Quick Takes
Dying for Ratings
by Joan Roseman
Why do so many feti have to die in order to garner Emmys for their soap parents?
It is true that GH lags far behind other soaps in the numbers of pregnancies
that never result in live births; perhaps it is because the writers seldom resort
to this device they believed that this time the potential to kill, if you will
excuse the expression, two birds with one stone would be palatable. It isn't.
Why did they think Carly losing her baby was a good idea? I can spell it out in
seven letters: R-A-T-I-N-G-S.
1. Carly gets to lose what some feel she never deserved while possibly earning
sympathy for that loss.
2. Maurice Benard get an opportunity to exhibit an amazing range of emotions in
what amounts to a one-man show certain to figure in the 2000 Emmy reel.
For sheer bravura performances, not only by Benard but also John Ingle, Billy
Warlock and Brad Maule, my thumb is up. For loading Sonny down with not one but
two dead feti, and to the writing team that couldn't see the potential in a Mobster
Family Robinson storyline, my thumb couldn't be further down.
There are No Small Actors, Only Small Roles
by Amy McWilliams
The city of Port Charles has become richer over the past months. To the contract
and supporting players, and to the recurring roles that offer so much spice to
our viewing life, the powers that be at Port Charles and General Hospital
have added some delightful (and some not so delightful) short-term or bit players
that have made the regulars seem not quite so isolated.
PC has surpassed its mother show in this regard, with its decision
to feature some short-arc storylines along with the regular ongoing sagas of its
main characters. Though Donatella Stewart did nothing for me, I will admit to
enjoying Linda Dano's Rae Cummings, if not her storyline, more than I expected
to (though I still resent the marketing mindset of her mega-crossover to all four
ABC soaps). In addition, we've had nurses and staff with more to do during and
since the recent hospital strike, and we've been introduced to Claire, a woman
dying of cancer, and Jamal, relative of Dara Jensen, who's shown up more than
once and is currently beginning what looks to be a short-term arc of his own.
While none of these characters has truly tickled my fancy (though I really enjoy
Frank's partner and wish he'd get more screentime), I wholeheartedly approve of
the additions. Claire, especially, demonstrates the benefit to the show from these
short-term or bit players; as Joan has pointed out, as we saw the reactions of
each character to her, we learned something about them as well. And that makes
the main characters feel more interconnected, even when they don't share scenes
with each other.
GH has suffered from a lack of interconnectedness more than its spin-off,
and, unfortunately, its use of bit characters has not led to precisely the same
effect. Sure, Roy and Bobbie encountered some colorful characters on their trip
out of town to get the goods on Larkin, but that storyline took them away from
the rest of the canvas. Characters like the Cassadine-hired (and Cassadine-killed)
doctor hint at connections, while others, like Lynn the talent agent, give us
the same means of seeing character reactions as Claire on PC. Meanwhile,
my favorites have been those characters who showed up along Lucky's way back to
Port Charles. Though most of the historical stops were devoid of all life forms,
we had delightful turns from the boat buyer, the waitress at the Triple L diner,
and the bar owners who gave Lucky a job. While the fact that most of these players
show up out of town means that they don't serve to integrate characters with each
other, it has been delightful to see familiar faces interacting with new people.
The antiques dealer, the woman (pastor?) at the church who spoke to Elizabeth
about Lucky, the businessmen and women who make it seem like these places of business
actually do business: all have contributed to making Port Charles seem like a
fuller, richer place to live. And while none of them can rival Slick or O'Reilly,
the new proliferation of small characters is a very good thing.
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