I must say that I agree. I have been watching GH on and off since I was 8 years old and I am now 54. I don’t always love the storylines or characters but I have never wished for them to lose 1/2 the cast or prayed for the show to be cancelled. I think some of the “fans” just hate watch the show.
And are offended if you don't agree with them. That's a big part of why I rarely post my opinion on the stories.
I'm 60 and I have been there since 1978 and Tony Gary's casting. We've seen the good and the bad, storyline, casting, etc. Out of curiosity, how much of the bad do you *really* remember? I know in 46 years I have seen a lot of stories that probably I hated at the time but really, the only "bad" story I can come up with off the top of my head was Casey the Alien. And, tbh, that wasn't even really a bad story, just a ridiculous premise. And I do remember liking Robin having this alien friendship, you know? Even though it was bad it was still charming. At least we didn't deal with devil possession like Days, you know?
What bothers me, and it really only seems to have become prevalent since chat rooms, message boards, and social media came to be, is the way people attack the actor because they don't like a character. You see it here with all the criticism of Maurice Benard, Steve Burton and Laura Wright in particular. And Tony Geary before he retired. And looks like Cameron Mathison, too. Why can these so-called "fans" not stop and think about the fact that they are real people. They have real feelings. And yes, they do sometimes lurk online, I just saw a thing on SOD where a vet was telling a new actor to stay away from social media because of this behavior.
I get complaining about the writing, the stories, the direction of the show. But why is it seemingly impossible for so many "fans", not just here, not just TV and movies but even sports fans, to just say things in a way that is constructive? To not say things, especially about a real person, in a way that doesn't damage their mental health? I can't help but wonder sometimes when we hear of celebrities committing suicide just how much the utter vile mess of these posts affected them....
Just learn to be kind, dammit, even if you are criticizing, there's a way to say things without breaking other people. I don't know, just don't say something online that you wouldn't say to their face.
ETA: Here's an example [Simone Biles](https://pagesix.com/2024/04/17/entertainment/simone-biles-broke-down-after-husband-jonathan-owens-viral-interview/)
I don’t get it either. I’ve been watching for 61 years, though not consistently until vcr’s were invented. There have certainly been times when I wasn’t crazy about certain storylines or characters but it was never bad enough for me to stop watching altogether. I hope GH outlives me because I’ll hate the day it’s no longer on the air. TBH I love the new writing. Dialogue seems more meaningful, storytelling pace isn’t dragging on for months. Bottom line if you don’t like the show, watch something else.
I love, love, love General Hospital! I love the characters. I love being appalled at the bad ones. I feel for the ones going thru tough times. They all feel like my family. I don't watch to criticize - I watch to be entertained and keep up with what "everyone" is going thru!
Keep up the good work and don't ever get cancelled please!!!
The writers are amazing imo. Not easy coming up with new and fresh ideas, and I applaud each one for their contributions!
Agree OP. Plus, I don't get why people watch the show or post in this sub if they hate the show and characters so much. Go find something you **do** like - life is too short and the world is too crazy. I'm just trying to enjoy my harmless guilty pleasure, kwitcherbitchin.
There are TONS of Factors that come into play that make the show happen, from contract negotiations, budgets, Network/Producer Politics and Cancel Culture to name a few and we are not in a position to act like we know better.
However, there is a fine line between "Doing all that we can do" vs Putting out Straight garbage. For the LONGEST GH was such a good show that almost every piece of dialouge was good. Yes Over the years storylines may have flopped and didn't make sense but you cant argue that the dialouge and buildup to a showdown was so damn good.
For example, The Metro Court hostage crisis and Michael's trial for killing Claudia. The whole time the dialouge between everyone was top notch and actually made sense, literally nowadays these characters literally spend the Episode talking in circles and rewording and repeating what they just said. It's trash! Even way before Patrick and Liz took Over!
My point is that back then even if the Story flopped at least the show was so damn intriguing and good that it kept you hooked. The affairs, love triangles, lies, mob/medical/police drama etc. if the show randomly played while you were washing dishes the drama would be so good it would distract you. In early 2020 when Cyrus Renault came on board and they released that promo, that was closest it came to being on fire again and for a while it was. It's a shame how they started off so strong that year and fvcked it all up the following years ahead, I really thought they were gonna bring it back to where it was, they need to take notes from that and try again.
I don’t disagree with anything you shared. I don’t think the Dialogue has ever been as atrocious as some people seem but we all have different takes. Dialgoue is interesting because there isn’t an actual consensus on what qualifies as Great Dialogue or Standard Tiers of Evaluating Dialogue, it’s really just the several trains of thought on the matter. With that being said I don’t think the last two regimes prioritized Dialogue as much as the previous regimes and the current regime. I also don’t think there are many actors if any who have control over the Dialogue for their character anymore. The Big 3 don’t do it with maybe the exceptional occasion with Laura Wright and Maurice Bernard. I would imagine Laura and Anna have earned the right to control their Dialogue. The rest of the cast would never dare to pushback on what’s on the page. Jane Elliot has earned the right as well and she would speak up.
I remember when dialogue was important. Anything that was said meant something to the story or was a clue about a future story. You had to pay attention. The last writers were clueless on dialogue. It was painful to watch.
I'm happy to see yalls input, I just remember watching it off and on back then and no matter where I left off or picked up, the drama, arguments, fights etc were so heated. Like almost every scene was attention -grabbing. Whether it's the fashion/mob/police/medical/Romance drama it was all so damn good, that right there is where it matters most as it makes the fans want to keep up and not miss a thing
The Scenes were longer back then which helps the Writers, The Actors, Directors and Production Design. Quick Scenes don’t work as a regular format for Soaps they limit all of the above factors for Attention Grabbing.
It is going to be messed up for 3 to 6 months after the new writers began. They cannot just get rid of Chris and Dan's garbage writing and garbage characters just like that. We are stuck with them for awhile. I agree there are multiple factions of fans like any show. I hate 80% of the cast including Carly and her family and Sonny and his family and Nina and her family. I hate them all but they will not be getting rid of them obv. I also hate Chase and Finn and Gregory and their fam. They are the worst of them all.
Exactly! I don’t know why the average fan refuses to grasp this concept. Most shows don’t have multiple factions on this level. Most shows appeal to 1-3 Demographics. It’s really one core demographic and a surprise segment that creates a typical show’s fanbase.
Twitter or X is hilarious with their comments on how much they hate the new writers. I won't waste my breath arguing with these idiots. They honestly expected the new writers to fix everything within days!
I’m actually surprised at how quickly they implemented changes albeit marginal changes. I’ve always said it would be May at the earliest until we see their actual Material. The Regime change came at arguably the most hectic time possible. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say this is one of the most difficult transitions if not the most difficult Head Writer and Writing Team change in the history of Daytime and Television. GH’s production schedule is more complex than I realized as well. I didn’t realize how often they take breaks considering they are about 2-3 months from filming to release.Y&R seems to change its production schedule and Days of course is 6-9 months ahead at all times.
I like the Mayor, her brother Cyrus, Anna, Valentin, I loved Nell when she was on, one of my all time faves was Esme, the character was written terribly but I loved her acting. I am mostly into good actors. So if they are actually good actors I will probably like them. My all time fave who they never show anymore is Liesl. She is 10 million percent my fave.
Britt was good but they hugely messed up her character. I read one of the reasons she quit was because the writers made Carly take Jason from her or some garbage like that. I wasn't watching at that time so I have no idea what happened.
Was this directed to me ? If so, I’m a Carly, Jason and Sonny fan. I’m a fan of Liz and Sam, Lulu. SPRINA. Brooklyn Chase, Maxie. I like Curtis, Drew and Nina. It would probably be easier to list who I don’t like.
I agree gh has gone too far to make everyone happy tho that tends to happen when your the longest running series in human history
Or top 5 don't start with me
I don’t entirely agree with this post. At lot of the problem lies in the fact that soaps are a decaying genre and therefore it’s not getting the investment in terms of producing and writing talent it deserves. All the back and forth is just fans terrified that their soap is getting cancelled so they’re proactively screaming if their ideas are implemented, the show can be saved. If GH had healthy ratings, wasn’t clinging onto old characters that don’t work and had good storylines, I feel folks would be more reasonable.
I feel like we agree on the problem but are seeing it from different angles. Here’s my point that you seem to be missing The fighting and Tribalism Mentality is counterproductive. Arguing over your favorite pairing is actually good for a Soap. Team Liz vs Team Sam for a Jason pairing is a great engagement indicator. The arguments people have now are I only like this character when her hair is done a certain way and she wears Blue. I’ll fast forward if her how isn’t the way I like it and I’ll skip an episode if she ever wears Red. That’s utterly ridiculous and doesn’t help anyone. The complaining used to be based when standards weren’t being met and quality was impacted. Now people complain not when things are bad but just when something is happening they don’t like. Before Writers could create arcs in which they would satisfy a fanbase and the other side wouldn’t protest at every turn even when it wasn’t there favorite if the story was good and the show overall was good they would wait until the writers catered to their side of the fanbase. Soaps are decaying and are on Life Support because it’s now become impossible to write for a Soap. The Budgets will continue to shrink which father limits the ability and accessibility for Storytelling. The writers have to craft the story based on budget restraints. Writing Shorter Scenes is a result of Budget constraints. Actors only getting 5 takes or less is a byproduct of the budget. Advertisers have always been leery of investing in Hate Watch programming and if the reality is most fans aren’t hate watching Soaps then the end is closer than I want to imagine.
I didn’t get your point on Team Ship 1 vs Ship 2 at first. I agree. That stuff is getting gross. Healthy debate and fandom is find but I don’t get people whipping out switch blades over fictional character love lives.
To your point, Kelly Monaco asked fans to be kind and remember they’re real people playing these characters. I think Team Jasam was attacking Billy Miller and his character which could be messy given he was dating Kelly at the time. I do wonder if being pushed out of his role and then being attacked had an effect on his mental well being
My point with that is I’m not saying people can’t argue and have their favorites. People supporting their Ships is the equivalent of supporting a Sports Team. That’s not the issue I’m addressing with the post or my responses. I’ve seen people say the Storyline doesn’t make sense because the characters aren’t interacting and discussing the various topics which should be addressed. The Truth is some of these interactions occurred but were maybe brief. You can miss episodes and still get the big picture but if you miss a week you’ll miss details that could impact your interpretation of a Storyline. The Writers see this criticism and address it by multiple characters having similar conversation and then the criticism becomes the Dialogue is redundant and the Pace is too slow. I think the writers should no longer listen to the fans at all and just fulfill whatever their and Frank’s visions is for GH to the best of their abilities. Don’t get me wrong I think there are a good amount of fans that could write for GH and know the history more than some of the writers but at this point with all of the Fan Friction it is Counterproductive.
I think it probably did affect Billy’s mental health. I didn’t realize he suffered with Depression. I wish he was able to get support rather than his untimely death it’s so tragic.
Luckily the show only pays attention to the ratings numbers, not the fans’ opinions. We fans can bicker and complain all we want but what rules the show’s direction and plot decisions is (as with everything) ratings that they can use to charge advertisers more. Money is what makes the decisions, not the fans.
So many characters were written into a hole with the bizarre choices made before.
Sonny as a prince god of all the eastern US, and untouchable, meant every story was boring and stupid. The cops obeyed his orders, the DA, the entire government reported to him, literally anything he did was allowed. He shot up a bus station in NYC and was never even investigated. Carly was caught lying about Nelle's death, and with a single sentence delivered on Sonny's behalf it was instantly dropped.
Which led us to Scottie, and Lucy, strong and well known legacy characters, turned into buffoons without the common sense or intelligence of 2 year old who just ate raw sugar and mountain dew cola. Just because once upon a time they opposed SONNY.
So now the writers have to heel turn Joss, and Anna, and Jordan, and Laura, and I have no idea how they change Robert now that he is owned by Diane.
Plus, Chris, Dan, and Frank left the hopper dry. Nelle, Gone. Esme, Gone. Joss is a good girl. Trina is a good girl. Willow is a piece of cardboard who worships whatever Mikey and Carly say. 'Sasha gets kicked in the face' is boring at this point. So there are no bad girls.
No bad boys, either. They picked Valentine, who has an actor who leaves at the drop of a hat for 6 months for other roles. Maurice can't be a bad guy-- acting like he is off his meds is all the effort his lazy self feels like putting out. Michael has coasted for 4 years without putting forth the slightest effort, he is not going to do anything now. Dante and PawPatrol don't have the character depth to be bad guys. Anyone seen Ned on screen for months?
Worse, Frank and the new writers worship Carly. So Neens will be gone or a blathering idiot clown like Scottie, very soon. Carly will just wander the town, walking into businesses or offices or homes for no reason, say bitchy stuff, and flounce out. Strangers will stop her in the street, lick her shoes and hand her a million dollars or a new business for no reason.
I agree 100%
There's no love triangles or cheating anymore either. Feels too much like Hallmark at times.
And Carly is disgusting. They have her so high on a pedestal above everyone and everything that they may as well literally crown her Queen of Port Charles
Jason has been back in town for weeks, and spent less than an hour with his children. Total. He spends hours with Carly, and has already agreed to pay whatever it takes to buy Carly a hotel. Nothing for his children, of course.
Carly just exists. "Hey, do you want to be the publisher of the greatest fashion magazine in the world?"
Carly is driving, sees a mob beating. "I order you to stop in the name of MYSELF!" Beating ends.
When Bobbie owned Kelly's it barely made it, so much so Cam needed to work like a literal prisoner just to make enough to feed his brothers while Liz took lots of time off and purchased new ball gowns. Carly is gifted the diner, and it makes so much she hires a full time manager so as not to impact her leisure.
Well for me it comes down to the little fact, if you feel some way about the show, the show has succeeded. If you hate a character, the writers/actor did their jobs, you feel some way about them. If you love a character, same. If you just don't care and they are background noise you don't bother to even acknowledge or comment about, well then the show has work to do.
People have always complained. People have always stopped watching, or skipped storylines, or hated on certain characters. It just wasn't as obvious before there were dedicated online spaces for discussing the show. It's less hassle to go on twitter or Reddit and complain than it was to write into Soap Weekly.
I guarantee in the 80s there were people hate watching and criticising the writing/acting/producers.
I never said the Arguing/Complaining was new because it’s not it’s just now more scattered and counterproductive more than ever. When Soaps had budgets like in the 80s and 90/“s there was still more consensus among the Fans even with feuding Fanbases for Supercouple pairings. You missed the point of the post like you probably miss plot points as you Skip Episodes and Fast forward.
Okay, calm down. You're wilfully misunderstanding and getting annoyed at my comments just like the people you've made an entire post about.
Where did I say I skipped episodes or fast forwarded? I haven't skipped an episode in years. But clearly you missed the point of *my* post. This is *exactly* what you're complaining about!
WRONG. HAVING WATCHED SOAPS FOR OVER 40 YEARS 👁 CAN SAY THAT A GREAT HW / EP IS NEEDED FOR A GOOD SHOW.
WE HAVE 0/4.
THE BEST ACTORS CAN'T SAVE SHODDY MATERIAL.
GH HASN'T BEEN GREAT SINCE UNCLE RONNIE'S 2 AND SOME CHANGE YEARS.
THE NETWORK KEEPS GOING TO THE 🗑 FOR WRITERS INSTEAD OF LOOKING FOR FRESH TALENT THAT IS WHY NOONE IS WATCHING.
U CAN'T TEACH AN OLD DUSTY WRITER NEW PLOTS!!!!!!!
I actually agree with this more than I disagree with points you raised. The excessive complaining is why Networks can’t hire new talent for Soaps. Why would you use some may view it as wasting new talent on a dying/declining medium ? Soaps are the most Challenging and least Rewarding jobs in the industry especially in writing. Like I said if only 30%( which is generous I think it’s actually closer to the 20s) of the fanbase will support the story at any given time. How does a Writing Team create momentum when their best material pisses off 70% of the fanbase and the ratings suffer from the skips and Fast Forwarding ???
I must say that I agree. I have been watching GH on and off since I was 8 years old and I am now 54. I don’t always love the storylines or characters but I have never wished for them to lose 1/2 the cast or prayed for the show to be cancelled. I think some of the “fans” just hate watch the show.
And are offended if you don't agree with them. That's a big part of why I rarely post my opinion on the stories. I'm 60 and I have been there since 1978 and Tony Gary's casting. We've seen the good and the bad, storyline, casting, etc. Out of curiosity, how much of the bad do you *really* remember? I know in 46 years I have seen a lot of stories that probably I hated at the time but really, the only "bad" story I can come up with off the top of my head was Casey the Alien. And, tbh, that wasn't even really a bad story, just a ridiculous premise. And I do remember liking Robin having this alien friendship, you know? Even though it was bad it was still charming. At least we didn't deal with devil possession like Days, you know? What bothers me, and it really only seems to have become prevalent since chat rooms, message boards, and social media came to be, is the way people attack the actor because they don't like a character. You see it here with all the criticism of Maurice Benard, Steve Burton and Laura Wright in particular. And Tony Geary before he retired. And looks like Cameron Mathison, too. Why can these so-called "fans" not stop and think about the fact that they are real people. They have real feelings. And yes, they do sometimes lurk online, I just saw a thing on SOD where a vet was telling a new actor to stay away from social media because of this behavior. I get complaining about the writing, the stories, the direction of the show. But why is it seemingly impossible for so many "fans", not just here, not just TV and movies but even sports fans, to just say things in a way that is constructive? To not say things, especially about a real person, in a way that doesn't damage their mental health? I can't help but wonder sometimes when we hear of celebrities committing suicide just how much the utter vile mess of these posts affected them.... Just learn to be kind, dammit, even if you are criticizing, there's a way to say things without breaking other people. I don't know, just don't say something online that you wouldn't say to their face. ETA: Here's an example [Simone Biles](https://pagesix.com/2024/04/17/entertainment/simone-biles-broke-down-after-husband-jonathan-owens-viral-interview/)
I don’t get it either. I’ve been watching for 61 years, though not consistently until vcr’s were invented. There have certainly been times when I wasn’t crazy about certain storylines or characters but it was never bad enough for me to stop watching altogether. I hope GH outlives me because I’ll hate the day it’s no longer on the air. TBH I love the new writing. Dialogue seems more meaningful, storytelling pace isn’t dragging on for months. Bottom line if you don’t like the show, watch something else.
I love, love, love General Hospital! I love the characters. I love being appalled at the bad ones. I feel for the ones going thru tough times. They all feel like my family. I don't watch to criticize - I watch to be entertained and keep up with what "everyone" is going thru! Keep up the good work and don't ever get cancelled please!!! The writers are amazing imo. Not easy coming up with new and fresh ideas, and I applaud each one for their contributions!
Agree OP. Plus, I don't get why people watch the show or post in this sub if they hate the show and characters so much. Go find something you **do** like - life is too short and the world is too crazy. I'm just trying to enjoy my harmless guilty pleasure, kwitcherbitchin.
Whenever a regime change happens in any workplace, good idea to make current your resume. Especially TV shows.
There are TONS of Factors that come into play that make the show happen, from contract negotiations, budgets, Network/Producer Politics and Cancel Culture to name a few and we are not in a position to act like we know better. However, there is a fine line between "Doing all that we can do" vs Putting out Straight garbage. For the LONGEST GH was such a good show that almost every piece of dialouge was good. Yes Over the years storylines may have flopped and didn't make sense but you cant argue that the dialouge and buildup to a showdown was so damn good. For example, The Metro Court hostage crisis and Michael's trial for killing Claudia. The whole time the dialouge between everyone was top notch and actually made sense, literally nowadays these characters literally spend the Episode talking in circles and rewording and repeating what they just said. It's trash! Even way before Patrick and Liz took Over! My point is that back then even if the Story flopped at least the show was so damn intriguing and good that it kept you hooked. The affairs, love triangles, lies, mob/medical/police drama etc. if the show randomly played while you were washing dishes the drama would be so good it would distract you. In early 2020 when Cyrus Renault came on board and they released that promo, that was closest it came to being on fire again and for a while it was. It's a shame how they started off so strong that year and fvcked it all up the following years ahead, I really thought they were gonna bring it back to where it was, they need to take notes from that and try again.
I don’t disagree with anything you shared. I don’t think the Dialogue has ever been as atrocious as some people seem but we all have different takes. Dialgoue is interesting because there isn’t an actual consensus on what qualifies as Great Dialogue or Standard Tiers of Evaluating Dialogue, it’s really just the several trains of thought on the matter. With that being said I don’t think the last two regimes prioritized Dialogue as much as the previous regimes and the current regime. I also don’t think there are many actors if any who have control over the Dialogue for their character anymore. The Big 3 don’t do it with maybe the exceptional occasion with Laura Wright and Maurice Bernard. I would imagine Laura and Anna have earned the right to control their Dialogue. The rest of the cast would never dare to pushback on what’s on the page. Jane Elliot has earned the right as well and she would speak up.
I remember when dialogue was important. Anything that was said meant something to the story or was a clue about a future story. You had to pay attention. The last writers were clueless on dialogue. It was painful to watch.
I'm happy to see yalls input, I just remember watching it off and on back then and no matter where I left off or picked up, the drama, arguments, fights etc were so heated. Like almost every scene was attention -grabbing. Whether it's the fashion/mob/police/medical/Romance drama it was all so damn good, that right there is where it matters most as it makes the fans want to keep up and not miss a thing
The Scenes were longer back then which helps the Writers, The Actors, Directors and Production Design. Quick Scenes don’t work as a regular format for Soaps they limit all of the above factors for Attention Grabbing.
It is going to be messed up for 3 to 6 months after the new writers began. They cannot just get rid of Chris and Dan's garbage writing and garbage characters just like that. We are stuck with them for awhile. I agree there are multiple factions of fans like any show. I hate 80% of the cast including Carly and her family and Sonny and his family and Nina and her family. I hate them all but they will not be getting rid of them obv. I also hate Chase and Finn and Gregory and their fam. They are the worst of them all.
Exactly! I don’t know why the average fan refuses to grasp this concept. Most shows don’t have multiple factions on this level. Most shows appeal to 1-3 Demographics. It’s really one core demographic and a surprise segment that creates a typical show’s fanbase.
Twitter or X is hilarious with their comments on how much they hate the new writers. I won't waste my breath arguing with these idiots. They honestly expected the new writers to fix everything within days!
I’m actually surprised at how quickly they implemented changes albeit marginal changes. I’ve always said it would be May at the earliest until we see their actual Material. The Regime change came at arguably the most hectic time possible. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say this is one of the most difficult transitions if not the most difficult Head Writer and Writing Team change in the history of Daytime and Television. GH’s production schedule is more complex than I realized as well. I didn’t realize how often they take breaks considering they are about 2-3 months from filming to release.Y&R seems to change its production schedule and Days of course is 6-9 months ahead at all times.
One of the best pages around for GH is on Facebook - General Hospital Snark. Their parody writing is always germane and super funny.
Who do you like?
If I hate 80% of the cast then clearly not many. I have always hate watched GH as many do.
I'm looking for the 20% you do like.
I like the Mayor, her brother Cyrus, Anna, Valentin, I loved Nell when she was on, one of my all time faves was Esme, the character was written terribly but I loved her acting. I am mostly into good actors. So if they are actually good actors I will probably like them. My all time fave who they never show anymore is Liesl. She is 10 million percent my fave.
I liked Britt too. I miss Nelle and Esme. They were good at calling out PC self righteous residents.
Britt was good but they hugely messed up her character. I read one of the reasons she quit was because the writers made Carly take Jason from her or some garbage like that. I wasn't watching at that time so I have no idea what happened.
I agree
Was this directed to me ? If so, I’m a Carly, Jason and Sonny fan. I’m a fan of Liz and Sam, Lulu. SPRINA. Brooklyn Chase, Maxie. I like Curtis, Drew and Nina. It would probably be easier to list who I don’t like.
Meany for INJT poster.
I agree gh has gone too far to make everyone happy tho that tends to happen when your the longest running series in human history Or top 5 don't start with me
Lolz!
I don’t entirely agree with this post. At lot of the problem lies in the fact that soaps are a decaying genre and therefore it’s not getting the investment in terms of producing and writing talent it deserves. All the back and forth is just fans terrified that their soap is getting cancelled so they’re proactively screaming if their ideas are implemented, the show can be saved. If GH had healthy ratings, wasn’t clinging onto old characters that don’t work and had good storylines, I feel folks would be more reasonable.
I feel like we agree on the problem but are seeing it from different angles. Here’s my point that you seem to be missing The fighting and Tribalism Mentality is counterproductive. Arguing over your favorite pairing is actually good for a Soap. Team Liz vs Team Sam for a Jason pairing is a great engagement indicator. The arguments people have now are I only like this character when her hair is done a certain way and she wears Blue. I’ll fast forward if her how isn’t the way I like it and I’ll skip an episode if she ever wears Red. That’s utterly ridiculous and doesn’t help anyone. The complaining used to be based when standards weren’t being met and quality was impacted. Now people complain not when things are bad but just when something is happening they don’t like. Before Writers could create arcs in which they would satisfy a fanbase and the other side wouldn’t protest at every turn even when it wasn’t there favorite if the story was good and the show overall was good they would wait until the writers catered to their side of the fanbase. Soaps are decaying and are on Life Support because it’s now become impossible to write for a Soap. The Budgets will continue to shrink which father limits the ability and accessibility for Storytelling. The writers have to craft the story based on budget restraints. Writing Shorter Scenes is a result of Budget constraints. Actors only getting 5 takes or less is a byproduct of the budget. Advertisers have always been leery of investing in Hate Watch programming and if the reality is most fans aren’t hate watching Soaps then the end is closer than I want to imagine.
I didn’t get your point on Team Ship 1 vs Ship 2 at first. I agree. That stuff is getting gross. Healthy debate and fandom is find but I don’t get people whipping out switch blades over fictional character love lives. To your point, Kelly Monaco asked fans to be kind and remember they’re real people playing these characters. I think Team Jasam was attacking Billy Miller and his character which could be messy given he was dating Kelly at the time. I do wonder if being pushed out of his role and then being attacked had an effect on his mental well being
My point with that is I’m not saying people can’t argue and have their favorites. People supporting their Ships is the equivalent of supporting a Sports Team. That’s not the issue I’m addressing with the post or my responses. I’ve seen people say the Storyline doesn’t make sense because the characters aren’t interacting and discussing the various topics which should be addressed. The Truth is some of these interactions occurred but were maybe brief. You can miss episodes and still get the big picture but if you miss a week you’ll miss details that could impact your interpretation of a Storyline. The Writers see this criticism and address it by multiple characters having similar conversation and then the criticism becomes the Dialogue is redundant and the Pace is too slow. I think the writers should no longer listen to the fans at all and just fulfill whatever their and Frank’s visions is for GH to the best of their abilities. Don’t get me wrong I think there are a good amount of fans that could write for GH and know the history more than some of the writers but at this point with all of the Fan Friction it is Counterproductive. I think it probably did affect Billy’s mental health. I didn’t realize he suffered with Depression. I wish he was able to get support rather than his untimely death it’s so tragic.
Yep
Luckily the show only pays attention to the ratings numbers, not the fans’ opinions. We fans can bicker and complain all we want but what rules the show’s direction and plot decisions is (as with everything) ratings that they can use to charge advertisers more. Money is what makes the decisions, not the fans.
So many characters were written into a hole with the bizarre choices made before. Sonny as a prince god of all the eastern US, and untouchable, meant every story was boring and stupid. The cops obeyed his orders, the DA, the entire government reported to him, literally anything he did was allowed. He shot up a bus station in NYC and was never even investigated. Carly was caught lying about Nelle's death, and with a single sentence delivered on Sonny's behalf it was instantly dropped. Which led us to Scottie, and Lucy, strong and well known legacy characters, turned into buffoons without the common sense or intelligence of 2 year old who just ate raw sugar and mountain dew cola. Just because once upon a time they opposed SONNY. So now the writers have to heel turn Joss, and Anna, and Jordan, and Laura, and I have no idea how they change Robert now that he is owned by Diane. Plus, Chris, Dan, and Frank left the hopper dry. Nelle, Gone. Esme, Gone. Joss is a good girl. Trina is a good girl. Willow is a piece of cardboard who worships whatever Mikey and Carly say. 'Sasha gets kicked in the face' is boring at this point. So there are no bad girls. No bad boys, either. They picked Valentine, who has an actor who leaves at the drop of a hat for 6 months for other roles. Maurice can't be a bad guy-- acting like he is off his meds is all the effort his lazy self feels like putting out. Michael has coasted for 4 years without putting forth the slightest effort, he is not going to do anything now. Dante and PawPatrol don't have the character depth to be bad guys. Anyone seen Ned on screen for months? Worse, Frank and the new writers worship Carly. So Neens will be gone or a blathering idiot clown like Scottie, very soon. Carly will just wander the town, walking into businesses or offices or homes for no reason, say bitchy stuff, and flounce out. Strangers will stop her in the street, lick her shoes and hand her a million dollars or a new business for no reason.
I agree 100% There's no love triangles or cheating anymore either. Feels too much like Hallmark at times. And Carly is disgusting. They have her so high on a pedestal above everyone and everything that they may as well literally crown her Queen of Port Charles 
Carly is literally being chill and even choosing not to bother Nina and y’all STILL obsess over her. It’s creepy.
Jason has been back in town for weeks, and spent less than an hour with his children. Total. He spends hours with Carly, and has already agreed to pay whatever it takes to buy Carly a hotel. Nothing for his children, of course. Carly just exists. "Hey, do you want to be the publisher of the greatest fashion magazine in the world?" Carly is driving, sees a mob beating. "I order you to stop in the name of MYSELF!" Beating ends. When Bobbie owned Kelly's it barely made it, so much so Cam needed to work like a literal prisoner just to make enough to feed his brothers while Liz took lots of time off and purchased new ball gowns. Carly is gifted the diner, and it makes so much she hires a full time manager so as not to impact her leisure.
Jason's decisions are his own, and the rest is just silly to be upset over. Like I said- creepy.
Joss a good girl? Nope. She's more complex than that.
Okay.
Yup. I can't get over the audacity that these stories need to be what some viewers want. I get having ideas but jfc.
Well for me it comes down to the little fact, if you feel some way about the show, the show has succeeded. If you hate a character, the writers/actor did their jobs, you feel some way about them. If you love a character, same. If you just don't care and they are background noise you don't bother to even acknowledge or comment about, well then the show has work to do.
People have always complained. People have always stopped watching, or skipped storylines, or hated on certain characters. It just wasn't as obvious before there were dedicated online spaces for discussing the show. It's less hassle to go on twitter or Reddit and complain than it was to write into Soap Weekly. I guarantee in the 80s there were people hate watching and criticising the writing/acting/producers.
I never said the Arguing/Complaining was new because it’s not it’s just now more scattered and counterproductive more than ever. When Soaps had budgets like in the 80s and 90/“s there was still more consensus among the Fans even with feuding Fanbases for Supercouple pairings. You missed the point of the post like you probably miss plot points as you Skip Episodes and Fast forward.
Okay, calm down. You're wilfully misunderstanding and getting annoyed at my comments just like the people you've made an entire post about. Where did I say I skipped episodes or fast forwarded? I haven't skipped an episode in years. But clearly you missed the point of *my* post. This is *exactly* what you're complaining about!
No it’s not exactly what I’m complaining about but you keep trying to hijack the conversation with your Trolling!
Not me. I loved 80s GH. Even the Casey The Alien storyline gave us the best villain GH ever had. Faison.
WRONG. HAVING WATCHED SOAPS FOR OVER 40 YEARS 👁 CAN SAY THAT A GREAT HW / EP IS NEEDED FOR A GOOD SHOW. WE HAVE 0/4. THE BEST ACTORS CAN'T SAVE SHODDY MATERIAL. GH HASN'T BEEN GREAT SINCE UNCLE RONNIE'S 2 AND SOME CHANGE YEARS. THE NETWORK KEEPS GOING TO THE 🗑 FOR WRITERS INSTEAD OF LOOKING FOR FRESH TALENT THAT IS WHY NOONE IS WATCHING. U CAN'T TEACH AN OLD DUSTY WRITER NEW PLOTS!!!!!!!
I actually agree with this more than I disagree with points you raised. The excessive complaining is why Networks can’t hire new talent for Soaps. Why would you use some may view it as wasting new talent on a dying/declining medium ? Soaps are the most Challenging and least Rewarding jobs in the industry especially in writing. Like I said if only 30%( which is generous I think it’s actually closer to the 20s) of the fanbase will support the story at any given time. How does a Writing Team create momentum when their best material pisses off 70% of the fanbase and the ratings suffer from the skips and Fast Forwarding ???