Dateline Port Charles: Lulu Spencer Waking Up From a Long Nap

Continuing from previous thread

From the prior thread.....nuAiden's been working out

Thanks for the new thread. I tried to start watching GH again because of Rick Hearst but I got the feeling they were making him such an evil whipping boy for ugly old Mo that I'm already taking a break. If they give him a romance I'll probably start back because that'll mean they're at least somewhat invested in him.

I've already gotten a bit invested in a character (Jagger Cates) and had my hopes dashed to smithereens because of you know who, who was the reason I came back to GH in 2000 after giving up on Luke many years before. Then I got invested in NLG and watched them humiliate her with Sam sleeping with her boyfriend or some such. This is a BRUTAL show.

R600 from the previous thread, thank for the nostalgic closeout.

[Quote]#GH just took a burgeoning teen storyline about coming out, being bullied, and navigating sexuality as a gay teen and turned it into a “I’m mad at dad” story (stolen from Jason/Jake, BTW) by aging this “kid” repeatedly. What a forking waste!!! #GeneralHospital

Agree about this.

Two things:

I thought Aiden was Nicholas' kid. Remember when Helena called Elizabeth a sanctimonious slut? When was that changed?

I also understand why they recast the other actor, who looked like a baby. Frank will have this guy shirtless by November sweeps.

R5 That's exactly what happened. Ironically those were both Mulcahey's storyline ideas.

R6 There was a who's the father storyline where either Lucky or Nikolas potentially were Aiden's father, in 2010. Helena switched tow different paternity tests on Nikolas' favor, since she wanted to raise a Spencer offspring as a true Cassadine.

*Helena switched two different paternity tests in Nikolas' favor at R8

Isn't Aiden the gay one? If so, who will they match him up with? Or will he be in enforced celibacy because of the fraus?

Aiden and Gio are the hot new couple. "This portion of General Hospital is brought to you today by Helix Studios."

Was there some September sweeps that I was unaware of?

GH had the Lucky rescue which had me on the edge of my seat on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile Y&R had me glued to my TV watching psycho Sharon breaking into Daniel's apartment, accidentally killing Heather and dumping the body in the river on Wednesday and Thursday.

Such spellbinding and climatic happenings are generally reserved for sweeps. But here they were happening in late September.

What caused major storylines on two different shows to climax at exactly the same time during a non-sweeps period?

R12, good question. Do sweeps periods for network shows still work the way they used to? Sweeps used to be February, May, and November. The rating during those months set advertisement rates. Does it still work the same way?

R10 Yes, Aiden is one of us. However, there are plans to bring his boyfriend on. What's happening now is an effort to increase ratings and cater to more audiences outside of the fraus. The fraus aren't exactly watching since ratings are drastically diminishing. Nathan's big plan to bring back "lapsed viewers" has proved to be a disaster. Besides that, certain stunts that the fraus were partaking in, like trying to keep Kelly Monaco employed for example, aren't exactly winning them any favors with the network and Frank, particularly. The fraus are like a group of Carmina Monaco's, in reference to Kelly.

R11 😆😆 😆 😆

R12 September is when the new season premieres for soaps now, instead of their respective anniversary dates. Prime-time television and the daytime talk shows, game shows, etc. were the inspiration for this model. They've actually tested it out for awhile, before officially deeming September as the start of the new season. Although soaps are the only daytime television shows that barely show repeats, fall premieres aligns them more with other daytime and prime-time shows.

R13 Sweeps periods still work somewhat the same, though Nielsen changed the way they track viewership six years ago. With the advancement of streaming platforms, there are many programs who don't exactly follow the traditional sweeps months model, February, May, July and November, in an effort to compete with alternative programming, by focusing on months outside of sweeps as well. The July sweeps period is exclusive to soaps and summer programming in prime-time. Frank, especially after Ron was fired, moved away somewhat from waiting until sweeps months to have a big event, however, the network prefers sweeps events (the network mandated a wedding, for example, during May 2015, for Nina and Ric, when GH aired the live shows). Frons/Guza/Pratt/Phelps were big on sweeps events.

Not sure how it is now, but when I wrote for daytime we followed the 4/13 model. Something big happened at the end of every 13 week cycle. In the old days they wrote towards sweeps, at some point in the 90s it switched to every 13, at least on the 2 shows I worked on.

R18 Correct. The 4/13 model is still somewhat in effect, though there's not as much emphasis on it now as thete was back then. Can't exactly speak in reference to the other soaps, but GH particularly continued to follow the 4/13 model when Frank and Ron first came onboard, with Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall storyboards as the format. The 4/13 model consisted of Winter stories- Dec 1-Feb 28/29, Spring stories Mar 1-May 31, Summer stories Jun 1-Aug 31, Fall stories Sep 1-Nov 30. Is that somewhat familiar to when you were writing? It would be interesting to know which two shows you're referring to, but I respect anonymity. That's also similar to the Telenovela format model, which Port Charles adapted, except something big typically happens every fourth Friday, leading to the climax at the end of the thirteen week cycle.

The fraus are still upset that Colin Cassidy is playing Aiden, though this seems to be more of an issue with Aiden being gay, if anything. They're hiding their homophobia around a guise of Liz and Lucky having a gay son by complaining that the actor in question is too old. There also seems to be issues with Aiden having a boyfriend and subsequently having sex scenes. The fraus never seem to change.

Interview with Kelly Monaco, citing retaliation in reference to her dismissal:

Correction at R21, it wasn't exactly an interview with SoapHub. SoapHub posted what's captioned in the article to their Instagram page, though Kelly did speak; she was clearing up misconceptions regarding her exit.

Of course that talentless hag will sue.

KeMo says in that article that her character was diminished after Billy Miller was fired.

Her character wasn't even with Billy Miller's Drew when he was fired.

She was paired with Jason at the time, one of the top three on the show, that's not diminished.

She makes no mention her sleepy zombie acting that contributed to the "dismantling" of her character.

Kelly, this is the Poconos Hooters location.

Sorry, but we can't offer you the hostess job. We need someone with a little more.....oomph.

Freevee runs a General Hospital channel. I'm not sure if it's 24 hours, but it's running every time I check. Right now it seems to be 2018ish. Stafford is Nina, Brianna Henry is Jordan, Genie and Kirsten are both thin and looking great, Maura is chunky, Ryan is pretending to be Kevin pretending to be blind, Ramsey is Peter August, Monaco is lucid. The whole tone and pacing of the show is quite different, and pretty entertaining.

Oh wait, there's Oscar. Never mind.

Billy Warlock just announced on Twitter that Ron Hale has died.

Every day a soap legend dies. Who’s next? Has anyone checked in with Rachel Ames today?

Reddit GH forum had to make a subcategory just for Kelly Monaco comments, 🤣

Hadn't been over there in a long while. Glad to see many are saying she's been phoning it in for years and adios to her. They also mention, as has been mentioned here, that she is no longer a "pet" of ABC and this is what happens when you aren't protected by "pet" status.

Why was Ron Hale’s death only reported now when he passed in August??? Jeez.

Deadline article about Ron

Tony Geary helped Ron Hale embrace his homosexuality.

Aw, loved him on RH.

That KM discussion thread on Reddit is raking Frank V over the coals.

It's not kissing KM's ass either, but definitely seems to be a few fresh droplets of tea spilled there reinforcing the idea that Frank is a petty bitch.

Frank is a fucken queeny old vindictive fag. There. I said it.

Butt

I tuned back in for Jonathan Jackson after many years and this is my take on the storylines so far.

Drew on his own is meh but the Willow cheating storyline has potential and will free Michael up for a spicy rebound so I’m into that.

We seem to be headed for a Ric/Liz/Lucky triangle so I’m happy with that.

For god’s sake, please give Tracy something to do that isn’t obsessing about the guy who works in the stables whose importance and relationship to everyone else I haven’t figured out yet. Jane E. deserves a great diva storyline.

This surprised me, but I enjoy Robert and Diane.

I have rarely seen a couple have sub-zero chemistry the way that Jason and Anna do. Just so unbelievably wooden. I will pretend I do not see it.

Nina and Curtis DO have chemistry, they need to get on that.

Mo is doing some of his all-time worst acting at the moment but I did laugh when Sonny shot the crooked FBI agent point blank with no alibi or plan for how to dispose of the body or anything. 40 years in the mob game and he couldn’t come up with anything better? lol

Is Mo going to make Ron Hale's death all about him?

Frank may be petty but Kelly is also a known asshole.

OMG, I'm living for these new spoilers! Finally we get something on the gay front for Aiden. He is coming out to his dad. I think this is why they aged him up and cast an older actor, to do a more grown up storyline. I don't mind it actually.

Van Hansis is supposed to show up on our screens tomorrow. Then next week or the week after we should be getting the scenes where Aiden comes out to his dad. Should be good!

So, Gh is finally upping the gay content with the return of Lucas and Aiden coming out to Lucky. All in a single week.

YEAH! I'm all for upping the gay content. But Hummmmmm. Wonder why its all happening now. Why didn't Patrick Mulcahey up the gay content six months ago?

Is Hansis working for scale, or is the budget situation not as dire as reported? Lucky, Lulu, Lucas, Kentucky Fried Martin and Holly couldn't have all been paid for out of Monaco's salary.

Considering that Van has done practically nothing since ATWT ended, he’ll work for scale. It’s better than nothing.

Kristina Wagner along with son Peter wishing Jack Wagner a Happy Birthday.

She refer to him as her friend which is nice to hear given what they've been through.

Lucky's salary is coming from Michael Easton's firing.

Not sure about the status of Lulu or Lucas, but Martin and Holly would just be recurring characters.

Will Lucky be showering and shaving soon?

Rick Hearst looks good....very good.

[quote]Will Lucky be showering and shaving soon?

Let's hope so. Surely the hospital can spare a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo before cutting out half his liver.

Kelly Monaco and Van Hansis.

Well, they are playing brother and sister.

Although that familial connection was rarely played when Ryan Carnes was in the part.

Kelly looks more like his mom than his sister.

R43 Mulcahey planned to add more gay content. There was even a scene with Aiden coming out to Laura, with Liz present. Aiden would've also endured bullying at school, while exploring a relationship with his first boyfriend, Tobias. Frank undermined him by cutting the Aiden coming out scenes, while also getting rid of Aiden's story, with the network's backing, since they were still in the process of regaining lapsed viewers, aka the fraus, who are disapproving of any gay-themed storylines. The ratings are consistently dropping, so the fraus aren't exactly the primary focus anymore. Mulcahey intended to bring Lucas and Dillon back as well.

Dillon should come back, but not either of the ones who have been on before......

R44 Lucky's return was paid from Finn's exit, similarly to Jason's return financed primarily through Austin's exit. Lulu's return is compensated through Sam's exit. Frank typically gets rid of one actor/actress in order to pay for another. Holly and Martin are recurring, so there wasn't any need to fire anyone else in favor of them. Lucas more than likely isn't expensive, though with Valentin's exit, that freed up a lot of money as well, to pay for additional actors. Although recurring, JPS didn't come cheap.

Would it be a big deal for Aiden to come out to Lucky? Lucky seems pretty liberal to me. And speaking of liberals, I've seen that GH Facebook Group; those people are not liberal.

R47 Right. Finn was traded in favor of Lucky; not exactly Frank's decision, but he had to abide by it.

R52 That's true. Lucas was always considered more Carly's brother than Sam's.

Hat Daddy actor had enough? They took him off contact earlier this year and put him on recurring.

r55

I've always thought John-Paul Lavoisier would be a good Dillon

R55 😆 Neither Scott Clifton or Robert Palmer Watkins will return with Frank still as EP, unless the network were to override their return

Scott Clifton is not exactly available. Unless B&B decides to drop. And given the way B&B has barely been using him, that could happen.

I can easily see John-Paul Lavioisier as Dillon. That's a character who definitely needs to be on the canvas if Tracey is going to stay in Port Charles.

R57 It might not be a big deal, since Lucky is pretty liberal, which is why there's also the element of Aiden being upset about having Lucky as an absentee father, which is a direct ripoff of the Jake story with Jason that Mulcahey was planning.

R60 Network mandated his drop to recurring, now his exit from the canvas.

R61 Not R55 but that's an excellent choice. Actually thought that as well, though Scott Clifton and Robert Palmer Watkins are also both great. Frank didn't value either enough during their stints at OLTL and GH, respectively.

It would be funny to see Wally and JP as family again like on DOOL(not as funny as Wally and Jane playing lovers then mother/son)

R57 Absolutely not liberal when it comes to the Facebook group, which Nathan typically gathers information from. They're made up almost entirely of fraus; however, almost all of their preferred storylines are currently being overlooked.

R67 Agreed. Brothers on their mother's side as opposed to cousin's on their father's side.

Portia is insufferable.

JPL is a ham but he does feel more like Clifton’s Dillon than the stiff bland RPW… Kelly looks amazing! I wish Lucas had been played more and had a better dynamic with his “sisters”. I’m happy with the characters coming back…Lucas is needed wish it was Ryan in the role. He really looked like Julian’s son!

Respectfully, have never been a fan of JPL. Wish they'd go back to Dillon's roots, make him a someone smart/artsy guy.

I guess I was totally wrong, I thought they might have been testing the waters with Portia and Ric. I was hoping to see at least a little more of that.

If only Sonny could fall into the water never to return and Ric would be the star of the show......

Ric Hearst effortlessly shows up Maurice every episode he’s on.

I'm guessing that's why Ric wasn't on for a long time.

Mo isn't a fan of competition.

Lucas has become way GAYER than he used to be... damn Boston