--Previous Message--
: I don’t think it’s just the term recurring.
: According to reports, Frank said he only
: wanted her for 12 episodes a year! Seems
: like the other recurring vets are on way
: more
: than that. Kevin must have been on at least
: 1/2 a dozen times already this year! 12
: episodes means talking to Lulu or Kevin a
: few times a year with no story at all.
: We complained that she wasn’t on much last
: year.
: According to a post of J’s last July..
:
: **that prompted me to look up her episode
: counts
: for 2016 vs this year.
:
: Color me shocked. Genie has been on 56 shows
: in
: 2017. That's almost an average of 2 shows
: per week.
:
: To compare, Genie was in 70 shows for the
: entirety
: of 2016. **
:
: I don’t know what her total wound up being
: last
: year, but 12 episodes is barely being there
: at all.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Great interview. Great person. She says
: what
: we have been discussing here. People age
: out of the current demand for a younger
: audience. That's what the advertisers
: think. As long as that feeling persists,
: the veteran characters are not going to be
: in demand. I think Genie should consider
: recurring. Unless, she really wants to do a
: career turnaround and try theater or an
: occasional TV film, her best bet might be to
: be recurring and fit in other things into
: her off-time. It really might be good news
: in disguise for her. After all, if you are
: not contracted, they don't own you. She
: could go on and off GH almost at will.
:
: --Previous Message--
: I think she's a straight shooter and tells
: it
: like it is. Here's an excerpt where she
: talks about why we don't see what we want.
: I believe her.
:
:
:
:
: https://www.tvinsider.com/173624/general-hospital-jane-elliot-tracy-quartermaine-abc/
:
: Q: GH never made you and your character the
: center of the show—the rich, powerful,
: dynamic hub from which all spokes
: emanate—the way Guiding Light did with
: Beverlee McKinsey or The Bold and the
: Beautiful did with Susan Flannery.
:
: JE: Or One Life to Live with Erika Slezak.
: As far as I'm concerned, they should have
: made Tracy the head of the mob. She should
: have gone one-on-one with Sonny.
:
: Q: Instead, she’s mostly been a supporting
: player, providing the energy and color and
: chaos when it was desperately needed but she
: was never the power base.
:
: JE: That might have done that with Tracy in
: my earlier years but it would never happen
: today. Not that long ago I had a
: conversation with an ABC executive about why
: they were playing all the young people on
: the show and not playing the veterans. There
: is a constant cry from the audience:
: "Play the vets!" Me, Leslie
: Charleson, Kin Shriner, Jackie Zeman, Lynn
: Herring, Genie Francis, you know the list.
: And what I was told by this network exec is
: that the young actors are played heavily
: because that's what the advertisers want.
: They believe they will attract a younger
: audience that way, because young viewers are
: the ones who haven't yet decided whether to
: buy Kleenex or Puffs and they can be swayed
: by advertising. Older viewers are not so
: susceptible. They don’t change their minds
: and make new, different choices.
:
: Q: Says the 70-year-old woman who just shook
: up her life in a massive way.
:
: JE: Hey, I’m not saying that I believe this
: to be true! But it’s how the business
: operates. Yes, by playing Tracy and the
: other older characters, you might get your
: lapsed audience back, but it's not the
: audience they want. So this is not about the
: fault of the producers or the writers or the
: network. It's all driven by the advertisers
: and the need to attract young shoppers. This
: wasn't always the case. Soaps used to be
: about storytelling and characters of all
: ages and types. We’re not doing that now. We
: go from event to event to event. The stories
: are activity driven, rather than driven by
: emotion. And, unfortunately, it’s easier to
: write an event than an emotional story, one
: that has depth and breadth and passion and
: heart. My hat’s off to anybody who is doing
: it in this soap business of today, because
: it’s all dictated by schedule and finance
: rather than what’s best for the stories. You
: are told which actors you can use, based on
: who hasn’t worked beyond their guarantees.
: You are told which sets you must use. You
: can’t fault the writers for the restrictions
: and constraints they work under.
:
:
: