GENERAL HOSPITAL has done many things right since executive producer Frank Valentini and head writer Ron Carlivati took over the reins of the show in early 2012. It can certainly be argued that they saved this long time daytime drama from cancellation. The show was dreary and boring and they quickly revitalized it.Robin (Kimberly McCullough), slated to die for "real", was saved. Popular actors Finola Hughes, Lynn Herring, Robin Mattson, Kin Shriner, Kristina Wagner, and Tyler Christopher, among others, returned. The events leading up to the 2013 Nurses Ball were magical. I truly believe that Mr. Carlivati is a fan of the show and is trying hard to respect its history. He understands that fans want to see their favorite characters from the past.
However, as the months have gone on, I have noticed a disturbing trend. Some of the decisions about where to take certain stories are quite bizarre. Carly (Laura Wright) falls in love with Franco (Roger Howarth)? Franco then becomes the love child of Scott (Shriner) and Heather (Mattson)? Robin fights her way back from two years of captivity to be reunited with her young daughter and husband, and then voluntarily leaves them to save the life of a "frozen" Jason? Crazy Dr. Obrecht (Kathleen Gati) becomes Chief of Staff at General Hospital? Donna Mills' Madeline Reeves, first introduced as the mother of Silas' (Michael Easton) comatose wife, is revealed to be Magda Westbourne (Donna Mills), Obrecht's sister? Does everyone have to be related to each other on this show?
While every drama has their "off" moments, it has occurred to me in recent times that some viewers I know feel guilty saying they are not happy with the direction of GH. Was the show so close to cancellation that we have to be grateful it's even on the air. Yes, GH was going to be most likely cancelled. But the show doesn't get a free pass when it's going off track. The fact that the show was revitalized is even more reason to turn a critical eye on the show. Viewers deserve better than they are getting in some cases.
I don't believe Mr. Carlivati is helping matters by his presence on Twitter, at least for me personally. He tweets on a daily basis about his own characters, as if he isn't the one who is writing the show. He even gets into arguments with fans who are upset about certain plot twists. Then there was the infamous Twitter war with actor John Stamos, insulting the WGA Award-winning DAYS OF OUR LIVE writers, and this tweet to the innocuous comments actor Sean Kanan made to TV Guide Magazine's Michael Logan:
"@TVGMLogan @seankanan @GeneralHospital "His comments are like school in the summertime. No class."
At what point do you separate yourself from the show you are writing? Where is the professionalism?
So what is going on? How much love can you give your own show that you ultimately end up turning viewers off? Port Charles doesn't remotely resemble a town that is based in reality, and this is not a new development, but the constantly changing DNA and back-from-the-dead shenanigans make it hard to invest in some of the stories. It's hard to take some of it seriously at this point, and this is a show that is famous for freezing the world.
Believe me, I am very happy that GENERAL HOSPITAL is still with us. We were very close to losing this iconic soap. There certainly are things I am enjoying about General Hospital. The denouement to the Nikolas-Brit engagement was fantastic. I thought "Carlypalooza" was inspired and a beautiful way to honor what Sarah Brown and Tamara Braun brought to the role of Carly. But I can't excuse a soap that is becoming more and more outlandish, while the head writer blasts fans for their criticism. He might be better served spending time trying to understand why some fans are unhappy instead of thinking up clever ways to cut them down. I am very curious what you think. I've had to stop reading some tweets so that I can enjoy the show more. Are you enjoying GENERAL HOSPITAL these days? Excited about the latest plot twists? Do you think that Ron Carlivati is going too far on Twitter? Can there ever be too many characters returning from the dead? Can GH characters, like Heather, ever be too outlandish? I am curious about your thoughts. Sound off in the Comments section below.
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