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Scott was Jo's nephew via marriage. Scott was the illegitimate son of Doug Martin, the attorney who was married to Jo's sister Eunice. Doug was the biological father of Eunice's daughter, Suzi. So Scott was also Suzi's half-brother. John Wyatt later adopted Suzi when he married Eunice after Doug died. I believe Doug died as the result of a mercy killing, which may have been performed by Jennifer, or was it Scott. I thought it was Jennifer, but that would mean Jennifer killed both of Suzi's parents, which I don't think is right. Scott was also Stu's cousin/nephew by marriage as Stu's second wife Ellie was related to Scott. I've seen Ellie listed as Scott's cousin and sometimes as his aunt. Kathy was introduced as a law student who I believe worked with Scott's father, Doug, or with John Wyatt, the other local attorney. It seems that she was introduced primarily as a love interest for Scott. I wonder if Kathy, the liberal feminist who aborted Scott's baby, was intended to be a long term interest or one of those socially relevant stories that "Search for Tomorrow" told during that period regarding the deaf and racism. Kathy was later tied to the Bergmans when she became involved with Stu's son, Tom. I believe Tom and Kathy were supposedly still living together offscreen in Washington when the show went off the air, but I don't know if they had been mentioned in ages.

Question: Did the episodes that aired on Retro really stop on December 29, 1979 or is that listed just to finish out the year?

For me, Gabi's appeal comes from the fact she was part of one of the strongest young adult sets the show had developed in years with Will, Sonny, Chad, Abigail, and Gabi and the actors were (for the most part) willing to stay or come back. Banus was much stronger than her predecessor and came on with some heavy material to play (the aftermath of Arianna's death), which gave her some fan interest when she arrived. Gabi as Will's beard worked for me. The decision under Tomsell to make Gabi a social pariah was pretty appealing to me. Under MarDar, Chad and Gabi became models, which I think replaced the gambling website story they quickly abandoned. Trying to lure Chad away from Melanie, Gabi claimed to have a stalker and roped some deranged dude, Andrew (played by Caleb Hunt who was fairly good), leading to the kidnapping of Melanie at the start of the explosion that started off Tomsell's run. This was one of the only stories that appealed to me when I started watching more frequently in preparation for Tomlin and Whitsell's return (the other was Nicole's pregnancy). Gabi's role revealed coinciding with the return of Nick with Nick and Gabi working together at the Brady Pub was just really fun to watch. Blake Berris and Camila Banus were great together. Gabi's pregnancy was a great cause of conflict between that whole set of characters with Will going along with the lie to keep Sonny in the dark and Nick's homophobia stemming from his prison rape. This in turn leading to the rapist escaping, the rapist kidnapping Gabi, Sonny helping Gabi give birth on the island, and Will heroism as he attacked the rapist when the man threatened Gabi, Arianna, and Sonny's life was just a really strong story for a show that hadn't really had much plot in the past year. The show also took time to develop all of those relationships, Nick/Will, Sonny/Gabi, and Gabi/Will. It was a solid set of characters. Gabi is interesting as a piece of the bigger story. I thought pairing Gabi and JJ was an appealing move. Making J.J. move on from bland Paige to her half-sister Gabi with similar features worked for me. The history between Gabi and Nick gave the relationship some conflict to build off of and Gabi and Sonny (when he was around) co-parenting Arianna after Will's death were all interesting even though they never really tapped into all of that. Ultimately, though, I could see where most of my interest in Gabi lies in her potential rather than her actual presence on the canvas. In many ways, though, I often find myself feeling the same way about Nicole, who I adore, but has only had about four or five stories that I really have enjoyed over her multiple runs.

For the show to address this issue, a character choosing to join the police force due to police brutality, would require the show to address their recent past of having a white police officer shooting an unarmed black youth who is on the Autism spectrum. Given the reaction to that story, I imagine that's not something the show really wants to draw any light to.

I think Chad was supposed to be a solid player in the teen scene of 2009-2010. The characters who were introduced in that period typically had at least two stories that would be made fairly clear at the arrival. Chad didn't even know about the baby Mia had because he had been off in rehab for a drug problem (which has never really been revisited). His initial arc was a) learning of the existence of the child and b) actively trying to win back Mia even though she was involved with Will. There story was definitely a C-story at best and I think it only played out several times a month. It was definitely interlaced into the larger narrative of baby switch saga with Grace and Sydney. I think what helped elevate Chad as a character were he was the most charismatic and capable of the younger set he was in. Dylan Patton and Gabriela Rodrigues were very green as Will and Gabi. Taylor Sprietler wasn't much better, but showed a little energy in her last few month (not much, but more than before) when they turned her into a vixen before Madeline paid her off to leave town. On the topic of Chad's bizarre origins, I believe his original parentage may have also been tacked on at last minute. Chad was initially Chad Peterson and then Chad Peterson-Woods when they decided he was going to be the son of D.A. Peterson (David Leisure). And Mia, while certainly not a long term character, may have also been a bit of a case of a change in story. Originally, at the end of 2008, the casting call for Will had him as a college baseball star who had an interest in Melanie. At the time, I felt the plan was to make Melanie Nicole's daughter as I seem to recall there was a suggestion in late 2008 before Trent died that they had a child together. Melanie's parentage, which I imagined Sami would have kept from Nicole, seemed life the original second arc of the baby saga that was dumped pretty early. Then they decided to make Mia a more permanent character and cast Dylan Patton as Will and the story entered more C-level territory. A lot of these elements eventually popped up in other stories (what I imagined would have been tension between Melanie and Will over Nick became tension between Melanie and Nathan over Nick as well as the revelation that Melanie was the daughter of Carly and Daniel). Before Chandler Massey was cast, I think they had already set in motion the plans to build a frienemy relationship between Chad and Will with Chad's parentage being the source of drama. The secret that Madeline was Chad's mother was a story built not just for Chad, but for Kate and Stefano. I imagine the longterm plan was for Will to become jealous, or at least feel complicated emotions, about Kate's mothering Chad. Massey and Diedrick played very well off each other, but finding a strong female partner took a lot of away from their story potential. I think Gabi was definitely broadly defined when she arrived, but the nature of her arc was pretty fascinating from the perspective of how linear it felt. When she was originally introduced, Gabi was very nasty to Arianna because she had been in prison because of a nasty relationship with a boyfriend that had landed Arianna in prison on drug charges. I don't remember if Gabi was religious at the beginning, but the character was definitely naive and sheltered. Camila Banus came on for Arianna's death which was definitely a life changing moment for the character as I don't think they had completely reconciled. I believe had Tomlin/Higley/Whitsell had stayed, Gabi would have ended up pregnant by Will in late 2011 with Will and Sonny hooking up around the same time. Utilizing the fake stalker arc, which was one of the strongest stories from MarDar's run in my opinion, and pairing Gabi with Nick was just brilliant. As much as I hated losing Nick and Gabi, having Gabi leave her daughter to go off to jail because she had an abusive man in her life (like her sister Arianna) seemed like a great way to touch on the character's origins. I hope, one day, they explore the impact of Gabi's absence on her daughter's life and having her reflect on the way she treated her own sister.

I think as of 2021, they had digitized January and February 1980, and possibly a little farther as random episodes were being found on their website very briefly. They claimed they were going to wait until the entire series was finished before releasing the rest of the show. Again, take that for what it's worth. To be so close to the end and not get there would be very frustrating.

Claire Yarlett and Mary Beth Evans both played Dakota Lane on "Rituals." I believe they were both on "Days of our Lives" at the same time in the 1990s.

Katherine was introduced in either late May or June, 1993 right after Dominique dies in late April/early May. Levinson is gone a few months later (October, 1993) and Kin Shriner leaves in December. Shriner and Evans had worked together towards the tail end of "Rituals" when Koty was carrying Mike's child. From what I gather, Shriner and Evans enjoyed working together. I imagine Levinson would have tried to reform Katherine at some point or just went heavy into a Lucy / Scotty / Katherine triangle. With Scotty out, Labine repositions Katherine. She decides to tell a variation on the Ben Harper bigamy plot she and Paul Avila Mayer wrote on "Love of Life" with the Katherine / Ned / Lois tale. During the story, Katherine and Lois each seem to absorb different elements of the Betsy and Arlene characters. Even with this, Katherine is the clear antagonist, the Arlene. It's interesting to see that Katherine meets the same fate as Arlene, aimless once the story reaches it's initial climax. I watched the first half of 1995 a year or two back. From what I can remember, Lois and Ned have already solidified as a couple. I think Katherine goads Lois into a fight at Outback in Janaury, which leads to a legal battle that is wrapped up in February when the case is dismissed. Lois and Ned marry during May sweeps, or their events leading to their wedding start then. In the meantime, Katherine is a pariah and so is Damian so most of their scenes are together. It isn't until Tom Hardy returns that they start pushing the Mac / Katherine pairing, but, to be honest, I don't remember what Mac and Felicia were doing in the meantime. I feel like they were still handling the latest Ryan caper as he escaped from the institute.

David Wallace's Tom also had a brief stint as a jerk between Simones in early 1990. He had just learned that Tom Jr. might not be his, and Simone had left him to go on a cruise with her mother or something. Tom was a psychiatrist, which is one of the reasons I think he eventually faded into the woodwork. By the time Wallace left and Ashford arrives, Jon Lindstrum's Kevin is in that position. The shift to Felicia and Tom as well as Katherine and Mac in 1995 is rather jarring from what I remember. Tom returns during the spring of 1995 as the groundwork for Audrey's Alzheimer's has begun. I imagine there may have been some strong conflict planned between Tom and Steve over how to handle a condition like Alzheimer's, but it's probably best they didn't end up going down that road. From recent pictures, Wallace has aged fairly well, but I don't think he and Lisa Trusel live in Tennessee or somewhere else far from California. In regards to Tony, from what I'm seeing, the show is definitely still action/adventure heavy well into mid-1990 even though they seem to have some strong domestic material, however, the domestic stuff appears as filler mostly. This is a shame because there is a lot material worth exploring just among the Brownstone group. Tony as the Brownstone dad really was something they could have played more. Maule handles the dramatic material with ease and makes the day to day life of Bobbie and Tony intriguing (to be fair, so does Zeman). In terms of story function, Tony remains mostly a reactionary character in terms to whoever is in his world at the moment (either his wife Bobbie, or previously Lucy, or his brother Frisco). You have Tony and Bobbie who have adopted a child under a year old who's origins are unknown, you have Tom and Simone, separated, working towards a reconciliation, raising a child they may or may not be Tom, and Felicia and Frisco expecting their first child. When the stories do collide, it works well, but the show should have leaned into this more. When Monty returns, this doesn't seem to get better. Palumbo and Hardy introduce Rita Lloyd Jones, Tony and Frisco's former stepmother, to the show. She goes to work at General Hospital and clearly has set her sights on Tony. I think that Tony and Rita had had an affair when his mother was dying or something, but I don't remember the details. It think there was real potential to delve deeper into the Jones family dynamic with Rita around given that Frisco had such anger surrounding his mother's passing and he was just becoming a father himself. Plus, Bobbie is in the thick of things with Broxton (the Jerome attorney) that things would eventually get really messy between Bobbie and Tony. Anyway, before anything can happen between Tony and Rita, Monty nixes Rita and ships her out of town during the pre-Eckert purge that occurs from late December 1990 until mid-March 1991. Bobbie and Tony still split over Bobbie's lies regarding Lucas and Cheryl, but while Bobbie flirts with cousin Bill, Tony is left on the backburner.

Here are the writers list for a handful of episodes from March 31, 1993 - March, 1994: March 31, 1993 Bill Levinson Tom Citrano Ralph Ellis Jeanne Davis Glynn Linda Hamner Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Meg Bennett Linda Campanelli Gail Larence & Peter Rich Carol Saraceno Doris Silverton Michele Val Jean May 13, 1993 Bill Levinson Tom Citrano Ralph Ellis Linda Hamner Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Carol Saraceno Michele Val Jean Meg Bennett Linda Campanelli Martin M. Goldstein July 13, 1993 Bill Levinson Tom Citrano Ralph Ellis Meg Bennett Linda Hamner Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Carol Saraceno Michele Val Jean Linda Campanelli Kimmer Ringwald Gillian Spencer August 13, 1993 Bill Levinson Ralph Ellis Tom Citrano Meg Bennett Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Carol Saraceno Michele Val Jean Linda Campanelli Karen Harris Kimmer Ringwald Gillian Spencer September 24, 1993 Bill Levinson Ralph Ellis Tom Citrano Meg Bennett Cynthia M. Jervey & Elizabeth F. Snyder Carol Saraceno Linda Campanelli Karen Harris Gillian Spencer October 7, 1993 Bill Levinson Ralph Ellis Tom Citrano Meg Bennett Michele Val Jean Linda Campanelli Dana Coen Karen Harris Gillian Spencer October 25, 1993 Claire Labine Matthew Labine Eleanor Mancusi Ralph Ellis Meg Bennett Michele Val Jean Linda Campanelli Karen Harris Gillian Spencer Irene Suver December 8, 1993 Claire Labine Matthew Labine Eleanor Mancusi Ralph Ellis Meg Bennett Michele Val Jean Lewis Arlt Linda Campanelli Karen Harris Louise Shaffer February 3, 1994 Claire Labine Matthew Labine Eleanor Mancusi Ralph Ellis Meg Bennett Michele Val Jean Lewis Arlt So look those over, it would appear that only Ralph Ellis, Meg Bennett, and Michele Val Jean were retained and most everyone else was dumped. @Vee I'll defer to you about the 2000s. I also may have been thinking of "Days of our Lives" that somehow managed to build a strong writing team under Higley and Tomlin's multiple runs for most of those writers to disappear in the past few years. Back to 1990, the Casey stuff was terrible. Anna and Casey on the run was pretty bland. I did appreciate the climax of the plot with the homage to "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" with a bunch of dayplayers running around the blacked out Port Charles thinking there is an alien invasion going on. Paired with Desiree cornering Frisco and Sean at Sean's penthouse and attempting to kidnap Robin was amazing. I will say, even when I don't always like the action stories, "General Hospital" could do the end of a story justice. Another compliment for the show that isn't always amazing... the writers always try to make things seem linear even when they have no right to. Tom Hardy lets someone (Anna?) and the audience know that Casey Rogers must have morphed himself to look like Shep Casey. So Shep Casey is actually Roger "Shep" Casey. Casey got his name off a case file when he was being questioned quite later, but there is an attempt to make things fit. So Shep Casey seems to be the Jeffrey O'Neill of his day or any of the "One Life" actors playing doppleganger roles. Shep isn't a bad character per se. A reporter who wants to handle the sleazier element of Port Charles isn't a bad idea, but the writing leans into Shep as such an antagonist, which is limiting. A lot of Palumbo's new characters are stock types. The Latinx characters recently introduced also fall into the category. Carla is the noble, hard working poor immigrant not wanting anything from anyone. Frankie is a hot headed with his eyes on the ladies. Rico is a controlling boyfriend. I appreciate that there is an attempt to make them an existing part of Port Charles. Carla is a maid at the Quartermaine mansion and one of Monica's favorites. Rico went to the police academy with Sam and Frisco. To allow access to this part of the canvas, other stories have been reduced or backburnered. The Casey / Wellington story has been replaced by Faison's attempt to romance Anna after Sean reveals that he (Sean) was behind Robert learning years ago that Anna was a double agent and that the Swede was alive. This means very little to me, but I guess it was a significant piece of Anna and Robert's history. It seems clear to me that the show is leaning into Anna and Robert. Katherine is off running Delafield's and not having much else to do. The chem tests with Colton are done now that Carla is around, but they seemed to have tried Katherine and Shep and even Katherine and Larry (how did he manage to stay on so long?). The strongest stuff is in the Ned / Dawn / Decker / Monica / Wendy story. Wendy has gone complete psycho, maybe she always was and I just wasn't paying attention. Janice Lynde shows up as the new Gloria during the Police Officer's Carnival fundraiser. She must have recently wrapped her stint on "Tribes." Jennifer Guthrie is growing on me. Monica remains in a supporting role, but at least its a prominent role. I know that won't last forever. They briefly paired Monica with Kyle Morgan, the obstetrician treating Felicia. One of the stronger scenes was in the underplayed Tony and Bobbie adoption story. Tony has a rather dramatic monologue where he gently goes in on Bobbie for leaning into her prostitute past and claiming that Lucas' situation was her own fault. It was incredibly strong. I am not surprised they gave him those longer speeches during the B.J. storyline during the Labine years. Tom and Simone's story has no traction. There is a nice scene with Audrey warning Monica about the dangers of meddling in Dawn and Ned's happiness after everything she herself experienced with Tom, Simone, and the baby. Tom and Simone seemed to be quietly reconciled, but they are dragging the paternity test out. Maybe it took weeks to do, but there is little play in this story. They could have at least built up the Meg / Harrison element of the story so that it didn't see so disjointed. Tracey and Scotty are a fun couple. Lee and Gail, in town for the wedding of Ned and Dawn, just showed up walked in on Scotty and Tracey together. Lee going in on Scotty, and Scotty responding in kind was a good scene. Lucy setting up Scotty in regards to the sale of Wyndemere was a nice way to keep the story going and intersecting with other parts of the canvas. I think Sam Hall has been added as a co head-writer but I'm not sure.

I'm still in 1990 (I've made it into July, but May was such a drag with the Casey stuff). In regards to the Monty article and her return, I'm in the period about six months before her return. The biggest issues I am seeing with the show is narrative structure and characterization, which are often interlinked and result in less than engaging scripts, at times. The overall show has a decent pace and enough veterans to add energy to the staler elements of the show, but the deeper I get into Gene Palumbo's run, I can see why changes were made, but I don't think they needed to be as radical as Monty went. In terms of scripts, Monty claims she was tossing the entire script writing team out and bringing in nighttime writers. I haven't checked the credits to see how accurate that is, but in what I've seen of early 1991, the scripts become very stilted by March, 1991. Lots of current event references without grounding them into the current story. Riche is able to turn the ship around even with Norma Monty still in the position in those early months in terms of script quality. For example, I find this episode incredibly strong March 31, 1992 . It comes several weeks after Norma Monty has left and there are interim headwriters before Maralyn Thoma arrives. There are just a lot of really wonderful character beats between Nikki Langton's arrival at the Quartermaine mansion, Ned recounting his marriage to Dawn to his new bride Jenny, the tension in Paul and Tracey's marriage with the beautifully awkward attempt at reconciliation, and just some general good tender moments. I know the press stated that Claire Labine also tossed the writing staff in 1993, but I know some were retained. Michele Val Jean, for example, and I believe someone else. I want to say Elizabeth Snyder, but I feel that wrong. From what people here have said, the writing staff was pretty much maintained or evolved in a healthy way until Frank and/or Ron arrived and started dismantling it, but I could be wrong on that.

@Vizion Tom Hardy and Lucy slept together during Monty's 1991 run. Before Monty, there was an ongoing triangle for Simone and Tom involving Simone's prior affair with Harrison Davis, who had managed to become assistant chief of staff at General Hospital. Harrison was briefly assumed to be Tommy Jr.'s father due to the meddling of Dr. Pauline Ravelle, Simone's mother and Harrison's biggest supporter. When Harrison learns he is the father, and realizes he won't get Simone, he marries Meg Lawson and launches a custody suit. In Meg's first scenes in February 1990, she had a pre-established crush on Dr. Davis so he was really taking advantage of how she felt about him. Over in the Alan-Lucy story, prior to Monty's return, Lucy had coerced Alan into marriage, and when Alan decided to leave her, Lucy announced she was pregnant. Alan stayed with her. In real life, Lynn Herring was also pregnant. In January 1991, Lucy miscarried her baby (it was actually Scotty's) and skipped town so Herring could go on maternity leave. The relationship between Alan and Lucy was dissolved, I believe, in February when Lucy was out of town. When she returned, Lucy was single. In the meantime, Monty continued to dump almost every single character that had been created since she left. This included Stephanie Williams' Simone Ravelle Hardy. During her return, Monty wanted to ground the show back in reality and felt that the best way to do that was to have characters just reference real life events and social issues. Simone became suddenly caught up in the plight of children in Romania while the war was going on. Her old college classmate Vanessa (Donna Leavy) popped in for an episode or two to talk about the work she was doing overseas. In February, when Williams' one-year contract was up, Simone left for Romania. Tom was left to care for little Tommy on his own with the help of Audrey and Steve. I imagine that Tom and Lucy's relationship probably came out of Tom's loneliness with Simone being away. It looks like the story starts in April when Lucy encounters Scotty and his cousin Tom Hardy having lunch. When Tom and Lucy later go out in late May, Scotty is again present. I think Tom and Lucy was about complicating both Tom and Simone and Lucy and Scotty. It also looks like that Lucy has been flirting with Harlan Barrett in the meantime. Williams' Simone returns in June as the show starts its second revamp since Monty arrived after the ratings fell out with the Eckert family consuming large sections of the story along with a slew of other new characters.

Adult A.J. has the misfortune of arriving on the scene during the second Monty run around June, 1991. In terms of story, he replaces James Morrison's Joey Moscini in the younger leading male role. Part of A.J.'s issue is that there are no strongly connected characters to the canvas in his age range. They place him in the same orbit as Sheila Cantillion, the nurse who Joey had chased after. His major conflict was he was using his parents' broken marriage to justify his own poor behavior. Gerald Hopkins, the first adult A.J., isn't terrible, but the character of A.J. feels very underdeveloped in the material I have seen. It's not until they decide to give A.J. an issue with alcohol that he develops a stronger sense of a presence on the canvas. This occurs around late 1991 in final weeks of Monty or the first weeks of Wendy Riche. By the time Nikki Langton is on the canvas, A.J. has already been arrested for a DUI and seems to be trying to get better, but who's sobriety is definitely in jeopardy for getting involved with a woman like Nikki. Nikki becomes the necessary catalyst in the younger set that include A.J., Sheila, and Dr. Eric Simpson with Nikki going after Eric and A.J. at different points to achieve her goals of obtaining the information she needs in regards to her father. Previously, prior to the drinking, A.J. was the troublemaker planting drugs in Simpson's locker at General Hospital to make him look bad to Sheila, but ultimately nearly costing Eric his job. The shift in persona made A.J. more rootable as he was just so self absorbed in his early days. Riche seems pretty influential in shaping the younger canvas having brought on Karen Wexler during the interim (as part of Audrey Hardy's VolunTeens program at General Hospital) and Jagger (through the robbery episodes I haven't really go into yet. Riche has also spoken about how she wanted to do the AIDS storyline initially with A.J. as a result of some sexual experience in college that may have been with a man or with a woman. A.J. was definitely a character that Riche had a strong outline for of who she wanted him to be, but not necessarily the direction she wanted him to go. At least that is how I look at it. I think as early as Gerald Hopkins, there is hints of resentment brewing underneath the surface between A.J. and Jason with Jason clearly the golden child and A.J. constantly feeling the need to prove himself. I think it was cemented more when Sean Kanan took over the part in February, 1993. To an extent, I think A.J.'s resentment was initially directed to Eric Simpson because he was a doctor at General Hospital working with his mother and father. Eric garnered the respect from A.J.'s parents that A.J. couldn't. Nothing I've seen has played heavy into this, but there seems to be an undercurrent to their animosity. When Kanan arrives, I definitely got the sense that the show was building A.J. and Julia as a thing because they were also building competition between A.J. and Ned at ELQ. A.J. was trying to find his way back into ELQ with Ned refusing based on some prior missteps A.J. had taken during a prior stint under Gerald Hopkins. I thought that all made sense, but they also layered Jason and A.J.'s relationship with A.J. still in the shadows of his little brother, but also really wanting to play the protective older brother when it came to Karen and Jagger. A.J.'s anger towards Jagger is intriguing. I guess it was misplaced anger relating to Alan's involvement in Nikki jilting A.J., but there is at least one point where the scriptwriters joke that A.J.'s sexuality maybe in question. Marco makes an off the cuff comment to A.J. at the gym about Marco being a fighter, not a lover in regards to A.J.'s attempt to interact with him. It may have just a been a natural extension of the show's undercurrent of toxic machismo from that era, but I still find it intriguing. To be fair though, an underfive gives Dominque and Lucy a strange look earlier in Levinson's run when Dominque is talking about how excited she is to have a baby with Lucy. I could see the mileage the show could get out of A.J. and Brenda given the dynamics between A.J./Jason, Jason/Brenda, A.J./Julia, Ned / A.J., Julia/Ned, and Julia/Brenda. There would be a lot of angles to explore.

@Vee From Curlyqgrl's site October 11, 1993 - No Commercials - Brenda wishes Robin a happy 16th birthday. A dazed Karen bails on her shift at Kellys. Felicia tells Sean and Mac that she thinks she has a sure fire way to prove Ryan killed Jessica. They should just put Ryan back in same hospital room with the same guard and wait. He will escape again. Amy suspects Karen stole pills from the hospital. Alan asks Monica if she will be using their opera tickets but she is not about to let Madame Butterfly go to waste on Rhonda. Alan tells Steve about a procedure he invented to help one of his patients being written up in a medical journal. Amy tells Alan and Steve that Karen stole pills from GH. Steve agrees to let Alan look into the matter before he takes any action. Brenda and Robin follow Karen to The Paradise Lounge. Brenda gets in to the club but Robin is out of luck. Alan and Monica end up at the opera together. Mac and Felicia ask Steve about inducing a condition that would require the hospitalization of a serial killer. Stone finds out Karen is now stealing pills. Stone wants to take Karen home, but Sonny convinces her stay and perform at the club. Steve makes a suggestion to Mac and Felicia. Brenda sees Karen strip. Felicia bakes some tainted muffins for Ryan. Thanks to all the pills, Karen freaks out on stage thinking that she “sees” Ray in the audience. October 12, 1993 - No Commercials - Karen tells Sonny she is finished stripping. Sonny tries to smooth things over but she insists she is finished. Karen storms out of Sonny's apartment. Jagger hears Brenda tell Rhonda that Karen is at a club working at a stripper. Stone convinces Sonny to let him go after Karen. Jagger is angry at Brenda for telling Rhonda about Karen. Stone follows Karen back to her apartment and tells her that Sonny is not going to just let her go. Lucy asks Scott if when she is feeling better if they could go shopping for the baby. Katherine interrupts their moment. Monica comes clean with Alan that she made up “Rod” to get his attention. Rhonda goes to The Paradise Lounge looking for Karen. Brenda tells Jagger that she knows he is still hung up on Karen no matter what she does. After Rhonda and Karen argue, she leaves with Stone. Alan and Monica agree to stop arguing and end up making love. Lucy and Katherine let each other know they are both on to each other. Brenda tells Jagger that she loves him and they end up in bed together. Stone takes Karen to a cheap motel room for the night to sleep off the effects of all the pills. From AddieCate's episodes, Bill Levinson is still credited as of October 7th. October 8th has no credits. The next episode in her set is October 25th and Labine is credited as headwriter. I think August, 1993, was when Labine was hired, but I think her material was on-air the week of October 11th based on what you are saying, which lines up with what is available online. @BrendaB I have DVDs I have been watching.

Levinson is headwriter until late September/early October. There are a lot of strong stories during his run. I made it up until April, 1993, when I decided to jump around, but I've seen a series of episodes from the tail end of his run. Misogyny seems prevalent throughout his run. The way characters go at Karen is pretty disgusting. Jenny Eckert received treatment earlier in the year during the investigation into her sexual involvement with Jack Kensington when she was only 16 years old. Also, the custody trial between Bobbie and Tiffany has competing secrets about their past involving each woman's history selling sex (Bobbie as a prostitute and Tiffany as the star of "Trixie Does Tennessee" or whatever the film title was). I actually liked Bill as a deadbeat dad. I thought that was an interesting perspective to take with a character who was such a hot mess. Sly's relationships with all his father's exes (Holly, Julia) as well as with father-to-be Scotty were great layers that the show played. Bill worked best for me when he was Ned's business rival and the impact that had on his relationship with his sister Jenny. I don't mind Bill and Julia, but I am not sure they were ever going to be able to get past the fact Bill had killed Harlan. I appreciated that the show had pretty much abandoned the sorta of action/adventure stories that had put the show on the map, but had fallen out of favor with the general soap viewing public by that point. The Portugal excursion with Richard Halifax gaslighting Bill by having Lucy impersonate Victoria was weak, but thankfully short-lived. The Ryan Chamberlain plot was a much more effective attempt at telling one of those type of action stories, but by grounding it in the hospital with Ryan's work as a psychiatrist and the impact the trial had on his relationship with his colleagues. From watching some different stretches of the 1990s, everyone teaming up to convince Ryan that he was going crazy was a very old school style plot with a more modern shading to it. One of Levinson's stronger points was he was good at utilizing a lot of the older cast. Gail as a sounding board for Monica as Monica tries to find some peace in her marriage was great. The family therapy session led by Gail where A.J. unloads about Alan paying off Nikki was great. The fallout of the Ryan story with Audrey and Steve both suffering bouts of post traumatic stress over what had transpired was also strong. Lee being there for Scotty as Dominque is dying is helpful. One of my favorite scenes is when Lila both scolds Tracey and comforts her over Tracey's attempts to hurt Paul through Dillon because of Tracey's own pain watching Paul and Jenny together. I have even come to appreciate Carol Lawrence's turn as the more meddling, social climbing version of Angela Eckert.

@danfling I didn't mention Ringo and Rhonda Sue because they were supporting characters. There story was a C-story at best and I think it was only told because Joanna Lee wanted to have a full canvas if she was allowed to expand the show to an hour. Lee knew that for "Search for Tomorrow" to survive, it had to expand. I don't think NBC would have even considered it, but I felt like Lee's expansion of the canvas was all in a prep to the show with her intent of convincing the network to see her way. As supporting charcters, I didn't mind Rhonda Sue and Ringo. Rhonda Sue aggravated Stephanie in a way that was slightly different than that she had with her maid Rose Beardsley. I'm not sure when Rose stopped appearing, but I think it may have been under Tomlin. Anyway, Rhonda Sue was the first of Stephanie's secretaries, a stock character on the show. She was succeeded by Alexandra Neil's Gwen Hoffman, who was nearly raped by Jack Benton. Later, I think I have even heard Gwen mentioned even after Neil stopped appearing before Stephanie hired Justine to be her secretary. Justine was succeeded by Quinn McCleary. I'm not sure if anyone replaced Quinn, but I suspect not. Stephanie's role was pretty minor in the final year before the triangle with Bela and Wendy. Ringo was not initially a sympathetic character. He was a hood who's purpose was to keep Warren's hands clean while still wreaking havoc. Ringo nearly murdered Jenny Deacon in October, 1982, because she had been involved with a man that had been in their drug operation in Los Angeles. I believe the accident that had caused Jenny's amnesia was the same one that killed the boyfriend. Ringo's position on the canvas, at least initially, was to provide Warren with a partner in crime. Often, these type of relationships have a romantic/sexual undercurrent. To me, this was no different. If you told me that Ringo had a small shrine to Warren somewhere, it wouldn't surprise me. I think Ringo's death was intended to be more purposeful than it was. I think it would have been eventually revealed that it was Ringo who's body had been buried after the ship explosion and not Travis'. Or were any bodies recovered? Ringo's death also left a void in the canvas when Warren Carter returns in October, 1984. Again, he needs a henchman and this time it is Brett Hamilton, III. Warren had somehow procurred a pornographic video that Brett had made. I never could piece together whether this video was created for commercial purposes or something that Brett had made to remember his conquests. Either way, I felt Warren controlling Brett by lording a video of Brett having sex again had a homoerotic edge to it. @Matt Powers Regarding David Cherrill, he was headwriter from mid-December, 1982, until late May, 1983. To me, it's not the most memorable time, but, like Bill Levinson's work on "General Hospital" in the early 1990s, it sets in motion a lot of material that Gary Tomlin runs with and makes quite memorable. Cherrill's "Search for Tomorrow" feels like a NBC soap rather than a CBS soap trying to emulate an NBC/ABC serial. Cherrill brings back Tom Bergman and Dr. Bob Rogers. Dr. Bob is the one who confirms Liza's pregnancy and continues to treat Liza throughout her pregnancy. Cherrill also introduces Tom Wright's Colt, blind pianist Michael Kennedy (who is only later revealed in Tomlin's first episode to be Michael Kendall), Rhonda Sue Huckaby, and Steve Kendall. A lot of Cherrill's time is spent maneuvering pieces. He cuts Rusty Sentell, who had become too convoluted in his connections to the canvas by the end of Hunt and Ellis' run. Instead, he shifted the spotlight away from the criminal element and focused moreso on Warren Carter's ambition, which often would put him in questionable situations anyway. Warren as the central antagonist carried the show for much of the next year and could have longer if they had recast Warren rather than accepted that Corbett wouldn't commit longterm and killed the character off. The murder mystery is short (maybe two months) and ends with Dane Taylor deducing that Aja Doyan was the culprit, but I think there was another bullet that was shot at Rusty, but it didn't kill him. This also played into Brian's new role as a rookie on the Henderson PD. Cherrill also introduced Lt. Marion Bowman, who appeared for several years in a supporting role. Initially, Bowman was a crooked cop, but that element was dropped fairly early and never revisited. I don't have much interest in seeing where Cherrill would have gone because what followed with Tomlin was so strong. The only story I felt that I would have liked to have seen where Cherrill would have taken was the Jenny / Michael romance. Jenny Deacon was the Bambi Brewster of "Search for Tomorrow" and had she not been played by Linda Gibboney, who managed to give the character some sense of a presence, it would have fallen apart. The idea of Jenny, who had gotten by with her looks, being romanced by a man who couldn't see her was appealing. It was certainly more appealing then Rusty and Jenny. What the intent of Rusty and Jenny was never completely clear to me. I think there was a decision made that someone needed to humanize Rusty, who was basically an over the top villain with ties to gun running and spy networks. He was trying to destroy his son's marriage in order to secure a grandchild so that he could get access to the Tourneur fortune. It was all very asinine. Rusty's attempt to help Jenny find her child seemed like a way to keep him from becoming one-note. I don't think it worked. Similarly, I don't think Gene Pietrogallo chose to leave, rather, NBC most likely decided it was time to cut their losses. Watching the Malaguay story with Brian dying in the jungle was unbearable and not for the right reasons. Given that this was the second sweeps on NBC, I think they decided to make some more course corrections. I don't think Pietrogallo strengths lied in heavy dramatic work, which Jay Avocone managed to do with more easy. Pietrogallo's strength was more in the area of a romantic lead.

That 1994 episode moved nicely. It doesn't seem like the strongest time for the show, but I found it entertaining. The story with Courtney's accident was interesting. I'm assuming that Sean Baxter returned for this. Is that Mark Lewis? And Courtney getting a visit from Bianca was interesting. The writing for Andy was a bit heavy. Could he be any more dense in the name of making the character ambitious? I also was surprised by how much physically Hayley Barr reminds me of Cari Shayne (Karen Wexler, GH). I didn't realize that the show had given Alexandra Neil that much to do as Dawn Wheeler. I found her story compelling. I am assuming she and Malcolm didn't have a happy ending since I believe this is before Dawn developed deep feelings for Tom. The fact that the character had her own set was very surprising to me. Colleen Zenk Pinter did so much with so little. I did like all the action shifting from the hospital to Mona Lisa and back. I also was amazed at just how many characters the show included in the episode. I think this was the norm for the show though wasn't it? The crowd that gathered at the hospital was large enough to carry the episode by itself.

I think Judd Beecham and crew were dumped because they didn't fit the vision Nixon had for the show once Marland left in May, 1985. Most of the conflict in Linc and Lorna's relationship stemmed from Linc's involvement with Dane and his plot to oust Cabot Alden from the CEO position at Alden Enterprises. From what I've seen, Nixon isn't really interested in telling those kind of boardroom stories. Nixon shifts the conflict in Linc and Lorna's relationship to Linc's meddling mother Rebekah Beecham who arrives in August, 1985, if I remember correctly. Rebekah immediately introduces "The Secret," which was suppose to keep Linc and Lorna apart. The secret was eventually revealed to be that Linc was married and that he had never disclosed this to Lorna. Zona arrives in town by October under an alias and starts romancing Curtis in order to get intel on Lorna. In November, gossip reporter Christy Connors Bennett confronts Lorna on Christy's talk show with the news of Linc's marriage, blindsiding her. By this point, Zona has begun to show symptoms of pregnancy, which turns out to a phantom pregnancy. It is all pretty lame if I am honest. I don't think Rebekah Beecham was a bad idea or even her as an interloper. The wealthy Aldens would need a rival family to continue the ongoing business shenanigans and, in concept, the Beechams could fill the role. While I understand the decision to end the boardroom drama, switching gears and pairing Lorna with John Gabriel's Zach Conway was odd. Giving Lorna a stepdaughter from hell like she had been to her own parents was appealing, but it never really went anywhere. Similarly, the Ava-Tony relationship was an odd choice. Ava and Nick would have made sense given that Ava basically spent the early 1990s lusting after Nick's successor, Paul Slavinski. The whole Nick/Tony/Marie story isn't super appealing.

I think Brian/Suzi fell apart due to the structural changes made to the younger set over the course of late 1982-1983 when the show shifted from Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt to David Cherrill to Gary Tomlin while the producers went from Fred Bartholemule to Joanna Lee. The change to NBC brought about a slew of younger characters. Prior to NBC, Brian and Suzi's conflicts had been more internal. Suzi wanted to be a dancer and I believe Brian had done something to jeopardize her dream. As a result, he became involved in boxing which had the potential, I think, to cause him issues as well like if he took another punch it might damage him. Some of this may be off. Once the NBC episodes rolled around Warren and Kristin Carter were introduced to split up Brian and Suzi. Wendy was given Keith McNeil as a love interest. The Warren-Suzi-Brian-Kristen quad was structured as the A story so that when one angle was highlighted (Warren's gun running threatening his relationship with Suzi) the next would build slowly in the background (Kristen would be hunting down Brian because she "had to tell him something"). Once Brian and Suzi learned the truth about Warren (he was involved in the gun running operation) they returned home together to learn that what Kristen had to tell Brian was that she was pregnant. In the B-plot for the younger crew, Stephanie disapproved of Keith and Wendy's relationship, but there was not a lot of juice being extracted from that story. There was a sort of looming threat to Keith and Wendy's happiness in that Keith's snotty younger sister, Andie, was clearly the child that Jenny Deacon (another NBC addition) was searching for, but that was a slow burn. In December 1982, a couple things happen that change the course of the younger set. Ellis and Hunt are ousted after a year of working on the show and David Cherrill is promoted to the headwriter position. Cherrill is the one that goes hard on developing a more NBC soap storytelling aesthetic. The pace became much quicker, the dialogue started to feature more wit, and the story managed to balance the older and younger cast as long as the story was firmly grounded in youth. In the course of three months, Brian marries a "pregnant" Kristen (in December), Keith weds Wendy because of the custody situation with his sister (in January), and Warren and Suzi tie the knot in February. Marrying off all three was detrimental to the story. It put all the characters in the same boat so things had to be blown apart. Cherrill also made some critical choices with the character of Brian (who was also recast in December when Pietrogallo leaves and Jay Avacone comes in). Avacone is a solid actor, but he enters playing the wedding and little time is given to the audience to really feel the connection between Suzi and Brian with the new actor in the role. In December, Brian also decides to enter the police academy which allows the rivalry between Warren and Brian to go from romantic to professional; Brian is now law enforcement and knows the connection between Warren and Rusty Sentell's gun running operation. This shift creates some natural tension for Brian and Suzi as now Brian and Warren will be at odds professionally and Suzi wants to support her husband (who she believes has changed). Kristin's secret, that she miscarried before her wedding to Brian, is also a story element that has to be revealed before Brian and Suzi can reunite. I feel Cherrill still intended for Brian and Suzi as endgame. In the B-story, Keith's attempts to gain custody have led to Stephanie stepping in to foster Andie in what becomes a comical plot that borrows from the story of "Little Orphan Annie" with Stephanie as Mommy Warbucks to little orphan Andie and her pet mutt. Cherrill adds a social issue to the plot by making Andie a diabetic and having her inability to keep her sugar levels steady an issue when Andie runs off. This story gives Keith and Wendy story to play, but very much in a supporting role. Joanna Lee has arrived just as the Little Orphan Andie plot is picking up some steam. The final cuts to Brian and Suzi seem to come in May, 1983, when Gary Tomlin arrives and the show decides that maybe Wendy Wilkins heroine isn't as effective as Wendy Wilkins maneater. The decision to have Wendy pursue Warren Carter, her step-sister/best friend's husband, essentially switches the story structure that was in place. Keith has been dumped, both by Wendy and by the show, while Wendy shifts the Suzi-Warren-Brian story into a Wendy-Warren-Suzi story with Kristen and Brian assuming the B-story roles formerly held by Wendy and Keith. Furthmore, Kristen is given a job as a photographer which gives her agency in the story outside her marriage, while still maintaining domestic troubles with her husband Brian pursuing Warren. There is more drama to mine in Brian's pursuit of Warren while he is married to Kristen rather than him being involved with Suzi. With that said, I don't think the show had completely abandoned the idea at that time. In late summer, Cynthia Gibbs makes her plans to exit to appear on "Fame" which means that the story needs to spotlight Wendy and Warren emerge as the main couple because of the change in actors. Gibb's replacement, Elizabeth Swankhammer, was incredibly green and, as a result, Suzi becomes a supporting character in the story. There is a bit of setup with Suzi and Steve Kendall, which may suggest that they decided they were either committing to Brian and Kristen or had simply abandoned Brian and Suzi. Either way, Steve Kendall filling the Cagney McCleary role in Suzi's pregnancy story would have been intriguing given that Steve himself had just discovered the truth about his own paternity. By the time Teri Eoff arrives in January, 1984, I think the show has lost so much of who Suzi is that she is more a complication in Wendy and Warren's happiness until Michael Corbett jumps ship at the end of his two year contract. Suzi's pregnancy and Warren's pursuit of her inheritance are complications in his relationship with Wendy. Warren's love for money was always going to be greater than anything else other than possibly having a child of his own, which Suzi was going to give him when Wendy couldn't. Eoff is competent, but Suzi no longer has any dreams of being a social worker and the baby defines her and takes away potential agency in other parts of the canvas. This problem plagues Eoff as Suzi even in her relationship with Cagney. Somewhere in the midst, Brian and Kristen get lost. As Lee leaves and Ellen Barrett comes in, Brian's pursuit of Vargas always has the potential to connect Vargas to Warren and the criminal element that Brian is always trying to rid Henderson of. Brian's work keeps him in thick of things with Jo Tourneur, Suzi's niece and a city councilwoman with similar goals as Brian. Brian and Suzi reuniting could still have happened, but Kristen the schemer was now more Kristen the girl trying to escape her past. However, once Warren departs, Kristen and Brian's place on the canvas is neutralized as the show moves into a new round of younger characters with Adair, Alec, Justine, and Chase entering the scene. By mid-1984, Suzi has had the baby, she and Cagney and Jonah have become the perfect defacto family, and a series of interlopers are introduced in order to keep the couple front and center (Justine, Brett Hamilton, III, and Warren). Incidentally, Cagney becomes a cop like his spiritual predecessor Brian, but lacks the sort of big bad that Brian had in Warren to keep Cagney as a character with a significant role across the canvas. Maybe if ambitious Quinn had become involved with the wrong people it could have created a strong ongoing conflict, but that is not the route the show pursued.

Jonathan Bolt played Georgio in May/June 1978. I thought I heard someone say it sounded like he might have been suggested to be a back from the dead Bill Matthews.

Charlene is the mother of both men. Charlene came to town first in September, 1987. She got hired as a housekeeper for Tony when he was married to Lucy. Lucy kept mum about the connection. Colton arrived in February or March 1988 just before the Writers Strike. Decker is the last to arrive in September/October 1989. Charlene, Colton, Carla, and Frankie all leave the country in February, 1991. They were casualties of the Monty purge of all characters that were introduced in her absence. Decker left town a week or so later after Dawn was murdered by Edge Jerome. Some sources state that Dr. Eric Simpson was also Charlene’s son. I’m pretty sure that is not true. Eric is introduced in August 1991 or earlier. He wasn’t around when Charlene’s brood was. In late 1991, when AJ sets him up on drug charges, Eric has said his mother is having money issues and it doesn’t sound like he is talking about Charlene.

Ally's first episode was June 25, 1991. It's a shame the beginning with Ally and Matt isn't present as I'd imagine that was there first scene together. Matt had been there for a few weeks. Matt's first episode was June 10, 1991. I wonder if this is the last appearance of Det. Art Hindman. I'm not sure who is playing the role in this episode, but if this isn't the last episode, it's gotta be one of the final episodes. The Louie material is incredibly strong. The story about Louie finding Paul's gang jacket when he was growing up was actually really impactful. Kate talking about always loving your child while Carly looks off into the distance was also very good. I do think that Millee Taggert's solo material is stronger than when Tom King was also there, but, to be fair, 1991 seems fairly strong despite the massive shift in the canvas. I can't for the life of me remember why Stacey would be in a wheelchair at this point in the story. I mean it may have been due to Lauren Marie Taylor being pregnant (she gave birth in early August). Shifting Shana back into the role of antagonist is interesting and I don't hate it. I imagine Anthony Herrera is recently out as Dane by this point or has to be close to being gone. This new direction for Shana has potential given her origin. The Archie Knapp stuff is very functional. I think the Tommy storyline was effective, but it's a shame that it is wrapped up so quickly in the transition period. As much as I enjoy Mary Ryan Munisteri's run, she definitely has some critical missteps like not letting the residue from that story play out (as the source of Trucker/Trisha tension, more ostracism towards Shana, etc.)

This is Friday, March, 18, 1996. So this would have been Guza's first month as headwriter. I'm still jumping around 1990s "General Hospital" but I've landed in 1990 and have made it from January to the end of April. Hardy has just taken over as EP from Wes Kenney and Palumbo is about to enter his second year as headwriter. I like most of the domestic stuff: the underplayed Tom/Simone/Harrison triangle (with Meg being weaved in), Lucas' mystery illness (we now know its diabetes), Lucy and Alan's relationship, and the impending doom that should come when Dawn learns about Monica's affair at the spa with Ward. It's the bigger stories that I struggle with. It was a shame to see Nicholas Walker in such a small role as the deranged Jimmy as he wrapped up his run in January. I really don't like the WSB stories. I don't mind the characters or the actors, but the stories themselves always seem to incorporate levels of insanity that make them hard to enjoy. For instance, the end of the Jimmy story has Robert faking his death and returning in disguise as "the Maestro," Katherine's old music teacher. It's not my cup of tea. I do appreciate the little moments like Anna wondering what impact all the losses, real and faked, will have on her daughter. I don't like how Anna is treated like she's "too emotional" in regards to Olivia Jerome and how that is seen as a weakness. Walker gave a strong performance towards the end as he had recall the differences between himself and Katherine growing up. There are little moments to like, but overall, I just don't enjoy it. This is immediately followed by Sean's aquisition of the Wellington collection, a set of rare and highly desired china that Sean apparently has wanted for years. Enter Jonathan Paget who is, at this time at least, Duke Lavery with a new face. I don't know why people didn't stop Greg Beecroft from performing his role as Paget with the odd speaking choice, but it was really distracting. The Paget stuff was mostly bland, but I did appreciate how the story emphasized that Sean use to work outside the lines of the law and that this was a reason that Anna/Robert should investigate Paget. It was more interesting as it builds nicely into the next adventure story. One of the most delightfully bizarre moments in the entire Paget story (I missed about three weeks from late February til early March) is Jonathan watching Julian Jerome host his last supper inspired mob meeting in the steam room of the sauna at Body Heat where Julian Jerome has a towel drapped around him as some sort of combo Judas/Jesus creation. The lighting is also fascinating as it has Jonathan watching through the vent which emphasizes the light/darkness. Visually, a stunningly surreal sequence, but just odd. My episodes picked up with the end of the Paget story with the standoff with Julian and Duke/Jonathan. I forget how short so many of the adventure stories in this era are. Beecroft is only around for about two months. I haven't finished the Casey/Lumina story, but that story is also only a bout two months. Nothing is ever around long enough to really have an impact. Not that I needed either story to continue to be quite honest. I was more disappointed my episode set is missing the final days of Olivia Jerome, who's pairing with Colton Shore was actually one of my favorite part of those early 1990 episodes. Whether or not mob princess Olivia was truly reformed or just faking it was fascinating as I think that she did truly love preacher Colton. It was bizarre seeing David Gale as the crooked judge on the case who Jeromes pay off and Casey Briggs in a recurring role as Olivia's defense attorney. Also, Dr. Walt Benson, who had been a recurring character for several years, ended up in Pittsburg after the Dermastatin deal went kaput. He's last scene talking to Monica's PI in January, 1990. The transition from Sharon Case to Lisa Fuller to Jennifer Guthrie in under four months is jarring. Fuller was too green. Case seemed more than functional in the role. I did like how her Dawn got to play the beginning of the character's self destruction when Tracey kept needling her before the Quartermaine television appearance. Guthrie isn't terrible, but she's not a warm presence, which, in a way, works because I don't always find Monica the most warm presence so like mother, like daughter. The Decker / Dawn / Ned story works for me. I like Michael Watson as the former carny, but I have no clue what's going on with the flashbacks to the carnival. Kurt McKinney's Ned works as the suave playboy, but, until they brought Wendy Masters to Port Charles, I didn't get the sense that Ned was anything but reformed. It seems now that Dawn and Decker are clearly the direction that Ned needs to be knocked down a few pegs. The fact that the show kept Ward/Monica's affair a secret for several years is impressive (or lazy because of the constant behind the scenes turnover), but I will say dropping the bomb on the verge of Dawn and Ned's marriage after Monica has prolonged her own decaying marriage to Alan to ensure Dawn's happiness, is just wonderful. I'm also realizing that this Monica/Ward story was seems to be the basis for the "Days of our Lives" story several years down the line with Jack and Laura under Reilly. I appreciate the minor schemers who have found their way onto the canvas. Wendy, the receptionist from the spa, came to respark something with Ned, only to learn that Ned is Decker and that Ned is infact the man she knew as Ward. It all fits very neat with Wendy then going to work at the gym with Colton and play as a potential post-Olivia love interest for him. They also seemed to test Colton with Katherine Delafield, which didn't really work for me, but, to be fair, Katherine doesn't really work for me. Other schemers like Clayton the adoption lawyer who is apparently in bed (figuratively more so than literally) with Gloria, the woman who runs the spa and has been making blackmail videos. In this post-Jerome Port Charles, it is nice to see someone who can wreck a little havoc without being completely over the top... Which leads me to Cesar Faison. I don't know how it is possible, but I find Cesar, Desiree, and Jacques camp at Wyndemere more off putting than the special effects in the Casey the alien plot. There are scenes with the trio with the monitors in the background and I find myself thinking this is dress rehearsal for the final year of the Aussie soap "Chances." I fully expect a half naked Jeremy Simms to walk into the shot at any moment. I appreciate that the story does pick up the secondary thread that Sean doesn't play by the rules by revealing that Sean and Cesar have a secret that Sean doesn't want out. Also, based on when Cesar "died," I can't help but wonder if there was at some point consideration of suggesting the Cesar, not Robert, was Robin's father. The Casey stuff is bizarre, but not as off putting as I expected it. I find the Robin / Casey friendship genuinely light at times, but, at other times, I am reminded this is a story about a pre-teen hiding her relationship with a grown man from her parents. I appreciate that the potential predator element was at least addressed with Tom Hardy's psychological examination of Casey and him trying to alievate Robert and Anna's concerns. The medical mystery of Casey gave the hospital crew something of value to do, and the powers of the crystal gave a nice delay to some of the lab work that they needed to push forward certain stories. Lynn Herring remains such a treasure. She manages to make anything Lucy does seem natural to her character. I've made it up to her and Alan's impromptu wedding at Aunt Charlene's house. I never realized the red wedding dress wasn't intentional on Lucy's part. The snickering from Tracey (who is done up in a way where I could see how someone could create the role of Felicia for Elliot but give the part to Linda Dano) is solid. Hugo Napier continues to just be comic relief, which is a shame because I think there is more to mine from that character given his ties to Tracey and Ned. I did like Tracey's little scam earlier in the year where she tries to get Larry brought up on domestic violence charges. Anyway, the Tracey / Scott / Lucy / Alan quartet is fun. Scott jockeying for power worked well and I did find Lucy's scheme to fake the board members messages quite humorous. Speaking of the wedding and the board, Mickey Manners' Martin appears at Lucy and Alan's wedding as guest. He is hanging around Amanda Barrington. I believe that he may have been a ELQ stockholder who may have appeared earlier during the original board meeting held to boot Alan because of the affair, but I would have to go back and look. It's just odd that his name is Martin given that Marcus Smythe is still appearing as Martin Ross, the new head of the WSB. Also in random people popping up, Sadie, a homeless woman, first appears in April, 1990, and I know she later pops up in early 1991 when attorney Broxton (Norman Snow) is working on the tunnels under Port Charles to reroute the water from the Willow Shores complex. Finally, Stephen Kay appears in April 1990 as Jerry, an orderly at General Hospital who has a crush on Amy and gives her the crystal that both Casey and Faison are after. The stronger material always seems to come from the quieter stories that aren't being shown all the time and aren't padded with a ton of exposition scenes. Lucas falling into a coma led to some great scenes regarding the fact that Lucas' unknown origins means that the doctors are missing medical histories which could help lead to the origin of the crisis. This leads to Bobbie lashing out at Tony because she thinks he blames her because "whores cannot adopt babies legally." The follow up with Tony at Lucas' crib confessing to Lucas, with Bobbie listening, that he doesn't care about how Lucas came to them is a dry run for the inevitable Tony at BJ's bedside during the heart transplant story. Then, all of this baby drama, has lead Simone to realize she can no longer put off the paternity test because they should know who Tommy's father is. It's a nice intersection. Similarly, when Simone realizes that Felicia is pregnant as she plans on jetting out of Port Charles, Simone's warning to Felicia is a little more poignant given Simone's own situation. There seemed to be some marital tension between Audrey and Steve early in 1990 when Tom was in a downward spiral after Simone (Laura Carrington) had departed before she returned in the form of Stephanie Williams. I liked that Tom lashed out at Audrey and how this undermined her own marriage. I am not sure if I missed the resolution or it was just dropped, but I do wish it had played out a little bit longer or had dug a little deeper into Audrey's own paternity drama. In another case of the underused have stronger moments, Maree Cheatham's Charlene is such a treasure. She is sort of a playing a flashier Kate Rescott with as many husbands as Kate had children. I love Charlene confronting Lucy about the fancy apartment Alan has got for her reminding Lucy that, back in the day, Charlene too was a loose woman who has had to pay for the consequences. On the same track, there is a nice confrontation between Decker and Charlene where Decker informs Charlene he knows that Charlene was cheating on his dad and that was the real reason that his father took him and split. It's a shame that the working class Simpson/Moss/Shore crew will be dumped in a years time for the Eckerts. I am curious to see where the year ends up before Monty deconstructs everything in 1991.

The move to NBC really changed everything. I think Ralph Ellis and Eugenie Hunt were brought on specifically for the move as they had written the show earlier during a popular period. They had also worked rather recently for NBC on "The Doctors" and had managed to blend the past and the present by reintroducing Billy Aldrich and having him go after the van Alen money with Natalie Bell as his accomplice. I think they also introduced the Whitney siblings. Originally, a pair of unheard of writers had been hired to succeed Don Chastain as the head of the writing staff. When the NBC announcement came, it was announced Hunt and Ellis were returning. The big casting purge occurs at the end of the first cycle of the NBC episodes (June, 1982) which probably was always intended, but maybe the low numbers promoted changes as there were rumors as early as the summer of 1982 that NBC was thinking of cancelling the show. I suspect they just wanted to bring costs down as Millee Taggart would have carried a larger salary. I think Kathy is dropped with Cissie in the same period of time. I think Peter Stoneman, who was somehow tied up in the Operation Sunburst insanity and was a forgotten love interest of Stephanie's, also was killed off in June 1982. Ted sticks around until September, but then he too is out. Ellis and Hunt do introduce a slew of new younger characters including Warren and Kristen Carter, Jenny Deacon, and Keith McNeil. This shifts the story to the younger set of Suzi, Brian, and Wendy. Then, swapping Janet for David Gales Rusty Sentell, Travis and Liza continue to be involved in the insanity that is Operation Sunburst which I think finally peters out in November, 1982, without a big resolution because the story shifts to the psychological games that Rusty is playing with Liza (which would have been more effective in the long run). I think Ellis and Hunt try to toe the line of keeping the show a P&G series and something that NBC wants, but end up struggling to generate much excitement. Warren was a fascinating character, but all the gun running is silly. Stephanie as a heavy in Keith and Wendy's romance would have been fine if Maree Cheatham was given anything else to do with it. A lot of the original Corrington group that is around (Martin, Lee, Sunny), but has very little to do. Lee floats around in the Tourneur Instruments story, but rarely has much of weight. Martin has a half-hearted attempts to romance Stephanie even though his heart belongs to Jo. When David Cherrill comes in December, 1982, the show immediately becomes much faster paced. Everything happens at lightning speed. Rusty Sentell's murder plays out at a much faster pace than one would expect given that it starts in February and ends in April (they didn't even drag it into May sweeps). Cherrill definitely tried to utilize some of the past with Bob Rogers returning to help Liza with her pregnancy and Tom returning to defend Liza. There was more humor with stories like Stephanie playing Mommy Warbucks to little orphan Andie complete with a dog. Joanna Lee is there for the tail end of David Cherrill (late March-late May 1983) and definitely goes about a revamp that it is in the vein of the work that the Corringtons did. I know that there is a lot of complaints about the Kendall family, but they were introducing as an extension of the Tourneur/Sentell group with Lloyd and Martin's rivalry in business spilling over to the fact that the son Lloyd raise, Steve, was in fact Martin's. I think that initial setup could have played out for years as the original plan appeared to be for a Lloyd / Stephanie / Steve / Suzi / Warren / Wendy situation that could have been beautifully messy. The Moreno family also gave Stu something to do and helped to keep Danny grounded into the show. Vargas gave Mary Stuart her last big, memorable story. Kathy was back in town in a recurring capacity. Suzi's inheritance from Doug Martin drove the story for quite some time. I think this was all very smart.

I think the split of Arlene from Ben's story was facilitated by the departure of Christopher Reeve in the spring of 1976 leaving Arlene in Rosehill while Ben was in prison. The recasting of Ben didn't occur until the fall and by then, Arlene was already involved with Tom Crawford, which I imagine was a way to keep the Betsy-Arlene tension going with Ben out of the picture. Carrie's health crisis kept Tom and Arlene in the same circle, but when the bills mounted, Arlene turned to prostitution. In early September 1976, Michael Allinson was introduced as Ian Russell and by early October, Chandler Hill Harben was introduced in prison as Ben. I'm not sure CHH's Ben and Arlene had much interaction at all. In early September, the Schneiders introduced Michael Allinson as Ian Russell and the prostitution storyline was in place by the time Ben was back in Rosehill. Ben hits Jim Marriott in January, 1977, and the Marriotts arrive on the scene. I think the Jim-Mia scenario is bizarre especially as it is all played as backstory that Jim's accident was more the result of his failed romantic overture with his stepmother rather than Ben's carelessness. In theory, it makes sense to invest in Ben-Mia given that Liz Kemp's contract was up in June, 1976, but it would have made more sense to revive the Arlene-Ben story given that both characters were in dark places. I am very vague at the moment on what happened with Arlene from post-murder trial (summer of 1977) and then tailend of Gabrielle Upton (fall 1978). I know Arlene had her baby and she and Ray got together, but did anything really happen of interest until Bambi was introduced as a romantic foil in the Ray/Arlene story.