Will SOMEONE please answer me, has the character been on GH before? Has he been referred to, even if not shown?

    Also, it seems Victor told Robin that both Helena and Stavvy are frozen, and on Cassadine island, so I guess that poor Robin will have to go there to find a "cure" for them, or else the Cassadines will kill her family. My chiro's secretary and I are both TERRIBLY depressed by her (and Robert's) leaving, and agree that maybe Patrick will end up with Sabrina (big foreshadowing of that when Emma told Sabby how much she has missed her).

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  3. Thaao P. was channeling Jerry Lewis from his bad 60s and 70s films w those glasses and quirks. It was an odd but interesting scene.

    WSB goes bad- good idea. Bad that Carlivati's writing it. He lacks depth and subtlety.

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  4. AntJoan, Victor (played by the same actor) was part of the original Ice Princess story in 1981. He was Tiffany's boyfriend before Robert.

    Technically I think Anna & Robin were in a few scenes together last week, when Robin & Patrick went to the police station to talk to Anna about Dr. O. Not especially memorable though.

    Totally agree about the choppy nature of the show these days. Too many stories, not enough time. But I do like the Lucy stuff, if only because it is such a simple throwback type story. A woman cheating on her good guy husband with her bad guy ex... that's as basic as soaps get. Fun, to me at least, and KS & LH are a blast to watch.

    Great column, as always!

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  5. Bob, thanks, SOMEONE finally answered my question re Victor C, now I can impress my chiropractor's secretary with my wonderful knowledge!

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  6. It feels like the show is being written by a crew with ADHD and their Adderall has been taken away and replaced with psilocybin. The storylines are so fractured and continuity is so lacking that the only thing carrying this show right now is the quality of the acting.

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  7. AntJoan, Soaplover answered your question at the end of Friday's blog - last comment. 3 paragraph explanation about Victor and the storyline he was involved in back then. Since he was on 33 years ago many people (like me) don't know who he was and couldn't answer you. We are not ignoring you.

    I agree with you Karen about Ben. Leave him at Windemere. Ship Lulu back to Shadybrook or make her Heather's roommate at Miscavage. I don't care. I feel bad for DZ. He has no chemistry with his new wife which makes it hard for us and for him

    I was so disappointed that they didn't use the shootout as an excuse to get rid of TJ. As hard as I try I can't care about most of the new characters at all.

    There was speculation that the Katie time slot in Buffalo might be returned to the local affiliates to fill with some syndication junk. Don't know what probably another talk show. Last year we had Ricki Lake at 3 and Katie at 4. This year it's Katie at 3 and Queen Latifah at 4. Maybe next year Richard Simmons will be in syndication - the worst thing I could think of putting on the air.

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  8. I'd like to jump to the show's defense because I still think it's vastly improved over JFP/Guza but I have to agree with you. I've noticed the poor pacing more now that I've started watching DAYS, which feels more cohesive and organic.

    GH is kinda spastic with the storylines and for the first time I'm understanding the argument of "too many characters". They either need to interweave more characters into their existing storylines or just shelve them until they're needed. Every couple have their own mini storyline is just too much too keep track of.

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  10. Guys, you know I love GH WAY more than under Guza, JFP and Frons,right? PLEASE tell me you know that! LOL

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  11. While I agree that the Alexis/Julian storyline has been choppy, I think that the actors' portrayal conveys way more than the writing. William deVry, especially, has been telegraphing Julian's attraction to Alexis and absolute disinterest in Carly in the few scenes they have had. Plus, I think the conversation before and after the clinch/ass-grab was very revealing and served to explain a lot (I know, they should show instead of tell, but at least they told). The chemistry between the actors makes up for a lot. Holy hell, that was a hot scene. I love the way he looks at her. But yeah, would be so much better if we didn't have to wait three months for another one like it.

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  12. Vic was the bad bro of the 3 Cassadines. Tony was good and handsome, Mikkos was Messianic and wanted to save the world, and Vic wanted to rule it.

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  13. Actually it is about 35 minutes long. If you watch it on the internet when they have a couple of 1 minute commercials in the breaks.

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  14. Actually it is about 35 minutes long. If you watch it on the internet when they have a couple of 1 minute commercials in the breaks.

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  15. AntJoan, I answered you. I posted the whole story on Friday's comments-it was a big segment of Luke and Laura's saga on Cassadine Island. Yes, it is the same actor, much older. He is the one who brought on Tiffany--she was his girlfriend. And of the 3 brothers, he was the one who lived to go to prison so they didn't have to resurrect him from the grave. I think his accent has gotten thicker!

    I, too, am so sad about Tristan leaving. Was looking forward to him having a real story...wonder what will happen to that story now. I always liked his friendship with Luke with Robert being the reasonable one and Luke the skitzy one.
    The Laura of those days was a real part of the adventures, brave and caring and daring. I still remember she and Robert guarding the Cassadine captives and staff with big guns as Luke tried to come up with the code to turn off the ice machine.

    However, the whole show is SO much better and good soapy with the new regime. Hated when Guza imagined he was writing the Godfather. Really hated it. So I am not complaining.

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  16. Just checking in and letting you know I am still reading your blog. I'm just so puzzled why GH seems like the wheels are coming off again.

    Something is definitely off.

    Robert: Nice post! GH writers would certainly benefit by watching Days and how they seamlessly integrate multiple characters into multiple storylines at once and don't shelf a storyline/characters for 3 plus weeks at a time.

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