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@Reverend Ruthledge I don't know what to say about your namesake character. It would seem that he was reintroduced and maybe quickly cast aside. The article I have says that Reverend Ruthledge reappears tomorrow from a March 31, 1946, newspaper. I did a quick Google search to see if that happened to be Easter as I know he was known for the Easter service. Easter was a week earlier. The ads aren't always consistent on things like names so if it is Clare from the woman's mouth, I would take that.

For the last two decades, very few shows have worked to really develop the characterization and relationships of new characters. While LOL might have a very black and white mindset for morality, those relationships are much murkier. Evans says he is for Van, not against Meg. That's a clear and important distinction. Also, there was that dynamic between Van, Paul, and Matt. I don't feel like there is a clear good guy or bad guy between the two men. Paul is overstepping by showing up and Matt is clearly peeved. Also, Van is tolerating those men because of her connection to both. Similary, her sisterly love for Meg sometimes causes her to support her sister when she shouldn't, but rarely at the sacrifice of her nephew. Nowadays, characters and stories are islands. I think there were some benefits to those tighter 15 minute shows.

@carolineg When did they reveal that Brenda's mother died when she was three? I'm sure carolineg has seen this, but for @j swift. In this scene here, from February, 1993, Brenda speaks about her mother being an alcoholic and Harlan loving Julia's mother more than hers. I definitely think this, combined with the death, would have worked for a "Madame X" style story where Harlan learned Veronica was cheating and drinking and shipped her off to some far off destination and told Brenda that her mother was dead, especially since he preferred Julia's mother.

Again, thanks @Reverend Ruthledge! All those pieces make sense regarding Mary, Jan/Meta, Charlotte, and Julie. I'll definitely look at those summaries and message you through the PM system. I had speculated to myself that Jan might have been a rival of Charlotte's professionally as I think they were both vying for jobs in entertainment. I know part of the shift in locale was due to Irna Phillips moving to California and her new fascination with Hollywood. I believe "Right to Happiness" introduced Constance and Susan Wakefield, a mother and daughter duo with one of them in Hollywood, around the same time. Also, I think Jan/Meta angle of dual identities had been used on one of Phillip's earlier shows, "Lonely Women." I believe the other reason for the shift was the lawsuit with Emmon Carlson ( I probably butchered his name). That was why I was surprised about the inclusion of Ned. I did some research using newspapers.com several months ago and have done other searches in the past for radio soaps, "Guiding Light" included. I have a very general sense of the show's progression, but not the details. The Lawrence story didn't super interest me when I first read about it. Claire is definitely a variation on the adopted mother story that Irna was so fond of telling. I know in the original series Ricky's mother Nina popped up. I don't think I knew that Charlotte's breakdown was tied to her past involvement with Larry. So I appreciate that detail. Ohhhh, Charles Matthews and John Ruthledge being friends from seminary and Ned bringing the lamp now pieces everything together based on the two version of the story I had read. The newspapers announced that Reverend Ruthledge was returning starting Monday, April 1, 1946. He is listed in ads and among cast listings throughout the year. Here is one for example from May 30 1946: The timelines for the marriages was helpful. Thanks. I am not surprised things took a while to settle down.

I think the class conflict needed to be addressed. Depending on the timing of the story, I believe "Port Charles" was doing a story about the homeless late in Karen Harris' run so there may have been ways to tie that into Tony's redemption work. I think looking at medical equity to different communities would be appealing. It also would have opened itself up to different arcs. I'd have liked to see a shorter arc about possibly HIV, elder abuse, and the barriers that prevent people from accessing quality health care (language, education, insurance, immigration status). A running, understated thread would be Tony's slow realization that his life wasn't as bad off as it was. Also, I didn't mention it for purpose of length, but I would have tied the protege to B.J.'s accident. I would have had it that his younger sibling had also been on the bus or he had witnessed the accident and it was that incident that made him want to be a doctor. Revisiting B.J.'s death in a way that would allow Tony and Bobbie to heal and for Tony to realize that again there were good things to happen even in the worst moments of his life. I would also lean into Tony pushing Bobbie away thinking he was not good enough and letting Bobbie take on the role that Tony had played in the 1980s/1990s reassuring him that he is not his past. My mother was a teen during Luke and Laura. She and all her friends watched. I remember watching bits with her in the early 1990s. That crew that grew up with Luke and Laura real stuck around in some form and I think a lot of them identified with people like Bobbie, who wasn't perfect and didn't always think she was good enough, and wanted her to find a good man like Tony who loved her anyway. If this audience was willing to forgive Luke raping Laura, they would have accepted Tony and Bobbie finding their way back to one another. I was reading an interview from Karen Harris from a decade or so ago. She spoke about how she got into an argument with Claire Labine over Brenda wearing the wire. Harris (and I believe Elizabeth Korte) both insisted that Sonny could never forgive her for this and they would no longer be a couple. Labine's response was something along the lines of but won't it be fun watching them get back together. I feel its the same here. Tony and Bobbie reuniting may have been beyond the pale. There would obviously be stuff that would have to be done on top of that (mainly, therapy with Gail, but not Kevin because of his ties to Lucy). Something I was considering was that Tony had mostly forgiven Bobbie for things that hadn't happened during their marriage. The other big lie (Lucas) led to a breakup.

Erin Gray may have misremembered. She specifically stated she didn't get it because she looked too healthy and the character was sick and going to die. Again, for a role she didn't get, she probably misspoke.

@Vee I agree with your assessment of Dani. Anatagonist may be an oversimplification. I think she certainly more of the "bad sister" compared to Nicole. The "momager" label rarely tends to be a compliment though I don't think Dani will be anywhere near the caliber of GH's "sympathetic" homophobic momager Natalia. I think it is said Bill / Hayley were involved during Bill and Dani's marriage, but the desire for acceptance seems more of a gray area character. I could be wrong. I am more out of the loop on the modern soap tropes so you are probably right, Vee.

I knew that Veronica was crazy, didn't know she was dying. Thanks @Vee and @DRW50

Reading that Tony was in contention to be Liz's rapist makes watching entire episodes a no for me. I really can't stomach a writing team that thought that was a solid idea. I don't think there's a single scenario I can think of where that would be possible outside complete and total break from reality (on the part of Tony or the audience, I'm not sure). I think a lot of the complaints about Tony and Bobbie are fair. Tony and Bobbie were not smoldering in sexual chemistry. The basis of their relationship was their ongoing friendship that turned into a romance. This was the story. It was about Tony loving Bobbie despite Bobbie's (sometimes neurotic) insecurities regarding her past as a teenage sex worker. They were a skilled pair working together in the OR and in raising their kids together. I think there is a great deal of the audience that finds that sort of relationship appealing. I don't think that every couple can drive grand romantic storylines involving third parties and super villains all the time. Sometimes there is comfort just watching two suburban parents try to find their way back together after one of the most painful periods of their lives as individualss, and as a couple. Do I think there would have needed to be work to be done? Absolutely. Less so that Carly and Tony didn't actually have a child together. If they had, I don't know if Bobbie and Tony could have reunited. That would have played too much on Bobbie's own feelings of self worth in her relationship based on her infertility issues. I think her thinking the baby was Tony's was an obstacle to overcome. If it were me, I would have had Bobbie be the one to bring Tony back from the depths of hell he had allowed himself to succumb to during that period because she knew that B.J. wouldn't want her to let Tony end up like that. Also, Bobbie would see it as a way of relieving her own guilty. I would have had Tony kicked off the stay of GH (was he?) and end up working in a free clinic (maybe on Charles Street). I would have there be conflict between Tony and the staff who think that the disgraced Tony Jones is only there because he has nowhere else to go (which is probably true). I would slowly have Tony win over the administrator of the clinic (a Mary Mae Ward type) and build a relationship with a rough around the edges doctor who wants to give back to his community. Eventually, the utter violence of Sonny and Jason's world would find its way into the clinic (first when some new employee starts using it to move drugs and later when a turf war leads to a standoff at the clinic). Bobbie and Tony would both continue to live in the brownstone (on different levels) for Lucas' sake. Tiffany would come in for an arc to play Auntie Mame to Lucas with Lucas contemplating living with her and Sean and their family permanently. The threat of losing Lucas would bring them together and they would agree to go to counselling to better co-parent. Tiffany would reluctantly take Lucas for the summer, but Lucas would return (probably slightly older). To give the story some necessary drama, I would have the turf war play out at the clinic and for Tony's young protege to be in the line of a gangster's bullet only for Tony to step in and take the bullet, saving the young man's life. Tony would go into surgery, it would be touch and go, and then you have Bobbie confess that she still loves him. In recovery, people would start to warm to Tony again and Tony would be offered to return to GH, but he would elect to run the clinic. Tony would speak about how the Charles Street Clinic gave him a second chance (even if it was reluctantly) and he wants to continue to oversee its success. But what I want probably isn't what the majority of viewers would have wanted.

I think comparing "Generations" and "Beyond the Gates" seems like a necessary evil, but it's two entirely different shows in terms of audience. "Generations" was about integration; white characters and black characters having a (relatively) equal footing. "Beyond the Gates" is offering its audiences a daily African American soap opera. Those aren't the same things. With that said, I initally assumed it would be, but then the finalized cast list showed this is (at this moment) a predominantly black soap, not integrated. That is interesting to me. I wasn't thrilled when it was revealed that Robert Guza was on the writing team, but I remind myself that he isn't the creator/headwriter. Guza and Val Jean are friends. I don't see him usurping her role. I see him elevating her material, which I remember being fairly strong when she wrote GH in 2001 if not lighting the world on fire. Additionally, Guza's work paired with Millee Taggert on "Loving" was pretty strong for a show that typically wasn't. Together, they wrote the initial Shana / Leo romance, the Curtis / Dinahlee / Clay triangle, and handled the tailend of Ally's pregnancy with Cooper's baby. I hated the Curtis / Tess / Buck backstory (which had a lot of Guza trademarks in my opinion looped in with some of Taggert's tropes), but it cannot override the good. To be honest, I have several heavy hitters in this thread on ignore so I am sorry if this was mentioned already, but I don't think it was: I am looking forward to this show. Happy we are approaching the premier in under 2 months.

I didn't think Julie Pinson was strong enough to be opposite Kin Shriner in the beginning, but I think she would have grown with time. She was definitely green, but there was a spark there inside her that made Eve stand out a little more than some of the interns. I am more interested in Lucy vs. Eve than Eve / Scott and possibly even Scott and Lucy. I don't remember much of Lucy / Kevin in my viewing of 1995, but I feel they had declawed Lucy too much... and I think reuniting her with Scotty and Serena and potentially threatening that happiness with Eve usurping Lucy as a mother figure (in Lucy's mind mostly) is appealing. I know Lucy / Kevin were well liked, and I could see why in 2000 when they actually had story that worked for them. I don't remember Lark being amazing from my first viewing of the SoapNet rereuns, but I remember she had a bit more energy than other parts of the canvas. I also noticed some parallels to the Karen Wexler story in my more recent viewing of some episodes so I am curious to see how that works out. In general, I don't think the Scanlons are interesting until they bring on Courtney, who seems like the perfect instigator. Sarah Aldrich played that part well. Courtney made them messy, which they needed to be to milk actual drama out of that unit. Feel free to fan fic lol. Christina was Frank's biological daughter, but i would definitely have Chris Ramsey act as a pseudo father figure. Also, Tommy and Christina should have some pre-existing relationship in theory as Scotty was Christina's father for a moment and presumably is still tied to her and Tom Hardy and Scotty Baldwin were close cousins at one time. I really wish the show had roped Tom and Simone into Port Charles the more and more I think about it. @DRW50 I can't imagine who they were planning on pairing Lark with. I watched an episode from October, 1999, to make sure it wasn't Eve's son who was mentioned a lot late in Scott Hamner's run. Eve's son would have only been nine and I would have found it hard to buy Pinson as a mother to a teen in 2000. I think they should have given back some of Scotty and Lucy's edges. If Karen Harris had arrived a year earlier, I could totally see Lucy and Scott dealing with VD rather than DV. *** I'm up to mid-November. It is mostly background noise because it isn't very compelling. Greg Cooper as a Stefano Dimera figure is a choice... not one I would have made, but there it is. Greg's kidnapped Julie which has produced two decent moments. One, the investigation has brought to the forefront that Julie's disappearance might be caused by Julie's emotional turmoil over learning that Bennett and Eve had been lovers. The intense hatred for Eve is pretty one-sided and I wish there was more vitriol sent in Bennett's direction. The second moment sees Mark Boardman stabbed by Greg Cooper and saved by Matt Harmon, who Boardman has been shunning from the surgical rotation because he doesn't think Harmon can be a surgeon in a wheel chair. Harmon's story continues to be the strongest. Alan Q pops up for a nice cameo and so does Monica. It looks like the first new character introduced by Latham is Barbara Stock's Nicole Devlin. A nice addition. She does well opposite Albert and Pinson. I'm curious to see how she does with Hadley. They set up some minor groundwork for what is to come with Chris / Nicole, which I'm onboard for. In 1999, I know they briefly bring back Nicole as part of a story involving Rachel investigating Chris' past. Erin Gray (Nicole #2) says she had auditioned a year ago for GH and wasn't hired becasue she looked too healthy and the character died. I wonder who that could have been. The less said about the Rex Stanton stuff the better. There was a nice reference to the park that Dominique died in and the atmosphere in the Baldwin / Collins circle is nice with nicknames and favorite stuffed animals and such, but it lacks the bite that is necessary to be compelling. I skipped ahead and watched one episode from October, 1998, and the Scotty / Lucy / Kevin stuff appears more compelling, but not original. There's an emphasis on emotions that seems missing in the 1997 stuff. I think I'll stick with it to see when (if?) things get better.

@Reverend Ruthledge thanks for answering my question. I have seen the casting notices for Jan and Mary from late June / early July 1948. I wasn't really sure how they initially fit into the story. Were they neighbors to someone? Was Mary somehow tied to all the medical / psychological issues Julie Barton Collins faced? Did Clare's adopted son Ricky appear or was he just spoken about? I know her former brother-in-law (Larry Lawrence?) was introduced into the new "Guiding Light," but I don't think he appeared on the original. I was surprised that they had Larry tied up with Charlotte at one point (I think she received pills from him). I'm surprised to hear that Ned Holden did appear as I thought that was just urban legend. Peterson had been serving overseas during World War II and I don't think they had Peterson return to the show until May, 1945; I might be wrong on the date. By then, I think Reverend Gaylord and his family were the family connected to the clergy. Then, of course, Frank Tuttle towards the end of 1945 until 1946. I feel like they burned through a lot of story in that first year. Weren't Charlotte and Ray married before the show's first anniversary? And Susan and Roger were also married by the summer i feel like. I apologize for the 100 questions.

Thanks @DRW50! I have come to appreciate the layers of John Hess' writing in the past few years so watching a lot of early "Love of Life" plays out differently for me than it did in years past. I do think there is a sleek simplicity in all of this and a low level of relatable humor that adds to the scenes without breaking the dramatic tension by shifting the mood too far in the opposite direction. At first, I thought the obviously budget dictated decision to not show Meg's accident was glaring, but I now consider that it allows one to question what actually happened. Did Meg do this intentionally? Was it completely and accident? @Paul Raven You probably already knew, but Claire Labine had watched "Love of Life" in the 1950s when her children were young so she had seen Jean McBride's Meg so she was able to capture the essence of the character. In more recent years, I've noticed some writers seem to know a character's history rather than their personality which often makes decisions made by the characters under new writers have questionable motivations based on lack of true understanding of a character. "Love of Life" fans were lucky that Labine was able to bring the essence of Meg back based on first hand knowledge.

@Reverend Ruthledge Thanks for sharing that information about Bert. I remember being surprised that I couldn't find any references to Bert in the newspapers until about 1950 and thought that was odd, but I am glad that was cleared up. Out of curiousity, how far back have you been looking at the scripts? I am always curious about how much crossover there was with the first stage of "Guiding Light" 1947 with the Ray's extended family (his first wife, Julie, there son, Roger, Jr., Roger's wife, Susan, etc.) and the Bauers and how exactly the Bauers were introduced into the story. I have some articles that I clipped in newspapers.com but haven't gotten as far as deep diving into all of them. Thanks!

Even in these October, 1997, episodes, the balance in Eve's favor is strong, but mostly due to poor writing rather than slanted writing. For instance, Karen and Julie go hard on Eve for her previous affair with Julie's father. Karen's stance makes sense because the Jagger/Fran revelation only happened several weeks prior so it's rooted in real emotion that the audience experienced. Julie's anger is intriguing because it is gounded in the character's naivete. Although, Eve is quick to call Karen a former stripper (as is Chris). With the Cullitons, I don't really know what they expected Kevin to do. I imagine bringin on Victor Collins in the weeks leading up to "Port Charles" was suppose to give Kevin a mirror into what Serena was experiencing with Lucy by allowing him to reconnect with Victor. I thought Kevin's dynamic with Scott and Serena was nice. Everyone is just "too nice" for this to be the A-story at the beginning and Rex is not layered enough to make him compelling. I remember the destruction of Eve and Kevin's marriage being decent in what I saw as Kevin was in the thick of the Charlie MacMillan is Livvie story and Eve was already being positioned with the newly arrived Ian Thornhart, though I do wish the show had pulled the trigger on Chris / Eve. I don't think Eve / Kevin stood a chance the minute that Scott exited stage left after the Christina kidnapping storyline. Something else that stood out to me is the show was very reliant on nighttime talent to headwrite with little to no daytime experience. Lynn Latham had no experience. Scott Hamner had some experience writing scripts for ATWT, but mostly had primetime experience. Karen Harris was a daytime vet at that point, but her original partner Jonathan Estrin was primetime. Barbara Bloom went from daytime executive to writer. Essensten and Brown had the most daytime headwriting experience, but even they had been primetime writers for a good number of years. Random side note, Amy Weber (Lark #2) was off shooting a film in India in late 1999. In one of the soap columns, it says she was supposedly going to return in early 2000 and be part of a romance. I think that was scrapped becasue Hamner left and Estrin/Harris/Bloom took over. I was also thinking though that Lark would have been an interesting rival for, and contrast to, Alison Barrington when she was still a spoiled pain in the ass. Given all the Scanlon family drama, I am surprised that Lark was abandoned.

@DRW50 I am very early into LML right now, but I am not loving it. It's a show that can do some nice character beats, but it is missing that special touch that Riche applied in 1992-1993. The music isn't as atmospheric. The characters aren't developed enough even if a good amount of the cast is capable of decent to excellent work with a few outliers. It's just very generic. The most standout piece has been Matt Harmon's fight with Dr. Boardman and the board of General Hospital to allow him to perform surgery. The hospital sees his physical disability as an impediment to his ability to perform in surgery. Matt is championing for his own right and has the support of the fellow interns. He has researched the different devices that can be used. It's a very nice social issues story on a show that is often very shallow. I know the general arc of Matt's story, but I wish they would flesh out some of the interpersonal relationships. They are skirting around Matt and Ellen Burgess. Matt is friendly with everyone, but it would be nice to see Matt really go in on Chris as I would imagine Chris sees Matt as no real competition for the Quartermaine residency. Others probably had already figured it out, but it took me years to see how the Cullitons and Riche thought that Scotty / Lucy / Kevin could carry "Port Charles." Post-Rex, I imagine the initial plan would have been Scotty / Eve with Lucy threatened by the role that Eve would have played in her life with Lucy facing off against a younger woman who was as cunning and cutthroat as Lucy was back in the day. It would have been a chance to explore those rougher edges that had been mellowed by her relationship with Kevin. I can't imagine Kevin would have had much to do without introducing a new love interest. Switching from Scotty / Eve to Kevin / Eve makes sense from a general story idea because Scotty / Lucy had some viability, but I don't remember loving Eve / Kevin nor hating them the way some have expressed in the past. in LML's first episode, Greg Cooper is back on the screen for his latest reign of terror, a pre-General Homicide plot to discredit the interns (he was the one who messed with Kevin's IV). It's a bit disappointing because it just is such a cheap deus ex machina style move to make Greg Cooper the cause of all the trouble in Port Charles. One of the stronger moves I've seen with LML is she has fleshed out Bennett Devlin a bit to make him more than just a moustache twirling villain with some genuine emotional trauma from the death of his son Buddy Devlin via suicide (the twist that is revealed later about Bennett's involvement in that is set up in this episode with Bennett revealing he feels personally responsible for this. I think there is some real potential with the dysfunctional Devlin clan as a sorta bargain basement equivalent to the Qs. I think throwing Chris and Eve into the mix makes this group fairly solid, but I am not sold on Frank and Julie. Besides Bennett's reflective moment, there is some nice sniping between Julie and Eve once it is revealed Bennett and Eve had once been lovers and Karen jumps on the hating Eve train because of her recent issues with Jagger's infidelity. With Jagger not being seen, I think you could have easily backtracked and claimed that Jagger had to break up with Karen to keep her safe when he got too deeply involved in one of his undercover gigs. Then, bring him in 1998 during the General Homicide murders and possible tie one of his undercover gigs to the Mancusi crime family that Matt belonged to. There is a nice moment between Eve and an elderly male patient worried about surgery who Eve assures. This is the thick of the Eve is a ho gossip campaign staged by Karen and Julie. Eve's kindness is overshadowed thoguh when Greg Cooper steals the man's watch to blame Eve. For anyone who is interested, in Latham's first episode, Michele Val Jean is dropped as associate head writer to be replaced by Scott Hamner and Parke Perine. In addition, this is the first episode that Robert Guza is credited as a consultant.

I decided to start watching "Port Charles" to see how it compares to the strong work I admire of Wendy Riche in my pre-Labine viewing as well as my Labine viewing. I have tried watching the show from the beginning before, but the Cullitons material has some beautiful character moments, not enough though to sit in day in and day out. So I started with the tail end of the Cullitons on October 1, 1997. Four episodes in, it appears that the Cullitons were only able to write the ship in some ways. Kevin has landed himself in the hospital for a head injury similar, but less severe, to Audrey Hardy's from the premier. This story temporarily bridges one of the issues I had with the Scotty / Lucy / Kevin material being so far removed from the interns. Karen and Bennett Devlin (Julie's dad) have performed the surgery and Karen has been accused of making a critical error just as Karen has returned from trying to see Jagger in San Francisco where she found his partner Fran entering the home with her own key. The story threads are being pulled together nicely, but I am not sure this level of intersectionality will be continuous. There are off shoot threads from this like Chris Ramsey going to Ellen Burgess about Karen's impending divorce as the catalyst for her behavior of the surgery, Joe slugging Chris for his actions in the situation, and Lucy going to town with her decorator arranging the hospital room to be more homey so that she and Kevin can have a special evening together. It's not terribl, but it still lacks something. Audrey is dragged out to state that the hospital has changed so much since Steve's death and mourns the slow deterioriation of this once grand institution. The Rex Stanton plot is continuing to chug along, but it is such an odd story. There are details to Rex's scheme that are very accurate and specific in terms of his scheme to get Serena. When claiming that Danielle is Serena's biological mother, Rex cites Dominique's fear that using her own egg would cause risk of spreading her cancer and that she chose her half-sister Danielle to be an egg donor. The one fact that seems to be ignored is a signicant portion of Dominique's estate came from being the widow of Leopold Taub or at least I was pretty sure it was. I'm curious what the original plan was for Rex because he doesn't seem to have longterm potential and is rather a way to revisit the Dominique story or possibly recycling what Riche had planned had Scotty stayed, though I think Katherine and Damian playing out the story as Danielle and Rex is just wild speculation. In another case of specific details being recalled, Rhonda shows up at Scotty's when he is undergoing hallucinations from the drugs Rex has slipped him through poisoned envelopes. Her reason is to discuss why she never told Scotty he was Karen's father. It is an interesting beat to almost play. Michele Val Jean and Tom Citrano were both on GH in 1993 and PC in 1997 so I suspect they (or Riche) were helping with those specific details. I feel like Frank and Juile have interesting obstacles, are played by decent actors, but I still cannot fully invest in the story. At present, Bennett has arranged for Frank to get a job in Chicago in order to separate them while also rejecting Alan Quartermaine's offer to stay on at GH as a seminar leader. I think the Devlin clan was pretty complicated and I think transplanting them to Port Charles would have made sense and provided a more reasonable long term set of catalyst for drama rather than Rex Stanton. I think I'll try to see how things go with Lynn Marie Latham at the helm because of some stories of interest (I want to see the introduction of Courtney, the General Homicide murders in full, and Matt's mob family past). I may not commit to any of this though because, in re-reading some of my posts in this thread, so much of the show is tough until December 1999 though I might try to see how painful Scott Hammer's version of the show is as a lead up to the greatness.

I think Tony Jones is one of the main reasons I am not sure I'll ever be able to watch much of the Guza 1990s even though some of the clips of the era are very appealing. I just think the destruction of Bobbie and Tony's marriage without reuniting them in the end is such a glaring error especially since so little was done with either character. Very shocking scene in June, 1993, that might have been a scrap (or mere coincidence) of Wendy Riche's proposed (and shot down) A.J. contracts HIV storyline. In one episode, there is an extended sequence of Bobbie speaking with Marcy, a young woman of 25 about her chronic health issues. Marcy is praying she will live until her 30 birthday and Bobbie promises two make a cake to celebrate that occasion. It's a very sweet scene, but no real overall value to the canvas. After Marcy departs (with her caring and supportive boyfriend), Bobbie talks to Monica and Tony about Marcy and her HIV status and suggesting to Steve to dedicate some of Dominque's bequest to AIDS research. During the discussion, there is mention of the devastating effects of the disease and Monica makes a rather pointed comment: "It is a shame that my sons can't have fun the way we did." At this point, A.J. hasn't really been paired with anyone post Nikki. There is some hints with Brenda and Julia, but nothing definitive. Monica's angst over Alan / Rhonda still intrigues me. Nice conversation with Bobbie where Bobbie brings up how she thought Tony was having an affair with Rita Lloyd Jones, which I don't think actually happened because Bobbie was so absorbed with the Lucas secret, but that's definitely where that story was going. The fall out of Steve and Audrey's attack is very well done. Both Steve and Audrey are feeling the effects which have been heightened now that Ryan has been admitted to GH as a patient. Hardy standing by Ryan's bed while contemplating killing Ryan, with Ryan taunting him to do it, was a shock. Ames is breaking my heart as Audrey becomes more and more frightened of the situation, especially given the bravado Ames displayed during the attack scenes where she was coolly playing along with Ryan's delusion that she was his mother. The prom night fall out is pretty wild. Brenda and Jason end up at the dunes and Jason calls out Brenda after Brenda rebuffs Jason's sexual advances after running hot and heavy with him earlier in the evening when Jagger was around. It was nicely contrasted with Karen and Jagger about to have sex for the first time and Karen freaking out as memories of her abuse at the hands of Ray surface. Ray has also just made his first appearance. Felicia and Mac are just the perfect long angsty couple (this slow burn has been going on since June, 1992, and I believe there was a bit of Mac/Felicia in late 1991 before Wagner left). The shaving scene is pretty intense and I got to a point where I just was yelling at the TV to kiss already. Wagner and York really deserve their roses for the work they are doing here. Phenomenal. The fallout of Tracy's departure has been nice. Paul is livid that Tracy has run off with Dillon and Jenny is living with the guilt that her actions have led to Tracy's great escape. Paul also name drops Susan so she is still out there somewhere. I also appreciate the rotation of the stories. Something is always happening and I don't feel like stories are gone too long before they pick up again. Katherine has just popped up in town and it's too soon for me to get a feel of whether or not I will enjoy this.

The problem I had with PC's early episodes was how the Scott / Lucy / Kevin stuff played out in one orbit and the interns in another. There was some crossover with an attempt at a Scott / Eve pairing and Karen being Scott's daughter, but it just feels odd. Revisiting the Dominique story with Rex Stanton and Danielle Ashley when Katherine Bell was still over at the mothership (I believe) is just an odd choice. I thought Rib Hillis was a stunning man, but he was very green in those early episodes and the attempt to do Marland's Morgan / Kelly with Jake / Lark wasn't going to work in 1998. Tying Karen and Scott is such an odd post note, but I do believe Riche wanted to tie Karen back to the canvas to revisit the character. I doubt the Cullitons were super interested in revisiting Karen independently. I know Labine has Karen in therapy with Gail to process and heal from the abuse she had suffered at Ray Conway's hands. I wonder if the question of her paternity was raised in those sessions and that this was the thread that was going to be pursued had Karen and Jagger stayed. Or maybe it was just completely as left field as it sounds. I know he is popular, but I haven't enjoyed Sean Kanan in 1993 or 1995 episodes. Gerald Hopkins isn't a master thesbian, but the character seems more tailored to his strenghts, the self destructive loser, while Sean Kanan's AJ just always seems sleazy to me. AJ almost always seems to be the contrast of Jason once Jason arrives and there never seems to be much too that characterization. I think Jason / Brenda / AJ with a side of Julia and Robin would have been wickedly destructive, but it would tear the characters apart in a way that Levinson seems to thrive in and would cause Labine to balk. Robin's June, 1993, flirtation with Val Duncan is very odd. I almost wonder if Riche had lined up a musical guest star and it fell through. The look of Val is very on point for some of the music of the time from what I reall. It's just very odd. I'm not there yet, but I think Rhonda / Alan / Monica was another story that reached a quick death under Labine like Karen / Sonny. I believe in the final weeks of Levinson, Monica creates a fake boyfriend, Rod, who she uses to make Alan jealous. It seems very juvenile and demeaning to Monica so I can see why Labine revealed the ruse within the first week and moved on. I can't imagine Rhonda / Alan were end game, but given the way the Q boys were treating Karen, I can't imagine what would have been said to Rhonda had she and Alan shacked up together. I do think the Ray Conway murder was the origin of the Labine / Riche argument "Is anyone capable of murder?" Speaking of 1993 lore, do we know when Tracy was anti-choice that led Elliot to leave? I may have asked before, but I imagine the comment was made during the Jenny / Kensington story and was either early on or I missed it.

When I first watched early PC, I found it very disjointed, unlike GH of early Riche. I think on an hour long show, it is easier to try out stories and charactes because you have the time and other layers to cover up the gaps. With a half-hour, it needs to be tighter and early PC is not tight. The characters were interesting for the most part in concept, but I don't really remember anyone doing much of note. I thought Chris was delightfully wicked, Joe was a hothead, Eve was a spitfire, and Julie seemed to be a bit spoiled. It will also be interesting to see Karen having "made it" in medicine after having that goal for so long. I just don't remember anything anyone did. I think Riche knew if she wanted to solidify Karen to the canvas, she needed stronger family ties. Karen and Jagger were introduced just as Riche acted as defacto headwriter in 1992 so I could see her wanting to cement Karen as part of her legacy. I'm not sure Scott was the right tactic. I think someone who's identity might have given Karen more grief (Damien Smith?) might have helped. I think Karen easily could have returned to General Hospital as a doctor, but I think it helped giving her Gail, Lee, Scott, and Serena. I'm not sure what could have solidified PC. I think there were other avenues I would have explored (I think I would have had Tom and Simone on PC with Ellen Morgan as an old rival of Simone's or maybe tied to Harrison Davis) and, even enjoying original flavor Karen and Jagger, I'm not sure if that would have helped. I think launching with the interns meant that everyone was getting to know each other and there were few pre-established connections. Those pre-established connections (Joe / Frank / Karen) worked well and if there was more of that, it would have helped to anchor the show. Early PC always feels like edits rather than an entire show. Does Labine end up getting a better handle on Jason? Levinson's younger set (outside of Karen / Jagger) seems very unsettled. I just watched prom 1993 and Brenda and Jason go together (which I think was worth pursuing), but then there is Robin off with some dude name Darren and ends up in a flirtation with some musician, Val Duncan. I can't tell if its all to establish Jason has feelings for Robin or just to give Kimberly McCullough a bit more to do. In my viewing, Tracy's days are numbered and her exit arc is very emotional. Tracy having to explain to Edward what she has done (mostly offscreen because I imagine they were catering to Lewis' request that he have less to do) followed by Lila rolling up on the duo and overhearing the conversation is powerful stuff. Edward attempting to bribe Jessica into dropping the case with a contribution to her future campaign for DA was interesting (a road never taken). The most heartfelt stuff though was Tracy relaying to Ned that she was the one who ran over Jenny. Kurth is also remarkable in the confession scene playing a gambit of emotions. There is a nice line in either this (or later in her exit scenes, I cheated and watched them on youtube) where Tracy tells Ned she loves him and he says he can't even remember the last time she said it. It has the aroma of Levinson's hatred for women, but between the script writers, director, and the actors, it plays out more as a confession of heartbreak by Ned rather than an accusation. I think this story (Tracy's hit and run) is one of those stories that is quintessential Riche / Levinson; it probably shouldn't work, but it is so well executed day to day that I am willing to forgive the lengths they allowed Tracy to go to. I'm dreading Tracy's last episode because she has had such a presence. In watching the latest twist in the Ryan Chamberlain story (the return to Broken Top for a final showdown), I am noticing how lucky Kristina Wagner was to return under Riche. During the year of Hardy/Palumbo, I don't think Felicia did more than be pregnant and eat. She has no story, no agency. In Riche's world, Felicia carries a substantial part of the show. This was a much needed shift from Monty to Riche and what Monty really needed to do in 1991 and failed to do. The show needed to be centered on strong female characters; women who could save themselves when necessary and who's men didn't dominate them (and the screentime). I didn't realize how emotionally brutal the Rhonda / Alan emotional affair becomes with Alan lying about being with Rhonda claiming he went to grab a bite to eat at Kelly's and then moments later Monica brushing off Amy's offer to get her food because she just came from Kelly's (where Alan hadn't been). Then, Monica tails Alan down to Jake's bar where he danced with Rhonda to Billy Ray Cyrus while Monica looms in a booth by herself. It's hard to watch, but entirely compelling. It's interesting to see Alan becoming emotionally attached to Rhonda, and Rhonda's reaction (confusion) to this relationship. There's been a little of the setup for Julia / AJ and they got Julia sporting a slightly different hairstyle. These front curls which seems very 1990s. Crystal Carson truly was a team player and lets Sean Kanan play a very different side to AJ.

I have seen very little of 1994 so I can't comment much on Katherine's trajectory, but I definitely feel there was value in 1995-1996 of having Julia return. I would have had Julia had Ned's baby via artificial insemination. Julia returns in 1995 after the bigamy plot wraps up and maybe not even mention the baby at first. She could come in on some business matters and then slowly the pieces come out (preferably in May, 1995, just prior to Ned and Lois' wedding). Ned could be aware the child is his, A.J. could believe it was his, and maybe even play A.J. agreeing to play daddy in order to keep Lois from getting hurt. At some point, I'd let Labine do another sick child story to reveal the paternity well into 1996 after Stone has died, Monica is in remission, and a much more optimistic outlook was being played. I would make it clear though that Julia was raising the child on her own and that she had asked Ned to father the child via artificial insemination. Lois might have questioned that, but ultimately the bigger issue would be the lie. I'd even drag Monica in to remind Ned how keeping the truth about Monica / Ned ended up hurting Dawn in the long run. In this speculative "General Hospital," it's hard for me to say specifically what could have happened with Jagger and Karen. I think there were enough ties that you could have kept both characters in the thick of things. I would have revisited Gina with more depth than they did on the show(and you were right, she's only 13 in 1993). Given the proximity to Jason and Karen's closeness to Monica, I would have played Karen in Jason's car accident story and this would have caused tension between Jagger and Karen especially as this slowly led to Jason's descent into the mob. I probably would bring in Jagger's mom for an arc (possibly filling in some of the role of the Tammy character) probably on the verge of Jagger and Karen having their first child. Mom's presence would have Jagger question his ability to be a father especially given what happened to his own nuclear family. If you keep Scott as Karen's father, having Scott and Jagger on different sides of a legal battle would also be a situation that would cause internal strife for the couple. I would have also played Karen in the Dorman story (due to her connection to Monica and the past relationship between Alan / Rhonda) and Liz's rape story (given the Ray Conway story). I think there was story to tell, but I am not sure if it would have been compelling to anyone other than me lol In terms of big story, I think you made the point earlier that their young marriage is something that should have easily crumbled. Both had significant reasons to rush into marriage and weren't secure enough in their places in life to be fully happy. Karen could easily been drawn to a college classmate who was more educated and tapped into a different part of Karen that Jagger had no access to. Jagger, always loving to play the hero, could have easily been swayed by a cunning manipulator posing as a damsel in distress (maybe Carly when she was in her early stages). Thanks for the praise. I also have to remind myself that I am looking back on something having never seen it during its original airings when I would have had to watch day to day and considered what else would have been available on the daytime landscape ("Guiding Light" was pretty solid still in 1993). I am fairly enamoured with GH of 1993 in 2024, but I am not sure if that would be the same case in 1993. Production, though, is spectacular. I am becoming obsessed with the background score. I can see why people were raving about Marty Davich's work because it just elevates solid material to remarkable.

@NothinButAttitude, thanks for sharing this! I am pretty sure this is from July, 1983. Most of the 1983 material from "The Catlins" appears to come from this time period (June-July, 1983). There was once an episode yeaaarrrrss ago from July 17, 1983 (or thereabouts) featuring some of the Roger Brown / Powell Jackson interaction, but I was unaware of what was going on at the time. Now, thanks to this, I have a slightly better idea. Based on what I have gathered, the Powell / Jennifer stuff was guided by C.T. McIntyre after he dumped Sam Smiley as headwriter before Steve Lehrman came in to lead the writing team.

Julia Barrett is interesting to me because she is one of the few female characters who seems to escape the wrath of Levinson’s whore/Madonna complex. It’s this narrow, misogynist view which is what I would put forth why the audience struggled with characters like Jenny and Karen. Julia is essentially lusting after her friend’s husband and there appears to be actual layers there. One of my favorite scenes in the Dominique is at death door sequence is Julia realizing that she and Ned cannot work because she deserves a man that loves her like Scott loves Dominique. For that reason, I don’t necessarily think I would support Ned and Julia. I know Jenny Eckert isn’t a beloved character, but she is goes through so many iterations that it really is hard to like her. With that said, by March, 1993, the character slowly shapes up into someone who reacts when something happens rather than just allowing it to happen. In the latest set I watched, Tracy has run down Jenny with her car in an unplanned, and unintended, hit and run. While Jenny lingers in a coma for a few days, it would appear we’ve reverted back to Jenny the victim after the version of Jenny that told of Brenda and the woman who checked into the Port Charles Hotel in order to make her paparazzi problem Ned and Julia’s problem. The more active version is back. After waking up from her coma, Jenny remembers that it was Tracy who was the driver and proceeds to blackmail Tracy in order to drop Paul’s theft charges and to grant him the divorce he has been seeking. With Tracy days away from leaving Port Charles, I guess they had no choice. In the beginning, Jenny was very abrasive with her environmentalist outlook to the point of crashing Dawn’s funeral lunch thinking it was some cocktail party. There is almost an overcompensation by the end of 1991 acting like she is the waifish ingénue who won’t have sex with Ned because she is still a virgin and lusting after her future stepfather-in-law. I really enjoy the angst in the Ned – Jenny – Paul – Tracy scenario. Jenny and Paul aren’t running behind their spouses backs; they both just are married to the wrong person. The trajectory of Tracy and Paul’s marriage interests me because it starts with the Cartel blackmailing Paul into marrying Tracy in order to gain access to the Quartermaines, but Tracy’s late in life pregnancy complicates the tenuous dynamic by reuniting Tracy and Paul. Regarding where to go with Jenny and Paul, I would have had Jenny embrace more of a ruthless attitude when it came to the Quartermaines even possibly going farther than she should in pursuit of securing Paul custody. I would then “reward” Jenny by bringing in a dynamic younger actress to play Susan Hornsby and let Susan make her stepmonster’s life miserable while also befriending Sly Eckert and Lucky Spencer. And Paul, as the new attorney for everybody, could have become embroiled in some of the Bradley Ward mystery and possibly positioned himself as an ally to the Wards, which could infuriate the Qs, at least initially. I don’t think Jenny and Paul could be the A-couple that carried the show, but they could be tasked with supporting an A- or B-story with their own arc or carrying their own C-story. I think having Julia in the bigamy story would have shaded Julia too much as a villain, but I can understand why replacing Katherine in that story would make sense. I imagine that Labine ran with the fact that Damian and Katherine were already established as schemers and that positioning Katherine in the Q circle would make more sense post-Scott than other options. Regarding Dawn and Decker, I think the issue was the merry go round of Dawns and not really reigning in Michael Watson. He’s not bad, but his comic adlibbing (I’m assuming it was adlibbing) prevented him from being the real lead in that pairing. Kurt McKinney’s Ned might be a hot mess carrying the burden of having slept with Monica (and Wendy), but it’s hard to root for Dawn and Decker when Decker could be so offputting, particularly in his relationship with Charlene. I wish at some point someone had pointed out to Decker that he was running around with a married woman after giving his mother so much grief about her own past. I think Dawn was better off rested in 1991. Monty’s treatment of Dawn and Decker, and Dawn in particular, is a new level. Bludgeoning the heroine to death onscreen is just too much especially after staging Dawn and Decker’s engagement in the Eckert’s bakery with Dawn and Decker acting as extras to the show’s new stars, Fred and Angela Eckert. I don’t know if I have seen anything that deliberately off putting in quite some time. As much as I love the Nikki Langton story, I think the show would have been better off saying Dawn was Rick Webber’s child. Dawn as Rick’s daughter would have promoted more internal strife in Alan and Monica’s marriage and made Alan jumping into Lucy’s bed almost reasonable. In addition, as Rick’s daughter, she would have had greater ties to the canvas. I think Bill and Holly became a necessary evil under early Riche. Tristan Rogers and Finola Hughes’ departures took a lot of wind out of that sail. I think removing Bill from his previous story grouping (Julia / Ned / Paul / Jenny) was a mistake, but given what I can only assume were substantial salaries, I can see why you’d want to play Geary with Samms rather than Crystal Carson. I’m just not sure that’s what I would have wanted. In my current viewing, Victoria has regained her sight and now Holly is declaring war against Victoria to get Bill. It is the easiest story to ignore. On the otherhand, I do think Karen and Jagger had more legs. Jagger was joining the police academy and Karen was going to be a doctor. Those sort of professions would have easily lent themselves to the work going on during Labine’s “General Hospital.” I think Stone’s ties to Sonny would have escalated heat from Jagger and led to conflict between Stone and Jagger and Jagger and Karen. I’m not sure Scott as Karen had as much mileage as people thought, but, had she stayed, I could see some scenarios where Karen as Luke’s daughter would have complicated things. I think marrying them off and letting them go was the smart move with plans on resetting later, but I do think they had more story juice than others. I also would add that there were just a nice intricate set of connections built across the canvas by Riche in 1992-1993 that I could easily see these characters remaining leads if Riche felt they needed to. Also, with that said, I am looking forward to the direction Labine will take the canvas while also a bit bummed to see some characters leaving that I enjoy.

Ned and Julia are fun, but they didn't stand a chance under Levinson. Ned may be sexually attracted to Julia, but he is still in love with Jenny. I'm in late May, 1993. Tracy has just run down Jenny with her car at the Port Charles Hotel parking garage. The tension in May is just insane sprinkled with beautiful moments of characters reflecting. While Jenny is in ICU, Julia sits with Ned in the waiting room after they have broken up romantically and Tracy's words echo in Julia's head how Ned will always be in love with Jenny. It's an emotional, underplayed moment. I haven't seen any of A.J. and Julia as a couple yet, but I look forward to it. Crystal Carson bears a slight resemblance to Camille Cooper (Nikki) that I could see how A.J. was drawn to her. I wonder if Cooper possibly auditioned for Brenda because the Brenda groundwork starts in December, 1991, and Nikki arrives in January, 1992, when Linda Grover seems to have introduced more elements into the show. When is Julia out? Is it November, 1993? I don't think Brenda's story heats up really until February when she and Sonny start and I don't think they knew how big that story was going to be. It is surprising they didn't look to bring back Julia because Brenda did become so big. Regarding Ned and Lois, Labine ends up redoing her bigamy marriage story from "Love of Life" slightly inverting some of the roles and adding the musical element. I think the Julia / Lois contrast would have been appealing (and would have been a great 1995 arc after Katherine is removed from the scenario). Especially given the Brenda/Lois connection. I hadn't considered that piece, but that would be intriguing. There is a brief period (late 1989) where they explore Audrey's paternity lie when Simone isn't sure if Tommy, Jr. is Harrison or Tom's. It is a rather interesting angle that gets quickly dropped after Tom has a brief bout of depression and starts to go off the rails (but not too far). I wish Audrey's past was explored more because when it was (during Liz's rape, for example) it was incredibly well done. I'm on the edge of Ryan going after Audrey and Steve Hardy in my viewing of 1993. I cannot wait. Bernandino and Ames are just great. I'm approaching Tracy's departure and I'm curious to see what, if any, pivot we see in the Paul and Jenny story once Tracy is gone. I think there was potential involving Damian in the Paul and Jenny story given Paul was a lawyer with a complicated past with the Cartel, Damian's posh demeanor and his family's criminal ties, and Jenny as someone who had been drawn by men with power before. I could see Levinson's Angela Eckert clucking over the idea of Jenny and Damian now that Paul was becoming more of a suburban dad type. I think there might have been a slight chance but the age difference between Josh Kelly and Carly Schroeder (if she were ever to return) would be noticeable. But isn't Cody Dominique's son in order for Mac to have a kid?