Khan

Kim Richards better not show up on this mess. Not after she badmouthed Eileen Davidson and Lisa Rinna for being soap actresses.

Hell, even managing the hospital gift shop would be better than a damn singing career!

I agree! After all, the show is called GENERAL HOSPITAL. I still remember when AMC's Jesse Hubbard decided to pursue a singing career (with Yvonne Caldwell, who was out to ruin his and Angie's marriage and have Jesse all to herself). I think that was around the time Darnell Williams (Jesse) had released his single, "Pure Satisfaction," which my mother was stupid enough to buy. For that decision alone, I'm putting her in a home when the time comes.

I agree. I also think AMC's production team saw how miserably GH had handled GF's departure and resolved not to make the same mistake when Kim Delaney (ex-Jenny) decided not to renew her contract, as Jenny's death in that jet ski explosion left ZERO room for doubt. Thanks, @Paul Raven , for another, great article! ICAM! Characters I had written off as one-note - such as Sonny and Brenda - gained new dimensions under her pen; and how she was able to recapture the spirit of Luke and Laura while still acknowledging the passing of time remains a masterclass in how you handle those kinds of situations, too.

God give me strength.

Good for him, lol! TPTB really think that every African-American alive aspires to be the next Whitney Houston or Luther Vandross. Well, hate to burst your bubbles, PTB, but I actually aspire to be the Black Douglas Marland.

It's literally the story that saved DAYS. (Well, that, and the Laura/Bill/Mickey triangle). How you could screw up the details on one of DAYS' first successful storylines is just beyond me.

Hmm, maybe, lol? Zaslow certainly would've brought an intensity to Lance that McCook's version might've lacked.

I agree. For all her faults, Sheri Anderson is a terribly creative writer, who writes "from the heart" and who knows how to create characters that leave indelible impressions on viewers. I've wondered that myself. PFS had proven herself as a HW. In some ways, I think, she was more provocative than even Bill Bell. Unfortunately, she had to learn the hard way that men had greater authority even in a genre that was designed to cater to women. ICAM with all of this! Because soaps are studio-bound, there's a tendency of their becoming sedate, for lack of a better word. There's nothing more boring than watching a pair of "talking heads" have the same conversation they've been having for weeks (or longer) over coffee, especially when the conversation reveals nothing about the characters themselves. Gloria Monty changed all that; and even though her emphasis on younger characters and action/adventure storylines might've crippled the genre in the long run, I still give her credit for giving the audience credit for being intelligent when it came to simple, human interactions.

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It's hard to think of anyone who could've replaced John McCook as Lance. Maybe Michael Gregory (Rick Webber #1, GH)?

Except, I don't think as Karen would've been as sympathetic as Judith Light's turned out to be. Audiences would've loved to hate her, rather than just love her, lol.

I agree. There's no way KL could've survived the rise of NBC's Must See TV era. CBS would've either canceled it or moved it to another night - maybe Fridays or Mondays? - which would've resulted in cancellation as well.

I mean, asking Robin Mattson to play a Delia recast wasn't a HORRIBLE idea, lol? I just think she would've been better suited for Maggie.

Definitely. Or maybe on OLTL or even Y&R? Just imagine if she had played Lorie Brooks, lol.

Not even JFP and Bob Guza could create the sense of danger that PFS or Gloria Monty could. Whenever those two ladies would place characters in jeopardy, you absolutely were on the edge of your seat.

You aren't wrong, lol. PFS, in particular, had a lot to do with DAYS and GH sharing similar action/adventure/sci-fi DNA in the '80's - starting, of course, with Luke and Laura on GH, and then continuing on with the Salem Strangler arc and the arrival of the Brady and DiMera clans on DAYS. Thom Racina, along with Sheri Anderson and Leah Laiman, just built on PFS' foundation. What differentiates '80's DAYS from '80's GH, though, is the former show's stronger emphasis on romance, a carryover from the Bill Bell/PFS I era. '80's GH has its' share of supercouples, of course, but probably not to the same degree as DAYS, which became a virtual "supercouples factory" as the decade wore on. Next to the stuff that Pamela K. Long was writing for GL, '80's DAYS had the biggest "heart" in daytime, which I've always attributed to Al Rabin and Shelley Curtis and their insistence on getting to the emotional or romantic core of every scene.

Now THAT - hiring Mary Martin to replace Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie - would have been a DISASTER. You can't replace "Maggie the Cat" with Nellie Forbush, lol.

Perhaps they should've gone with Troy Donahue instead!

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like she would've had a more positive experience working on soaps had she worked on a show with better writing.

I still wish someone would reboot PP as a streaming series. It'd be the PERFECT vehicle, IMO.

The only way to redeem this latest idiot move would be if Alexis and/or Sonny were to receive word months later that Kristina has flunked out and is now traveling throughout Europe in order to "find herself".

NOW you're speaking my language, lol!! It was the cook. And the fact that they're pulling med school out of their asses kind of proves my point about Kristina. This show has never known who she is or what she wants. Surrogacy storylines are very tricky ones to tell, especially on soaps. Potentially, a storyline like that can go only two ways: either the surrogate hands the child over to the (biological) parents after the birth, which is not exactly compelling; or, the surrogate becomes so attached to the child that she attempts to keep the child, either through the courts or through good old-fashioned kidnapping, which paints a negative picture of the entire process. (FALCON CREST went one better, having the surrogate (Robin) use the unborn baby to hook the daddy (Cole) and make the mother (Melissa), who was right about her all along, look like a total lunatic. THAT story was offensive to the point of being negligible). In the end, I just feel like surrogacy is something that probably doesn't belong on soaps.