June 15, 2006

In just over a month I’ll again be attending the General Hospital Fan Club Luncheon in Studio City, CA.  Several EOS staff will attend.  Some I know and some I know in print only. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing my old friends.  I started writing for EOS a few years ago. I can’t remember when now because it seems like it’s always been a part of my life.  I started surfing for GH info and was truly amazed at the amount of it online.  I never realized people actually took the time to create websites about things like soap operas.  It clearly seemed like too much work for me. I was happy just to read the information.  

I read all of the columns on EOS and for reasons I don’t remember and don’t know if I knew anyway, I started emailing Kathy.  We became fast friends.  I also emailed Katrina and finally convinced her to let me write for the site.  After a few months, I realized I was right.  Creating and maintaining EOS is too much  work for me.  Thankfully I don’t have to do it.  If I did, it would have lasted about…well, it wouldn’t have even started!  Katrina spends a lot of time on this site and she really deserves a lot of credit.  If it weren’t for her efforts, I wouldn’t have made the friends that I have nor would I have had the chance to ask Ted King if it really does look bigger when he shaves. 

Speaking of Ted  King…am  I mistaken or did I actually see him on GH this week?  I know he’s been on a time or two but with one half of his couple about to burst out a baby, his airtime is limited at best.  That frustrated me and got me thinking at the same time.  

Yes, there are staple characters who are consistently present in 99% of the episodes…Sonny.  Jason.  Carly.  They’re the power troupe similar to the Luke, Laura and Robert days.  Funny how I loved the Luke, Laura and Robert days but I don’t particularly enjoy the Sonny, Jason and Carly days.  What frustrates me most is the fact that soaps keep some wonderful actors primarily in the background when their appeal and talent justify more front burner stories.  Ted King is a good example.   

Right now GH is focused on Sam and Jason, Sonny and Emily, Jax and Carly, Liz and Lucky, Georgie and Dillon, Ric and Alexis and a few other stories tossed in for good measure.  I’m not saying I don’t like these characters, in fact I’m thrilled Lucky finally has a story because Greg Vaughn would surely leave for butter pastures if something didn’t happen soon.  (I crack me up!) What I am saying is there are several amazing actors and characters people love sitting in the wings waiting to be tossed a bone for a scene shot.    

Why is that?  Ted King has an incredibly strong appeal to the fans of GH.  His line at the luncheon has stretched farther than any of the other actors present.  Any.  Other.  Actors.

It would seem obvious with such a pull, the writers would utilize his talents and play off his popularity.  But they don’t.  Instead they stick with the constants.  Honestly, how many people aren’t sick of some of these main characters?  The actors are wonderful. They truly are.  It’s not them.  It’s the characters.  We grow tired of them and long for something new.  But not something new with the same characters.   

It baffles my mind to see people like Ted King and Billy Warlock (oh, how I miss him!) stuck in the background.  The should be front burner actors just as much, if not more than those already in the front.  Why?  For obvious reasons, of course.  They can act and they’re hot.  Ted King and Billy Warlock both had successful prime time shows with a strong fan base so it would seem logical to use that success on GH, right?  Apparently not. 

GH took two talented actors who are sexy and charming and made them love-sick puppies and pathetically weak men instead of the strong characters they should be.  Sure, Alcazar has his strengths but they’re secondary to his weaker qualities shown as of late.  Some might call those qualities loving but I disagree.   Men can be loving and strong at the same time.  Take Jason, for example.  Why can’t the writers do the same for characters like Alcazar and the ‘late’ AJ?  I truly believe if they took the back burner actors and moved them to the front (really to the front, not just sort of) we’d have a stronger show, a happy audience and actors that would stick it out a lot longer for those very same reasons.