General Hospital Watching General Hospital

[Daniel Avery]

I have no way of knowing for sure, but I think SB's return is about the fame rather than the fortune. None of the soaps left on the air will be willing or able to pay him what he was making at his height, so going back to GH is about trying to recapture the magic of the old days and basking in the glow of past glories. I'm sure none of his agents or managers have brought up the old cliché that you can't go home again, because they will need him to mine whatever good will he has left with the executives at ABC in order to keep working. Much has been said about the circumstances surrounding his departure from GH, and if it were any other business I'd believe returning to GH was not even an option for him....but show business is a strange animal indeed. Frank Valentini (and to a lesser extent, then-Head Writer Ron Carlivati) humiliated SB by rejecting SB's expensive contract demands and unceremoniously dumping Jason in the harbor. FV and RC moved on with the show as if Jason were some 13-week recurring character, and rather than a huge backlash from the fans, the show's ratings actually went up afterward. FV is still in charge of the show, so we have to believe that SB is returning on FV's terms...which would be in line with most other employees of the show. The main draw, therefore, would be the chance to live in the past glories of the Sonny/Jason/Carly period where they dominated air time and (supposedly) popularity polls. I think he will ultimately be disappointed, not only because you can't go home again, but because this is a very different climate than the mid-2000s when ratings were higher and soap fans were much more "involved" with the shows. Being a popular soap character in 2017 means far less than being a popular soap character in 2007 (or even 2012), because soaps as a genre are far less visible. There is also much more vocal factions of fans who dread the return of a GH dominated by the mobster, his moll, and his hitman...so rather than a hero's welcome, his return will likely be an uphill climb if they seek to recreate the past.

 

[TJames03]

I don't doubt that the show's ratings went up after SB left! It was absolutely bizarre the amount of air time SB was given. He then thought he could make it on a higher rated show and was promptly shown that that wasn't going to happen. He was then fired and knew that he had to go back slumming to the show he thought he would never have to see again....

 

[Ray&Donna]

I was discussing with a friend the other day the defunct teen magazine, YM, which back in the 90's regularly featured the younger set of soap actors: Steve Burton, Joshua Morrow, Antonio Sabato, Jr., and Eddie Cibrian, among others. But now most teenagers--at least the ones I know--have no interest in continuing dramas, but rather female-driven teen-focused things like you might find on FREEFORM.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YM_(magazine)

 

[TJames03]

Burton says that he's with GH for "the long haul." Translated that means he doesn't have any other job offers coming in and he is going to stay with the show because he has to.

 

[Daniel Avery]

So they've sold Julian's company while he's off in soapland jail. If there were ever two characters uniquely UNsuited to running it, it's Jason/Sam. Molly and TJ would do a better job (and have more qualifications). JaSam will make Nina look like Helen Gurley Brown. For comic relief, the new owners could attempt to get Nina to do an issue of high-fashion Crimson with headlines like "Black T-shirt and Leather Jacket: the New Uniform Every Man Needs" and "1001 All-Black Outfits for Fall".

And since ol' whats-his-name actually signed a contract, Julian will be returning eventually to....do what, exactly? Is he going to try to trick his daughter (the reformed con-woman) and his son-in-law (the reformed mob hitman) out of the company? His life expectancy will be shortened greatly. And parading around in his black boxer briefs won't get him very far with either of them.

 

[Ray&Donna]

So they've sold Julian's company while he's off in soapland jail. If there were ever two characters uniquely UNsuited to running it, it's Jason/Sam. Molly and TJ would do a better job (and have more qualifications). JaSam will make Nina look like Helen Gurley Brown. For comic relief, the new owners could attempt to get Nina to do an issue of high-fashion Crimson with headlines like "Black T-shirt and Leather Jacket: the New Uniform Every Man Needs" and "1001 All-Black Outfits for Fall".

Hahahaha. You don't think Sam's "Fifty Shades of Grey for Fall" would just take Crimson to new heights?

 

[Daniel Avery]

And we all know how well-read Jason Morgan is. Why, just the other day he was discussing with Jake an especially thought-provoking article he read in this month's issue of Highlights for Children. Luckily Jake was there to help him with the big words.

 

[TJames03]

Actually, the character of Jason was custom-made for Burton - no one can play brain damaged like he can.....

 

[Ray&Donna]

I'm trying to decide if the reason both Jasons have the same set of memories is a DAYS-style Stefano Roman/John Black/Pawn story with implanted memories. Nothing else would seem to make sense--not that the show has made a lot of that for a while now--but Billy Miller is the guy Robin was taking care of at various places around the world, at least before Ava ran him down and he required a new face...

 

[Ray&Donna]

At least the Ava/Griffin story has seen some progress. I was beginning to wonder if he would ever make a move on her...

 

[Daniel Avery]

I spent entirely too much time entertaining myself by imagining what their...um, reactions would have been like while 'doing the deed'. As Griffin has mentioned, his only other experience with a woman was that 'ho Claudette, which was about a decade ago. Ava strikes me as having a rather healthy appetite in this area, but she's had a dry spell since...gosh, her odd relationship with Morgan while masquerading as "Denise DiMuccio". My final conclusion is that we should be glad Ava and Griffin's heads didn't just eject off their bodies into outer space.

 

[Maryann]

Let me try to get this straight, SB Jason is the real Jason and the other"Jason" is his twin? Why did SB leave GH in the first place?

Getting off the subject what the heck happened to Jackie Zeman's face??, I mean Leslie Charleston who looks like she has some facial work done and is older looks so much better.

 

[Daniel Avery]

They have not said it out loud yet, but that's what we're being led to believe, more and more (that "the real Jason" is back, and the man we thought was Jason is in fact his twin brother, Drew). They're purposely releasing bits and pieces of their version of events to drag out the revelation. I mean, Ava hasn't even asked her houseguest "Patient 6" what his name is, which is something one would think would be important when you meet someone. There are so many details to iron out that it's hard to grasp it all, and of course many details they will have to "conveniently" gloss over to explain all this. I am glad, however, that Ava's smack dab in the middle of this, because she makes everything more fun...even that d-bag, Sonny and his harridan wife, Carly.

Post 201 above gives some explanation of what happened when SB originally left, but it would be good to add that part of his motivation to leave was the close working relationship SB had with Jill Farren Phelps, the executive producer who got fired to make way for Frank Valentini. She knocked around Hollywood a while before ending up running Y&R, so it wasn't surprising when he went to work for her over there.

As for Zeman versus Charleson...I can only guess that Zeman had a facelift and some other surgical procedures, whereas Charleson looks like she had derma-fillers and (maybe) eye work done, but nothing as radical as Zeman. Zeman actually looks much better than she did around the time Tony Geary left, as if her facelift has loosened up a bit and given her more facial expressions. It's still shocking to look at them in old clips of the show from the 1990s and compare/contrast.

 

[Ray&Donna]

I think Zeman would have been better off had she allowed herself to age naturally. No one expects women to go grey anymore, but I doubt her face would have looked any worse than it did post-surgery.

Ava is this show's saving grace at the moment.

 

[Ray&Donna]

I spent entirely too much time entertaining myself by imagining what their...um, reactions would have been like while 'doing the deed'. As Griffin has mentioned, his only other experience with a woman was that 'ho Claudette, which was about a decade ago. Ava strikes me as having a rather healthy appetite in this area, but she's had a dry spell since...gosh, her odd relationship with Morgan while masquerading as "Denise DiMuccio". My final conclusion is that we should be glad Ava and Griffin's heads didn't just eject off their bodies into outer space.

I remembered after leaving the forum Monday that Ava had a brief dalliance with Paul Hornsby during his reign of terror. It actually seemed more about the writers doing an S&M/bondage type story than anything romantic,

 

[Ray&Donna]

And we all know how well-read Jason Morgan is. Why, just the other day he was discussing with Jake an especially thought-provoking article he read in this month's issue of Highlights for Children. Luckily Jake was there to help him with the big words.

Even Sam commented on this yesterday. Jason doesn't read or watch movies or TV or speak in anything other than a monotone. Apparently Jason has no interest in anything except football, which millions watch absently, making it the ideal entertainment for him.

 

[Ray&Donna]

It's a bit like THE CAT IN THE HAT or a Prince song these days. Carly 4 tells Jason 1 to visit Sam at the hospital even though Jason 2 doesn't like him. Then Jason 1 is arrested (again) after trying to bash in the head of Franco 2. But at least Sam is consistently monotone. Perhaps Jason 1 can get reunite with Sam, and Jason 2 can get with Liz, thus making everyone happy for at least five minutes. Franco doesn't need a girlfriend, unless they throw him and Nina back together--though realistically, I would banish those two (happily) to another dimension, Emmy Awards be damned.

 

[Daniel Avery]

So here is my latest suspicion (would not even call it a prediction...yet). With Nelle getting dumped by Michael and fired by Nina (a thing of beauty, BTW...she was channeling Phyllis Newman for a minute there), I figured Miss Nelle might be leaving town by the end of the year. However, with her being inserted into the Man Landers story via eavesdropping on Maxie, Nelle might be setting herself up to be murdered. If Nelle were to expose the whole Man Landers masquerade (fingers crossed!), then it would add several more people to the growing list who really hate this girl. If she turned up dead, we'd have

Carly
Sonny
Valentin
Nina
Nathan
Maxie
Amy
Chet
the sister of Nelle's ex-fiancé

I don't think anyone would suspect Michael, but maybe they ought to, since all of his girlfriends end up dead!

 

[Ray&Donna]

I don't think anyone would suspect Michael, but maybe they ought to, since all of his girlfriends end up dead!

Possibly the only reason Nelle has stuck around this long--because as a long-term character, she's doomed by association.

 

[Daniel Avery]

They never should have killed off Sabrina.

Yes, I know I've said it repeatedly. No, I'm not Teresa Castillo's agent.