More Thoughts on General Hospital
By
Carolyn Aspenson

Did you see it? Have you been watching? If you have you might know what I’m talking about. If not, I’ll give you a hint. Wednesday and Thursday’s episode. Does that help? If you haven’t seen those episodes and you’ve got them on tape, quick. Go watch them now! If you have to wait until Saturday to watch the Soapnet marathon, you’re going to be very, very happy. Those of you who watched, you should know by now what I’m talking about...Wednesday was Journey-free and Thursday, there was absolutely no Sonny and no Carly! There was actually time for other actors and other stories. It was like dying and going to soap opera heaven. It was like the days before Guza and Pratt. (When I complained about all sorts of other things, but that’s another story entirely!)

Not that I don’t enjoy seeing Sonny tormented and falling of the edge of sanity, but it does get a bit old. Besides, I’m still in distress over the fact that Carly’s bum is still the same as it ever was and hasn’t grown even a centimeter since Sonny knocked her up. (By the way, the comment in the October 13th SID about Carly’s bum was MINE! I’m the one who said that at her fan event! I’ve been officially published! Well, sort of!) It’s just nice to see the other actors on GH for a change.

I’ve heard a few rumors about the sudden absence of the Fab Four from our screens every minute of every episode. The best rumor I’ve heard, the one that seems the most plausible, is that the king of GH has returned, taken pen to paper and rewritten many (if not all) scripts. Welcome back Tony Geary! You’ve been missed! Did you notice, once he came back the opening credits changed again? He’s back in them and it’s not all Fab Four shots. I’d say the guy’s got a bit of pull, what do you think?

Did you also notice the humorous slant to this weeks shows? Unfortunately I can’t tape them (my dish and VCR don’t get along and I’m the one who has to suffer) but I can recall a few of the scenes that tickled me in the belly and got my leg pumpin’. Dillon with the video camera. The French guy. Scotty and Luke. Scotty and Ric. Dillon and Georgie in the old movie scene. Courtney smiling and Alicia seriously laughing in a scene. Liz screwing up and telling Em about her and Zander and the look on Em’s face! Luke. Luke and more Luke. He’s back, rested and in full swing!

It was all actually pretty damn good for a change! Sorry Bob, Sorry Chuck, but you two oughta take pointers from the pro because he’s outsmarted you both and brought back some fun to the 3pm EST hour. I have to admit, this is the first time in a long time I felt like I wanted to watch General Hospital. What about you?

Now I’m not one to normally jump on the bandwagon, but I thought I’d go through list of things I like and things that annoy me about General Hospital. Okay, so I’m jumping on the bandwagon now but tough. I get to do what I want during the hours of 8am and 2pm while my kids are at school and it’s only 1pm so I still have an hour left and I want to make my list.

What Carolyn Likes About General Hospital

1. Nikolas saying “I love you”. Makes me all warm and fuzzy (and hot!) inside.
2. Greg Vaughn’s portrayal of Lucky. Notice he doesn’t yell? He actually uses a soft voice!
3. Zander dumping Emily because he deserves better.
4. Magic cures for cancer and blindness
5. Bobbi Spencer. I was actually starting to miss those big ta ta’s!
6. Dillon and Georgie. Actually, anything Dillon.
7. Edward Q
8. Ted King. Oh, I mean Alcazar
9. Faith
10. Sonny losing it and Jason being the one who’s always right
11. Tracy’s coming back!
12. Ric trying to redeem himself and wearing a suit again. Mighty fine lookin’ guy in a suit!
13. Stephen Nichols writing his own lines and saying “Screw GH, I’m doing it my way!”
14. Luke’s lines. Pretty much all of them
15. Jackets in appropriate weather (except now Jason isn’t wearing his in France and that’s the place he should be!)
16. Alexis and Cameron living together

What Annoys Carolyn About General Hospital

1. Sonny losing it and Jason being the one who’s always right but NO ONE listens to him or acknowledges it!
2. Magic cures for cancer and blindness
3. Jax and Sam
4. Jax and anyone
5. Stefan being ‘killed off’
6. Lydia whining over and over and over again. That girl should be the mascot for the Energizer battery. She’s outlasted that damn bunny! SHUT UP already!
7. Carly’s butt
8. Carly and Sonny still being together and Carly NOT leaving his sorry ass for Alcazar!
9. Not enough Faith
10. Coleman’s totally useless absence from my screen
11. Lucky’s world record police academy schooling and graduation
12. Gia being totally eliminated from my screen when she should be going after Zander in his time of weakness
13. Skye
14. Alexis and Cameron living together but barely being on screen
15. The character of Johnny being destroyed due to immaturity within the writing department of GH
16. The character of Scott Egan being destroyed due to the immaturity of small souled people
17. The fact that Stephen Nichols is in the opening credits but is leaving the show
18. The mysterious disappearance of Alan and Monica
19. The screwed up judicial system of PC
20. Jax (did I already say that?)
21. The totally and utterly horrible lack of shirtless men such as ALCAZAR on my screen
23. Dead people haunting stories
24. Too much of what used to be a good thing (AKA the drab four)

Yes, there are still things I don’t like about General Hospital. Honestly, there will always be things I don’t like about General Hospital (remember that stupid alien story? Still my least favorite storyline to date!). But it’s getting better and even I, the pessimistic, negative frump that I can be, can admit it.

I like that my screen isn’t all about the drab four every day. Just about every day, but this week holds hope. I like that there are other storylines going on and great scoops ahead. There are things happening that could lead to a lot of fun. Wouldn’t it be great to have Carly finally tell Sonny to shove it and turn to Alcazar? Perhaps Sonny could end up with imitation Lilly? What about Zander and Elizabeth? Who’da thunk those two would end up in the sack again? And using Becky’s pregnancy in that storyline is priceless! What a way to really screw up some relationships? The possibility that Stefan isn’t really dead is delicious! And the turmoil created by Lucky becoming a cop and arresting Luke just swims in the sea of major family therapy! I’m loving the possibilities!

Let’s just hope Anthony Geary can keep it up and show the writers a thing or two about a real soap opera! Because if anyone on that show knows what a real soap is, it’s Anthony Geary. Welcome back!

Wait a minute. I’ve been re-reading my column, shocked at the almost completely positive tone to it. I’m a bit concerned. Maybe I’m just a bit too excited about something that isn’t really happening. I realized, after re-reading this that there was only 1 out of 5 days where there was no Sonny and Carly. And only 1 out of 5 days without Jason and Courtney. And as Katrina noted in her commentary on the GH scoops...They’re all about SonnyCarlyJasonCourtney. Almost every last one of them. Hmm...Maybe I’ve spoke too soon? Maybe I got all excited about something that really isn’t happening? Who knows. I think I just need to sit back and relax and watch and see what’s going to happen. I’ll try to remain positive, but you just never know!
Oh, by the way...Did anyone watch the Sunday night episode of Charmed, “Dirty Blondes”? If so, did you notice that Jennifer Sky, formerly known as the lousy redition of Sarah Weber was a guest star? Whoda thunk the girl could look that good and could act too! I was impressed. Just more proof of the writers inability to under use the actors on General Hospital.

As always, if anyone has any comments, questions, concerns, etc. please feel free to email me at carolyn@eyeonsoaps.com. I love to hear from you all! Have a great week.