I am a nineteen year old guy. I've been watching General Hospital since the episode where Stone died and the town got word of it. I grew up in LOVE with the people of Port Charles; personally invested in what happened next. Over the years it's had its ups and downs; I almost tuned out when Lucky got recast with Jacob Young, then I almost tuned out when Carly was recast with Tamara Braun. I grew to love Tamara Braun, but whatever. Anyways, I've seen the show change alot in the past decade or so, and I can safely say I love it more now than I have in a great while.

Unlike many people, I was not a Guza hater his first few times around. Maybe it's because I was younger and not into following the backstage stuff, but I really enjoyed GH is the late 90's. That being said, I RESENTED Guza and Pratt when they came and destroyed Port Charles. Luke became a blithering idiot, Emily became a self-righteous brat, Scott became downright evil and Bobbie became wallpaper. I also hated new characters like Ric, who I thought was the worst new character in the show's history. Still I kept watching, even as the town of Port Charles seemed to close their doors to the viewers, making way to the gunfire and the murder.

Then Pratt left.

All of a sudden, things took on a strange new tone. It was as if the citizens of Port Charles had come out from hiding; the characters were aware of the shells they had become. I hated that Justus had to die, but Edward's scenes with Lainey made it all worth it. Wistfully remembering his lost love, Mary Mae, as he stood in Lila's garden sent shivers down my spine. Liz and Lucky, whose happiness was to be short lived, got a fairy tale wedding and we were reintroduced to little Lulu Spencer, who would soon be forced to grow up very quickly. Robin and Patrick brought a light feistiness to the show, and the epidemic brought true drama to the forefront. Laura returned, in what I thought was a brilliant and poignant storyline. As she drifted back and forth from reality, she managed to bring a broken family back together and have closure with Luke.

Is the show perfect? Absolutely not. But since Pratt left, General Hospital has had an unusually intelligent air about it; sure, we still have shootings and crazy nannies and love triangles that spin in circles. But we also get moments of heart-wrenching humanity, genuine family drama, and a town that we can come to at the end of a long day.

I'm sure you'll all disagree with me

I agree with you. I've always been a fan of Bob Guza's writing. His writing was what made me tune in in early 2000 after having been strictly an All My Children fan for eleven years up until that point. Then he left in 2001 and Megan McTavish came in and made the show a pain to watch... then I heard Guza and Pratt were coming back effective immediately in April of 2002 and I was jumping up and down, doing all kinds of happy dances.

But then I slowly began to feel like "Hmmm... maybe my Guza love was all wrong?!" because all of the crap I was watching was horrible.

Then this summer, I noticed the exact same thing, leevo! I noticed GH started to become more soapy. Characters were talking to each other. Emotions were being discussed and revealed. It wasn't until late July that I had realized Pratt had been long gone for weeks.

Sure, as I mentioned in the ABCD Sweeps thread, there are still some things I don't necessarily enjoy about Guza's style (the exceeding darkness played up just for the sake of being dark at times, etc.), but overall, I enjoy his take on the human condition, which is what soap operas are about. The human condition.

The fight scene between Alexis and Rick several weeks ago when she confronted him about the affair with Sam was exhibit A. Both characters had honest and truthful points of view. I could honestly sit there, watch both characters argue, and AGREE with both characters or understand both characters.

So, I don't have any tomatoes to throw at you. I'll keep mine for my salad.

Yeah, the Ric/Alexis blowout was brilliant. Alexis is finally being written as a woman with a spine, and Ric's finally being written as what he is: a horrible, amoral man with clouded motivations and cruel intentions. It'd be interesting to see what Guza would do to All My Children.

I actually would agree with you leevo.....if it wasn't for the Summer of Sleaze that we had to sit through. While GH did become AMAZING after Chucky P. left in mid-February, the show took a dramatic turn for the worse during the summer and until sweeps, it didn't recover. Yes, there were some really great episodes that were written, but there were also forced storylines that fans didn't give a care for.

We need to realize (for all shows) that it's just not the headwriter who makes the show good or not. It's him (or her) and the entire team. For every fault that Guza has, there is someone on his writing team that makes up for it. And though the show is hit and miss sometimes, they've been doing steadily well since like.....mid-September.

I am a 20 year old guy who enjoys the mob violence, but I also know what the show used to be about and there are times when the show appears to be going back in that direction, only to !@#$%^&*] it up again.

You have to agree with me, this summer Guza and his team were totally channeling Charles Pratt and the Melrose-like storylines between Ric/Alexis/Sam/Jason/Liz/Lucky/Maxie. It was disgusting.

I think the show is just in need of an overhaul from top to bottom. There are many good things about the show, but too many bad things that need to be fixed.

I am not really a fan of the huge love knots the characters get involved in either, though I thought the Maxie storyline was good for a while. I always assumed that Maxie had taken a left turn thanks to Jesse's death; I do think that this summer on GH was a bit sleazy, but I think it was necessary for the outstanding stuff that's been going on. Everything leads to something else logically, which is what I like.

We need to realize (for all shows) that it's just not the headwriter who makes the show good or not. It's him (or her) and the entire team. For every fault that Guza has, there is someone on his writing team that makes up for it. And though the show is hit and miss sometimes, they've been doing steadily well since like.....mid-September.

I have to agree with you there. Since I'm an AMC/GH fan, I can safely say that GH has the stronger staff of script writers. I love Michele Val Jean, Mary Sue Price and their latest find in Tracey Thomson. AMC's script writers all suck or are burned out or something. But I've always loved GH's scripts more than AMC's, and I think THAT'S where GH's strength is. Because ultimately, it's up to the script writer to sell us on that day's installment of a storyline that may or may not be all that good... in hopes of us tuning into the show the next day.

I am not really a fan of the huge love knots the characters get involved in either, though I thought the Maxie storyline was good for a while. I always assumed that Maxie had taken a left turn thanks to Jesse's death; I do think that this summer on GH was a bit sleazy, but I think it was necessary for the outstanding stuff that's been going on. Everything leads to something else logically, which is what I like.

Exactly. I've noticed that, too. Whether we like where it leads or not, you're right.

As a long-time off and on GH fan, I'd like to say GH was never the same after Claire Labine left in 96. To me, her tenure will always be GH's golden era and what GH should still and was always about. That said, Guza does have his strong points and since Pratt has been gone, we've come to realize that more and more. However, Guza is still pretty uneven as a head-writer and some stories could use a lot more balance. Is GH in overwhelmingly bad shape? No! Could GH use some new blood and fixing? Absolutely! I don't think the show is utilizing enough of it's stronger assets and fresh blood would certainly help.

GH isn't downright horrible anymore, and since Pratt left it has gotten 10x's better, but it still needs an overhaul, like Ryan said.

I still think GH is dreadful even with Guza riding solo. The only difference is that we see more characters and don't have newbies shoved down our throats. The stories still suck for the most part and feel poorly thought out, like the overhyped Luke and Laura stuff.

GH needs a new vision, simple as that. "Meh" isn't good enough.

I actually liked Pratt. He wrote for the entire year last year, didn't he? Well, I loved EVERY story last year. I watched nearly everyday. This year, I watched until about March. Then I only watched when Helena was on until November, and I've started watching everyday again now.

I have to agree with you there. Since I'm an AMC/GH fan, I can safely say that GH has the stronger staff of script writers. I love Michele Val Jean, Mary Sue Price and their latest find in Tracey Thomson. AMC's script writers all suck or are burned out or something. But I've always loved GH's scripts more than AMC's, and I think THAT'S where GH's strength is. Because ultimately, it's up to the script writer to sell us on that day's installment of a storyline that may or may not be all that good... in hopes of us tuning into the show the next day.

Exactly. I've noticed that, too. Whether we like where it leads or not, you're right.

OMG...ICAM. AMC's scriptwriters have long tried too hard to be "pop culture"-savvy, hip, and witty, but I find the dialogue unlistenable and long-winded. They aim for Joss Whedon-esque but end up being more "Saved by the Bell."

Have always loved GH's dialogue. Crisp, smart, logical, and you can imagine real people saying the words.

Does anyone know what happened to Garin Wolf? He was a BDW over there?

Does anyone know what happened to Garin Wolf? He was a BDW over there?

OMG, you're right. I just realized he's been gone for a while. I guess I was distracted by Michelle Patrick going back to AMC.

But who's there now? Michael Conforti and David Goldschmid... and who else? I'm drawing a blank.