General Hospital: A Statement on the Current State of the Show

For a good part of my life, I have been in tune if not always tuned in to General Hospital. It is one of the lasting soap operas and the only one that ABC still airs.

The show is approaching its 50^th Anniversary and in preparation of that, has been bringing back a lot of characters and a lot of stories. It is very refreshing and endearing to me when a show pays homage to its history. When it revisits a storyline from long ago without totally ruining it with change. I am looking at you All My Children and the Erica Kane abortion storyline that you ruined by having the fetus transplanted into another woman. Shame on you for that. Shame, on, you!

The parade of beloved character returns began with Duke Lavery & Caesar Faison in a battle for Anna’s love.

Perhaps the most entertaining has been Lucy Coe and the Nurse’s Ball/Port Charles tie in. I have absolutely loved that they worked in the Port Charles/Caleb/Livvie/Vampire/Lucy the Slayer connections. I am impressed with the explanation they have given for “Caleb the Vampire”. It is refreshing if you watched Port Charles when Michael Easton played Caleb and Kelly Monaco played Livvie, as Easton now plays John McBain, and Monaco plays Sam McCall. Very well played by the writers.

It was also lovely that they brought in Jon Lindstrom as Kevin, Lucy’s estranged husband, who doubled as her “Doc”, shrink.

Frisco Jones, might be the most surprising return. I can’t remember when Jack Wagner was last seen as Frisco and I certainly did not expect him to return. I must say that his character has been a little on the creepy side with relation to his daughter Maxie. Almost a little lecherous if you will. I am sure it is not on purpose & I am not the first to notice it.

After Genie Francis was ushered off of The Young & The Restless, it seemed certain that she would reprise Laura Spencer on GH and to the relief of many she did. She was last seen recovering from a catatonic state and heading off to treatment with former husband Scotty Baldwin. It was really no surprise when he returned as his portrayer Kin Shriner has been an all time favorite. It was also no surprise that they are engaged to be married. Of course with Luke recently kind of blown off by Anna, there is sure to be a bit of a battle for Laura’s love.

Tied in to Luke & Laura is the revisiting of the Ice Princess storyline as their daughter Lulu was gifted a replica of said Princess.

Speaking of Lulu, her portrayer Julie Marie Berman has left the show and the role is going to be recast. Upon hearing this, my first thought was, “I wonder if they will bring Jen Lilly in to fill that role.” Lilly was a fan favorite when she subbed for Kirsten Storms as Maxie Jones. Remember, if they land Lilly for this role, I speculated it here first.

Earlier this year they brought Sean Kanan back as AJ Quartermaine, just after the departure of Steve Burton as Jason Quartermaine. I have to say that I absolutely love the change in the character and really believe that AJ has changed his ways. I am happy that they are letting his biological son Michael develop a relationship with him and not having him being poisoned by Sonny & Carly, not for them not trying of course.

Also coming back soon is Rick Springfield as Noah Drake and he is bringing his son Liam along as an undercover cop. I am thinking that the 50^th Anniversary is going to culminate with the Nurse’s Ball, a past favorite arc that has been missing for several years. I am expecting Springfield to perform, perhaps Jessie’s Girl, as part of the event.

Rumors were swirling that they were also trying to bring back John Stamos as Blackie Parrish, adopted brother of Laura Webber-Spencer, who has been imprisoned on a manslaughter conviction. I read where Stamos is very open to returning, but the tone has to be right. He is not interested in just playing drums to back up Springfield’s Noah. The tone of the article made me think that he would be open to a longer stint with some meat to it. I would totally be open to that as well.

Jackie Zeeman is also set to return as Bobbie Spencer, Luke’s sister, Noah’s ex, and Carly’s biological mom.

Also rumored to be possibly returning is Antonio Sabatto Jr. as Jagger Cates, brother of Michael “Stone” Cates, who succumbed to AIDS, which was the center cause for the Nurse’s Ball.

The new era of show runners seem to be very much committed to reexamining the past and mixing it with the present and future.

I for one am very grateful for the direction the show has taken. It seems that they are trying to break free of the “mob mentality” if you will. In the mid 90’s soap operas started to turn to a younger cast, a teen cast to draw in the younger viewers who were home more during the day, especially in the summer. I hated that change. I have been a viewer of soaps since I was under the care of my Granny while my parents worked, and later when my Dad was home during the mining shut down. I remember watching One Life To Live and then taking our nap. When my mom was a stay at home mom for a time, she turned me on to Days of Our Lives and Another World. My sister was responsible for me tuning into As The World Turns.

When I began watching soap operas, they didn’t have the need to cater to a younger crowd. We were already there and we didn’t mind that the story lines were all adult. It worked perfectly. There was no need for shirtless men every other scene like there is today. The story lines were better, not as preposterous. So yes, I am all for a show revisiting characters and stories that made them great. I am not a fan of glossing over the past or changing it to suit the here and now.

I should also note, that while I no longer watch Days of Our Lives, I don’t believe there will ever be a need to revisit the Marlena Devil Possessed storyline.

Do you watch the soap operas? What is left of them anyways? Are you a GH fan and loving or hating the storylines? Hit the comments and let me know. I am very interested to hear your thoughts.

Thursday Three: February 21, 2013

Thursday Nightcap

I sort of felt like I needed a nightcap after watching my Thursday Three. Let’s dive right in…

Vampire Diaries

Elena is in all sorts of denial. She takes her very dead brother Jeremy home to wait for his magical ring to work, but since he turned out to be one of The Five, he is technically supernatural and that ring doesn’t work anymore.

But, she is pretty sure that witchy Bonnie can bring him back, because that never went wrong in the past. Only problem is, Bonnie is nowhere to be found. She is off in the Newfoundland wilderness with Professor Shady Shane. He tells her a tale of how to bring Jer back to life, back to reality. Sounds like total b.s. to me, but Bonnie loves Jeremy so she will try anything.

Dr. Fell comes to the Gilbert house to claim Jer’s body, but Elena is having none of that. Too bad for the people who can actually smell things, like super vamps Stefan & Caroline and the humans, because Jer is starting to stink up the place.

Damon hooks up with Rebekah and they run into another hunter. Damon leaves Bek with the hunter and heads off to find Bonnie. She comes into the clearing and Damon proclaims “I could hug you right now” and they do. Bonnie tells Damon she knows how to bring Jeremy back to life. They hop some sort of flight back to Mystic Falls and Bonnie lays out her plan.

Her plan involves a huge massacre. You see why I think Professor Shady Shane is full of b.s.? Finally Elena’s bulb brightens and she realizes Jeremy is dead and nixes Bon’s plan. Instead she decides to light the house on fire with Jeremy’s body inside as a cover story. Seriously they need a cover story? The sheriff is in on the situation, they have a doctor who knows, what is there to really cover up? Damon tells her to “turn it off” and I am not really sure if she did or didn’t. Because she still burns her house down, with all her shit in it. What?

Rebekah is still in Newfoundland, not really sure how she’s getting home, but that really isn’t her problem right now, she finds Professor Shady Shane in the forest all bleeding and dying and well that can only mean one thing. Silas is some sort of shape shifter and has assumed the Prof’s identity. So it was his total story of b.s. with that whole massacre thing.

Looks like we have some reruns coming up, so not to sure what is happening next in Mystic Falls.

Grey’s Anatomy

Things are getting dicey at Seattle-Grace. Derek & Company are trying to find a partner to throw in about 90% of the money they need to buy the hospital, Alana has talked Pegasus back to the table, the interns are getting haircuts and looking for work, Bailey is being a bitch and Richard is on to something.

So Mousy got a really cute haircut and is keeping Meredith up to date on her patients, while she has to intern for Bailey who is all bitchy about Meredith leaving her a patient who is ready to die and has no hope. Alex is working on taking down Phil, a little boy’s tumor, Owen is totally in the dark about everything.

The hour wasn’t all that exciting. D & Company finally read some people in when a potential investor tells them they have no leadership, so they enlist Chief Webber and Owen. Owen goes balls to the wall and begs the board to wait one more day, to which they agree. Derek & Webber get to fly to Sea-Tac in a helicopter only to be shot down by the investor (not literally).

Webber has some sexy talk with Momma Avery and in the end, the Harper Avery Foundation buys in and backs the doctor and then Shonda jumps the shark and informs Jackson and everyone in the room that he is the Foundation’s representative and that she essentially “bought him a hospital”. Yeah, “he’s in charge.”

I think my brain shut down at that moment because it was one of the dumbest things I think Grey’s has done to date. And I have no more words.

Scandal

Well Hollis Doyle isn’t the one spying on Olivia. Thank god for that right? We find out pretty on that Creeper Jake is working for Evil Fitz. That’s right POTUS is having Liv spied on. Jake makes the comment that they have gone from photo to video surveillance and I am taken back to long before Fitz was shot that he had photos of Olivia. So, he’s been spying on her way before he knew about Defiance. But why? I am pretty sure that is the big arc question we are going to be asking ourselves until the season finale.

Jake is at least somewhat of a gentleman and doesn’t watch her get all naked. Score one for him. Also I think he might actually care for her. And not just in that stalkerly way.

Cyrus is still being frozen out by Fitz and Mellie is still in his good graces. Olivia tips Cyrus to letting Mellie be her own downfall and then he tips the media when it is decided that the First Lady will speak to the family of the hostages on a call-in. Once Fitz finds out, he is pissed and out pushed is Mellie and Cyrus just sits backs and waits.

David is being followed, but doesn’t know by whom. Huck is a smelly felly and the team has a new job of finding a non-gay, non-committed governor candidate and fake wife. And I am quite sure we all knew from the beginning that he was not gay and not gun shy around women, and was indeed bedding his sister-in-law. What we didn’t know until later in the show is that his brother totally knew about it and had no problem with it whatsoever. Politicians people, pol-i-ticians.

Finally we find that some lady (sorry I zoned out a bit) was following David and that she knows who was after the dead lady (who’s name I do not remember).

The CIA director assures POTUS that the mole is not in his department, which technically isn’t true because we find out HE is the mole.  Oh and Olivia & the Gladiators all know that.

I love that Quinn did some research on water-boarding to figure out what is going on with Huck. I think they have this adorable relationship. They are both the quiet types.

So why is Fitz spying on Olivia? How long before CIA Director is outed? Will Cyrus ever get back into Fitz’ good graces? And why do we still not know the name of America’s Baby???

Did you tune into any of my Thursday Three? If so what are your burning questions and head scratchers? Do you think Grey’s “jumped the shark”? Why is Fitz spying on Olivia? Hit the comments and let me know.

Dallas 2.0: What's Happening in Season Two

Dallas 2.0 returned for season two some four weeks ago and ever since I have been meaning to blog about it.

I was a huge Dallas fan back in the day and so when I saw that they were rebooting it, I was pretty much in. Especially when I saw that they were bringing back Bobby, JR, & Sue Ellen. I was a little iffy on the casting of Jesse Metcalf and had no clue about Josh Henderson.

I won’t lie, it took a lot on my part to get through season one. I really hate how they have weenified Christopher. And yes, weenified is a word, is means to make one a weenie. He is so weak and tries to act so tough. Definitely my least favorite character on the show. John Ross is young and stupid, trying to find himself while living in the shadow of his father. His facial hair sort of skeeves me out, but whatever.

Season one seemed to have a lot going on in a short amount of time. A wedding, a pregnancy, cancer, death, bad guys, theft, murder, cons, backstabbing, bribery, the list goes on. It truly was Dallas, just all packed into one can.

Season two started off…I don’t know how long after season one ended. My biggest pet peeve is that we don’t know how much time had passed. At first, I thought several months because Ewing Energies (or whatever they are calling it) had completely built their offices (remember the shell at the end of season one) and had a fully staffed and gotten everyone on board. It takes time to build out offices, especially when things have to be decided upon, then ordered, then installed, along with delays and subcontractors. Do you see where I am going here? A long freaking time!

Yet, Miss Pamela Rebecca Barnes is not showing at all. And we know she is totally preggers with Christopher’s twins. She jetted off with daddy Cliff at the end of the season. When you put the fact that she does not look pregnant together with the totally tricked out offices, you have to wonder who dropped the ball.

The first five episodes have been pretty full. First Harris tells Ann that he knows where their daughter is, so she gives him the blackmail tape and in turn Sue Ellen loses her bid for governor. Pamela is back and is taking over Daddy’s business I guess. Christopher is totally skanking around with Elena, who is now a partner in Ewing Energies (or whatever).

Ann’s daughter is totally turned against her thanks to Harris and Mama Ryland (played by Judith Light). So Ann, being so incredibly weak (what happened to strong Ann from season one?!?) shoots Harris. Bobby takes the blame & is arrested after Harris fingers him. Ann finally makes the police believe she did it and is carted off to trial. By the way was that the fastest trial ever? Seriously Phoenix, you should look into how they did it because this Jody Arias thing is dragging on.

Christopher tried to get an annulment but every plan he put into place was thwarted by either his cray cray wife or his ahole cousin. Couple that with the fact that I think he is to stupid to work his way out of a one room fun house, things just suck for him.

John Ross is still trying to get everything for himself. He apparently didn’t learn from his father’s mistakes in life. Live and learn I guess is his motto. He keeps trying though.

Because we didn’t have enough characters on the show already, they decided to give Elena a brother, a shady brother and bring him to the ranch as well. He has some smarts, but they seem to be overshadowed by his stupidity.

Seriously, is it just me or is Dallas 2.0 giving Texas men a bad rap?

JR for being so scheming and ruthless didn’t really learn who he can and can’t trust. Remember in season one how his own son was trying to sell him out? So what does he do? He tells John Ross about uncovering dead Tommy. And then John Ross tells Cliff and the whole thing is shot to hell. Seriously people, think before you speak.

Finally in last night’s episode, which they tell us is one month after Harris’ shooting, Pamela looks pregnant. Hallelujah all is right with the world again. Only it’s not because Ann’s lawyer calls two character witnesses, Sue Ellen (a former drunk and disgraced politician) and Pamela (the conniving bitch who is trying to ruin Christopher (her step son)’s life. Wow, Aaron was a good Secret Service agent, not such a good lawyer. (That is a 24 reference in case you are wondering). She is found guilty (sorry spoiler alert) and carted off to the prison van, just as Tony Almeda (24 is in the house) is being brought into court, fighting for extradition to a country that won’t execute him. Texas is serious business when it comes to the death penalty. Oh and JR is finally catching on to John Ross.

I know the show is setting up for the death of JR since the incomparable Larry Hagman passed away.  I hope that I am not the only one hoping that they are planning another “Who Shot JR?” mystery. I think doing anything other than that is a slap in the face to the long time fans of Dallas. That was such an iconic arc and to not use that history is unacceptable.

I think Jordanna Brewster is gorgeous, but I don’t think she is a great actress. It is so uncomfortable to watch her and Jesse Metcalf. I really wish the casting department would have searched a little harder, or perhaps have watched Passions (Jesse Metcalf) and The Fast and Furious (Jordanna Brewster).

I was so happy that they cleared up the whole Cliff/Frank father/son thing last night. I was left last week thinking that Cliff had had an affair with a super tall middle eastern woman at some point. Good to know there was no blood relation.

So Judith Light is great. I hate her character because she is a stuck up rich bitch, but she is good at it. There is a problem in that she is not nearly old enough to play Harris’ mom. I think I read that there is an 8 year age difference between the two actors. That is sort of creepy when you think about it. Of course I think their mother/son relationship is the definition of creepy.

One thing I love about the reboot is that they kept the opening theme, which is the all time classic in my opinion, and the opening credit vignette. Bravo TNT, bravo.

So have you been watching Dallas on TNT? What are your thoughts? Hit the comments and let me know.

You can always leave comments and/or email me about things you would like me to talk about (provided I watch the show or at least know it exists). I would love to “discuss” other shows you are all interested in. You can also tweet me (@ldypngn).

Until next time…

Burning Questions: Valentine's Edition

It’s time for Thursday Night Questions!!

Thursday is my night for television, I watch three straight hours of programming and am always left with a ton of questions. Valentine’s Day left me with some doozies!

The Vampire Diaries

First there was not enough Damon in this episode for me. Sorry, there just wasn’t enough of his snark.

Once you get through all the blah blah stuff you get to the juicy bits.

·        There is only one dose of the cure.

o       Seriously? One dose? Who doesn’t plan for the future?

o       Which leads to who is going to get it. For sure if Damon &/or Stefan get it they are giving it to Elena. Rebekah wants it for herself. Vamp Hunter Vaughn wants to cram it down Silas’ throat to kill him for real. And a few people want to feed it to Klaus. Oh and I think Klaus wants to give it to Tyler, but he also wants to kill him.

·        Bonnie does her magic with a shirtless Jeremy and it is all gooey and flirtatious. Once her magic works there is a “cave in” of sorts that leads Professor Shane with a broken leg and nobody wants to help him. Nobody.

·        Silas, for being a calcified dead dude has some magic of his own because he creates hallucinations for people. First Prof Shane with his dead wife then Bonnie’s Grams visits her. Jeremy, being that whip smart high school drop out he is, is on to it and brings her back.

·        Once Jer & Bon stumble upon good old creepy Silas, they find the cure locked in his stony hands and can’t pry it loose. Vaughn comes in and totally stabs Bonnie and then he and Jer get into a fight and well Jer is losing that battle. But big sister to the rescue.

·        Only it is not big sister Elena it is Katherine. Yes ladies and gents Katherine is back for the cure. But nobody knows why.

·        She sacrifices Jeremy to Silas because the only way to wake Silas is to feed him blood and well Jeremy is fresh meat. Silas goes to town on Jeremy like he is a Golden Corral buffet. And then he eventually breaks his neck and leaves him lying pretty convincingly lifeless on the floor.

·        Oh yeah, and Klaus is free and Tyler is on the run.

So the questions are:

·        What did Katherine do to Elena?

·        Is Jeremy really dead? Was he wearing his ring?

·        Will Bonnie be saved?

·        Why does Katherine want the cure?

·        What is Silas going to do with the Mystic Falls Vamps?

So that was jam packed hour one. Then we move on to a somewhat more subdued Grey’s Anatomy, where Derek & Company all quit in the end as they decide to buy Seattle Grace.

I have to say that I am really over the whole plane crash/settlement/hospital in jeopardy stuff. I miss the medical part of this medical drama.

I was left with only a few questions:

·        When will this whole thing with the hospital end?

·        Are we sure this isn’t the final season? It sure is playing out like it is.

·        Can we just get Owen a mental health day? This poor guy is run ragged with all this crap.

Finally it was time for Scandal. And after last week’s culmination of Defiance it was time for a new arc. And it starts off with a two-fer.

First I have to say that I think ABC is really pushing the adult content for this show. The show opens with Fitz in the shower only to be joined by Mellie who wants to make his day start off great and that is all I am going to say. I did feel for poor Cyrus who had to interrupt that with a pressing matter for the “President”.

Olivia is having an okay morning with a swim and then a stop at some corner coffee shop where she runs into Henry and they flirt a bit.

David Rosen is not having such a great day as he wakes up to a dead girl in his bed and cops at his door. Once he sends the popo on their way he calls the only person in town who can handle shit like this and Olivia and the Gladiators are off to rescue him.

Turns out that some covert CIA operatives were captured and are being held hostage in some foreign land that I didn’t quite get or can’t quite remember. In any event, Fitz is not happy and decides to handle this shit.

David agrees to let Olivia & Company clean up the shitstorm that hit his apartment while he was roofied out.

Quinn joins Team Cleanup with coach Huck and seems to excel at it. Is it just me or would they just make the cutest couple?

While Huck estimates they have two days before Wendy the slut is found, it turns out that she picked that day to have cable installed, so they have two hours!

It amazes me what they can get done in two hours. They id half naked photos of men (no faces, just body parts) and question them.

Olivia runs off to ask Henry errr Jake some questions because he is on Wendy’s phone tree. Then finds out that David has been arrested.

David makes a compelling argument to the guy who replaced him and is released. He heads off to Olivia’s to basically fire her after he accuses her of setting him up to rot in jail for Defiance. She tells him he can’t afford her and leaves.

Liv then heads off to meet up with Cyrus who is not having the best week ever as Fitz had a meeting with the head of the foreign land without him and is really giving him the cold shoulder. They have a back and forth on if there is something they need to discuss and well they apparently do, but decide they don’t.

So Cy has just a few minutes, but was gentlemanly enough to bring Liv a coffee. She asks him if he set David up for murder and while he likes the idea he did not do it. She drops the bomb on Cyrus that she is pretty damn sure Fitz knows about…you guessed it…Defiance. And then the light bulb comes on.

Back in hostage situation, Fitz wants to send in a SEAL team because they get shit done and Cyrus thinks they should wait, so Fitz acquiesces for all of about five minutes.

Turns out that James & Cyrus were able to decide on a name for their little baby, and little Ella is being christened and what nearly a year old. And guess who her godparents are? Yep, Fitz and Olivia. They have some sort of sexy stare down while everyone watches except the priest who is blessing the lovely child. Then after some thanking and champagne (because that is the classy way of doing a baby christening), Olivia sprints off with Fitz right behind her. Seriously was like the fastest walking race ever and it ended when Fitz pulled her into a computer control room (they don’t lock that kind of stuff up?) and once again the adult content was pushed to its near breaking point. Very skanky if you ask me.

Olivia drops the word Defiance and it is in the open and well he says she betrayed him and blah blah blah. Cyrus interrupts with news that the SEAL team is going in and they head off to the war room to watch. (See Fitz decided to send in the SEAL team right before the christening after Mellie told him to follow his gut). Turns out the hostages are not there and they issue an abort and then one of the cabinet members has the room cleared and drops the bomb on Fitz & Cyrus that there is a mole and there is arc number one for the second half of season two.

Olivia head off to the office and gets a visit from David with Wendy’s flash drive and they discover that old Wendy has a lot of classified information she is not supposed to have, stuff nobody is supposed to have.

After Liv heads home and calls up Jake and they chat and make plans for a date of sorts. Jake has some sort of fat apartment and after making himself a cool beverage while on the phone with Liv, he heads to his big old couch and full wall of television screens all of which are tuned to one station…Olivia’s apartment. Imagine William Baldwin’s character in Sliver and you will get it. Jake is definitely not Henry. And that is arc number two for the second half of season two.

So the burning questions are:

·        Who is Jake really?

·        Does Fitz realize that if The Secret Circle hadn’t made Defiance happen, he would not be president?

·        Why hasn’t Fitz & Mellie named their kid? They just refer to him as The Baby. It’s been ten months!

·        Am I the only person who made the connection that Fitz is a Republican and the actual winning candidate is/was a Democrat?

·        Why doesn’t Olivia have a better lock/security system in her apartment?

·        How unlucky can one person be Mr. Rosen?

·        How long until this country has a Creeper Alert system similar to the Amber Alert system? Because Jake should be on all the reader boards.

So did you watch any of these three shows? Were you left with any burning questions? Hit the comments and maybe we can come up with some answers together or at least commiserate together.

Thanks for tuning in. Next episode I will be featuring Dallas 2.0.