titan1978

I think Monty’s GH was at its best both times Falken-Smith was the head writer while she was EP.  First after Marland, then again when she introduced Anna and Robin in the mid 1980’s.  She really set the tone for what GH became when it blew up as far as story and style.  I think everyone that worked with Monty after that first stint was just trying to emulate what PFS did.  Marland was a much more traditional.

How do we pin her style down?  That earlier DAYS stint is just so different than her other work.  GH really was trying to be modern for the times.

She is a fantastic character creator.  The Cassadines, Roman Brady, Stefano, Anna Devane, Robin Scorpio etc.  She also wrote some of the most iconic umbrella storylines in GH and DAYS history- Salem Strangler, Left Handed boy, etc.

Sheri Anderson was on her writing team at both shows.  These people created the super couple formula (which could be bad when it was applied to every story, like on DAYS).

4 hours ago, j swift said:

 

A Trip Down Soap Lane Podcast did an episode this week about the start of Luke and Laura, and I had similar questions.  Was there more promotional support once Gloria Monty took over?  It went from #8 to #1, but I wonder if anyone took notice before they hit number one?  I also wonder how much press the original rape episode got? Because the iconic fact that Herb Alpert's Rise played in the background during the scene seems to be etched in my memory by soap press rather than actually watching the show at the time. 

The song had a huge jump on the billboard chart due to useage on the show.

From wiki-

Jill Farren Phelps, musical director of the ABC soap opera General Hospital, decided to use "Rise" as the musical backdrop for the rape of Laura Webber by Luke Spencer. For several weeks afterward, the recording was played on the show to evoke the memory of Luke's act. The added exposure in an extremely popular program boosted sales to the point of selling more than one million copies.

The week the show hit number one was credited to the Alan/Monica/Rick/Lesley storyline hitting a peak.  Luke and Laura are credited with cementing that status and holding it until Genie left.  Other shows would get the top spot from time to time but GH stayed that way on the yearly charts until soon after Monty left in 1987, or near then.

The show took off relatively quickly, because they were going to give Monty 6 or 10 (I can’t remember exactly) weeks to save the show or let it go out with dignity.  Marland created great new characters, gave the existing ones Monty wanted to keep good stories and then she and Falken-Smith made it into a cultural phenomenon.

My what if has always been if Marland had stayed?  No left handed boy (which is where Luke and Laura really took off), no Diana murder, no Cassadines.

I think Falken-Smith really knocked what started before her out of the park!

1 hour ago, Khan said:

Stuart Damon and Leslie Charleson looked so gorgeous and sophisticated BITD.

I do not think I have missed anyone that Guza and JFP got rid of more than Alan Quartermaine.

Sure I loved Brenda, and enjoyed and see the potential in Emily, Georgie, Tony, Zander and so many others they got rid of.  But Alan is a hole to me as big as Maureen Bauer on GL, just in a different way because they are different characters.

Alan is just missing and nothing has ever filled that void.  As a doctor at GH, his specific place in the Quartermaine family, his relationships with his children, animosity with Sonny, and his complicated marriage with Monica.  He could be ruthless, and he could also be sensitive.

Alan was not a played out character.  

When Labine and Riche wrote out Sean and Tiffany, I missed them but I also got it.   They were expensive talent that didn’t have enough story left for what they cost.  These were not actors that would have gone recurring or taken huge cuts at that time just to never be the lead in a story again.  I kind of felt the same way about Tony once he was off contract.  But I think Alan had story still to tell.

I love scenes with HBS’s Margo and Barbara.  I wish I had been a viewer then.

I loved Nora on OLTL but I really loved her as Margo with Greg Marx as Tom.  YouTube has been good to soap fans.

I was watching a bunch of random GH clips on YouTube and it occurred to me that Bob Guza loved courtroom scenes.  There were so many trials and scenes in a court during his run.

Laura on trial for murdering Damian.  Luke on trial for something (I can’t remember what) when his affair with Felicia came out.  Monica Vs Dorman for sexual harassment. Tons of Sonny or mob related court scenes.  Custody of catatonic Laura.  Custody of Michael.  Dianne, Alexis, Ric and Scotty were always in court for something.

It’s almost as big a trope in his writing as misogyny. 

If I was Victoria Rowell, and I knew my worth to the audience and place on the show and got to watch several other actors act like a diva at times I would to.  I don’t see anything wrong with it on that show in particular!

I would love to hear some Colleen Zink stories.

Beverlee McKinsey said she would speak up if she needed to, and there is no denying the diva master stroke with how she left Guiding Light and outwitted P&G, CBS, and especially JFP.

Crystal Chappel has had issues on DAYS, I do not know is she was still a diva on GL.

5 hours ago, RobertAnnaGirl said:

Not fond of Robert???????? wha? How? who? 

I didn’t hate Robert, I just didn’t enjoy him and if he had a love interest I didn’t dig (Katherine) then he was especially grating.

Outside of Anna being my favorite, I was way more into Frisco back then than Robert.

But when he came back it was like a breath of fresh air.  Even now, I love the way he says Corinthos.  Just the right amount of contempt.

I’ve been watching this playlist covering Luke & Laura and Lucky’s return in 1993.  So many great little moments surrounding all the big events, like Laura finding the old Ward house and her feeling the memories of them while she and Luke hide out.  Just the image of her seeing the house is special.

This clip reminded me of the easy chemistry Laura and Tony had as friends, and the ending with Scotty is just good soap opera writing.  Play those beats!

That first two years of Ron at OLTL and GH were so much better than what we had been getting, but the messy times were there too.  The issue is that he starts to climax the stuff that was his “A” material, the stuff he gets accolades and ratings growth with.  And then he runs out of places to go, or chooses the easy way out of a storyline (shocks, killing off characters, etc).  No one writer should have told so many DID, doppelgänger, and forgotten children storylines on the same shows.

Anyone that is a comic book fan can see Ron’s problematic style.  Strip-mining history for moments to build his plots around.  Any chance for someone to have been off screen is a chance for Ron to have given them a child, past as a spy, twin, etc.  He does it so much though that it is a trope in his writing, and often the telling gets worse with each copy.

On 5/1/2019 at 2:15 PM, BoldRestless said:

May 27, 1991 - Nina & David

 

 

Thanks for posting this.

I really miss Nina.  There was a lot of great stuff on the show during this period, but I truly enjoyed all her storylines until pretty near the end.

I think Nina is my favorite character from this era.  From her early baby story to Phillip, fighting with Kay and Jill, the money, David.  Really until Ryan I loved her.

I think Susan was killed too soon.  Just imagine 5 or 6 years of her making Alan miserable. Using Scotty to get herself some ELQ shares on behalf of Jason or even of her own through lawsuits or the threat of public humiliation.  Fighting with Monica.

I used to love Lucy holding her shares over everyone’s head.  Imagine if we had Susan and Lucy?

Great clips.

I grew up in the Anna, Frisco and Felicia era of the show.  But I absolutely loved Dr Hardy, Lee and Gail and Lesley (it was on around me when I was a kid, I just didn’t make a choice to follow the show for myself until that mid 1980’s time period).   Clips like these make me miss those characters, and what might have been had they not all been so sidelined and many of them now sadly passed away.

Thanks for the info. 

It’s kind of like the Spencer’s.  I do not remember them being such long-standing Port Charles residents.  When Luke and Laura came back in the 90’s, the feeling was Laura was home.  Not Luke.  Not that Luke was a character to spend much time in reflection.  But I don’t remember Bobbie talking about a childhood there either.  Just with Ruby and that was in Florida if I remember correctly.

When did the show decide the Q’s had been in Port Charles all along?  I know the house wasn’t just invented for Alan to give to Monica, there seems to be some history there for the family.  I just get confused.  Alan arrived on the show first, but was the rest of the family there and just not seen?

There was a real chance when they brought AJ back, and Tracy was still there that Celia could have been brought back with kids that could have integrated well.  Now, with just Monica, it would be a harder sell for me.  Another waste of Jane before she retired.

I hear a lot about the hurricane that Monty sent through the town to wipe out the cast memebers she didn’t like.  I assume this was written by Marland?

Kin Shriner jokes about it all the time.

Who got the ax then?  

Or busy hospital/restaurant scenes.  Monty’s GH has lots of background actors.

50 minutes ago, ironlion said:

LOL!

 

hard to think 3-4 characters have eaten GH for nearly 20 years now.....

 

Instresting to see how the show shifted "star charachters".....we went from the Steve Hardy show to the Luke & Laura Show, to the Robert & Ana Show, to the Sonny/Carly/Jason/ Courtney then Sam show. 

Nothing on this show has ever been as all consuming as Guza and Phelps Sonny/Carly/Jason.  

At the height of Luke and Laura we had actual stories for the Quartermaines, Rick/Lesley, Diana’s murder and Jeff/Heather, etc that had nothing to do with Luke and Laura.  Sure there were times they dominated and were the topic of the town, but not to the extent of Sonny.

I do think the era of Anna/Robert/Frisco/Felicia came close.  But even then there was still Lucy marrying Tony, Bobbie and Jake, Sean and Monica stealing the Q’s money, Tiffany and Sean falling in love, etc.  Nothing revolving around the actual hospital of note, but still better than Sonny Hospital.

I always thought Courtney was Pratt, not Frons.

Once Pratt was gone a lot of the show got better.  The stories and characters made sense again, even if Guza couldn’t stop the Sonny propping, which got worse from that point on.  I also remember when it seemed like the focus shifted from Sonny to Jason.  There were a couple of years there (Sonny/Emily) where it seemed like they might actually make them enemies.  All of a sudden Jason was the name every character said all the time, not Sonny.

You know, I have always been team Laura and Genie.  But the article posted above reminds me that although I think the network and producers let Tony get away with murder and did not value her, she also left more than he did.

I remember her maternity leave that did not end.  And on Steve Burton’s podcast, she commented on how Riche gave her a first in first out type of deal once her kids were born, and how there was resentment for that that.  It might be the only time she was given favored status over Geary once he became popular.  Monty and JFP certainly treated him with more respect.

She has also stated that at times she would let him do the battles for both of them, although she also fought bts for better stories with him.  It just seems in hindsight that Riche did see her as important.  I wonder if that plays into how much Tony disliked Wendy?

11 minutes ago, Antoyne said:

Anyone know which writer decided John was Marlenas one true love and not Roman? Was it JER?? Did Drake and Deidre really have more chemistry than Wayne and Deirdre?

I loved Wayne.  I only saw his last storyline as a kid when Stefano killed Roman.  But I loved him.  Drake was always pleasant to me as Roman, and for those that find him sexy he gave them plenty to look at.  I was way more into Bo, so Drake wasn’t on my radar as far as attraction.

People I knew that also watched DAYS absolutely preferred Drake to Wayne.  I didn’t get it back then, and I still do not.  The story written by JER and Sheri (she was there when it started) put the tortured aspect directly at John and Marlena’s feet.  Roman was not written well at that time, and John was given the type of writing that romance fans respond to.  Tortured and sexy.  JER absolutely ran with that as a solo HW writer and made Marlena/John the couple.

Truthfully, Drake’s Roman (even before they thought he was him) was always written from a romance story angle first, whereas Wayne was a more complete character as created and acted out.

I also remember reading in the soap mags that people wanted her with John.

I don’t want anyone with Josh’s Roman.  Never have cared for him.

As far as Melissa Reeves goes- it was all pretty much reported on the soap boards I followed back in the day, and confirmed when Corday sued her when there were firm rumors she was going to another show, possibly GH.  The suit put it all out there as fact, including the part about Scott forcing her to quit.

No storyline I followed was ever as dismantled by recasts as that one.  The replacement Jennifer was awful, and then when Mark Valley left the next Jack was just atrocious.

Except for a few brief moments here and there, she has never seemed like the Jennifer Horton I loved back then since she came back.  Each time.

Kin Shriner was Genie Francis’s first serious relationship when she was a teen on GH.  He was... not a teen.

Justin Hartley and Lindsay Hartley met on Passions.

Weren’t Lane Davies and Nancy Grahn a couple at one point in real life while on SB?

8 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Certainly no one can claim that Marty didn’t have a voice in that story. I had just forgotten how much of that scene was from Powell’s POV.

And in the end, because Roger Howarth was a great actor, we had to go from just how awful this was to Todd being a lovable rascal.  Yes he stalked Nora and if I remember correctly attacked Luna.  But he became a cooky character that was sometimes shady.

When he hit Tea, and people were all up in arms about it, I remember thinking well he did participate and orchestrate a horrible gang rape so this seems perfectly in character  to me.

And I liked Todd.  But I knew who I was watching.

33 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Not to trigger anyone with these depictions of sexual assault, but there was Marty’s rape, which 26 years later is still unsettling and maybe a touch overproduced (even if it’s effective at conveying Marty’s drunken disorientation and dissociation). But it’s mostly about Powell’s manpain. Still that story touched everyone in Llanview for years, even if Marty ultimately became defined by it.

 

 

The best thing about soap storytelling is just how much ground they can cover, and the good ones do.  The angle of Powell in Marty’s rape story and aftermath was a strong part of that story.  How privilege and conforming can play a part in group assaults like what happened to her.  Especially in a college setting.

39 minutes ago, Wendy said:

My late grandmother was a CBS soap watcher, so I am somewhat familiar with B&B, even not watching it myself. But...dayum, that Ridge/Caroline scene makes Drake Hogestyn (at least in the same time frame!) look positively talented (though, to be fair, his RoJohn had genuine warmth and charm, which served him well - and, I admit, I like(d) him!).

 

Ronn Moss' atrocious delivery reminds me of that Jon Lovitz SNL character and "ACH-TING!"

Drake had a lot of warmth and charm as Roman.  He was a classic soap opera himbo back then.  By the time Wayne returned and he decided to play John as a little tortured, it has been rough seas ever since.

Although I have never watched B&B regularly, I’ve seen enough to say Ronn Moss has the acting talent of a block of wood with cheekbones and abs.

There is something about Susan Flannery in her B&B prime that always makes me see her as a quintessential Bill Bell actress.  Cerebral, chilly, contained but with tension like she could strike at any moment.  Deeply loving of her family, intelligent, and also kind of sad and broken.

I’m sure her turn as Laura on DAYS was wonderful under his writing too.