Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) on GH

So today, I'm home sick with a cold, watching OLTL. During the commercial, I saw a commercial about Jonathan Jackson coming back to GH playing "Lucky". I feel like I've been living under a rock because this is the first time I ever heard of this good news. I might actually have to start watching GH a little more again now. I haven't watched GH since Claudia came on the show (what a horrible character) and started fumigating the entire show with her crap with Sonny.

Anyway, see JJ and RH working together brought back good memories. They were the main reason I got into GH back in the 90's. I really hope JJ stays around.

I think JJ is a good actor but they could well run into the problem they had before when he was on: He is very religious. That's fine, certainly would never knock someone for that. But when he left last time, he was saying things like, "I don't approve of Lucky having premarital sex...", "I don't approve of Lucky having an affair.." i.e. the Patricia Mauceri syndrome. It's all well and good for people to believe in what they want but if you are going to have an interesting soap character, you have to have someone willing to do bad stuff on occasion. Dudley Do-Right characters aren't very appealing unless you are, say, Viki.

I think JJ is a good actor but they could well run into the problem they had before when he was on: He is very religious. That's fine, certainly would never knock someone for that. But when he left last time, he was saying things like, "I don't approve of Lucky having premarital sex...", "I don't approve of Lucky having an affair.." i.e. the Patricia Mauceri syndrome. It's all well and good for people to believe in what they want but if you are going to have an interesting soap character, you have to have someone willing to do bad stuff on occasion. Dudley Do-Right characters aren't very appealing unless you are, say, Viki.

I knew he was very religious, but I never knew that had anything do with how he wanted his character written. I don't remember if "Liz" and JJ's "Lucky" ever had sex, but I do remember them being slow in their relationship in the beginning. I just assumed they were being written that way because of Liz's rape and the fact she was a virgin before it happened.

Maybe JJ has loosened up since his departure on the show. He must have since he's agreed to come back to GH and all the scandalous (for daytime anyway) mess that has been going on in the show for years.

Either way, I'm glad he's back on the show, but I do feel sort of bad for GV. I read on another board that TPTB basically fired GV when JJ said "yes" to GH. I never had a problem with GV, but he's just not Lucky. I hope he can find work because he's not a bad actor or bad looking.

Greg Vaughn is GORGEOUS! He's a former model. I can't believe the GH IIC fired him just for Jonathan Jackson. I was happy to see him back until I heard this. I just assumed that GV was ready to move on because he is so pretty and he's not a bad actor. Not-so-long-time viewers are used to GV, not JJ. If they're big Lucky fans, that's sure to upset them. Also, JJ's small stature makes him look like a kid no matter how scruffy they make him look (with that goatee or whatever). It's nice to see him and relive Liz and Lucky's history pre-GV, but given the current storyline, there's really no contest between Lucky and Nikolas IMO. It's like man vs. boy, rich guy vs. poor buy, Prince vs. naive man-child...it's a mess.

I didn't know JJ was very religious, but it explains his lack of career. If he keeps this up, he's going to Kirk Cameron himself, and that ain't pretty.

In other news, I can't wait for James Franco's debut on the show. I bet he's going to be Nikolas's long lost uncle, or whatever this guy Helena's talking about is. I've had an awesome movie crush on this guy since the first Spider-man movie. Every movie he's in is a slam dunk no matter what the critics say. He's a modern day Liz Taylor or Robert Redford. AND he looks like James Dean IMO. BTW, he actually played James Dean in a pretty good biography about him.

And in even other GH news, how crazy have the last few days with Claudia been? They're VERY exciting, but I'm afraid Claudia's about to be gone for good. And how ironic is it that Sarah Brown has taken the character she originated hostage? TIIC must be REALLY confident with their latest Carly recast. She's my favorite, but SB's constant presence on the show constantly reminds me of how her Carly was the best. Anyway, I've been staying away from the spoilers, but I did see a Soap Opera Digest (or some other mag like that) cover in the grocery store that said she was finally out. Does that mean SB is off the show again? Seriously, if you know, go ahead and spoil it for me, because inquiring minds have to know. Because no matter how crazy Claudia was, I'M IN LOVE WITH SARAH BROWN!!!! I can't believe the writers wrote her into a corner that's going to make her leave the show. Sonny's getting old. I'm sick of no one being able to cross him and survive or stay in Port Charles! I will never understand why the enitre freaking show revolves around his lame ass character!

Ok, I'll end my GH ramblings here.

Ooooookay! Ignore my Claudia question. A commercial just spoiled it for me. I won't spoil it for anyone who doesn't want to know.........

Um, Soaps in Depth spoiled it for everyone. I happened to be watching and I knew Claudia would be leaving the show. She kidnaps Carly...a driving away in a car. So then the SOD commercial comes on "Claudia is Dead!" - um I'm sure the people who wanted to be surprised were thrilled.
It's a shame about Sarah Brown but, you must realize, ALL they know how to do on that show is have it be about Sonny, Jason and the mob. They painted Claudia into such a corner.
Now of course, they are going to the other plan B they have - The Cassadines. That Bitch Jill ™ has played out the Spencer/Cassadine end game 8,000 times.

As regards JJ, I'm not sure how it will go this time around. If they were smart they would sit him down and say, "Look, as a person on a soap, you may have to do certain things you would disagree with..that is being on a soap" It could be have may have to deal with a gay character at some point (although what is the chances someone of color or gay could have center stage on GH, virtually none). Either that or they will play him as St. Lucky, like right now when he is going to be so hurt that Nicolas and Liz are having an affair. I think long-term fans were happy to see him but I think the character has just changed too much and the times have changed too much. We will see.

Greg Vaughn is GORGEOUS! He's a former model. I can't believe the GH IIC fired him just for Jonathan Jackson. I was happy to see him back until I heard this. I just assumed that GV was ready to move on because he is so pretty and he's not a bad actor. Not-so-long-time viewers are used to GV, not JJ. If they're big Lucky fans, that's sure to upset them. Also, JJ's small stature makes him look like a kid no matter how scruffy they make him look (with that goatee or whatever). It's nice to see him and relive Liz and Lucky's history pre-GV, but given the current storyline, there's really no contest between Lucky and Nikolas IMO. It's like man vs. boy, rich guy vs. poor buy, Prince vs. naive man-child...it's a mess.

I didn't know JJ was very religious, but it explains his lack of career. If he keeps this up, he's going to Kirk Cameron himself, and that ain't pretty.

In other news, I can't wait for James Franco's debut on the show. I bet he's going to be Nikolas's long lost uncle, or whatever this guy Helena's talking about is. I've had an awesome movie crush on this guy since the first Spider-man movie. Every movie he's in is a slam dunk no matter what the critics say. He's a modern day Liz Taylor or Robert Redford. AND he looks like James Dean IMO. BTW, he actually played James Dean in a pretty good biography about him.

And in even other GH news, how crazy have the last few days with Claudia been? They're VERY exciting, but I'm afraid Claudia's about to be gone for good. And how ironic is it that Sarah Brown has taken the character she originated hostage? TIIC must be REALLY confident with their latest Carly recast. She's my favorite, but SB's constant presence on the show constantly reminds me of how her Carly was the best. Anyway, I've been staying away from the spoilers, but I did see a Soap Opera Digest (or some other mag like that) cover in the grocery store that said she was finally out. Does that mean SB is off the show again? Seriously, if you know, go ahead and spoil it for me, because inquiring minds have to know. Because no matter how crazy Claudia was, I'M IN LOVE WITH SARAH BROWN!!!! I can't believe the writers wrote her into a corner that's going to make her leave the show. Sonny's getting old. I'm sick of no one being able to cross him and survive or stay in Port Charles! I will never understand why the enitre freaking show revolves around his lame ass character!

Ok, I'll end my GH ramblings here.

"Kirk Cameron himself..."...LOL!! Mind if I steal that sometime?

GV is a hottie. I kind of thought he was too hot to be Luke's kid, mainly because I don't find Luke to be all that good looking (awesome actor..yes..but a no in the looks department). JJ at least looks like an attractive version of Luck. JMO

I'm in love with James Franco but seriously...What's the deal with him appearing on GH? I'm not knocking it, but why the heck did he want to be on a soap? I'm sure there is some reason on the internet, but I'm too lazy to look it up...lol.

I did see that James Dean movie he was in. He actually won a Golden Globe for that performance and he deserved it.

I doubt anyone who watches GH regularly didn't see Claudia's death coming a mile away. SJB is a good actress, but the character was never well developed. Claudia was written into a corner almost from the minute she was introduced, and once Michael was shot, it was only a matter of time before she paid the ultimate price.

The biggest surprise (and not in a good way) is how long this stupid thing played out. I think most fans were more than ready for the 'big reveal' a year ago.

I hate it, but I have to agree with you, Gale. Claudia never had a chance--especially when TIIC decided to have her live in the lion's den.

I know he took time off from acting to go to college...I think in NY. So maybe GH was a good option because they are...were in NY. Wait, haven't they moved to Cali now?

"Kirk Cameron himself..."...LOL!! Mind if I steal that sometime?
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HAH! Didn't know "Kirk Cameron" was a verb, but I like it.

I did read all the "Left Behind" books, but made the mistake of watching the first movie.

Aside from "Stand by Me" and "A Simple Plan", a movie rendition has never measured up to the book, IMO.

GH was never in NY.

I know he took time off from acting to go to college...I think in NY. So maybe GH was a good option because they are...were in NY. Wait, haven't they moved to Cali now?

GH films in California.

You're thinking of AMC. They were based in NYC, but they are moving to California.

Ironically, I found myself strongly disliking the Simple Plan adaptation. The book was a masterpiece of a dissection of the American Dream, and how some project blame onto everything in order to justify what they do. The movie lost a lot of the nuance, I always thought. I only watched it once and was pretty disappointed, but it's been 10 years so maybe I should revisit it.

That author, Scott B. Smith wrote a movie called The Ruins, that I thought was a dark and bleak as they come (the DVD version with the true ending, anyways). So dark that I don't know if I can sit through the book!

SPOILERS

As far as other books, I actually thought Jaws the movie was better than the book by leaps and bounds. I read that crap in high school, and it was barely worth the paper it was printed on. It turned out to be a messy soap opera with some shark killing every dozen chapters. Plus, a totally unnecessary affair between the Lorraine Gary and Richard Dreyfuss characters, that made his death in the book all the more satisfying. Waste. Of. Time.

--Ray

Back to the original subject of this thread....

So, what do you all think of JJ's return? So far, I'm not impressed. Despite the scruffy facial hair, he still looks 16 IMO. And the way the writers have "subtly" had him in a scene with just about every other main character on the show in the few days he has been back is annoying to me. And this whole Nikolas/Liz/Lucky triangle was old before it started, but now it's just ridiculous. I'm sick of seeing Lucky being ignorant/clueless/straight up in denial. I almost wish TPTB had just killed Lucky off, because this character destruction is as bad as when he was a junkie. And JJ deserves a better storyline (and no, begging Jason to tell him what happened to Claudia does not count).

Another thing I'm already over is James Franco's guest appearance. This is the best way TIIC could think to bring him on? I am impressed with one thing though: TIIC's ability to make such a charismatic, handsome guy gross and creepy with only about a total of 20 minutes of airtime thus far. Now that's talent...or something.

Now that Claudia's dead and Jax and Carly are on the rocks, I think it's about time for me to give GH a break for a while. It's annoying me more than OLTL at the moment, and that's just a shame.