Changing horses in the middle of the stream

Readers, I say without hesitation that one of my least favorite words in the world of soaps is "recast."

Readers, I say without hesitation that one of my least favorite words in the world of soaps is "recast." When I hear the announcer say "The role of blank will now be played by..." my stomach turns a little.

Can you imagine tuning in to The Office next week and having an announcer say "The role of Michael Scott will now be played by Jim Belushi." No, of course not, it's ridiculous. And it's ridiculous in Daytime, too.

I realize sometimes TPTB (the powers that be) don't have a choice. An actor gets another gig and decides to move on, so they have to recast the role or drop a storyline they are in the middle of telling. But other times, it seems so random...

When I heard that Drew Garrett was being let go and the role of Michael was being recast, I thought it was a rumor. Certainly they wouldn't recast a major role in the middle of a front-burner storyline. Drew Garrett has gotten praise for his work since the day Michael emerged from a coma.

But it wasn't a rumor, it's true and for the life of me, I can't understand why. Perhaps there is a reason; maybe Drew was cast in a new movie, or a pilot for a new primetime show. But we aren't privy to the reasons they are replacing him, so we are left to assume the worst. I follow a couple of GH actors on Twitter and they hinted that Drew was blindsided by the news, so it doesn't sound like he was let go at his own request. I suppose we will have to wait and discover the truth as information slowly trickles out. If it turns out ABC just fired him all willy-nilly, I'm going to be so disappointed.

Sonny's trial is just picking up steam and those big scenes we have been anticipating of Michael on the stand confessing to Claudia's murder will now be played by another actor, Chad Duell. Is he any good? We don't know yet. He's been on a couple of Disney shows, but this role requires a little more depth than most Disney kids shows have, so I guess time will tell if he can cut it with the likes of Maurice Benard and Laura Wright. But even if he can, it's somewhat beside the point...

Hey, ABC - Ever heard that saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? We liked Drew Garrett, and we're disappointed he's leaving. When they aged Michael and recast Dylan Cash with Drew Garrett, I felt sad for Dylan, who had been on the show for many years. But once I saw the storyline and the direction they were taking Michael, it was clear that they needed a more mature actor for the role and the recast made sense. But this latest recast doesn't make sense because both actors are similar in age and look, so it's not as if they are moving the story along ten years and making Michael 30.

Enough of that for now, I suppose I have made my opinion clear; no need to continue ranting.

Kristina has continued to lie about her attacker, although Jason, Lucky, and Carly all worked feverishly to get the truth out of her. Of course, the fact that creepy stalker Kiefer, the real abuser, is lurking outside in her bushes might be part of the problem. Sister Sam thought some nail polish was the cure for what ailed Kristina, but I wish Sam could see beyond her own past and see Kristina's situation more clearly.

Tony Geary was such a welcome sight when he strolled into town this week. Ethan's entire loser family assumed the worst of him. But Luke Spencer arrived and took Ethan's word that he wasn't the person who hit Kristina. Ethan declared his innocence and Luke accepted that as Gospel. Hooray. We all deserve one person in our lives who is always, always, always on our side.

I find it disconcerting that Lulu and Lucky so willingly turned on their new brother, although he's supported both of them through trials since he came to town. And the logic is faulty - "Ethan must have beaten up a teenage girl because our dad raped someone 30 years ago." At least Dante pointed that out to Lulu, maybe she'll come around.

Sonny won't come around until he hears Kristina admit with her own little swollen lying mouth that Ethan is innocent. Sonny was content to let Ethan rot in jail, but when he discovered Kristina dropped the charges, he threw one of those awesome Sonny fits where he throws things at the wall and clears his desk with the sweep of an arm just as the other town stalker, D.A. Claire Walsh, happened to be lurking in the hallway. I really miss Sonnybucks; at least he had a private office there.

Like Sam, Sonny keeps comparing Kristina's beating to his own childhood abuse. He wants to punish not just Ethan, but his stepdad, too - all the rage inside him lives on and this is just a new direction to channel it. Maurice Benard is so intense; I bet he actually intimidates some of the actors that work with him. He scares me sometimes, and I am on the other side of a TV set.

Maurice Benard has done some very powerful scenes in these two intersecting storylines. Sonny is a tricky character. Part of you thinks, "This guy is a murderer and a thug and he deserves to go to prison." But the other part thinks, "But he's good at heart and had a rotten start at life and maybe he can change." And so you want to root for him, too. Dante's character is experiencing the same dual feelings that we have, torn between deciding to put Sonny away or help him get off so he can go see a Yankees game with Morgan.

Readers, a few of you have written me to say you think GH is boring right now. Indeed, GH is a little less engaging than it was during sweeps, but trust me, it's much better than other shows I watch. I'm watching a certain soap right now, which I shall not name, that makes me want to throw my TV out the window. I'm thankful I don't have to come up with something good to say about *that* show because the only thing good about it right now is when it ends.

But yes, there are some weak plots... Like Maxie and Spinelli's latest debacle. Hey GH nurses, Maxie's oxygen mask is off more than on, shouldn't someone be watching her? You'd think if Maxie were in danger of getting an infection, they would ask her parade of visitors to wear gowns and masks. I want to care about this plot, but I don't. It was nice to see Ghost Georgie, but it just reminded me how mad I am that they killed her off in the first place. Spinelli keeps wheeling in to apologize, and Maxie doles out forgiveness like a fairy sprinkles dust, but it never seems to land on Spinelli or penetrate him. I bet he'll never invent a serial killer again.

Sonny's trial has potential, but at present is unrealistic - all the jurors are talking about the trial outside of the courtroom. I suspect that in a real-life high-profile mob trial, the jury would be sequestered. Thus Lisa wouldn't be crashing Robin and Patrick's date in the park gazebo to get a lecture from Robin about what a swell guy Sonny is. Not to mention the other jurors...Everyone sees a hung jury coming, right? Coleman has already decided to vote "Not Guilty" and Alice is determined to vote "Guilty," so there you have it.

Also on the lame side is the classic soap staple "The wrong guy thinks he's the daddy." Nikolas thinks he's the father of Liz's baby. He might find out the truth in a week, or maybe not until the kid has some life-threatening illness like the one Lulu had when Nikolas came to town. Lucky and Liz are both a little saddened by the outcome of the paternity test. Those of you who hate spoilers skip to the next paragraph now....Are you gone? Okay, for the rest of us, you may recall that Nikolas ordered a second paternity test fearing Helena's interference on the first one, and...drumroll please... Helena is going to fiddle with the second test, too, thus ensuring Liz thinks Nikolas is her baby daddy.

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While I do enjoy having Helena in town, I'd much rather see her battle the as-yet-to-be-introduced Valentine Cassadine. Imagine a storyline where Helena is the weaker person in the fight! Instead, she is apparently just going to warp Spencer and annoy Nikolas and taunt Elizabeth until her baby is born.

What will happen tomorrow, dear readers? Will Dante and Lulu finally seal the deal using an Enduro condom and end up preggo? Will Helena thaw out Stavros from her cryogenic freezer under GH again to help her control Nikolas? Will Robin run into Casey the Space Alien and flash back to her 5-year-old self? Will anyone ever mention the Asian Quarter again? Will Lucky's missing dog, Foster, find his way home just when Lucky needs a friend the most? Will Maxie accidentally swallow a poison sphere while she's in GH?

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