Dion

I think Jimmy-Lee and Celia - or Grant and Celia, depending on which you liked better - from General Hospital probably qualify. There was a love triangle storyline that lasted more than two years with the result being Jimmy-Lee winning Celia and Grant eventually leaving town. Then a few months later Jimmy-Lee and Celia split up and Celia left town. Eventually Jimmy-Lee ended up with Charity and left town less than a year after Celia.

Good question! I know the reason he wasn't killed was because he had information about Lorenzo's compound which Sonny needed after Lorenzo kidnapped Carly from the panic room and then I think Jason couldn't leave him to die at the compound because Lorenzo had now kidnapped Courtney. And then Scotty offered to drop the charges if Ric agreed to help him set Sonny up for something. Ric eventually managed to become District Attorney.

I guess that's how Ken was finally written out. I believe John Prentice had been appearing since 1964 but this storyline seems to mark the beginning of his increased prominence. Thanks @depboy

Eddie's developing sleeping pill addiction after giving up drinking seems like an interesting and logical development for the character. I do wonder though how quickly it will all be wrapped up so that Eddie and Angie get their "happy ending". The events described here do make the speculation that Angie and Eddie eventually divorced offscreen in the years prior to Angie's cameo in 1993 plausible though as Eddie doesn't seem to treat her very well.

Ooh I had no idea Ken Martin was still on the show at this point. Like the GH wiki, I assumed he and Cynthia left in 1964. Though it makes sense he'd be still around since it appears he had a crossover episode onto The Young Marrieds. Thanks @depboy

yup that's basically the reason lol

Yeah that makes sense. I have a feeling the divorce was called off or nullified once Phil found out about the baby (Nancy), but then of course they finally divorced after Nancy died. I think it's possible Audrey and Tom Baldwin may have had the same interlocutory decree a few years later, hence necessitating Audrey's scheme to hide their son (who later became Tom Hardy). I'm not certain but I beleive the existence of a child would give grounds for such a degree to be nullified. Some other thoughts, it's interesting that Audrey seems to have set her sights on having a child as early as 1965. The storyline doesn't play out fully until 1968, but I guess we'll eventually see Audrey come to suspect that Steve may have a problem and go down the artificial insemination route, leading to her miscarriage and divorce from Steve. And thanks for the summaries

Yeah we're gonna get months of Trina acting like she was Rory's widow aren't we

I don't know, but they casted 5 out of 6 of their children for this appearance. so that does bode well. Just some history, Lucas was born at the end of 2000 (can't remember if it was the actual finale or the episode before, but it was around the time Chris returned) and is Nick's son with Ange (who was terminally ill and died in early 2001). Tina-Anne (not seen this time) was born in the 3000th episode in 2004, the next three (Celica, Silvia and Ranger if I have the order right) were first mentioned during Nick and Waverley's return for the volcanic eruption in 2017 (not by name, just that they had since had "three other children") and Camry is the child Waverley discovered she was pregnant with during that guest appearance. I missed that Radio New Zealand (RNZ). I'm not sure why it would specifically have an effect though since Shortland Street isn't like EastEnders where that show is directly made by the BBC studios.

I'm a bit miffed they had Waverley being the one responsible for accidentally starting the fire but Claire Chitham knocked it out of the park as usual, particularly in her scene with Maeve. With many of the major locations destroyed by fire we can expect a dramatic refresh of the sets in the new year

Worst thing the show ever did IMO

That's true, especially in Jessie's case. Although it should be noted that both Audrey and Diana's childcare arrangements eventually ended up playing a huge role in their storylines lol. That said, I do think it was particularly cruel to kill off Jane's daughter just as a precursor to Jane's exit.

I hinted at that above when I said that Port Charles had some of the worst infant and child mortality rates in the 60s and 70s. I mean up until Gloria Monty took over... Jessie had a miscarriage in '64 Chuck died in '65 Jessie's daughter Nancy died in '66 Audrey had a miscarriage in '68 Diana's son Tracy died in '72 Lesley had a child that died as part of her backstory Jane's daughter Joanne died in '75 Lesley had a miscarriage in '77 Diana's daughter Martha was killed in a hurricane in '77 In the end only Angie's child,Tom Hardy and Augusta McLeod's child survived.

Wait...Lee had a (biological) son? I suppose he probably died. Port Charles - or rather "the unnamed city where General Hospital is set" as it was back then - had some of the worst infant and child mortality rates back in the 60s and 70s. Speaking of Phil....

The lighting and the overall look of the show did dramatically improve in the immediate lead up to going HD in early 2009 though (about one or two weeks before the actual switchover). It was quite dreary beforehand but suddenly brightened up. Which brings me to what I'm thankful for, I quite enjoyed most of 2009, even the first run of Franco. I particularly liked the carnival which ended with a drugged Edward driving into everyone. After Sonny shot Dante - which was a great moment - the show slowly lost its appeal.

**Not to be confused with Sarah Horton whom the thread was about a few days back That said, I'm not sure she had anything to do with Sami/Austin/Carrie/Lucas so perhaps this is a more candid shot of the younger cast posing together rather than a promo for a particular storyline?

I think Carrie was supposed to be slightly older (at least in 1990) because I remember them being candystripers together in the hospital and being interested in the same boy, Chad. And I distinctly remember Sarah saying to Chad that he was probably more interested in Carrie because Carrie was older. But then of course they wrote out Carrie (and Chad), recast Sarah with an older actress (which kind of gave Sarah a bit of a bump in age too, though she was still a teen) and tried to pair her with Michael Easton's Tanner before writing her out.

No need really. They've totally just glossed over 2006 Holly. Plus they already did that with Anna and Alex just recently.

I liked that they used Paloma to give some added motivation to Holly's actions, because let's face it, she was only a lookalike half-sister created for an adventure storyline 30 years ago and they were never going to use her in a meaningful way again. So may as well kill her off.

I'd also add Valerie Starrett to that as Diana replaced Jessie as the lead central heroine in the early 70s (even taking Jessie's two love interests!), though after the Phil Brewer murder mystery wrapped up it seems Diana quickly began to peter out (pun somewhat intended lol) with the show finally getting a handle on what to do with Lesley and pushing her to the forefront. And then of course Starrett was eventually replaced as Diana by Brooke Bundy.

I guessed that it was Holly who shot Lucy a month ago in the October thread. I mean it is kind of obvious.

And now it's finished!

Now halfway through, some thoughts...

Just finished watching the first episode of the new season and damn it feels like the show is going all out to

To be fair on Emily, neither Sarah or Jason realised the connection either lol And it was pretty cold of Jeff to break up with her via letter...poor Anne had just decided she was ready to go live with him outside marriage and well...you know...lol