Volume I, Issue iv

December 1998

Five Voices: On Guza's Anniversary

Bob Guza returned as headwriter for General Hospital on December 8, 1997. The episode took place at Luke's club. It began with Guza's announcement through the voice of Luke that everything would be different; it ended with Nikolas Cassadine getting shot in the parking lot by a bullet meant for Jason. A year later, Guza has done both great things and awful things in our estimation, and we wanted to share with you, in conversation form, our thoughts on his work this time around.

Q: What do you think has been Guza's most successful storyline since his return?

AMY: I loved this storyline too, as you know, and while it had moments of brilliance mixed in with some not-so-great, I think it was the bravest thing any of these people could have done. The not-so-great was still better than anything else on the canvas (Luke's "stupid" plan to kill Helena included, for what it showed us of Luke's mental state), and perhaps my favorite thing about it was that Audrey came to face her own rape through her granddaughter's pain. Lovely.

That storyline also integrated several players, and I liked that. But it also came to isolate some of them. Because they were so wrapped up in their pain, they weren't available, it seemed, to interact across the board--again one of my main problems with Guza. Luke should have a place in the Carly storyline right now, and he absolutely doesn't. That's a Spencer kid, and he has mentioned him about once, not wanting to see him. For that matter, she's a Spencer kid. And while guilt plays a part in that distance, this is still family. He should be invested if only for Bobbie's sake.

Back to the rape. It was interesting to me to see this as yet another rewriting/retelling. You know that retellings are one of my favorite things, and the series of tellings from Luke, Laura, and Liz were fantastic. That's straying away from Guza's work, perhaps, so I'll leave it at that.

ARDA: The rape story would have to be the most successful, or perhaps the most ambitious--"bravest" as Amy put it. Certainly in terms of showcasing the soap medium's ability to return to a 20-year old story using the same actors, the rape story has no peer. The other stories paled significantly by comparison. But honorable mention should go to Carly's story--her revelation that she's Bobbie's daughter.

AMY: You're right; Carly cannot be overlooked. Her addition to the General Hospital canvas has been tremendous, and while her storyline has faltered here at the end of the year, she is a powerhouse when it comes to integration. We have so many fathers and sons on this show that it was nice to get a mother/daughter combination.

I also think that Jerry Jax was an intelligent move, even though people didn't want to see him (think the Q's cook) after having heard about him for so long. While I wasn't convinced with his first appearance, shortly after he won me over. Guza, perhaps, is then responsible for his storyline, and while one-note Tony is driving me up the nearest wall, I have liked the Bobbie and Jerry stuff for what it reveals about both of them. And he's kept the playing field remarkably level in that custody threat. I like that, because it shows Bobbie's own culpability.

TERRY: I don't know if it can necessarily be considered "successful," since it does seem to have suffered from stops and starts, but my favorite Guza storyline has been the collection of stories that revolve around Laura--the Stefan/Laura past and present, the relationship of Laura and her children, the Spencer marital problems. These stories are all so interrelated that I think of them as a single storyline, but I don't really like using the "Spencer/Cassadine feud" label, because as Luke pointed out to Laura in a recent episode, Laura is the feud (and yet, paradoxically, she is the person most hurt by, and most interested in ending, that same feud).

I really think, although I have only gossip and intuition on which to base this idea, that the story would be more clearly "successful" if Guza were left in peace to tell it as he wants to tell it. It isn't clear to me what is going on backstage but it is clear that something is going on, that there is some level of nervousness about "messing with the franchise" of the Supercouple Luke and Laura. There has been a tentativeness in the telling of this story, and I wind up with the impression, accurate or not, that the story is being "tested." For example, more than a month ago, we got a few days of intriguing flashback scenes, glimpses into the Stefan/Laura romance from the island. Then--nothing. It was as if they gave us a taste and waited to see how the audience reacted. I know there is a certain amount of such monitoring of fan reaction that goes on with every soap and every story, but I can't shake the impression that there is more of it here than usual.

AMY: And yet, oddly enough, these people sometimes make the feud about other things--lies, Nikolas, etc. What's good about this year is that it's become very clear that this thing between Stefan and Luke isn't about past injuries done by families, but about one woman in the present. Furthermore, it isn't about Stefan and Luke at the heart of the matter. It's about Laura and Luke, Laura and Stefan.

The nervousness you describe is too bad. I've found it intriguing to think about how a Supercouple--definitely an 80s phenomenon in my mind--can or can't exist in the 90s. Luke and Laura as we knew them then simply can't happen now. We are left, once the over-the-top adventure storylines are gone, to see them in a more realistic way. And these are two of the most insecure people on the planet. To examine that, to see the fault lines beneath the things they've--and we've--taken for granted all these years is amazingly smart. I agree, however, that the execution has been bumpy. Also, they've given us an out, in that Stefan wasn't being honest, and that weakens his side of the polygon. Those who don't like this story can hate him for that, and there's the out. The fan reaction has been huge, at least on the Internet--and hugely bad. It's really a shame, too, because this hedging you describe is keeping Guza from doing anything truly scandalous or irreparable--at least nothing as drastic as some would make it out to be. Think of all the rumors that did not happen: Laura's moving in to Wyndemere this summer, her having an affair with Stefan, etc.

Q: What would you name as his greatest strength?

JOAN: Guza is not afraid to tackle big issues, and he's not afraid to shoot at big targets. Sometimes it pays off; sometimes it misfires. When the payoff is good, it's spectacular, but that always means that it provides the occasion for superlative acting. It's not the story itself, or not entirely--there have been a couple of truly audacious things that are triumphs of writing--but the opportunity he creates for great moments.

AMY: At the same time, while some of his material is fabulous in the way you describe (his willingness to question the whole idea of a Supercouple in the 90s, as well as to examine the psychology of Luke and Laura in the face of fans who are adamantly against it fascinates me to no end), some of it is stereotypical soap stuff. Paternity, family, romantic triangles. Sometimes he plays that well-known stuff up with a twist and it's just so darned good that I don't care if I've seen it before. But other times it falls flat. Alan's addiction? The most boring piece of writing this year. There was potential for a great Q storyline there, but Alan's remained isolated and we've only had a few random scenes that explore what's going on in his relationships to family. And since Carly's come back from the institution, that triangle has only brought out the worst and shrillest of everybody involved: Carly, Jason, Robin, Edward, and AJ.

Q: His greatest weakness?

AMY: Agreed on all counts, and you said it better than I did. I'm a huge fan of his version of character "deconstruction." Luke and Laura were crying out for it, I think. But the insistence on deconstructing everybody and everything in sight all at the same time leads to simple destruction, in my mind, and precisely because he doesn't then seem to want to build them back up. They should have to face things they've taken for granted, deal with consequences, and then learn something and come back around--the wheel of fortune (no, not the game show) turning and turning.

ARDA: Certainly not all characters need deconstruction. And sometimes the deconstruction doesn't accomplish very much. Take Jax, for example. How is Jax today different from the pre-deconstruction Jax? I don't see a great deal of difference. Jax has lost the woman he loved and his faith and understanding of his family has been shaken. But we don't see how this has changed Jax. I think this may be partly because the character of Jax doesn't have the depth required to withstand a deconstruction, whereas multi-layered and complex characters such as Luke and Laura are ideal candidates.

The isolation of the characters concerns me more than the deconstruction issues. With rare exceptions, we don't see more than two or three people in a scene, and there's a pronounced rigidity in the issue of who interacts with whom. For me, Guza's greatest weakness is his apparent inability to have the characters relate to more than a handful of people.

AMY: Yes. Yes. Yes. My two complaints are easy. 1) The divisions between storylines and 2) the lack of "middles."

As you say, Guza does the big beginnings really well. Endings, not so well. Middles? He doesn't do them at all, it seems. What we end up with is the explosion at Luke's to the Bacchanalia to the revelation to Luke that Nikolas is Stefan's son. What came in between? Well, I can tell you because I'm a Spencer fan, but it ain't much.

The scriptwriters and the performers keep my attention where the plotting doesn't, but even that's been lessened because of #1 above. So where are my Luke and Edward scenes over Carly's kid? Where are the scenes between Tony and Laura (ok we got one)? Where are my scenes between Stefan and the GH people (where are the scenes at GH at all?) over the workings of the hospital and Alan's addiction and absence, for crying out loud? Where are the scenes between the Qs and anybody else on the block (Kathy doesn't count because she's even more poorly written than they are)? We get some lapping over around Ned and Alexis with various people, but mostly everything's tidy and in its place. I miss the scenes at The Outback when everybody in the room had a present, real connection with everybody else and we switched from table to table. You never see that now. And while character history comes into play, it's only the dark troubling parts--the revelations. Not the more everyday things.

TERRY: He does tend to drag things out too long, but to be honest, this tendency confuses me. I vaguely remember his doing that during his first stint as GH headwriter, before he left for Sunset Beach. I notice that it happens now. But I keep coming back to the SB period--I was one of those who followed him over to his new soap (while still remaining loyal to GH, as well), and one of the things that really captured my attention about SB was that it moved so quickly.

I loved the pacing, and it seemed clear that it was coming from Guza. Things slowed down when some viewers complained (and most soap fans remained indifferent to the new soap). I eventually gave up on SB, but I hung on for Guza's whole tenure. But I digress. I have to wonder if the slow pace on GH these days is dictated by Guza or by other forces. He can write fast-moving stories when he wants to, as SB attests, and when called upon at GH, he has done some fairly good things along that line. Brenda's departure storyline may have been a bit forced, but it held up fairly well, in my book, and didn't appear too rushed even though it sped along, in order to get Vanessa Marcil off-screen as soon as he needed to and still not leave too many loose ends dangling.

AMY: Now that's a thing that's gone unnoticed in these comments so far, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. (We didn't get flashbacks from the L&B period, but that may not be Guza's doing.) I thought that things were handled well, in a subtle manner, rather than something huge, and Veronica was magnificent.

JUDY: The majority of the characters no longer seem to care about each other, and so I'm starting not to care too. Of course, a lot of them have become so unlikable in their one-note, selfish pursuits, that I guess the lack of a community feeling is to be expected. Why must so many of them be 'deconstructed' at the same time? Like a Minnesota December, it's just too damned dark and depressing.

AMY: Yes, this would be my third complaint. There's no balance of tone; it's all dark, tense, troubled, fraught...you get the idea. I reveled in those few weeks of really light Mac and Felicia stuff, but it was filler, more than a plotline. Once the kids get past the rape, could they have fun, maybe? Or perhaps V and Alexis and the boys will do something amusing (in recent past the Gatehouse has always had this great blend of drama and comedy, lightness and tension, and I'd like to see it again)?

ARDA: GH has had no joyful celebrations all year long. The Nurses' Ball had a great deal of tension with the General Homicide fears, and the Bacchanalia was less about celebration than about Stefan's manipulation of Katherine and Laura, Luke and Alexis's plan to kill Helena, and ended in Katherine's death. I don't want to go back to the days of baby showers attended by nearly every character and where the viewers were supposed to be entertained by the opening of presents. But a bit of Shakespearean comedy--forest of Arden type celebration of community--would be most welcome.

Q: If you could ask Guza one question upon his anniversary, what would it be?

TERRY: Just one? I'd ask him how much independence he has, how much latitude he has in terms of killing off characters, sticking with "unpopular" stories, deciding what stories to feature, in fact what stories to tell. I want to know how much of what we see onscreen is his vision, and how much of it is the vision of a collective "the powers that be" or of Wendy Riche or of the ABC brass, etc.

And then, if I could slip in other questions, I'd ask him if he really tried to write Mary Beth Evans/ Katherine out by making Kat really truly dead, what he'd learned from his Sunset Beach experience, and if he lurked online at the message boards and on rec.arts.tv.soaps.abc.

AMY: Heh heh heh heh heh. Is it too "Katty" for me to say that this was one of my favorite plot moments from Guza this year?

Oddly enough, I'm thinking I'd ask him for more of the Qs. When done well, they're fascinating. Every family on GH has their own rhythm, their own feel. And to have the integration that we all want, each part of the show has to be strong in its own right.

Q: If you could offer a single criticism (positive or negative) what would it be?

TERRY: Now there's an opening I can't resist. I'd tell Guza that I appreciate his insistence on telling the Stefan/Laura/Luke story, and appreciate even more that it isn't a simple 'torn between two lovers' triangle. I'd remind him of how much fans seemed to love the Greek Island flashbacks and ask him to give us more of them in the future. *G*

AMY: Don't depend on explosions and firearms to give stories a shot in the arm every 3 months. Those huge group scenes are not the way to create a sustained integration, nor are they a way to achieve solid, continuous character development. As for the positive, if it was you who put Nikolas in Katherine's bed? Way to go Bob. *G*

ARDA: I'd like to see a more balanced show. I like the overall "dark" tone of the show, but I'd like to see a little more light. I'd like to see more stories being juggled simultaneously--too often we see one story in the forefront, involving a handful of characters while the other characters are nowhere to be seen. GH is fortunate to have a talented cast, but too many of these wonderful actors are underused. For example, I'd like to see Wally Kurth's Ned Ashton doing something other than being a "gatekeeper." And I'd like to see some of the "public" sets more often -- sets such as the hospital, the Outback, Luke's Club (not just Luke's office). Mostly, to paraphrase Joan, I want half the characters to be introduced to the other half.

JUDY: Guza jump-started a nearly-dead GH last December, and, for that, I'm extremely grateful. But, for me, that was his crowning achievement, and the rest has been downhill from there. As I've mentioned before, he's great at beginnings, he's so-so at endings, but he's unable to sustain the "middle part", making for a lot of boring nothing happening between explosions...back to the minefield, again.

Back in December, we needed that 'explosion'; we needed that huge event. But what we need now is continuity, smoothness, interconnectedness, and good story-telling from start to finish. Nice flowing arcs instead of abrupt angles. And maybe, when the time is right, the occasional explosion *G*.