ON THAT NOTE! I will TRY and TRY to get this out. I found GH this year to be quite like the rest of 2016--I'd like to forget. I lost my dog this year (my GH watching buddy) so that tainted things a bit as did all the RIPs in the world and of course, that which we shall not mention.
The Title of GH this year? THE CAST OF THOUSANDS. More people work on the show that live in my old hometown. It keeps expanding to the point that the stories are so watered down and disjointed the meaning is lost.
PERFORMER OF THE YEAR: Nancy Lee Grahn just knocked it out of the park. Even though I didn't like the direction/writing for her character, the acting was complex and gripping. She always is invested and doesn't phone things in--ever.
BEST COUPLE: Isn't a "couple' in the traditional sense. I'm going with Anna and Griffin. I like the vibe and the whole Duke connection.
BEST ATTEMPT AT A STORY: Yeah, I said it. The whole Bi-Polar mess was just that, a mess. While I give some credit for trying, having Morgan start to get better only to have Ava switch his meds. This not only plot-pointed a potentially good story, it turned it into a a head-shaker. Ava didn't even really 'own' the switch like say--Helena would have. No her guilt is all melted into a puddle of tears. The "pill story" is lingering on and on-- and on.... They should have explored therapy with Maddox more, delved into his relationship with "good boy" Michael and of course, his mobular father. Hell, they sent him away for years!! There's gold in that mine!
FAVE NEW THING ON GH: Roxy. Although she hasn't been featured much... I still love the lizard.
BEST 5th CHARACTER PLAYED ON THE SAME SOAP BY THE SAME ACTOR: Has to be Finn! Michael Easton managed to make Finn totally different and quirky. The Tracy friendship is awesome.
FARMER'S INSURANCE MOMENT: Liz' house blew up, remember that?
BIGGEST SWITCH: Gun-Running Paul to..Serial Killer Paul! All because his daughter Susan was slighted at GH after her rape. (WHICH WE NEVER SAW) Plus, he was killing people so the hospital would shut down. Should have released some bio-hazard. A lot faster. Oh and this story also gets the Swiss Cheese award. SO many holes. SO So many. Giant waste of a great actor.
LONGEST SUFFERING REDUX STORY: Sonny's angst. Sonny's mob. Sonny's guilt. Sonny's grief. Sonny's paralysis. Sonny's pardon. Sonny's "I want revenge"... Sonny's "Justice". Sonny's "I want Avery", Sonny's bar ware throwing...you know, basically SONNY.
BIGGEST MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Remember the Grand Helena died this year?? Yea, I almost forgot too. Helena's Will. Oh I could have written this so well. I won't go into all the beats that were missed but let's just say there were a ton. And how about that whole Jake thing, and the "book"--?? His memories? Still floating in the abyss. Oh, and remember the tea poising thing? Black Hole.
BEST COUPLE THAT WASN'T: Oh if only...if only we could have seen where Maura and Tyler took these two....
WORST DEATH: I wasn't a super Sabrina lover but she had her place and was finally going to live in the Q mansion and be BFFs with Tracy. BUT! I had to see her strangled in brutal fashion by Paul in that stupid serial killer story. Not only that, they brought back a twin for Carlos only to what? Have him take Teddy and leave. Huh?
WORST USE OF AN OLTL ACTOR: Why WHY why. This story was written so choppy and so dragged out with no movement until the very end, we came to loathe this woman. She was a wedge between Nate and Griffin. He shot me!! And of course the whole: He's your Daddy...NOPE..He's your Daddy dance done in ONE WEEK. Now Valentine is her Daddy. Lawdy. What? Now she's gone and frankly, no one cares.
BIGGEST LET DOWN: The Parker Story. Do you realize it was last January we found out "Parker" was a woman? This had to be one of the most drawn-out non-eventful stories EVER. Parker was there, then she wasn't ..then she was..then..well, she wasn't. By the way, GH should be stepping up the Next Gen stories instead of dropping them.
BIGGEST "MISS" OF 2016: The whole Julian story. Just a waste and so wrong. Now they are going for some cheeky reunion with a "take care of me or I'll tell" story. You can't undo a knife to the throat or the abuse you piled on. Fail Fail Fail. Yes, I dug the acting but the story? Nope.
BIGGEST HAIR GROWTH; That would be our Franco. Here he is last January. Now..it's approaching Glam-Rock Epicness.
WORST USE OF HISTORY: Bringing Tom the rapist back. Especially in the context it was done. How this is supposed to help anyone is beyond me.
BIGGEST FAIL: Lucas/Brad wedding and aftermath. Don't get me started.
BIGGER FAIL: NELL. She's supposed to be an "early Carly"--well, they are writing her like a wet noodle. Sarah Brown was delicious as the scheming Carly-- the writing was spot on. Having Nelly prey on grieving Sonny isn't entertaining. Add that to direction she's been given to 'act'. And welp. Pancake.
THINGS I FORGOT ABOUT UNTIL I LOOKED AT OLD PHOTOS:
BOOB-GATE: Yeah, that happened.
Dixon was the guy that was in the Julexis wedding. Remember him? Hostage taker?
Kiki got shot
Nathan got shot
Hayden had a Mom...'member her?
TJ found out Shawn is really his Daddy ( which I though happened LAST year LOL)
Never mentioned but not forgotten: DAISY!
General Hospital this year was the year of.. holes and frustration. There are so many things I wish would have happened. But, like much of 2016, it is what it was.
Well, I guess I am first again . . . Surprised, this late in the day . . . Thanks for a great SS recap!! I have wondering lately whatever happened to Krissy . . . Where is she living, is she working, back in school? WHERE IS SHE??
ReplyDeleteSince when did GH become about babies and craphead. I know not many people like Valerie, But i miss Valerie and all Spencer family scenes she could've had. This show is so awful and boring.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said-Except 4 Nell! I like the story & the character! Because of the acting I'm still watching & hoping 2017 is the year of fulfilled potential, Because 2016 was the year of unfulfilled potential! BTW i liked parts of the Julian/Alexis story! I still love CarSon!
ReplyDeleteGreat review. You read my mind. It's the writing. Acting is great. Nell character and actress just don't work. SNORE. I watch for the acting. Love GH. Love Finn, Maxie, Griffin,Nathan, Alexis, Michael, Anna, Laura, Keith, Dante, Hayden. Ava and really miss Nicholas,Elizabeth, Tracey, Really miss Spencer Miss Luke. Hope it's on forever... get better writers.
ReplyDelete"FAVE NEW THING ON GH: Roxy. Although she hasn't been featured much... I still love the lizard."
ReplyDeleteI love her too!!!!! :)
"BEST 5th CHARACTER PLAYED ON THE SAME SOAP BY THE SAME ACTOR: Has to be Finn! Michael Easton managed to make Finn totally different and quirky. The Tracy friendship is awesome."
Hammy Finn is great!!!!! The Tracy friendship is awesome I agree. :)
"BEST COUPLE THAT WASN'T: Oh if only...if only we could have seen where Maura and Tyler took these two...."
Yeah damn!!!!! :(
"BIGGEST HAIR GROWTH; That would be our Franco. Here he is last January. Now..it's approaching Glam-Rock Epicness."
Hahahahaha. His hair grows fast like mine does. :)
"Never mentioned but not forgotten: DAISY!"
BRING DAISY BACK!!!!
What a trainwreck of writing. You are right though that the acting is good - most of them are acceptable ranging to incredible.
ReplyDeleteYou realize, as horrible as it might be, you are looking at another Emmy win for Best Drama and Best Writing. Because for some reason, the worse this show is, the more accolades it gets.
ReplyDeleteI just want to take this time and space to thank Karen and her wubbers for keeping this blog running, both with Karen's semi-daily posts and all the wubbers comments.
I moved into a new place April 4 and I decided not to get cable. Just internet. I didnt want to miss GH and that was really bothering me, as I have been watching since 1977. I knew I could watch shows in the internet, usually a day late. Since April 4th, I have watched 2 shows, the nurses ball and t-giving with the Qs. I have relied on Karen and all the people who have commented to keep me informed, and, sad to say, to show me that I am not missing anything and I do not need to run to internet and try to watch an episode. I received synopses and opinions and for the past 9 months or so, I realized that I am not missing anything at all.At least anything that would pique my interest. If Karen says to tune in, I will. But frankly, this isnt the GH I have loved for decades so I dont mind tuning out.
I will still come here every single day. I will read Karens blog religiously. And I will read the comments every day too. And if there is a must-see episode, or if there is a game-changer that will be talked about for years to come, I will check out the episode. Until then, this blog, Karens hard work, all the wubbers who comment and contribute, are, frankly, better than anything that I have seen or read about coming out of Burbank.
Thank you Karen. And thank you, to all the wubbers out there.
sonya said...
ReplyDelete"BEST 5th CHARACTER PLAYED ON THE SAME SOAP BY THE SAME ACTOR: Has to be Finn! Michael Easton managed to make Finn totally different and quirky. The Tracy friendship is awesome."
Hammy Finn is great!!!!! The Tracy friendship is awesome I agree. :)
** You can tell ME is having fun in the role. Which helps a LOT. Since Sabrina was killed, Tracy's friendship with him, was definitely needed. I'm REALLY hoping now, that what we saw with her and Laura the other day, is the first step in that direction for them, too!
"BIGGEST HAIR GROWTH; That would be our Franco. Here he is last January. Now..it's approaching Glam-Rock Epicness."
Hahahahaha. His hair grows fast like mine does. :)
** I've always thought he looked much better with long hair! :)
** I wish mine could grow that fast still. For some weird reason, that I have no idea why, since I came out of the coma, it doesn't grow nearly as quickly as it did before. Before I went in, my hair was about 3/4 of the way down my back. When I woke up, it was all tangled and twisted, because nobody brushed it at all, in that month. I don't know why, as I was told by an ex-nurse a few years later, that the nurses are still supposed to do that, though. :( Since they didn't, it had to be cut to about shoulder length. And since then (6 years ago) it's now only grown to about 1/2 the length of my back. :(
"Never mentioned but not forgotten: DAISY!"
BRING DAISY BACK!!!!
** I thought she was last seen in Tracy's closet, "watering her shoes"!
delcodave said...
You realize, as horrible as it might be, you are looking at another Emmy win for Best Drama and Best Writing. Because for some reason, the worse this show is, the more accolades it gets.
** Yep, they just signed new contracts a few months ago, and just this last week or so, they were nominated for a WGA award. (The ONLY soap to be, this year) Really though, the writing for all 4 remaining soaps have been a pretty big mess, all across the board, this year. At least as of this last week, Y&R has begun to fix that, and what I've seen of it so far, has me actually excited to watch for the first time in the last 10 years.
I moved into a new place April 4 and I decided not to get cable. Just internet. I didnt want to miss GH and that was really bothering me, as I have been watching since 1977. I knew I could watch shows in the internet, usually a day late.
** I started watching in '79 with my grandmother. It was `our thing' so to speak. And it's one of the very last few connections to her, that I have left. Not to mention, since we only have 4 soaps remaining (And have no idea how much longer that will be, even) I'm real apprehensive about stopping watching any of them, now. GH has always been my favorite, which makes it all the more frustrating as to how things have gone. I watch all 4 on cable, but I also have a Hulu subscription, which allows me to have a "backup" copy of GH, so to speak, if something goes wrong with the broadcast/recording. You can watch it same day as it airs on there too, btw. So you don't have to wait a day to watch.
-----
And one other thing!
BIGGEST SWITCH: Gun-Running Paul to..Serial Killer Paul! All because his daughter Susan was slighted at GH after her rape. (WHICH WE NEVER SAW) Plus, he was killing people so the hospital would shut down. Should have released some bio-hazard. A lot faster.
** I'm pretty sure Paul didn't have near the "operations budget" the DVX did, when they did that nearly 30 years ago!
K
The best thing about GH this year was the slightly increased air time for some fan fave vets like Scotty, Lucy, Kevin, Bobbie, and Monica.
ReplyDeleteMake Scotty DA. Have Nina go bye bye and Lucy take over Crimson. The Kevin and Laura pairing is great...and god knows there is no shortage of need for a shrink in GH. Bobbie is back working at GH...let's hope we see her more than we've seen her son Lucas who supposedly also works at the hospital. Keep Monica front and centre and the hospital and build on her relationship with Tracy.
Now, bring back Mac and Felicia. Anna knows that the last election was rigged and that Felicia is the rightful Mayor. Why has this storyline been dropped? Give Mac a real storyline. Reinstate him as police commissioner, or give him colon cancer (when is last time soaps did a socially relevant storyline for men?).
GH has tremendous talent. The actors are great. The characters are terrible. We aw it with Paul Hornsby, Carlos, and Claudette. Franco, Ava, Nina, Nell, Dr. O, Hayden, Andre...all great actors but all characters I pray will disappear. And I exclude Finn from that list as I find the actor flat, one dimensional, and dull as dirt.
Excellent review of the year. If these writers are the best the other shows must be really bad. I do watch B&B and it isn't great but there is only 1/2 hr. to be subjected to. Good job Karen!
ReplyDeleteLindaV