Well, James Franco has completed his first week on General Hospital playing wealthy artist Franco. As I wrote after Franco’s debut appearance, I’m not going to pretend I watch GH regularly; fans can help me out with context in the comments section below, if you like. But I am intrigued by how Franco plays Franco, a one-time poor graffiti artist who’s become rich making art such as mock-crime-scene installations for an art-gallery opening that seemed to last all week on Hospital.
Wednesday’s episode featured Franco only in one character’s fleeting flashback. That hour wheeled in lots of what I presume are old familiar GH characters, gathered to wish fans a happy Thanksgiving. But the rest of the time, Franco delivered a lot of tough-guy romantic dialogue that sums up his character’s philosophy of life.
So I’ve assembled the best of what I’ll call Franco’s Filosophy.
• “The secret to life is, everyone can die at any time… don’t live by rules or boundaries, and take what you want, when you want.”
• “People always think there’s some deep dark secret pushing my soul to create [but] I just like it.”
• “Art is all about the dialectic… the contrast between two opposing forces, life and death.”
• “Any commitment longer than an evening would make me break out.”
Finally, Franco has been playing tonsil-hockey with some blonde named Maxie. In between smooches and mattress sessions, he’s treated her to comments such as these:
• “I’m willing to believe that self-pitying drivel didn’t just emege from your lovely mouth.”
• “Maybe you woke up too many Sundays hating the person in the mirror.”
When Maxie asked whether such pearls of wisdon were how Franco “charms the pants off” his lovers, he riposted, “Your pants are already half way down your thighs.”
“Wow, that’s deep,” said Maxie. “This has to be the worst come-on I’ve ever heard.”
Have you been watching Franco on General Hospital? What do you think of Franco’s Filosophy?
Comments (1-15) of 68 Add your comment
I wish EW had assigned this coverage to someone who is familiar with the show, so the characters and dialogue were put into context.
As for Fraco, he’s just an attempt to draw in new viewers. For long-time fans of the show, he doesn’t mean anything, because we understand he’s only a gimmick…and a predictable, boring one, at that, since he’s been thrust into the mob storyline, which has squahed what was formerly a great soap opera.
The only problem is…many of the long time viewers think the mob storyline is what has made the show great again. I can’t stand it since it became Sopranos Light and it caused me to stop watching it years ago (thank god I did, too! It gave me a chance to experience and grow to love Guiding Light..which truly was a great soap). However, I am surrounded by people who wont ever stop watching GH due to the Sonny and Jason show (two guys who really can NOT act to save their lives).
I love that James Franco is on GH. I make sure I don’t miss it. I liked it before he came on but he adds something to the show. I can’t stand One life to live and All my children now with their predictable story lines.
I agree about All My Children, but One Life to Live is by far the best soap opera. First, they actually cherish past storylines and feature old veterans interacting with new characters. Two, it isn’t al violence like GH. Lastly, there is actually more than white people on the show!
One of the reasons GH is promoting the heck out of James Franco is to lure new viewers. So it’s better to have a new viewers take on GH. Ken is the type of person they are trying to get to start watching. If GH really cared about long time viewers, do you think the whole show would be about the mob? So stop dissing the man for commenting on GH as a new viewer, because that’s the whole point! Also I must say, I’m not feeling Franco. He doesn’t looks as fine as he does in his movies. I think it’s the lighting. The stuff he says is wack. The ONLY good thing about him this week is that he slept with Maxie which hopefully will mean the end to Spinelli/Maxie. YES!!! Get rid of Olivia.
If you’re going to keep following James Franco on GH, can you try to be a little more fair to soap operas? It sounds like you already had some anti-soap bias, but if you could treat the medium with a little more respect, you wouldn’t alienate actual soap fans. Because you’re new to soaps, you need to keep an open mind and not judge them by prime time or film standards.
I agree with cattyfan. Couldn’t EW have found somebody who actually appreciates soaps to write this article? How insulting can you be, Ken? Not only to GH, but to its fans.
I’m loving franco he’s amazing!!
Oh…and Ken, since you can’t be bothered to put it in context yourself (with some easy-to-do research,) let me help you. The “some blonde” to whom you refer is the legacy character Maxie…daughter of heritage supercouple Felicia (Kristina Wagner) and Frisco (Jack Wagner.) You might know Jack Wagner from Melrose Place, his top 40 career, or his golf enthusiasm. Daytime fans know him for his star-making and Emmy nominated stint on GH. Maxie is played by the tiny powerhouse Kirsten Storm, who is also an Emmy nominated actress…but you probably only saw her in the gossip pages. They paired guest star Franco with her because she can easily keep up with (and surpass him) when it comes to acting.
Thanks for your comments and I agree most reviews of James Franco on GH will come with an unfortunate anti-soap bias. Haven’t watched GH in a while but loved Felicia and Frisco so it’s cool to know this is their daughter…
Should we really expect anything less from Ken Tucker. If its not Jon and Kate then what does he care. I am a GH fan and am stuggling with the storyline. I am hoping that it gets better, but I’m hoping that with all the GH storylines. I appreciate GH trying to lure in new fans…and old by bringing on Franco. But I will appreciate GH more when the show stops being the Sonny and Jason show and get back to its roots.
Honestly, guys, don’t worry about it. Ken Tucker writing an uninformed, uncreative, and poorly conceived post or article is nothing new.
catty fan:
please don’t ever use the word “powerhouse” when actor referencing. seriously. no.
I am totally loving Franco! Everytime he’s on the screen he oozes sex. I love that he’s paired with Maxie as the two of them are a perfect match. I know he’s not going to be on much longer (major shame) but I can’t wait to see where they take his character.
Why the hell is James Franco on a soap opera? The man’s a tv and movie star. I’m seriously scratching my head here. And to the people above: they probably didn’t have any reviewers who watch guiding light.
True…since Guilding Light is no longer on the air. General Hospital is the TV show Franco is on…and since you acknowledge Franco is a TV and movie star, and he’s guesting on a TV show, what’s your problem, steph?
Because he REQUESTED to be on one. As widely reported. Next….
Uh, you might ask Tommy Lee Jones, Laurence Fishburne, Christian Slater, and Morgan Freeman, among others, the same question.
On his album Jay Z has a great line “people want my old sh&! buy my old album” I think he problme with most of the post ive read is that you guys refuse to accept change. Whether for good or bad GH has changed and personally its not all that bad. The mob stuff is tiresome but so are the dumbed down twilight like ove stories of sme of the other soaps. ading franco has lived up to the hype franco has def not been out acted by anyone, and i think more importantly you “fans” should be more appreciative. It is well known how actors feel about soaps how most people feel about soaps. Franco doing this may be the start of a change in that mindset. so sit back and try to enjoy the now of the moment instead of complaining about what it isnt try to enjoy what it is. I know I am.
WHAT? What happened to Maxie and Spinelli? I’ve missed a lot of GH.
Maxie reverted to her self-destructive ways and had a ONS with Franco.
LOL. Did it even last a whole night?
Ken, I think you need to turn this assignment over to Abby West, an EW writer who actually appreciates the genre.
I hope to be able to afford this type of stunt casting, they didn’t eliminate the great GH characters of Claudia and Rebecca/Emily.
Because all Franco is so far is a freaky wave.
I’m a soap watcher (Y&R and ATWT) and a James Franco fan so when I heard that James was going to be on GH I figured I’d watch it when I got the chance (i.e. soapnet replays). I have to say I don’t hate GH or James Franco but there’s something really just…I don’t know how to describe it…it doesn’t work. It’s blatantly obvious that James’s story was randomly thrown together when the writer’s found out that he was willing to be on the show. On the bright side, I do occasionally get the chance to look at James on a regular basis and have a respect for GH and Anthony Geary (I think that’s his name) whose Daytime Emmy wins used to annoy the crap out of me. I get it now tho.
Actually, GH didn’t just throw together a storyline for Franco. They knew he was coming on for a long time (longer than people would expect) and they did come up with this whole mysterious storyline that is supposed to involve a lot of characters, tie a lot of loose ends together, and have consequences that last until February sweeps. Not to criticize but if you’ve been watching for the last month, you would know that the Franco story wasn’t just “randomly thrown together.”
I haven’t been watching for the last month. I’ve seen a handful of episodes and from what I’ve seen it just seems random. Just my opinion.