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Anyone else feel this is the best daytime serial?

posted 8 years ago by jarrodmcdonald-1
18 replies | jump to latest

All four of our soaps have merits and shortcomings. GH, however, just has so many merits. As I am doing the Today's Focus threads each day, it may seem like I am nitpicking and trying to find faults-- but it's really that I think this show is so close to perfect that it's all the little fine tunings I want them to do to make it perfect.

What I love:

1. The characters are more sharply defined on this show.

2. The vets do not phone it in. Ever. And the recurring vets are just there to act because they love it and probably aren't obsessed about being put back on contract. They consistently add quality and excellence to the episodes in which they appear.

3. The sets are furnished exactly right.

4. The lighting is balanced between film noir-gangster and bright screwball comedy. This is necessary when you have Maxie and Sonny, two characters who could not be more dissimilar, driving frontburner storylines.

5. Several of the lead actresses have started to lose their looks, and they are not being pushed off the screen or into the background. In fact, they are just as prominent as ever. This industry is hard on older women, but I think Frank Valenti respects these gals and so do the two lady headwriters.

6. The child actors are superb-- better than in primetime and the movies. I don't know where they find 'em!

7. The show honors its history. I teared up when I saw Ned put a slice of pizza on the mantel next to Lila & Edward's photo during the Thanksgiving episode.

8. This show has the best director in all of daytime-- William Ludel. GH would not be so good without him. What are they going to do when he retires?

9. I never feel like this is a show made in California. I feel New York when I watch GH. Don't you?

10. This show has the best actor in daytime. He's better than all the others. Maurice Benard has never mellowed, I hope he never does, he keeps Sonny as edgy as day one. I love watching him perform!

[–] Youcanmakeabettermovie 8 years ago

I would hardly say GH is perfect but it is definitely the best of the 4 current soaps.

DOOL made amateur porn acting look good.
Y&R looked nice but was very dull.
B&B is very cheesy but has nice sets and some good actors (from GH, no surprise there).

Really, Maurice has never mellowed? He looks like he doesn't have a pulse most days! When he has an interesting story like Morgan's death, he comes alive.

GH has talented actors who make silly storylines like "Beauty and the Beast" with Valentin and Anna way more intense than they have any right to be.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 8 years ago

Maurice has never mellowed? He looks like he doesn't have a pulse most days! When he has an interesting story like Morgan's death, he comes alive.

I feel like he is always simmering, ready to boil over, even when he seems to have no pulse. LOL In the Thanksgiving episode, when Nelle came to his house and said Carly had kissed Jax, he exploded on a dime. It literally scared me watching it-- not since the late great Michael Zaslow played Roger Thorpe on Guiding Light, have I felt that an actor can surprise me in a scene. We expect Sonny to be lethal but never quite know how or when it's going to manifest itself. I also like how Maurice hints at Sonny's carnal side-- with the possible exception of Kin Shriner, the other actors are almost non-sexual until they get a note in the script that says they're supposed to play a love scene. But with Maurice, it's like he understands Sonny should be undressing most of the women in his mind. So in addition to the edginess, we get a strong undercurrent of virility even when he appears to be subdued. I just love watching how he plays this character.

[–] Cosmoeticadotcom 8 years ago

If GH is the best, then soaps deserve to die off.

[–] suze-4 8 years ago

Yes. I was a Days, Another World, and Santa Barbara fan in the 80s. This past year I determined to get into all four soaps that still exist. Little by little I realized Y&R is unwatchable, B&B is unbelievable but fun to watch certain actors, Days is a poorly written and acted parody of what it once was, and GH grabbed me and wouldn't let me go because of various storylines. I had no intention of getting into GH but I could not help it. And it's got some great actors who do not do that soap opera pausing with all their lines. I never watched it before and now it's the one I look forward to. People who carp about it in any way - try watching one of the others for a solid week and you'll never complain about GH again. I didn't even like Valentin at first. Now I can't wait to see his past unfold. I mostly only cared about Julia from Santa Barbara being on it. I love her. But now I know her as Alexis and admire her acting even more. Then I noticed how awesome the villains were. I began to love Ava, Sonny, Franco...I was shocked when Morgan died. Shocked when Paul was the hospital killer. Loved the same sex romance between Kristina and her professor. And other storylines were also drawing me in. The people have depth. I love the way they are not one dimensional cardboard characters. This show is written and acted well. I didn't watch it in the past so I can't compare, but if it's this great now, I'm sorry I didn't watch it all along. Yes there are soapy scenarios but they are done with wit and not dragged out and dumbed down. Days used to be like this...maybe the others did too. But GH has all the good stuff now.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 8 years ago

Such a great comment, suze. We've had countless discussions on the Days message board about our shared disappointments in the storytelling on that soap. Maybe there's a chance it will finally improve now (re: Carlivati's recent hiring).

Valentin is definitely the most interesting newer character on GH. But you know what, I almost like Charlotte more. My eyes are on her in their scenes together, because her reactions are so well placed. As she gets older, I hope they make her more his Achilles heel. We know they are not bringing him on to be a big teddy bear, so when he starts to get more and more villainous, I expect them to use Charlotte to reach his vulnerable side.

Nancy Grahn is prone to over-acting but she's so consistently entertaining I can forgive 95% of it. I also watched her on Santa Barbara back in the 80s and early 90s. I remember when she started on GH-- I never thought she'd be the female lead X number of decades later. What I appreciate about her is that I think she's kind of had a hard time in her off-camera personal life. Some of Nancy's failings come into Alexis and as a result we get a flesh and bones career woman who has been liberated to the point that she is happy in all areas of her life, except with men, where it seems to count most. Despite the melodramatic plots, her presence brings with it a very raw dichotomy.

[–] SoapWatch 8 years ago

I mostly only cared about Julia from Santa Barbara being on it. I love her.

I remember Nancy Lee Grahn on SB in a plot where she was having romantic dreams or something that she was getting lost in and not wanting to come out of. I believe she had something mentally wrong with her and the guy who played Cameron Lewis here on GH played her husband trying to save her from her mental state of mind.

Usually I only tuned in to SB from someone I knew from another soap being on it but NLG was one who I ended up liking directly from watching that soap.

Robin Mattson (Heather) was also great on that soap in a role much better than her character on GH.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 8 years ago

I remember Nancy Lee Grahn on SB in a plot where she was having romantic dreams or something that she was getting lost in and not wanting to come out of. I believe she had something mentally wrong with her and the guy who played Cameron Lewis here on GH played her husband trying to save her from her mental state of mind.

I think I know what story you are referencing. Lane Davies (the guy who played the original Mason on SB and later Cameron on GH) had outs in his contract every summer so he could go off and do Shakespearean festivals. He was first and foremost a stage actor. So each year they had to devise some dramatic way to get him off canvas.

One summer, Mason was kidnapped and Julia (Nancy's character) spent two months trying to find him. She visited a psychic and there were visions in a crystal ball about where he was being held captive. She kept replaying in her mind what they had glimpsed in the crystal ball when she was getting close to locating him. It was pretty campy. He had pre-taped the crystal ball scenes before he went on his temporary sabbatical. Of course, she found him at the end of the summer and things went back to "normal."

[–] SoapWatch 8 years ago

One thing I've noticed about the 4 soaps remaining is that all 4 are entirely different and not even close to being the same. When I try to recommend a soap to a friend, I find myself recommending different ones according to what my friends are like. I feel most of my guy friends would like GH the most mainly due to the mobster ran families.

With that said, I find GH is the more exciting soap to watch. Scenes move very fast lasting anywhere from 1-3 minutes tops mainly due to the fact that every character's plot is shown in every segment of the show in between commercial breaks. That isn't done on the other soaps (though Y&R is close).

B&B is the most elaborate soap I have ever seen on the air in ALL of soap opera history and I've been watching soaps for at least a half of a century. GH could take a few lessons from them in upping their game on that note ... but at the same time, B&B could take a few lessons from GH at adding a more faster pace with their scenes. The most we get there are 2-3 scenes in between commercial breaks and the show takes their leading storyline and shows practically nothing else for weeks. So many characters get deprived to where GH is the opposite with their character's plots resulting in a much better balance with their contract players.

I'd say the two soaps are probably each others opposites. Aside from it's elaborate location shots, B&B does drama better than GH because it can grab your attention using the old fashioned type formula that's made soaps click back in the day to where GH just can't do the task without slowing itself down ... which is something rarely done unless they're at the climax of a plot build-up we've waited weeks for.

One of the main exciting things about GH is the final cliff hanger scene at the end of each episode. Somehow or another, you know from what just happened in the fast paced climactic scene just shown that they are about to fade to black with some character about to announce, "On the next General Hospital" ... though sometimes they take me by surprise.

B&B does the opposite using slow paced drama build up mixed with an elaborate soundtrack pumping up the drama to pump up the adrenaline. Meanwhile you're eyes are staring at the screen thinking, "OMG! This is it!" and you find yourself anxious to see what happens in the next episode.

Somehow both formulas work for me simply because even though they are the opposite, they are both done well. I don't get that with Y&R and something they need to work on along with several other things.

Watching only 3 soaps, I can't say one is better than the other because it depends what one is in the mood for as a viewer. I always find myself anxious to watch one over the other when viewing my soaps ... and that seems to switch all the time in between GH & B&B (never Y&R, though it used to be when MAB ran it).

As for Days, when Ron takes over as HW, I will probably tune in mainly because I like some of the things he did at OLTL & GH. I certainly don't expect it to become better than the other soaps but I feel I'll be getting a taste of his GH there.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 8 years ago

SoapWatch,

Thanks for your thorough analysis. The reason I gave up on B&B is I felt the business stories and the Ridge-Brooke stuff had become excessively redundant. Susan Flannery kept me tuning in and when she left, I just stopped watching. I do agree that it is completely different in tone than GH.

As for Ron's next headwriting job, knowing his style as we do, I bet he will find it hard to resist the chance to revisit Marlena's original possession storyline. If so, there will undoubtedly be new twists. People will watch that too, and I am confident the ratings will go up with him.

[–] SoapWatch 8 years ago

Stephanie (Susan Flannery) is still referred to in flashbacks mostly during the Ridge-Brooke plot. Her character is definitely needed on the show a lot like Monica's is when hers is used wisely. That's another thing B&B could have took lessons from GH on in one of the things you mentioned and somehow work things out with the actress to use her once or twice a month.

Instead they pulled a shocker. They took Stephanie's iconic portrait down from above the mantle and replaced it with Quinn (Rena Soffer) from her being married to Eric.

It's all plot related but somehow or another you know from them doing that ... that eventually it's all going to come down crashing on Quinn and Stephanie's portrait will return where it belongs.

So even though she's gone, she's still used in plots through her character's absence.

[–] TheBayHarborButcher 8 years ago

I'm not a long time daytime soap viewer. I only started watching them about 5 or so years ago. However, I've sampled the other 3 soaps still on the air, and I definitely like GH the best. I watched Y&R for a while, but I haven't tuned in since before the holiday season began. I agree with you about GH's lighting as well as their music. They both create a good atmosphere for the show.

Additionally, one of the things that I think makes GH pretty great, and this is in regards to both prime time TV and daytime TV, is that just about anything can happen on this show. I like that we get spy stories, mafia stories, serial killer stories and romance stories. I can't think of many other shows that have blended so many different genres as GH has.

[–] jarrodmcdonald-1 8 years ago

one of the things that I think makes GH pretty great, and this is in regards to both prime time TV and daytime TV, is that just about anything can happen on this show. I like that we get spy stories, mafia stories, serial killer stories and romance stories. I can't think of many other shows that have blended so many different genres as GH has.

That's a really good point. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[–] melaniep-73085 8 years ago

I think it's better than the bold and the beautiful and days of our lives.

[–] SoapWatch 8 years ago

Fans condemn GH for it's mob based story but truthfully it's the thing that separates it from all the other soaps. Most don't realize GH has been doing mob stories since the 1970s.

The good thing is that they do other plots as well and mob plots play a smaller role on the soap than most realize.

[–] Cosmoeticadotcom 8 years ago

Mobsters can get as old as adulterers. The problem is GH has no new ideas nor direction.

That it is the best on means the format is doomed.

[–] TMC-4 (20160) 6 years ago

https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/lets-discuss-the-downfall-of-the-soaps.1233220/#post-32106886

Also, GH went downhill when Wendy Riche was fired to make way for Kill Farren Phelps (typo, but it stays) who, along with Bob Guza, decided that they wanted to make a Disneyfied version of The Sopranos at the expense of what made that show great in the 90s.

[–] Popcorngal (4804) a year ago

It is still mob based, but there are other stories now thankfully. I am 50/50 about it. I watch sporadically. But congrats on it's 60th anniversary.

[–] IcingOnTheCake 8 years ago

I've always preferred GH to any of the others. I don't like the original soap formula of just people sitting around talking about who was cheating on whom. I like the adventures. GH is a cross between a drama and adventure. That was the only reason I became a viewer on my own. I want more current adventures.