L-R James Franco & Roger Howarth (ABC) After failed licensing negotiations in March with Prospect Park (the home of formerly cancelled soap, "One Life to Live”), ABC confirmed that “One Life” actors Roger Howarth (Todd Manning), Kristen Alderson (Starr Manning) & Michael Easton (John McBain) would be portraying different characters on "General Hospital." Alderson & Easton's roles as Lauren Frank (Franco's daughter & lost Quartermaine heir) & Silas Clay (Stephen Clay's twin brother) were quickly revealed, but Howarth's role remained a lingering mystery with a lot of build up. GH fans gasped in awe with either subsequent anger or adoration when it finally came out that Howarth was the twisted and diabolical Robert "Franco" Frank. Immediate reactions focused on Howarth’s rendition (some felt his performance as Todd made him perfect for the part; others felt his Franco was too similar to Todd and began calling him “Franc-N-Todd”) and how James Franco, the herald actor who the role was originated by and named after, was shockingly replaced.
Feedback then turned to the storyline. Luring Jason Morgan's Port Charles connects with a party invite donning the presumed-dead hitman's image, Franco presented video evidence that he in fact didn't rape Samantha Morgan & never intended for Michael Corinthos to be raped in prison. He claimed previous footage indicating otherwise was planned to mislead and distress Jason. Franco also denied committing any murders for "artwork." Swiftly moving onto his shares at ELQ and moving into the Quartermaine mansion, he professed to be a changed man trying to make amends & reconnect with his daughter, Lauren Catherine (AKA “Kiki”). The once deadly “artist” now had a cleaner rap-sheet than Dr. Steven Webber. Some fans saw the "clean up" as a way to help the character be able to stay on GH, as Franco the way he was would make it hard for him to remain a free bird and function in Port Charles. Others felt Franco was made "too clean” and too easily moved into the Q mansion, implying the head-writer (Ron Carlivati, also formerly of “One Life”) was twisting things to the OL actors advantage. This advantage theory was first posed shortly after Carlivati and OL producer Frank Valentini took over in early 2012. Ratings for GH went up, but long-standing GH followers supposed the soap was becoming an OL spin-off. I saw where these viewers were coming from, but I was hesitant to believe there was any character favoring until Franco, Lauren & Silas came on the scene.
Feedback then turned to the storyline. Luring Jason Morgan's Port Charles connects with a party invite donning the presumed-dead hitman's image, Franco presented video evidence that he in fact didn't rape Samantha Morgan & never intended for Michael Corinthos to be raped in prison. He claimed previous footage indicating otherwise was planned to mislead and distress Jason. Franco also denied committing any murders for "artwork." Swiftly moving onto his shares at ELQ and moving into the Quartermaine mansion, he professed to be a changed man trying to make amends & reconnect with his daughter, Lauren Catherine (AKA “Kiki”). The once deadly “artist” now had a cleaner rap-sheet than Dr. Steven Webber. Some fans saw the "clean up" as a way to help the character be able to stay on GH, as Franco the way he was would make it hard for him to remain a free bird and function in Port Charles. Others felt Franco was made "too clean” and too easily moved into the Q mansion, implying the head-writer (Ron Carlivati, also formerly of “One Life”) was twisting things to the OL actors advantage. This advantage theory was first posed shortly after Carlivati and OL producer Frank Valentini took over in early 2012. Ratings for GH went up, but long-standing GH followers supposed the soap was becoming an OL spin-off. I saw where these viewers were coming from, but I was hesitant to believe there was any character favoring until Franco, Lauren & Silas came on the scene.
Sam's confronts Franco with his evil (ABC) Before I dive head-first into my “advantage theory” observations, let me address a few other details related to the Franco reveal. I understand why Franco would use Jason to create his little “shin-dig” and that it would probably be a ratings boost to imply he knew something about Jason’s whereabouts, but JaSammer’s (fans of Jason & Sam as a couple) hearts were dragged right with Samantha’s into that business! One person even tweeted “I don’t care for Jason & Sam, but I think pulling on their fans legs like this was too much.” There have been a few “he might be alive” tricks pulled, but this one was the most grandiose and brutal. The other spec in my eye was how the topic of rape was handled for the next few days. I was glad Michael’s assault was FINALLY being discussed after being swept under the rug for so long, but we still haven’t aced tackling the issue in soap-opera land. Let’s add onto victim humiliation and terror by letting cats out of bags and showing videotapes in front of a whole group of people! At Franco’s “party,” Michael (played by Chad Duell) was all but forced to recount his attack amongst people who didn’t need to know and everyone got a visual of what lead up to Sam’s alleged rape (“TV Source” magazine further explores rape as a plot device in a great piece here).
Speaking of Sam (played by Kelly Monaco), just like Lacey Chabert couldn’t make fetch happen in “Mean Girls,” the writers are struggling to make Easton and Monaco happen. It feels just as forced, if not more than before. Instead of giving Easton a completely brand new character like his co-stars, the writers decided to be uninventive and redundant and create yet a third incarnation of John McBain. In a short span, Easton portrayed McBain, who had an inappropriate attraction and borderline fling with Sam that ended his OL marriage (a plotline that’s a part of Prospect Park’s breach of contract suit with ABC), then a man physically identical to McBain (Stephen Clay) who kidnapped Sam because she’s his dead wife’s doppelganger and now Clay’s twin, who is trying to take Sam’s foster child (Rafe) and will ultimately be the magic key to Danny (Sam’s biological son) surviving leukemia. Really? All of this because Easton and Monaco’s characters were a couple on the GH spin-off “Port Charles?” Homage to the defunct spin-off in the 50th anniversary year has been paid; let’s move on. Its bad enough they wrote Sam talking about her recently killed husband like he was a road-block to her next great love for Easton, which brings me finally to the advantage theory.
Speaking of Sam (played by Kelly Monaco), just like Lacey Chabert couldn’t make fetch happen in “Mean Girls,” the writers are struggling to make Easton and Monaco happen. It feels just as forced, if not more than before. Instead of giving Easton a completely brand new character like his co-stars, the writers decided to be uninventive and redundant and create yet a third incarnation of John McBain. In a short span, Easton portrayed McBain, who had an inappropriate attraction and borderline fling with Sam that ended his OL marriage (a plotline that’s a part of Prospect Park’s breach of contract suit with ABC), then a man physically identical to McBain (Stephen Clay) who kidnapped Sam because she’s his dead wife’s doppelganger and now Clay’s twin, who is trying to take Sam’s foster child (Rafe) and will ultimately be the magic key to Danny (Sam’s biological son) surviving leukemia. Really? All of this because Easton and Monaco’s characters were a couple on the GH spin-off “Port Charles?” Homage to the defunct spin-off in the 50th anniversary year has been paid; let’s move on. Its bad enough they wrote Sam talking about her recently killed husband like he was a road-block to her next great love for Easton, which brings me finally to the advantage theory.
RSS Feed