For all you who are complaining about GH. Why don’t you just stop watching it. I have watched it since the beginning. There are certainly going to be storylines that not everyone is going to like but that doesn’t mean you bash the show. It is very high in the ratings now. I’m sure if you were a writer there would also be people who didn’t like certain storylines. It’s only natural. I love GH and wouldn’t miss it for anything and sure there have been storylines that I dislike but that doesn’t mean I hate the show or have problems with the writers.

Terry, while I don’t go by the love-it-or-leave-it dogma, I did, in fact stop watching GH about thirty days ago. I just got tired of hitting my head against the wall time and time again. It felt so good when I stopped. And last I heard the second amendment is still a factor so I think disgruntled fans GET to complain if they want to.
I have replaced my guilty habit of soap watching by coming in here and arguing with big sillies like you.

Rodd–ratings were up with the Scorpio reunion and with the madness which is being served up on a silver platter, not to mention the departure of Robin and Robert, the ratings will plummet again.

Do you think ABC or Cartini writes the soaps or features certain characters based on feedback on the internet. Sorry to inform you but I doubt it They base it on the ratings. If ratings are good nothing will change. I think they are doing a great job and there is a great balance. I can point out to days Sabrina was not on and there have been plenty of them. Yes she is on a lot but so are a lot of other characters

Shay is right–David, Ron and Frank were not connecting the dots as far as storyline and ratings were concerned. Ratings went up with the brilliant dynamics which existed between Anna and Robert and later with their heart breaking reunion with their daughter. Many of us also tuned into see Robin interrupt Patrick’s wedding with Sappy. Many of us were terribly disappointed with the anti climatic reunion of Patrick and Robin because it became The Sappy Show just as Robin’s Nurse’s Ball became Sappy’s Disney on Ice. To paraphrase Neil Young, “Long may Sparkle Pony Run” and I hope she gallops into sparkle rainbows and infinite pastures filled with sparkle unicorns and butterflies and never comes back.

No fan of Guza’s but under his tenure I at least took a peek once a week or so and he had some decent writers working under him (not literally). Right now I can’t even look. I am not one to look at highway accidents either.

ABC can point to the ratings going up but as for the increase in total viewers versus last year GH is fourth out of four soaps. Y&R had an increase of 9%, B&B had an increase of 14%, Days had an increase of 10%, and GH had an increase of 8%. So the people who think that “Ron and Frank saved GH” are full of bull-oney.

Very well stated! I think the return of so many Gh vets can not be discounted as a huge Impact to ratings! I myself returned to Gh once I heard my faves-Anna, Duke, Felicia, Frisco, etc- were coming back. Now the latest campy stories and see a character one day and not again for weeks- not for me.

Very well stated–you said it all and very eloquently!

Also people think Cartini saved GH. GH was Frons fave soap so he didn’t cancel it period. So yes Cartini wrote well enough to renew it for another year. But they also saw how their replacement shows failed miserably. There are lots of reasons why GH is still on and I doubt even half is about the writng. And if the writing doesn’t get better there will inevitably be a ratings drop. The sad return of Robin was the nail in the coffin for me. It was so pointless. Just another uncreative unthought out quick plot point. I’m out!

People are entitled to their opinion on whether they like what Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati have done with GH, but the fact is that they saved the show. The show was on the verge of cancellation when they took over the mess of a show that Jill Farren Phelps and Bob Guza left behind. Now it’s on track to have its best ratings year in 7 YEARS!!! Read the Deadline.com article.

So if the show is as terrible and has been ruined as much as some of you on here whining and complaining would like everyone to believe, why is the show doing its best numbers since 2007? You’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. The numbers speak for themselves.

I’ve been a huge GH fan for nearly 20 years, and I’ll be the first to say that I’m not thrilled with every storyline Frank and Ron have done, or new character they’ve introduced. No show is going to be perfect in that regard. But overall, I’m enjoying GH now more than I have in many, many years. There was a time not that long ago when it felt like a chore to watch the show. Not anymore. It’s can’t miss TV for me every week. If you don’t like it, that’s your prerogative. There’s a simple answer to that. Don’t watch.

Meanwhile, I’m thrilled that Ron C. will be around to continue writing, and that the show got renewed through the 2015 season. It wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t know if our beloved GH would live to see another year, and now it’s poised to hopefully continue for many years to come. Thank you Frank, thank you Ron, thank you to the entire GH staff, and most importantly, thank you to the talented, second to none, best cast in daytime period for keeping my favorite show going!!

I agree with you…GH does have some flaws(soaps usually do)
but regardless im still entertained!!!

No, Mauro, Jill Farren Phelps and the mob-obsessed Bob Guza spent 2001 to 2011 ruining “General Hospital.”

Ron and Frank have made the show watchable. Actually they have made it downright thrilling!

I have to agree with su0000 RC has done an outstanding job and has brought viewers back. The show is doing better numbers than it has been doing in over 7 years. There is a mix of new characters and vets. Some vets aren’t as much because they want a bigger salary that they just are not going to get because of the budgets the networks force the shows producers to work with. So they do the best they can to keep the vets around. Sadly some want bigger money that the show will not get. Despite that GH has been fantastic, enjoying every minute of it

don’t shove your thoughts down the throats of people who don’t agree with you, Mauro can say what ever he wants

I really wonder how many of those GH viewers will be around once the 50th I over, the casting gimmicks with both the vets and the stars like Shirley Jones are done with and the only thing left is Heather on another lame kidnapping plot and Carly fawning over the man who had her son raped. SpongeBob Squarepants has more sophisticated storytelling…

People might tune into another soap after their soap was cancelled, if a bunch of stars from said cancelled soap were on and dominating story lines on the new soap. And there are a few people I’m sure, who had been used to watching serial dramas during the day for years, had their show cancelled and decided to maybe give a new show a try because they like the genre and would prefer a scripted series over a talk show or game show. It doesn’t account for all the increases, but to deny that’s a component isn’t very logical.

The other remaining soaps, DOOL,B&B and Y&R all have shown increases over the same period of time as GH and they don’t have the great and irreplaceable Ron and Frank.

Most people did not like the previous regime and many tuned out. But that regime was honest and it was what it was. Ron and Frank knew that people tuned out because the vets were cast aside, so they made a deliberate effort to market the 50th anniversary around the the history, vets and Nurses Ball. They knew that was how to draw interest and bring back viewers.

But over time, viewers realized that it was mostly a shell game and a bait and switch and the pattern and trajectory of the ratings over the past year mirror that. Ratings went up for the Nurses Ball and 50th and then declined after the NB was mostly about Sabrina. Then the OLTL 3 came back and the ratings trended down again. Then they brought back Robin and vets for the fall and ratings climbed back up. The week of Robin’s reunion hit a high, the following week lost 250,000 viewers because of how dreadful they handled it, making it again about Sabrina with utterly inconsistent writing of Patrick’s character.

Ratings then climbed again when Patrick finally returned home to Robin. The ratings did hit a high on Jan 7th again, the coldest Jan 7th on record and lost 450,000 the next day.

They know how to insert the vets just enough to keep interest and prop their ratings at times, weather related days not included. But there’s a real dishonesty to it and viewers at some point figure out that they’re being manipulated. Over the course of a year, you can see a pattern.

To suggest that having snippets of vets is better than none is good enough, may be your position, but many of us don’t like it. The OLTL3 and the newbies are dominating the stories and screen time. That is just a fact. The vets are used as bait, knowing that a good number of people tune in for them. They think they have the formula down, one that keeps their friends and creations on contract and the vets in the bullpen, trotted out to prop said friends and the ratings. We’ll see if it continues to work.

Ad with all the recent hoopla about record ratings during the polar vortex, the highest day was on Tuesday for Patrick and Robin. Wednesday the show went back to the Franco/Carly/Heather crap and the viewership was down by almost half a million in one fell swoop.

The previous regime ruined GH. They killed off all the vets or wrote them out of the show. They were far from honest about their actions but that is the past and this is GH now.

Ratings have been up for awhile now including days that Robin has not been on. The show has been doing its best ratings in 7 years.

You mention the drop from they day after the polar vortex, yes they dropped as did every other soap the day after that. GH is on a daily basis drawing 3 million or more viewers which hasnt been done again in many years.

The vets are on quite frequently. You mention Robin, she was on almost every day for months. Anna is on numerous times per week. Duke is featured prominently in the Sonny/Jerome family war and is on quite a bit Even Mac and Felicia have been on quite often. I wonder if you even watch the show in your comments that they are on in snippets.

Even Monica has been on quite a bit as well.

Are new characters on as well. Absolutely. The writers/producers have to work under the budget ABC has given them Sadly some of these vets want big money that ABC just wll not give to the show so they make do with what they can

Bottom line it is simple if you don’t like the show stop watching it. It sounds like you will be happier if you stop watching something you dislike I also suggest coming here commenting on positive things about the show to turn them into a negative, unless that is your thing then by all means.

The numbers for GH are the best in 7 years. ABC is behind the show for the first time in a long time. If those numbers drop ABC will make changes by either removing said writer/producer, not give Cartini as much free reign as they currently do, or by cancelling the show But since the numbers have been so good they are not going to get rid of the people who are the success of the show.

Now back to your regularly scheduled complaining!

Who said I’m watching the show right now? Quit a few weeks ago.

Do you have any idea how many diehard fans of GH complained and tuned out of GH BEFORE Ron and Frank came onboard? Do you remember how they felt it had become the Sonny and Jason show…how it was ALL about the mob…Sonny/Jason/Carly/Sam…and then a scattering of those who entered their orb?

Complain as people may…and remain misguided…the “newbies” and/or the OLTL 3 brought new viewers, higher ratings and much success. There were also those resistant and resentful that some ot the OLTL characters came over? Come on……… a lot of shows do that…including primetime. There have always been characters that have either been guests on other shows…or spinoffs from other shows.

Just as in real life…people move in…and move out. OLTL, contrary to what many believe…was not a failed show. Its ratings were HIGHER than GH…and I have no stake in this claim…I watched and was a fan of both.

But always on soaps…new people are brought in…old ones fade away…actors leave to pursue other things, etc.

We cannot go back in time. Not in reality…and not on TV. Old stories, characters are gone…either literally dead…or older…etc. New characters are gradually introduced in to the tapestry and old characters are sometimes mentioned in conversation, history, etc. But it’s not Dr. Hardy and Audrey…it’s not Sonny and Brenda…maybe it’s not Patrick and Robin. You can’t go back…ever hear of that expression?

Watch it for what it is…or don’t. There have always been characters/stories certain people don’t like…myself included. Who approved of Luke raping and then marrying Laura? That was very controversial. Who thought Casey the space alien of Robin’s childhool was plausible? But..we watched and loved it anyway.

Soaps are a lot of camp. They’re beyond stretching the imagination or the farthest from reality. They “touch” real life just enough to draw us in and make us care… then it cross over into the absurd.

Why make sense of something that never will…sit back and enjoy…or…don’t. To quote a great expression of our times (eyes up in head)…”it is what it is…”

Really what show are you wathcing Trisha? Maurice Bernard is involved in a major story line in the Sonny-Jerome family war. Laura Wright who plays Carly invovled with Franco and the kidnapping of Heather. I think you are just picking and choosing what you want as it sure doesnt seem you are watching the same shows I have been. I’d be happy to point to your episode recaps to refresh your memory so you don’t post lies about the show to further your agenda!

And you are not alone in that, Harry. AJ’s return was such a pivotal event and the momentum his presence brought with it has since been frittered away….big mistake. SK’s leading-man qualities, not to mention his character’s Quartermaine family link, should have entitled him to being treated and utilized far more efficaciously, but as usual, the major, marquis-name legacy actors/actresses on the show have been used, abused and then tossed aside in short order (witness Frisco, Noah, and particularly, Scorpio and Laura….) Hope Thaao Penghlis fares better….

AJ is the classic screw up, the underdog and the black sheep of the family. Who among us can’t relate to him on some level? I don’t care of it’s Billy or Sean playing him, I care what happens to AJ. I have cared about him since Carly got him drunk and dumped him in a dumpster and later when Sonny left him on a meat hook. His parents favored Jason, and his air head of a wife Courtney favored Jason. Hell, even Emily favored Jason and Jason was hit man for the mob. Just once I would like to see AJ win one. It looks like that won’t happen, hence the last possible reason for my tuning into GH for a peek or two. Thank you for your thoughtful reply Shay.

That is a good question indeed. I personally wish every single viewer who hates the show now but is watching out of loyalty to just quit. Its the only way to send a message to the arrogant production team. Then lets see how high the ratings are.

SuOOO–the person has a right to their opinion without you calling them unbalanced. She is still watching because she has watched for many many years–it’s a hard habit to break with loyal viewers. She is giving it one last chance to improve. I don’t understand why some of you who are positively giddy with excitement about GH want to shut the disgruntled up.

watched this show off and on for thirty years. I know it changes. If good writing is a constant then changes are typically fine with viewers.

David, regarding your comment about those whining on the internet, you seem to do a lot of whining on the internet yourself. Why would you do this if the universe you are speaking to is so small and not representative of GH viewers as you say?
I love when people dismiss those who rant on the internet as unimportant and do so by ranting on the internet about it.

“…Guza would be a great option because he knows the show’s history and knows how to write.”

During Guza’s tenure we were witness to the decimation of the Quartermaine family, the ruination of Laura, the total ret-conned destruction of Rick Webber, Jake’s death courtesy of his own grandfather, and the never ending celebration of all things Sonny and Jason.

I think there’s a difference between knowing a show’s history and respecting a show’s history as a basis to build on what’s come before.

Yes, yes and yes. I am no fan of Guza’s but he also didn’t write a cliff hanger which did not continue until the next month.

Actutally you are incorrect Tracie. In the key demo fo 18-49 and 25-54 which is what advertisers base their ratings on GH is number 1. In total viewers GH is number 3 with Days number 4 so again get your facts straight before posting your lies to further your agenda

And this just in David, for the week of Jan 13-17, GH lost 353,000 total viewers from the previous week, falling to 2,936,00, up 136,000 for the previous year, not all that impressive, and GH fell to #3 in w 18-49.

Right, GH50 and it will get lower after Robert and Robin leave. Robert Scorpio fans were coming back to GH in droves to see the return of the beloved superspy. His fan base crossed all generations. He and Anna as a superspy tag team were cooler than the other side of the pillow. But Ron didn’t offer him a consistent storyline and Frank didn’t offer him a contract so Y&R snapped up this gem of an actor. As Julia Robert’s character told the snooty sales ladies at the Beverly Hills boutique, “Big mistake. HUGE!”