18 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

 

 

Gawd.....I hate this show!!!  And I don't even watch it.  Grrr.

20 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

And I still hold that Stefan is Nichols best soap role...

I agree.  I loved Stefan.  But I didn't like Katherine.  And I was a huge Patch and Kayla fan.  Weird how that works.

Seriously....with so many people home...it would be great to air the old 80s GH episodes.  I bet a lot of people would tune in.  But I think the current show would suffer in comparison and also people can't be reminded that the show was infinitely better before Sonny existed.

It's kind of sad.  I still have my first SOD magazine that I bought back in 1983.  And I still have so many more that I have saved.

But I agree, SOD's time has come and gone - regardless of COVID-19.  COVID-19 just put the final nail in it.

5 hours ago, DRW50 said:

The outro theme always gets me a little emotional.

 

 

Me too.  Not sure why.  Maybe because those were the golden years for me.

RIP.  I will always remember John as that smarmy Leo on GH.

14 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

 

 

One of the worst decisions a GH EP ever made.  Grr to Jill Farren Phelps!!

10 hours ago, victoria foxton said:

General Hospital 1984

I *loved* this storyline.  3 supercouples: Luke & Laura, Robert & Holly and Frisco & Felicia.

15 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Can you pinpoint a moment or storyline when in hindsight, you realize the soaps you loved were broken beyond repair?  It could even be one you loved, but now realize that it maybe went too far and changed the foundation of the show too much (Marlena possessed I’m looking in your direction).
 

I was watching a bunch of YouTube clips the last couple of days, and I came across a GH clip of Luke and Laura signing divorce papers.  I think that moment did it for me with GH.

 

You have this singularly iconic couple, and a wedding that is equally iconic inside and outside of daytime.  I was fine with them fighting, with the storyline issues that had driven them further and further apart.  But there was a point where I think it went too far, and the divorce was like a line in the sand.  You were all in on what Guza had started in his second HW stint- deconstructionist storytelling with no going back once that happened.  I know he wasn’t there at the time, but JFP was and she has no problem destroying shows.

 

It’s not even really about them.  It’s about the type of story the show was going to do now.  The breaking of tradition in such fundamental ways.  I see a direct line from that divorce to Alan being killed off, the show centering fully on Jason/Carly/Sonny, Ethan is Luke’s son, Rick as having drugged Laura, etc.  if we can break them up, fully, we can do anything to these characters.  Even toss them aside.

I feel pretty much the same way you do.  That said, I think I still had hope for the show when Luke & Laura got divorced.  I think I thought they'd eventually make their way back to each other.  But when they killed off Alan Q, I just cried and *knew* that my beloved GH was gone forever.  And it hasn't been the same since.  I've barely watched the show since then and now just keep up on it a bit online. 

On 2/14/2020 at 8:45 PM, titan1978 said:

Genie was truly robbed the year of Lucky’s death.  I recall Kim Zimmer even saying so in one of those Emmy profiles that year.

Yea, I was shocked that Genie wasn't even nominated.  Genie should have WON!  But that was also the year Susan Lucci finally won her Emmy.  A great moment in soap history.

8 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

 

I'd say Guza just whitewashed it a different way. It became about how hard done by Luke was and how he'd suffered all those years by living a lie with pathetic, deluded Laura. 

 

It's hard for me to compare Genie and Becky because the stories were so different, but I think for what she was given, when the story wasn't about Lucky verbally abusing his mother anyway, she was one of the stronger elements. 

 

Anyway, I don't want to go on because I know everyone but me loves this story so I'll stop. 

I can appreciate your viewpoint.  I do think the storyline got "Guzafied" to some extent and became about "Poor, poor Luke" as well.  Ugh. But another added benefit to this storyline was the tender love story of Lucky & Elizabeth.  So sweet!  Loved them.

2 hours ago, titan1978 said:

It had promise when it started.  That flash of shade from Bobbie towards Luke after examining Liz was very reminiscent of the stuff I have seen on YouTube of what they were like in the early years of both characters.  Under Labine I kind of felt like she was too under his spell, he was always right etc.  Back in the day Bobbie had his number, and called him out.

 

The initial scenes were scary, heartbreaking, and done with restraint and empathy.  Sometimes rape on soaps is either after school special and all surface, or it is horribly gratuitous and so plot oriented (Emily and Nikolas lookalike).

 

Everyone involved did incredible acting.

 

But yes, it did mostly become about Lucky and Luke.  And I think that was unfortunate.

Well I think one of the reasons it became mostly about Lucky and Luke was because Genie Francis was not there.  She was still on her extended maternity leave.  And if I remember correctly, the storyline was mostly about revisiting the Luke/Laura rape which had become white-washed under Gloria Monty.  I do think they tried to unwhite-wash it a bit and I think it worked.

And while I do think Becky Herbst was good in the storyline, I don't think she had the acting chops to carry that heavy, heavy storyline.  When they did the flashbacks of Laura being raped, it was astounding to see what a terrific young actress Genie Francis was.  And then when you contrasted that to  Becky Herbst......it just didn't hold as much weight.  Again, Becky was fine...just not superb IMO.

Elizabeth's rape was such a good story.  I love how it also became about Luke raping Laura.  Such good writing and acting.

19 hours ago, DRW50 said:

 

I would assume someone liked her but in 20 years online I've never seen anyone have a good word about her.

Hee, hee.  Nope.  Couldn't stand her.  Beyond dull.

1 hour ago, slick jones said:

Christmas tradition......

 

 

 

Yea, this is so great.  Steve Hardy and little Robin Scorpio.  Doesn't get much better than this. 

I just have to chime in and say I love this thread.  Different ways to kill off Sonny, and Jason !  Love it!

20 minutes ago, ironlion said:

I wanna know why they fired Riche in favor of soap killer Phelps aswell?

 

Speaking of Luke and Laura I enjoyed them under Labine in the 90s because they appeared more domesticated than their action adventure plots in the 80s. However, 95-02 basically shat on Luke and Laura with the mob violence, Nickolas' intro, Stefan, the rape revisitation, Lucky's death and the when Felicia affair. Not to mention Laura going mad in 02. I liked some of those plots but it's interesting how it basically destroyed the couple. 

I actually enjoyed a lot of those stories.  I loved Stefan and Laura and I'm someone who loved Luke & Laura.  That said, when Lucky "died" in the fire, I really thought Luke and Laura should have reunited.  It was the perfect opportunity.  But they just trashed the couple instead.   I'm sure Geary had a big part in that.

11 hours ago, titan1978 said:

I think Gloria had an eye for talent, and could spot chemistry, and knew what to do with it.  Because even when her show was not well written (outside of Marland’s tenure and both of Falken-Smith’s), it was still compelling and entertaining television.

 

As far as Luke goes- the Labine era made me love him.  He was still dangerous (all that Frank Smith stuff), and wasn’t really a “hero”, but he had so many rich relationships and had chemistry with all of them.  Sonny, Lucy, Bobbie, Lucky, Tony, Robin, Stone- not just with Laura.  I loved his relationships with those people.

 

The thing about Tony that drives me crazy as a fan of this show is he was always trying to sell a Luke I did not see on screen as the version of Luke.  I get he didn’t want to be turned into Steve Hardy, but he he was elected mayor!  At the height of his original run he was everything he claimed he hated about the character once Labine arrived, and blamed it on her.

 

If anything, Laura was the one that kind of lost her way under Labine.  Guza’s first tenure as HW brought her back.

Yea, even when Gloria Monty didn't have great writing, her show, for me, was not to be missed.  I literally was glued to the show for 10 years.  And she had that eye for chemistry that extended beyond Luke & Laura: she also gave us Robert & Holly, Frisco & Felicia and Duke & Anna.  And after Laura's rape, there was never another rape on GH under her tenure.  I give her credit for that.

11 hours ago, slick jones said:

 

Scorpio Brothers Back to Fighting Crime Together

 

 

I no longer watch GH but this is a yummy photo! 

Ugh.  Bill Eckert.  Ugh.

12 hours ago, John said:

I doubt Drew is dead. GH is probably recasting

Supposedly Mark Lawson who plays Dustin was up for Drew

Promo for GH's new collection

All Sonny's Children

No this is no joke

 

 

I'm trying to think of something nice to say about this.  I can't.

17 minutes ago, victorlord75 said:

My vote would go to Genie Francis as Laura.  I have no memory whatsoever of the first actress who played Laura when she still lived with the Vining family.

This is my all-time favorite recast as well.

On 9/1/2019 at 10:34 PM, titan1978 said:

The correct answer to this after some reflection was Frons.  He pretty much dismantled his network’s entire daytime drama strategy.

 

Through his meddling we suffered through some truly heinous storylines and characters forced down our throats on all his shows, until he finally decided to cancel AMC and OLTL.  And he gave us Phelps, Pratt (twice between GH and AMC), and Guza with too much power.

 

The only thing I can say I thank him for was restoring the best All My Children theme music.

I think this is correct.  Brian Frons.  I'll never forget his arrogant quote about how he didn't need to listen to viewers and instead how they needed to be "trained" on what to like.  That was the end of ABC Daytime IMO.

Kin Shriner does not age.

On 6/16/2019 at 8:25 PM, All My Shadows said:

I really don't hate this list. It seems to value soaps' more grounded history in such a way that they're saying when these shows were good, they were so good that it's enough to dismiss the more outlandish plots they've all had. I actually find their write-up on AMC to be quite lovely.

And jesus, I am absolutely living for the blatant bashing of the Tim Burton DS movie.

My only complaint, really, is that ATWT should obviously have been on this list, and because I kept my screen at a way so that I couldn't see the thumbnails at the bottom as I clicked through the gallery, I honestly thought it was going to be #1. But then came Santa Barbara, and I felt like ATWT fans watching the Daytime Emmys in the late 80s.

This is what I thought as well.  I've never watched ATWT a day in my life and I thought they would be #1.  Santa Barbara?!?  Yes, maybe in the top 10 but no way #1.  ATWT should have been on there.