General Hospital Truckload of Weeks in Review

Last week, my dog somehow injured his paw and I came home to him limping and holding up his front leg in the most pathetic and heart-tugging manner.  Long ($450) story short, his discharge instructions from the emergency vet said that he came into the clinic "suffering from acute lameness."  When I read that I was all "OMG, just like General Hospital!!!"  Thank god I didn't say it out loud.  At least I think I didn't.  I don't know.  This show makes me do crazy things, you guys. 

I haven't blogged about this mess in a couple of weeks, so rest assured there is lots of acute lameness ahead.  The show, not my blogging.  Or, well...no promises.

Obviously the biggest twist since I last annoyed you with my GH musings is Ian shooting Michael.  To be honest, my combination of cold dead heart + dislike of Michael Corinthos = wouldn't really have objected to the Michael-gets-shot storyline.  I wouldn't have loved it, mind you, but I probably wouldn't have been all up in arms and ranty like I sometimes get.  But Bob Guza's "explanation" for the storyline is so appalling, so outrageously out of touch with decency, that I am now going to hate it -- and him! -- with a dedication I've heretofore reserved for certain politicians and Louis Vuitton logo bags. 

I cannot in any way improve upon Mallory's awesome dissection of Guza's assiness, so I won't try.  I will point out that her brilliant post has gone on to become the most commented-on in Serial Drama's history.  The post and comments have me a little concerned, though...do I understand that you all have a few somewhat negative feelings about this soap opera?  You really should express them!  I had no idea.

Let's start off in familiar territory:  Back in mobville, Sonny continues his quest to extend his Duh Face of the Year title.

I feel like we need to better publicize his vast repetoire of duh.  It's becoming legendary!  I smell a future tribute post.

I can't believe that the terrible writing on this show is making me say this, but:  I, Becca, devotee of Luke and Laura and general Spencer family fangirl, do solemnly swear that I'm pretty sure that . . .

I hate Lulu Spencer.

What the hell have they done to this character?  I'm a soap fan, so I love a nontraditional heroine, a girl with terrible taste in hot but troublesome men, a legacy kid with more baggage than Samsonite.  But this...person-demon hybrid thing is awful.  Just awful.  Probably her worst characteristic was on full display last week:  She is so effing self-centered she makes Carly -- Carly!!! -- seem altruistic and compassionate by comparison.  I'm no Carly fan, but when Lulu stood outside the room with Carly's bullet-ridden son in it and repeatedly asked the grief-stricken mother to make sure Johnny didn't get hurt, I pretty much wanted to reach through the screen and throttle her.  And then she basically ran around gloating about trying to fend off a mob war.  Thank god for Kate Howard and her truth-telling ways.

Kate:  Tell me, what gave you the impression that a grieving mother sitting vigil with her brain injured son could benefit from your counsel and advice?  And did you think that the so-called mob war could be stopped by a spunky little know-it-all?  Tell me, how were your noble efforts received today, Lulu?  Did you set everybody's priorities straight?  Did you accomplish anything at all?  You know, you consider yourself so independent, and original, but it's almost amusing that you don't see yourself as the cliche that you really are:  A typical, spoiled, 20-something who thinks that the entire world begins and ends with her.

Kate darling, I'm willing to overlook the unfortunate Sonny-schtupping and ask you to once again be my BFF.

My only question about that beautiful rant -- the beauty deriving not only from Megan Ward's awesome delivery  but obviously from the spot-on accuracy of the words themselves -- is were we supposed to be cheering for Kate, for someone finally acknowledging how acutely lame Lulu is?  Because I thought she was the young heroine, or something?  We've been bemoaning what the writers have done to Luke and Laura's daughter for almost a year now, but does someone on the writing team actually agree?  Or were we supposed to feel sorry for Lulu?

Luke: Let's discuss the concept of dating.  Dating is going out to dinner and a movie.  Going dancing, or a concert.  Having sex or not.  That's dating.  When you spend your morning negotiating a truce between two rival factions of organized crime, that's not dating.  That's insanity.  You've put yourself in the middle of a mob war.  That's not dating.  That's stupid.  When you refuse to see danger right in front of your face, that's stupidity.  And I didn't raise my kids to be stupid.

Word up, Daddy Spencer!

Speaking of Luke, I am even willing to put up with Alice

if it means Luke is back in the Quartermaine mansion causing Tracy and Edward to "WTF?!" on a regular basis.  Because really, who WTFs better than a Quartermaine?

Nobody, that's who.

On a less fun Luke-related note . . .

Could they be any more obvious about trying to convince us of how sexy Claudia is?  She might as well walk around with lightbulb nipples like on those horrible truck mudflaps, with an "open for business!" neon sign above her crotch.  Except that would be too subtle for this show.

I was seriously uncomfortable during her scenes trying to sex up Luke.  Or maybe she was making him a business proposal.  I don't know.  I may have been obsessively playing an online puzzle.  Even an Herve Leger dress will not distract me from the things that are truly important in life.  Like getting past Level 24.

I really can't get over how badly they've bungled Sarah Brown's return.  I don't know why I'm surprised, since this disaster is brought to you by the same folks who have made me hate the daughter of effing Luke and Laura, but apparently, they still new depths of ineptitude to plumb.

Back to the lamest Spencer, what the hell is going on with Lulu and this job as Kate's assistant?  Carly talking her into taking the job just to fuck with Maxie was vom-worthy.

Lulu:  I have zero interest in fashion and I don't intend to stop eating anytime soon. It's a complete waste of time and I don't want anything to do with it.

1)  Ouch on the not eating reference (though Kirsten Storms is looking healthier lately), 2) well then of course you should fight for the job, you vindictive, spoiled little shit.  IF she were fun or funny I could take this bitchiness, but then if she were fun or funny she would be Maxie and I probably wouldn't hate her.

I would be upset about this blatant The Devil Wears Prada ripoff, except I'll give GH a break because it's not like it routinely rips off movies.  Like, The Departed or The Godfather or Dumb and Dumber.  Oh.  Well, whatever.  I liked The Devil Wears Prada and it involved pretty clothes.  This whole rip-off might turn out not to be the suckiest thing ever.  Maybe.  Probably not.

What I definitely do not like is this over-the-top-bitchy version of Kate.  This writing team is generally unable to resist turning a character into a caricature (more on that later!), but haven't they gone the "professional woman = bitch on wheels" routine one too many times?  Can't she be demanding without being unreasonable?  Firm without being mean?  If this is the way they're going with her, not even BFF status will save her from my hate list.

While she's still on the like list though, let's talk about this:

First and most importantly, those shoes and bag have a standing invitation to hop on into my closet.

These shoes rule!

Second, seriously, Kate and Jax need to get together.  I even liked their contrived good cop/bad cop routine on the conference call, how they're falling into being actual business partners.

With Carly getting more distant while Jax gets ballsier, I think my dream pairing could finally happen.  Woohoo, divorce!  Come on, hostile separation, you can do it!  I believe in you!  Don't let the haters get you down.

Jason's tragic and debilitating case of carpal tunnel continues.

We really should start some kind of foundation to address the societal scourge of murder-career-threatening injuries.

I may be alone in this, but I am not a Nadine fan.

Yes, Awesome Writer routinely gives her some great truth-telling lines, but overall I find her mostly charmless and grating.  Also -- and these are in no particular order -- I find her hair is often acutely lame. 

Are they really going down a Nik-Nadine romance path?  Snore.  Emily needs to be really dead and then Nik needs to move on to someone interesting.  I feel like he hasn't had a really interesting relationship in ages.  (I grew to enjoy Nikolas and Emily together, but they weren't really setting the world on fire.  And Courtney . . . well, remember that there are things we're not allowed to talk about here so that my forehead vein doesn't do that bulging thingie.)

Ric and Marianna "broke up," but since this is a soap I know that won't last and we'll be subjected to more of this horrible relationship.  I can't decide what I like least about this storyline, the introduction of the character of Marianna, or what it has done to Rick Hearst's hair.

It feels weird to type that I was surprised that I loved, loved, loved Robin and Maxie's scenes together a couple of weeks ago -- because I adore both characters -- but admit it, aren't you surprised when these writers pull off anything well?  Let alone a realistic, fun, snarky chat between 20-somethings?  Seriously.

"Um, you can't put your baby in a closet."  Hee!  I like how these two play off each other.  More cousin scenes please!  (If this were Days, I'd be concerned that meant something totally different.)

And Robin referring to her pregnancy as "the muffin" makes me giggle.  I know it was an obvious writers' ploy to do just that, but whatever, they have to be successful on occasion.

Oh, but I almost barfed when Robin started talking about how she regretted all the things she'd said about Carly over the years.  That is crazy talk!  It's CARLY!  The only anyone should regret saying about her is how she's an excellent mother with great instincts.  Or "nice to meet you."  Or whatever it is Jason said to Carly at Jake's that first night.

Reminder:  This is not a caricature!

This is a character who you're supposed to root for having a romantic storyline! 

Good lord.  And don't even get me started on the return of the old-timey PI skits.

The yoga gag did, however, give us yet another priceless Jason reaction to Sonny, this time made all the more hilarious (and hotter, of course) by Patrick joining him.

He's hotly WTFing!

Patrick had another string of hotly-modifer-restoring moments over the last few weeks.  He:

• hotly confronted Robin about her "I am woman, hear me roar" routine
• hotly brought Robin ribs and ice cream
• was hotly confused by Robin's hormonal ping-ponging
• was hotly intoxicated

Thinking drunk guys are hot . . . sometimes I wonder if I stopped maturing during my senior year in college.  Sigh.  Is this why I still wear overalls and have The Rachel?

Despite the fact that he kills people for a living, regular readers know I have a soft spot for Jason and Elizabeth.  I like them together.  I think the actors have great chemistry, and the pairing had a nice slow build.  Also, Becky Herbst's hair may return to greatness, and I want to have been a consistent fan when that happens.  But all that being said, I don't really consider myself a fan of the couple, per se.  Those who are must have been mightily pissed about that acutely lame marriage proposal and immediate backtracking?  In marriage proposals, I will borrow some second-grade verbiage and just break it down:  No take backs! 

I do kind of like where they're going with this story, though.  I have to say, putting aside Bob Guza's horrendous explanation for Michael's shooting (reminder: "That little shit deserved it!"), the story itself, and the potential fallout for so many players, is interesting.  Jason and Sonny have had tangible consequences for their actions before, but maybe Awesome Writer can really make something happen this time?  I know, I don't know why I'm getting my hopes up.  Actually, maybe I do.  Maybe it's because of moments like this?

Carly: I took this kid wherever I wanted to go.  I did what was good for me, and then I justified it by telling myself it was good for him.
Jason:  You couldn't know how this was going to turn out.
Carly:  And if I would have been honest with myself, I would have admitted that Sonny wasn't a good father and he never would have been.
Jason:  You made a mistake.
Carly:  You would have never made that mistake in a million years.  Sonny does what's good for Sonny.  Whatever makes Sonny happy.  Whether it be the girlfriend at the time, the power, the everyday violence.  It's always there.  And I knew it, Jason, I knew it.  But I fell in love with Sonny and I ignored it and I pushed it away and made up stories that Sonny was such a great man.  I'm such a great liar.  I even convinced myself.  And look where it got me.  My son's in a coma.

Carly taking responsibility for something, a nod to history, Sonny getting bashed without any defenders around to immediately jump in, and people acknowledging the awful consequences of mob violence.  Is it my birthday?  Is Ned coming back with Lois and Brenda, too?!

(Laura Wright and Steve Burton have been really great in those scenes.  Especially Laura Wright.  I hope they turn the character of Carly around for her, because she's certainly earned it.)

I know it's been ages ago, now, but was some random mention of a 45th anniversary by an extra in the courthouse really the only mention of that milestone?  Was that supposed to be cute?  And that POS montage?!  Really?  How ridiculous.  The walk down memory lane in our forums was about 50 times better than that, and we're just a bunch of amateurs with an affinity for YouTube.  For real, who the HELL is running this acutely lame show?

Screencaps courtesy of Clarissa.

Comments

[Sarah]

As a forever hater of the character of Carly I was thrilled with LW's Carly acknowledging, at least to Jason , that she is to blame for putting her kids in the line of fire. IT'S THE DAMN TRUTH!

Ofcourse Jason forgave her saying it was a simple one time mistake...helloooo brain damge talking! And Carly immediately took that self aware moment and turned it on Sonny, blaming it all on him....so mature.

I swear I think Carly is thrilled to finally have a way to push Sonny out of Daddydom and bring Jason back in so she can make another play after all these years of their insane warped so called BFF relationship. EWWW.

She chose mobsters as saviors, lovers, friends, husbands, and heroes. After manipulating, using, chasing, stalking, begging etc....for years to be w/ Jason she failed and turned on him for a crack at Sonny.

She married Sonny 4 times over 10 years(approx.) with another marraige to his enemy and rival mob boss Lorenzo thrown in there.

This IS NOT a woman concerned at all w/ the safety, well being, or moral and ethical development of her kids. It was also all nanny all the time for her kids before LW's arrival and the new propping of Carly as amazing mom. What a joke.

For a brief moment she spoke the truth, and it was deliciously dramatic and soapy and real.

HOWEVER, Guza being the Jason worshipping loser he is and a man w/ no soul, clue, or conscience that moment ended quick. And it's back to Jason propping. Carly swears Jason would never have let Michael take a bullet. Like Jason isn't a murdering lying mobster in the line of fire himself. WTF!??!?!?!?!

Jason is no less dangerous than Sonny. And having him read a travel book to a comatose kid doesn't make him a wonderful father. It just further pimps out the old lie of Carly Jason and Michael as the happy family that they never were.

And Monica saying it was all OK and not in any way Jason's fault because of his brain damage. No fucking way! He knew he was a mob boss when he chose to lie for Carly and raise her baby as his. He knew he had enemies and it was no place for a child.

He knew it, not to mention Robin and the whole town reminded him that the deeper he got w/ Sonny the fewer his future options would be. He didn't care about that, or a future he said he couldn't imagine. He was a selfish man who needed to be loved and worshipped. Since Sonny had left him alone and in charge and Robin left him for a safer life in Paris he latched onto Carly and Michael becasue she worshipped him and the baby would never leave him like Sonny and Robin did.

And Jason accepting this from Monica really pissed me off. He hated violently when they would say he was making bad decsions due to his accident and the brain damage. It's why he rejected the Q's and doctors so harshly. Now it's alright because it excuses his role in endangering Michael and Morgan and Emily and Alan and Robin and Georgie and Leticia etc...etc...etc....Jason is such a hypocrite.

[Kimberly]

My relief as a Nikolas fan is that you see the same thing I do. Nadine is a grating nurse and Nik Cassadine used to be a great character. Like you, NEM grew on me and actually was liking them before they offed this great legacy character along with Georgie. But Nik and Boring ass nurse. He can be a dynamic character so why oh why does the show insist on doing this. This will light the house on fire I am sure just like Ric and Marianna.

Nikolas go find Maxie or some other bad/edgy girl.

[Timepass]

Excellent column as usual Becca, it is always a pleasure reading your view of GH.

I hate the Michael is shot storyline, because frankly Laura Wright is unbearable in it. For me she is a major miss.

She does not touch me at all. She is too angry and she is too hard, I just don’t see a mother in pain, just a cujo going to the father’s jugular.

No tenderness on her part is seen, and no matter how right she can be about anything, and she is NOT, she is always royally wrong because SHE chose to put Michael in that world, and screw AJ to do so, and SHE made him his father, so all that trump anything Sonny did wrong.

Let me asks this: how comes she did not go after Jason at all? After all he is in charge of security. She did NOT know that Sonny refused his body guards. That my dear I cannot forgive her!

She did not do it because it is inconvenient to her delusion; this is why she did not. Yet again, placing HER well being before Michael again, just the same way she does it when she tell Sonny NOT to be there, Carly before Michael, yet again.

So NO I am NOT buying Carly pain one bit, she is just playing her peons to try to be with Jason, for me the writing is on the wall!

I know for a fact that story is making a lot of people hating Carly, I wonder if it was the goal?

[Lauren]

I love Nik and Nadine. Anything is better than the raspy, always panting Emily. I like the opposites attract.

Lulu needs to get smacked. I hate Carly and the fact that she made me feel bad for Carly is INSANE!

[truetalltales]

WORD, Becca, WORD!

[Beth R.]

You know I could almost have enjoyed the whole Jason realizes finally that he's not leaving the mob and maybe its not a good idea for him to hang around small children and get them shot in the head as well spin...if it wasn't for yesterday's show where Liz looked like a desperate idiot begging him to stay.

I agree with you Sarah...the awesomeness of Carly's selfawareness was cut short by the Jason is perfect and wouldn't have done this peons thrown in there. AND the Monica scene drove me right up the wall as well. Seriously...that was just insane.I knew Drunk Monica's righteous anger at him would be killed or she would...but damn i miss it.

I long ago divorced Lulu from the Spencer family tree. About the time she started showing more compassion to Jason than her brother over the whole Jake thing ohhh last year. (Hmmmm Jason pimping leads to my hate...concidence I think not!) But she's been just OTT selfish this week and at times a bigger hypocrite than Jason. I know...it's hard to do.

However on a purely shallow note...Greg Vaughan was rocking that beard. He can go on vacation and return with that any day in my book.

[cilla]

"Could they be any more obvious about trying to convince us of how sexy Claudia is? She might as well walk around with lightbulb nipples like on those horrible truck mudflaps, with an "open for business!" neon sign above her crotch. Except that would be too subtle for this show."
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. There isn't a sympathetic character on this show to root for any more. They're either vile, cartoonish caricatures, or brats.

[Amy Busby]

Why is the whole Logan / Lulu story suddenly taking a back seat to Johnny the piano playing mobster? The set up of L/L was relatively okay, sure they rushed it and could have done a better build but whatever. Suddenly the gorgeous guy playing Johnny appears and oh no what to do what to do - of course we have to pair him with Lulu! Everyone loves Lulu! ummmm, no... Even a person with only a passing knowledge of GH history would have seen Logan and Lulu as the story and Johnny as a perfect foil for bad girl Maxie.

I'll give them a pass on ignoring how fantastic and in need of a hot guy K. Storms is because I am enjoying the whole Maxie / Spinelle PI thing. Fashionista by day, snarky PI at night! Maxie rules!

I had hoped the shooting of Michael would be a way to break Jason / Sonny from the mob. What better way to get your main hero characters out of the violent, morally bankrupt corner you have painted them into?

A few ideas off the top of my head:

Micheal's shooting causes Sonny to spin out of control with his bipolar disorder and he struggles to break out of the life of crime he has built. Drama ensues! It would be great.

But instead we are treated to general Sonny angst / Kate's Sonny-propping / and Jason leaving Liz and her boys for the upteenth time. Snooze.

The story potential is flying all over the place - Sonny and Claudia team up to destroy Trevor and rid PC of the mob, leaving them to spend their days having sex and coodinating their black and red wardrobes. Passion and true love ensues. Then Sonny discovers Claudia was responsible for Micheal's shooting! Drama! Glass trowing!

Jason and Carly bond over caring for Michael, strolling down memory lane, reminiscing about the good ole days of drunken stranger sex and pool at Jake's. Carly's convinced Jason's her soul mate (!). Yes, she said that while married to JAX!!!!! Good lord people, I do like Carly & Jax but could she appreciate him any less?

How about their marriage dissolving in a realistic way - her attachment to Jason, his buisness / time with Kate, their grief over the miscarriage & inability to get pregnant again & the Michael situation? Thus leaving Jax free for Kate! woo hoo!

More of the Carly / Liz hate as they go head to head over Jason. Bring on the bitch face Becky Herbst! It would be great.

Jason soul searching about what to do with his life and who he is without the mob. I smell a PI / secret agent type story with Spin. and Maxie! Steve Burton excells at deadpan comedy and GH is generally good with friendship relationships. It could be great light fare and give Jason enough action / gun handling to keep his fanbase happy. And yes I am Steve Burton fan girl. It's spring...maybe we'll get some shirtless time soon! woo hoo!

Keep on track with the Robin / Patrick story, give us plenty of Tracy / Luke and sprinkle in their vast array of strong supporting players and I smell ratings / Emmy success!

And that's just off the top of my head. Imagine if I were getting paid and spending hours on this shit. WHY can the writers not do the same kind of brain storming?

Do they think people are out there going,
"hmmmm I like GH but I just need:
more violence
more mob talk of "shipments" & "territory"
more non-sexy couples like Johnny & Lulu."

"I sure am glad they rarely show hotties like Lucky and Rick and Logan. And by all means let the handsome, smart, rich guy with a toddler kill himself so he can keep visiting with his tumor induced visions of his dead fiancee. Just don't tie anything in to the show's history or fill out scenes with vets cause I have a very short attention span and have only watched for the last 6 months."

grrrrrrrrr

Although I guess they did through us a bone by having Carly finally get hit with self awareness and call Sonny out for trowing himself over Kate while his 12 year old stood next to him! What a scumbag. Your first instinct as a parent should be to shield your child not your lover. Jerk.

GH is the complete opposite of Days. Days will play flashbacks from earlier in the same freaking show! Why no flashbacks of baby Michael and Jason? I think we did get a little Jason / Robin but I was firmly in FF mode so who knows. Dylan Cash has been on the show forever - there is plenty of material to mine. No references to his "death" a couple of years ago at the hands of AJ / Faith Roscoe?

I am not in favor of the aging of Michael. I think letting him age naturally like Robin, with the same actor would be a huge assett. Sure no romance stories for away but that's okay - Lulu is his cousin or something so he'd be useless in that vein anyway.

Oh well, I'll enjoy the Awesome Writer moments we've been getting lately and keep dreaming.

[CHIgirl2112]

Love the recap SD. Your ways of expressing utterly and aggravating s/l's is always new and fresh. I keep wanting to bang my head, but you , you come up with new ways to spin that GH is horrible.

IF we are taking up a collection to "help set up the "foundation to address the societal scourge of murder-career-threatening injuries." Might I add that we should also set up a foundation for Spinelli to speak like a normal person? Apparently English is not only NOT his first language, but it isn't his 2nd language either. I suppose I could tolerate that horrible s/l, but they way he talks makes my toes curtle the way fingers on a chalkboard does.

Jason and Patrick - both of them in the same room at the same time, showing off their complete hotness should be illegal. Jason could kill anyone and I'd forgive him. Honest! Hey Jason - act like your killing Guza - betcha I forgive you. (calm down - I put ACT in there on purpose - I would never condone actually killing a human being no matter how insanely moronic they are)....

Carly is actually becoming tolerable, which is a shame because now that I can tolerate her, they are splitting her and Jax up? Which I have always wanted, not liking her. But now that I like her, it doesn't seem so bad.

Lulu is just like every other 20 something in this country - the world DOES revolve around them and they are too stupid to realize they cannot fix everythinig. I cannot hate her for being like that though, then I'd have to hate myself for going through that stage (although I do tend to keep apologizing to my parents for that time in my life).

And I have been thinking about this since Mallory's triumphant barrage about Guza.

Does anyone else start singing David Bowie's song "Changes" when reading Mallory's recap of that dumb ass's explanation of shooting Michael. Particularly the line:
"and these children that you spit on, as you try to rule their world, are quite immune to your consultations, they are quite aware of what they're going through."

[Vicki]

Spot on all the way.

I really wish I could reach in to the TV and smack Lulu in the face, no more so than after the 4/14 episode where she smugly told Johnny he wasn't going to be blamed for Michael's shooting.

Snot.

And, what's the deal with Claudia kissing all over her brother? Yuck. If my husband's four sisters kissed all over him like that I'd grab him and hightail it out of town. Gross!

[Sarah]

Beth R. reminded me of two important things.

1. Drunk Monica (like Drunk Sam) is far superior to the sober version!!! I say put a bar on every set! I even enjoyed drunk Patrick. GH, all mobsters and all drunks all the time!

2. I may normally dislike facial hair, but Greg V. with that beard...HOLY HOTNESS! If he gets any sexier my TV may melt.

And Amy Busby, I have a suggested career option Sonny might really like if he ever wants out of the mob. He should buy a Crate and Barrel so whenever he gets upset he'll have miles of barware to break! It would be like performance art at the PC Mall!

And Jason's career path seems predeterminned to me. The cold stare, the barely speaking, the blinking, and the thick neck....BOUNCER. Or daycare worker, take your pick :-)

[Vicki]

Off topic, but I just heard:

"Jason Thompson will be off the canvas for four episodes - while he's away, the role of Dr. Patrick Drake will be temporarily recast by Ethan Erickson beginning April 23rd. Jason will return to the role on May 2nd."

[Robyn]

Until Carly has a similar self-aware moment and tells us that Jason IS JUST AS DANGEROUS AS SONNY, I'm not doing any backflips.

[KLe]

"More cousin scenes please! (If this were Days, I'd be concerned that meant something totally different.)"

If I wasn't already aware of your soap viewing history, this would certainly be a tell tale sign that you haven't watched Guiding Light in the last few years.

Of course, it is a show that may not even exist so I guess cousin loving (where, unlike Days of our Lives, they were actually, seriously blood related) is easier to pull off over there.

[Cece]

Ethan Erickson's not that bad. Plus he was on Buffy (extra bonus points, even if he was an ass on the show).
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004899/

[Hillary]

Amen to this post. I too have come to loathe Lulu, although my loathing started back when she decided to help break up Dillon and Georgie, and although there have been periods of tolerance since then, on the whole, I just straight up hate her.

Also, I must admit to being surprised at how self-aware some of TPTB's most beloved characters have been lately. Carly bashing Sonny for being a terrible father, as well as her recognition of her own culpability, was awesome. Laura Wright has really been hitting these scenes out of the park. And although Kate has continued to defend Sonny and has even gone so far as to tell him that it is not his fault his son is lying in a coma, which royally pissed me off, I still love Megan Ward's awesome facial expressions. The look on her face, when Sonny told her that every time he looked at her he saw how he failed his son, perfectly captured Kate's pain and hurt at his words. It was amazing.

I also completely agree with your hatred of Nadine. Her scenes with Nikolas aggravate me to no end. My hatred can be attributed to the fact that I am an unashamed Nikolas/Emily lover, and am very upset that Emily was killed off and that Natalia Livingston is leaving the show. I was hoping that her exit story line would be amazing and leave the door open for a possible return later on, but having seen her been brutally strangled multiple times and having almost every scene between Nikolas and Emily be interrupted by Nadine, I have lost hope. Nadine has been nothing but an impedance in this unfortunately terrible story line. It escapes my understanding how TPTB could possibly think that a character first introduced as a love interest for Spinelli would be a good match for Nikolas, and they need to stop with this ridiculousness before it gets completely out of hand.

[Brett]

Is it too early to comment on this week's shows? Because if it isn't, I'll tell you about the cognitive dissonance I suffered while watching the hospital scenes where Sarah Brown was talking to "Carly" about Michael. The actual physical experience of hearing and watching her say the names "Carly" and "Michael" was very odd.

Do you think it was planned dramatic irony on Guza's behalf?

[Allison]

Just found your blog a few weeks ago & love it-your take on GH is right on. Just wish you watched OLTL too!

I've watched GH since the Luke & Laura heyday & it has had some the best & worst writing on television. So many great actors & so many stupid plots! Keep up the great work - this blog is more interesting than the show right now.

[Sally]

LMAO over Nik and Nadine. I saw the opposites attract with Courtney and that was lame and sick enough. Nik Cassadine is an ADULT and deserves an ADULT as a LI not an infant. Carly or Maxie go for it. Nadine - blech and boring.

[Cate]

I usually agree with you about most stuff but I like Carly. She's supposed to be a vindictive, selfcentered bitch and it works for her, however (this is where we agree) it does not work for Lulu she was raised by Laura Spencer then by Lesley Spencer, yes she should have issues because of all the crap they have put her family through but is it really necessary for them to make her so disgustingly selfcentered and annoying that I want to punch my television when she's on the screen. on a related note Kate Howard is my HERO!! but i did not like when she told off Mike, he had every reason to be pissed at Sonny the self riteous bastard who's totally at fault for his "son" getting shot in the head. Mike has known and loved Michael since he was born, he's his godfather and his adoptive grandfather in case everyone forgot.

And i hate the Michael shooting storyline but I've actually been watching it because of how awesome Laura Wright and Steve Burton have been. Also there was a Luke and Bobbie scene which is always a plus with me! I still can't believe Jackie Zeman actually got over 5 minutes of airtime on one day and they were actually good scenes with characters that have real connections to her character.

[lynne]

Who ever commented on feeling no sympathy for Carly, I'm right with ya! I am sure LW is an incredibly talented actress, but I still don't buy her as Carly. I could see Tamara Braun doing those scenes and making me cry. I find nothing redeemable about Carly, and don't even "love to hate her." She is a selfish shrew who just takes up valuable air (and gasoline for her car). And the way LW portrays her doesn't help!

I keep thinking if the actress that plays maxi was playing LuLu if I would hate her so much. No I wouldn't. Cuz the maxi actress can pull it off. I. hate. Luly.

Can't help it, but I have a soft spot for Jason (I think he has one on his head too). I guess he is more tolerable cuz he is not looney tunes like Sonny. Even tho he is stone-faced, you can see a glimmer of humanity in his eyes.