UPDATE: Apparently Wally Kurth and Lisa LoCicerco have self-titled their new coupling #NIV. Much better than Riverside Soaps' attempt with "Nedlivia."
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Sigh. That's the sound quite a few viewers of ABC's "General Hospital" have been making of late. Why? The mob. Incessantly. Sonny wants to kill Ava. Ava has her muscle-bloated goons pick up Franco to try and threaten him for information against Sonny. Jordan and Anna are trying to infiltrate a different mob headed up by Mickey, who was cast, written and is acted straight out of "The Stereotypical Mob Guy" handbook. Even what looked as though it was going to be a sweet moment for the Davis' girls on July 29, with all of them ordering pizza and hanging out, turned sour when a mob-planted bomb destroyed Alexis' home.
"General Hospital" airs at 1pm on Riverside affiliate KABC channel 7.
Even a good majority of the relationships are straight out of "The Godfather," and if they aren't, they are highly dysfunctional and negative. Ava, sister of mobster Julian Jerome, had a one-night stand with gangster Sonny while also sleeping with Sonny's son Morgan. She's now pregnant. Gross. Carly, although dating Franco, the man who was responsible for her son being raped in prison, still has a thing for Sonny. Gross. Carly and Franco, Michael and Kiki, Sam and Silas, not to mention Nina and Silas, are all walking examples of how not to have a relationship. This reporter would also bet her last dollar that Maxie's terrible fiance, Levi, will somehow end up related to the mob. If not, it's still a bad relationship based on bad intentions. The Quartermaine's couch gets more air time than any semi-solid couple in a loving relationship, like Dante and Lulu. Whatever happened to the soap motto "love in the afternoon?"
Yet, in the midst of all this Sopranos-like chaos, this week brought us a completely unexpected ray of hope. Ned Quartermaine and Olivia Falconeri. Sadly, there was still a bit of mob thrown into this mix since Olivia was drunk and fuming over her broken relationship with Sonny and her inability to throw him out of his office at the Metro Court; however, the scenes that followed with these two characters made Sonny a distant memory and left us with raised eyebrows that a real relationship might be in the making.
Poor Olivia, broken hearted and having had far too many drinks at the bar, is stumbling, sloshing and slurring to her new friend, Ned, about her anger towards Sonny for sleeping with Ava. Ned sweetly listens and tries to offer the best advice he can while also trying not to laugh at Olivia's condition. Olivia even had a small stain on her dress that perfectly summed up the scorned drunk girl scenario.
Olivia also got off some amazing and hilarious zingers. She tells Ned that her former fiance, Steven Lars, was sent to prison, so she therefore ended up back with Sonny and became a "Brenda bot," referring to Sonny's long-suffering, on-again-off-again relationship with Brenda Barrett. She hilariously explained to a confused Ned that Brenda bots are "legions and legions of little brunettes with big boobies that are like 'oh Sonny, I love you so much. Whatever you say, whatever you do, I'll just make an excuse for you.'"
After Olivia hysterically but accurately confronts Carly for not siding with her in trying to boot Sonny from his office digs because "you still have a thing for him," Ned leads an off-kilter Olivia back to his room. In the past, one might have suspected a scene like this to end in awful, drunken sex or the man taking advantage of a passed out female. Instead, Ned kindly told a sobbing Olivia that what they needed was a TV comedy. A little Jimmy Kimmel (and of course a plug for the ABC late night show).
Things go pretty well with this idea until Ned leaves the room to find Olivia a blanket. Then the commercials appear. Of course, it's an ad for "Save the Animals," showing sad and forlorn cats and dogs who need someone to "be their hero."
By the time Ned returns, Olivia has managed to call the "Save the Animals" hotline and is planning to revamp all the rooms at the Metro Court to become an animal hotel. "I want to be their hero" she hilariously cries into the phone. Once again, Ned saves the day and tells her she's cut off from the phone.
By the end of the episode, Olivia has sobered up a bit and realizes how ridiculous her idea had been. "Never drunk dial an animal shelter," says Olivia. "Words to live by," laughs Ned. She also realizes what an amazing person she's just spent the evening with. "You're a really good guy," she smiles, "and a really good friend. No wonder Lois was crazy about you. She was crazy to let you get away." Crazy indeed.
That, friends, is how you do love in the afternoon. Good times and bad times shared as friends that eventually, and hopefully in this case, leads to something more. Oh Nedlivia, here's hoping we see a lot more of you on our screens in a healthy, positive relationship with just the right dose of drama thrown in. Time for a little more "Moonstruck" and a lot less "Casino." And let's face it. Lisa LoCicero's Olivia is worth a more mature and consistent storyline where she's not babbling or cackling about Sonny, and of course, no one can deny that any and all screen time we can get from the amazing Wally Kurth as Ned is welcome.
Check out Tuesday's show in its entirety to catch all of the fun, hilarity and what is hopefully a budding romance for Nedlivia. In fact, Riverside Soaps decided they needed a meme. Check it out over on the fantastic Facebook page "Soap Fans United."
So what do you think? Should Ned and Olivia be a couple? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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