The GH Official Thread

[crossfamily]

I agree!

Me too!! Sonny is such an

 

[Simba's Mom]

Sometimes, I'd just love to see Jason turn on Sonny and yell back at him, starting with "That's enough! I've had it!" That would be so cool, I think.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Did anyone notice that when Jason arrived, Carly hugged him and said "Our little boy was shot".

Carly did tell Sonny that this was all his fault. And that Micheal was under his protection. What I would like to know, it seemed like Dr. Devlin was only like 20 feet away form them. How in the heck could he escape without being seen. Then he gets to GH in 3 minutes. He must be superman.

 

[Dina]

Did anyone notice that when Jason arrived, Carly hugged him and said "Our little boy was shot".
.

I caught that (I actually rewound it for a second to double check if that's what she said). My heart broke for Jason more than anyone yesterday.

 

[cinmell]

Did anyone notice that when Jason arrived, Carly hugged him and said "Our little boy was shot".

I heard it. I was kind of annoyed with her. Jason has been there for Michael more than anyone, even Carly in my opinion. Carly's boys have always been stuck with Laticia or Mercedes. Carly will come home for minutes before she's out the door again. I'm surprised Morgan and Michael know she's their mother.

 

[JamieW]

Hey all, I'm a lurker in this thread. Here's an interview with the head writer I thought y'all would find interesting.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20189728,00.html

GH Writer Addresses Michael Shooting
''General Hospital'' head writer Bob Guza Jr. talks about the soap's decision to have 12-year-old Michael take a bullet as a result of all the mob violence that's infected Port Charles in recent years

Michael Corinthos (Dylan Cash) GH head writer Bob Guza Jr. says, ''Twelve-year-olds shouldn't be picking up guns; I don't care if your father is a gangster. And if they do, there's got to be a consequence.''
All AboutGeneral Hospital

By Abby West
On last Friday’s (April 4) General Hospital Michael Corinthos III, the 12-year-old son of local mob kingpin Sonny, was accidentally shot in the head, stunning even hardened GH fans, who are no strangers to gunplay on the ABC soap. Mobsters have fought over the apparently perfectly-positioned territory in the show's fictional town of Port Charles, NY for years. Still, even on a show known for violence, the shooting of a child is a risky move. But head writer Bob Guza Jr. says it plays into a larger theme he wants to promote.

''We've been accused before of glorifying violence,'' Guza says. ''But we always try to show the consequences. We do deal with mobsters. We can't just have them importing illegal tchatchkes from the Far East and getting a slap on the wrist. You've got to deal with the fact that they kill people and people are killed all around them.''

Violence is nothing new in Michael's life. Just recently, the boy (played by Dylan Cash since 2002) bought a gun and bullets off of street peddlers and accidentally shot his father's girlfriend. He ran away without calling 911, only to return later and have everyone, including the victim, forgive him. He was never made to admit his guilt to the authorities or get therapy.

That storyline was actually written and played out while Guza participated in the 100-day writers' strike, but when the scribe returned, he decided that the best way to address the fans' unhappiness about the lack of real repercussions for Michael's act of violence was to have Michael take a bullet himself. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's all in time for May sweeps.

''I like it from an emotional standpoint. I also like it from a responsible standpoint,'' Guza says. ''Twelve-year-olds shouldn't be picking up guns; I don't care if your father is a gangster. And if they do, there's got to be a consequence. We make directly culpable the people who love him most.''

Not only will this make his parents, Sonny and Carly, stop and look at the consequences of their actions, but it will also ripple out to his stepfather, Jax, mob enforcer Jason, who's been a constant in Michael's life, and a myriad of ancillary characters who bear some responsibility or connection to Michael: Max, Dianne, Patrick, Robin, Rick, the Zacharas (who are indirectly behind the hit). As Johnny Zaccharra said on Monday's episode, the blame rests on all of them ''who kill each other for power and money and turn around and lie and say that we have honor, that we protect family, that women and children are safe.''

''It will play out for months. It's a major, major thing. And the ripple effect to the emotional lives of the characters is going to go on for maybe years,'' said Guza. ''You're going to see relationships shatter, new relationships forged out of grief and a need to understand the un-understandable. That's the only way you can justify doing it. The way it would happen in real life, it would have that kind of ripple effect. We tried, in our way, to duplicate it on the show.''

BURNING FAN QUESTIONS:
Will the show use the shooting as an opportunity to age up Michael and replace 13-year-old Cash?
Guza (who is keeping mum on Michael's fate) doesn't believe he's necessarily locked into keeping Cash playing Michael forever, but he does say that having the same actor play a character straight through from childhood raises the dramatic potential (just look at Kimberly McCollough's Robin).

Does this mean the end of the mob violence? Is this the start of kinder, gentler GH?
''We're not going to make them all go in the garment business. That is not what this story is about,'' Guza says. ''The show is about romance during wartime, for lack of a better term. We have the highest stakes possible because people can be killed. We're not going to ignore that. We're not going to go away from that. But we're going to make them very, very aware of the consequences and make them try to deal in nonviolent ways.''

 

[pinkerbell]

That storyline was actually written and played out while Guza participated in the 100-day writers' strike, but when the scribe returned, he decided that the best way to address the fans' unhappiness about the lack of real repercussions for Michael's act of violence was to have Michael take a bullet himself. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's all in time for May sweeps.

This is probably an old topic, but I am new to this thread... first I cannot say how HAPPY I am to have found it while searching for something else about GH... here I am a disboarder and never knew this GH site existed

So this may have been addressed..but I wondered how soaps kept going when all the other shows stopped production during the writers strike... it is mentioned above, but not expalined... anyone know???

thanks
barb

 

[Dina]

My understanding is that they used scab writers. What I don't understand is why the actors crossed the lines and worked, I would have thought the actors were members of the screen actors guild?

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Hey all, I'm a lurker in this thread. Here's an interview with the head writer I thought y'all would find interesting.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20189728,00.html

GH Writer Addresses Michael Shooting
''General Hospital'' head writer Bob Guza Jr. talks about the soap's decision to have 12-year-old Michael take a bullet as a result of all the mob violence that's infected Port Charles in recent years

Michael Corinthos (Dylan Cash) GH head writer Bob Guza Jr. says, ''Twelve-year-olds shouldn't be picking up guns; I don't care if your father is a gangster. And if they do, there's got to be a consequence.''
All AboutGeneral Hospital

By Abby West

''We've been accused before of glorifying violence,'' Guza says. ''But we always try to show the consequences. We do deal with mobsters. We can't just have them importing illegal tchatchkes from the Far East and getting a slap on the wrist. You've got to deal with the fact that they kill people and people are killed all around them.''

Violence is nothing new in Michael's life. Just recently, the boy (played by Dylan Cash since 2002) bought a gun and bullets off of street peddlers and accidentally shot his father's girlfriend. He ran away without calling 911, only to return later and have everyone, including the victim, forgive him. He was never made to admit his guilt to the authorities or get therapy.
.

Okay, I get that Carly and Sonny did not handle the situation with Micheal well. That actually maybe the understatement of the year. Did Guza have to have Micheal shot in the head as "punishment". That just doesn't seem right. This is supposed to be a soap, not real life. If it were real life, Sonny would already be dead, as would Jason. They would both be ugly. The nurses at GH would not be beautiful. There would not be a prince living in the town. People would actually have to work.

 

[TahoeMom]

Michael Corinthos (Dylan Cash) GH head writer Bob Guza Jr. says, ''Twelve-year-olds shouldn't be picking up guns; I don't care if your father is a gangster. And if they do, there's got to be a consequence.''
All AboutGeneral Hospital

I guess I don't see how this is a consequence. Michael did not get shot because he had a gun. He got shot because of his father's actions.

 

[nicurn]

oh great, another storyline that will drag on AND on....

 

[caitty13]

Tivo and fast forward.

 

[bigolive9]

If it were real life, Sonny would already be dead, as would Jason. They would both be ugly. The nurses at GH would not be beautiful. There would not be a prince living in the town. People would actually have to work.

I love this! You are totally right. While I understand a little what Guza is saying, I agree that this "punishment" is dumb. A consequence of Michael having a gun would be him accidentally killing someone. A consequence would be Michael having to face some sort of charges (whether or not he gets sent to Juvenile is separate). Consequences would involve something more than his parents grounding him from video games. I agree with the PP who said that this is a consequence of Sonny's choices, not Michael's. Also, unlike BJ's death (wasn't it from a drunk driver?), this storyline is not really bringing awareness to any issue. If they wanted to do an awareness storyline about teens and guns, it could have been done so much better.

Apart from that, I am really glad that Robyn and Patrick are starting to find their way back to each other!

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Was it just me or did anybody else want to just slap Lulu today. I was glad that Kate did set her straight. Kate was harsh but right on point.

Also, what is with Carly thinking she, Jason and Micheal are a family? What about her husband? What about Morgan? Why isn't Jax back yet? Bad weather does not last 24 hours. When you have a private jet there is no waiting to catch the next flight. He could have driven home by now.

 

[ReggieB]

Was it just me or did anybody else want to just slap Lulu today.

Today, yesterday, last week, last month, probably tomorrow too. Happy slappy as far a Lulu is concerned. She's my new Carly.

 

[JoiseyMom]

This is probably an old topic, but I am new to this thread... first I cannot say how HAPPY I am to have found it while searching for something else about GH... here I am a disboarder and never knew this GH site existed

So this may have been addressed..but I wondered how soaps kept going when all the other shows stopped production during the writers strike... it is mentioned above, but not expalined... anyone know???

thanks
barb

They had a stock pile of scrips. They also had the breakdown of story lines and where they wanted to go. Alot of staffers on soaps used to write then moved on up, they coulda been brought in to write also.

 

[JoiseyMom]

My understanding is that they used scab writers. What I don't understand is why the actors crossed the lines and worked, I would have thought the actors were members of the screen actors guild?

They had contracts they couldn't break. And they did walk the picket lines with the writers during their down time.

 

[crossfamily]

Tivo and fast forward.

There are other ways to watch soaps

 

[crossfamily]

Ok since Stacey's not here I went looking for some spoilers if anyone wants to read them..
From SC
GH Section Here!

ABC Hotsheet:

THE ULTIMATE MOB HIT GONE WRONG! WHO'S TO BLAME?

As Michael struggles to survive, his family struggles to keep hope alive. Doctors tell his parents that he's in a permanent coma. Carly vows never to give up on her son's recovery, and flips out when she learns Sonny shielded Kate, instead of Michael, from the bullet. She blames Sonny for failing to protect their son and forbids him to go near Michael. Meanwhile, Jason feels responsible for the shooting and rethinks his decision to make a family with Liz. At GH, Claudia copes with her own guilt and visits Michael's bedside. Will she reveal her role in the shooting when she comes face to face with Carly?

Scoops from Lynda Hirsch:

GENERAL HOSPITAL: News of Michael's shooting quickly spreads. Sonny takes his misplaced anger out on Jason. Jason breaks down when he visits Monica and blames himself for Michael's plight. Carly accuses Sonny of being the one who didn't protect their son. Michael survives surgery but remains in a coma. Carly remains in denial and is certain Michael will wake up. Lucky tells Alexis that it appears as though a ricochet bullet that was probably meant for Sonny hit Michael. Lulu and Johnny make love. Nadine innocently overhears Nikolas with Patrick and learns of the illegal drug Nikolas has been taking. Nadine accuses Nikolas of being selfish by letting himself die and leaving Spencer without a father. Nadine tells Nikolas he is obsessed with a dead woman. When Nadine slips and twists her ankle, Nikolas invites her to stay at the mansion. Ric tells Alexis he fully supports anything she decides to do to protect her daughters from Sonny's violent world, even if it means taking them away from Port Charles. Tracy offers to buy Claudia's shares of the Haunted Star.

SNEAK PEEK: Liz and Jason say goodbye.

Cable Guide:

Monday, 4/7
"Michael's Shooting"
News of Michael's shooting quickly spreads; Sonny takes his anger out on Jason; Jerry threatens to kill Ian.

Tuesday, 4/8
"Michael Survives"
Michael survives surgery but remains unconscious; Nadine accuses Nikolas of being selfish.

Wednesday, 4/9
"Medical Update"
Carly and Jason are given an update on Michael's condition; Claudia denies any involvement in Michael's shooting; Lucky understands why Elizabeth lied about Jake's paternity.

Thursday, 4/10
"Denial"
Carly remains in denial about Michael's condition; Alexis and Diane discuss their attraction to bad men.

Friday, 4/11
"Nadine Twists Her Ankle"
Nadine walks away from Nikolas and winds up twisting her ankle; Monica hopes Jason will forgive himself one day.

Scoops courtesy of Soapzone:

Sneak Peeks

Week Of April 7
Jerry threatens to kill Ian.
Nikolas invites Nadine to spend time at Wyndemere.
Kate cuts Lulu down to size.
Elizabeth fears for her children.
Patrick uncovers Nikolas' secret drug regimen.

Can't Miss
Monday, April 7 - Elizabeth accepts Jason's marriage proposal.

Week Of April 14
Elizabeth makes a tough choice.
Claudia realizes she and Jason are a lot alike.
Luke enjoys being a player again.
Jax reassures Carly.

Michael Won't Wake Up!
LW says Carly thinks doctors are wrong all the time and they're wrong this time. She tells Patrick and Robin, whose prognosis is that he won't wake up, she knows Michael and she won't give up on him and if they are they can get the hell out.

Carly is being strong. Jason is devastated and sobbing over Michael's bed. LW says Michael may as well be Jason's kid because he helped Carly raise him when he was a baby. She reminds Jason he made it when no one thought he would after his accident and she did too after she was shot in the head.

Carly is also angry that Sonny took Michael to the warehouse without any guards and wants to know what the hell he was thinking given that he's a mobster.

She learns Sonny shielded Kate and that he knocked her to ground and covered her and Michael wasn't protected or shielded at all. Carly calls Sonny a ******* who protected Kate over his own son.

The situation becomes J&C vs. Skate.

Jax is stuck in Houston because of bad weather and can't get home, she wants him to be safe, she doesn't want anything to happen to him. "She seems to think all the blame lies on her. She's the one who brought the violence into her son's life, with all the choices she made."

Which prompts her to make another difficult choices involving Sonny.

Article
There's an article with Carolyn Hennessy where she talks about Diane and Alexis' friendship. Apparently the audience is "nuts" about the relationship. She and Alexis go out drinking to Jake's in the wake of Michael getting shot, they both feel some kind of responsibility. Diane and Max take consolation in each other and have sex. And I guess Alexis gets an eyeful. There are lines written in the script that say she "witnesses his flexibility."

Rumors
So SOW says rumors are swirling that Michael will be recast with Jesse Soffer but setsiders tell them Michael won't return "for a while" once this arc plays out.

The List
Considering how touchy-feely Claudia and Johnny are, jockeying for control of the docks isn't their only territory issue.

Winner
Logan - He finally woke up from that pesky coma...

Loser
Logan - only to have Lulu say she needs "time."

Hit
Jax gets a "Hit" for reaming out Sonny.

SID Scoops courtesy of Soapsone:

Will Jason & Liz marry or move on?

Jason and Liz have decided that they want a life together. But will the couple bring their relationship out of the shadows and tie the knot….. or will Michael’s shooting lead Liz to end her love affair with the hit man once and for all?

‘There are going to be a lot of decisions to make coming up soon about this particular issue’’ says SBu in character. ‘’Somebody needs to make a choice here, whether it’s me or her or circumstance. I’M happy to be doing what we’re doing, but you can’t let it keep lagging like this forever. We’ve been on the fence for so long’’

As far as the ‘’M’’ word goes, Burton thinks that marriage is the way for this couple to go! ‘’I don’t control that, but, to me, that’s the next natural progression in this’’ he says ‘’Let’s try it. What do we have to lose? Obviously we have a lot to lose, but shall we have tried it and have lost something? It’s better than saying we haven't tried at all.’’

Not that marriage is a simple solution to the complicated issue. In fact, it could cause more harm than good.

‘’From a character (perspective), I would say ‘’’’Yeah, let’s get married. Let’s live together. Let’s do it. Let me try to protect you as much as I can. I’ll do everything I possibly can.’’ ‘’But then the next question is, how much can Elizabeth take’’ muses Burton.

‘’How many guards does she want around her 24 hours a day? How much privacy will she actually be able to have? Is Jake going to end up growing up like M&M? Is that OK with Elizabeth? Is it a matter of time or a matter of how many violent acts before Elizabeth says ‘What, am I crazy?!?!’ ‘It’s not as easy as everybody want to think it is’’.

Tidbits

Setsiders tell SID that Ric/Marianna was nixed in favour of Ric and Claudia

Article about the Special Effects, JFP says GH will use it whenever we can, audience will see it in ‘’dribs and drabs’’

SID is hearing Michael’s shooting is a plot to age the character, Michael is in a deep coma but doesn’t die. SID says that aging Michael would have aged S&C therefore they didn’t want to do that too soon.

FH returns April 25th

Previews

In the wake of Michael’s shooting, Jerry decides that Ian must pay for what he did on April 7 and Sonny finds himself swimming in a sea of guilt on April 8.

Reeling from the tragic events, Carly turns her anger upon Sonny and Kate April 10 and then has a vicious showdown with her ex-husband on April 11.

Lashing out on April 14, Carly reminds Sonny that he has no right where Michael is concerned and warns him to stay away from the boy.

After trying to calm Carly on April 15, Jason – with help from spin – gets a clue about the identity of the shooter.

Sonny wants revenge, April 17, while Jax stands by Carly on April 18, as she deals with the possibility her son may never recover.

Sneak Preview: Carly is about to unleash her fury on Sonny, Jason will soon have to make a decision about his future!

Sonny Loses Everything…

Carly is having it out with Claudia, Kate calls, Carly gets on her about taking Michael to the warehouse, Kate interrupts Carly’s tirade to say Michael shot.

Carly calls Jason, they race to the hospital, Carly tells Robin ‘’You fix him, Robin’’ LW says its no longer about Carly vs. Robin, this is about Robin also taking care of Michael as a baby and it’s about saving his life.

Patrick says the bullet is lodged in the kids head.

Claudia informs Ian he shot Michael, he is shaken.

Jax out of town, having trouble getting back, Carly leans on Jason and her mom. She flips out when she finds out Sonny protected Kate, she is also told the boy is in a coma. LW says Sonny is dead to her when she hears about his protecting Kate.

Carly also says she wishes she’d never let Sonny play daddy to A.J’s son. Carly says to Sonny he is no longer the boys father.

Alexis considers picking up the girls and skipping town, Ric supports her, Jerry convinces the beautiful attorney that Sonny’s foes can find her wherever she goes, should they want to. Jerry says that in PC she has people to protect her.

Carly finds an unwelcome visitor at Michael’s bedside. Sonny admits to Kate that because he opted to protect her and not his son he finds it hard to be around her.


Recaps:

After helping Maxie, she rewarded Spinelli with a kiss.

Jerry raced to prevent disaster, Kate took Michael to the warehouse.

Hoping to score points with Lulu, Johnny suggested Luke re-open the HS. The judge goes easy on Monica.

Robin accepts a date with Patrick

Johnny apologized to Robin for Claudia’s bigotry <<< no he didnt, cut cut cut

Nadine confronted Nik on his refusal to have surgery.

Scoops from Wubqueen:

While Nadine's ankle heals, she stays at Wyndemere.

Tracy tries to buy out Claudia

Ric supports Alexis

Carly blames Sonny for not protecting Michael and choosing Kate instead

Jax is stuck in Houston due to bad weather

Liz tries to console Jason

Patrick finds out what Nikolas is up to when it comes to his drugs!!

Lulu and Johnny sleep together (again)

Logan tries to woo Lulu with a romantic dinner.

 

[Dina]

Was it just me or did anybody else want to just slap Lulu today. .

When don't I want to slap Lulu????