Soap Opera Update: “General Hospital,” “Bold and the Beautiful,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Young and the Restless” – Ed Martin

Anyone who thinks daytime dramas are on a downslide simply because only four of them remain simply hasnamp8217t been paying attention of late ABCamp8217s amp8220General Hospitalamp8221 and CBSamp8217 amp8220The Young and the Restlessamp8221 and amp8220The Bold and the Beautifulamp8221 have been in fine form each one as engrossing in its own crazy way as anything else on broadcast television And while NBCamp8217s amp8220Days of Our Livesamp8221 is currently in a bit of a slump it may simply be catching its breath after one of its best years in yearsMore than three decades after it was famously cited as TVamp8217s Hottest Show by Newsweek amp8220General Hospitalamp8221 remains a marvel of modern soap opera now nearing the end of a second consecutive year of breakneck storytelling that has given great material to everyone in its primary cast including a host of new characters that have come on board during the last 24 months while bringing back and revitalizing at least a dozen others from the Seventies Eighties and Nineties and giving them plenty to do too Not all of the stories are to every vieweramp8217s taste but how could they beFor my part I could have done without the murder this year of legacy character AJ Quartermaine by Sonny Corinthos a mobster who had tormented AJ since the Nineties AJamp8217s birth in 1979 was a major plot point in one of the showamp8217s alltime best stories the affair between Monica Quartermaine and Rick Webber that turned Monicaamp8217s husband Alan into a wouldbe murderer and should have grown up to become a focal character on the show running the global conglomerate ELQ and following in his parentsamp8217 adulterous footsteps But amp8211 and this is important amp8211 his murder has tipped much of the amp8220GHamp8221 narrative on its side landing Sonny in jail and prompting AJamp8217s son Michael who was raised by Sonny and always loved him as a father to break all ties with Sonny and Carly Michaelamp8217s mom and accept his true heritage as a Quartermaine Viewers have waited many years for Sonny to lose everything It was almost worth losing AJ to make that happenEverything else about amp8220GHamp8221 amp8211 for my money the best soap on television right now amp8211 has been on fire much of it due to the returns of a host of colorful supervillains from the showamp8217s past Many of them are fascinatingly tied to a relatively new character mad doctor Liesl Obrecht played to striking perfection by Kathleen Gati who consistently makes the overthetop doc funny and frightening without allowing her performance to degenerate into ridiculous camp As far as Iamp8217m concerned in the fertile arena of daytime drama Gati pictured below left with costar Donna Mills has delivered the performance of the yearAnd how about Nancy Lee Grahn as power attorney Alexis Davis and William deVry as semireformed mobster Julian Jerome Without question they have been the soap opera supercouple of the year They are known online as amp8220Julexisamp8221 What makes their work together so extraordinary and their chemistry so profound is the fact that Grahn and deVry arenamp8217t kids as most super couples especially the sexually combustible ones tend to be They are both accomplished soap opera veterans with decades of work behind them Grahn a twotime Emmy winner and deVry make Alexis and Julian more complex and captivating than any other couple in daytime or primetime amp8211 and way sexier tooI could fill three columns praising other performers and stories on amp8220General Hospitalamp8221 but in the interest of brevity Iamp8217ll also single out Jane Elliott Robin Mattson and Lynn Herring who still make hottempered Tracy Quartermaine homicidal Heather Webber and mercurial opportunist Lucy Coe respectively as much fun as they were in the Seventies and Eighties newcomers Maura West and Michelle Stafford as psychomobster Ava Jerome and crazed babysnatcher Nina Clay Donna Mills as Ninaamp8217s icy mother Madeline and three of the younger cast members who more than hold their own around these fantastic veterans amp8211 Chad Duell as Michael Corinthos Bryan Craig as his brother Morgan and Kelly Thiebaud as Britt Westbourne the manipulative and manipulated spawn of Liesl Obrecht and lunatic monster Caesar FaisonHow thrilling it has been to see a soap opera that just celebrated its 50th anniversary move into the modern era while embracing its phenomenal pastMeanwhile the two CBS soaps are cooking with gusto amp8220Young and the Restlessamp8221 is currently doing something no soap opera has accomplished since amp8220Bold and the Beautifulamp8221 brilliantly explored the crisis of homelessness in America amp8211 tackling a contemporary issue in great depth by telling the story of one manamp8217s terrifying battle with prostate cancer and the impact it is having on the people he loves Christian LeBlanc as Michael Baldwin who is facing the fight of his life and Greg Rikaart as his fragile younger brother Kevin are crushing it as the kids like to say Then again these two always show their peers how itamp8217s done whenever they are handed amazing material It is no accident that they have four Emmys between them for their work in these rolesThe exquisitely produced and always distinctive amp8220Bold and the Beautifulamp8221 which has included the beloved Bob Barker and many amp8220Big Brotheramp8221 alumni among its guest stars this year is ending 2014 with a story we have seen dozens of times before and somehow making it feel like something fresh and new amp8211 the miscarriage of Hope and Wyattamp8217s baby which came about after a nasty spat between Hope and her monsterinlaw Quinn the fabulous Rena Sofer that ended with Hope taking a tumble down a spectacular outdoor staircase seemingly built for just such accidents in the back of a sprawling Beverly Hills mansion This event impacts almost every character on the show and everyone in the cast is making the most of such highoctane material especially Emmy winners Scott Clifton and Darin Brooks as battling halfbrothers Liam and WyattAs noted at the top amp8220Days of Our Livesamp8221 is in something of a slump right now amp8211 one that hopefully wonamp8217t last too long But that dip is coming at the end of a compulsively watchable year that built up to the powerful departures of longtime cast members Alison Sweeney Emmy worthy right to the end for her portrayal of emotionally kinetic firecracker Sami Brady and James Scott as sexy and sinister villain turned quasihero EJ DiMera amp8220Daysamp8221 in 2014 also featured a soap opera milestone The wedding of Will and Sonny the gay couple that has been at the center of much of the drama on this show for at least two years True to form there is already trouble on the horizon Sonny has recently been reacquainted with a past lover who happens to be a closeted professional athlete If nothing else the writers and producers of this show deserve credit for treating their gay characters as equal in every way to everyone else on its canvas Then again the creators of daytime drama have never been afraid to tackle relevant issues and move the medium forwardEd Martin is the Editor of MediaBizBloggers and the television and video critic for the Myers Business Network Follow him on Twitter at PlanetEdCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates at MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Soap Opera Update: “General Hospital,” “Bold and the Beautiful,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Young and the Restless” – Ed Martin

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Soap Opera Update: “General Hospital,” “Bold and the Beautiful,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Young and the Restless” – Ed Martin

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