He also knows who to hire. Case in point: Tracey Thomson. It's funny how he sorted the duties: men write the outlines, women write the dialogue.

Mary Sue Price is his hire, too, I believe.

What happened to Megg Bennett?

Edited April 7, 200817 yr by Sylph

I thought that her stint on OLTL was the consolation prize for the network passing on her "Union Square" proposal in favor of "Port Charles." Were contractually obligated to pay her at that time?

I didn't see her on RH but she did a great job on GH. My favorite stories from her were: Sonny and the mob (it was not central to the show and he, at least, had a heart), Luke/Laura, Alan/Monica and Monica fighting breast cancer, Stone/Robin and the AIDS story, BJ's death and Maxie's transplant.

If you ask me, her era with EP Wendy Riche tops GH of the 80s because they did not make action adventure plots the center of the show. They showed GH for what it was: drama, family oriented stories, had a heart, social issues, intrigue, mystery, suspense, and just pure entertainment. They basically did the essentials of traditional soap opera storytelling

I thought Jason/Robin was mostly Richard Culliton and then Chris Whitesell/Janet Iacobuzio. What year was their romance?

Like Alvin said, Guza had Karen Harris (who should be GH's HW or at least co-HW) in '96.

Good point. KH is actually my dream HW for GH right now.

J&R was Spring 1996 to Winter 1998.

No that was all Guza, JP.

IMO Claire's Lullaby montage was better because it was more original and I like to view GH as GH, not a ripoff of a movie or book.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6XtbRJcMwa8

the Lullaby montage was amazing.

I must admit I thought Lucy was hella annoying under Labine's stint at GH. Like Annie Hall on speed.

But there were so many other aspects of the show I cherished. She took the show back to the "simple talks over coffee" format. And God, I loved Ruby, Lila, and Mary Mae, all gone but not forgotten. Claire understood that any soap needs those anchors of wisdom. That's why it's so appalling that GH has Carly (!) spitting out nuggets of "hard-earned" knowledge to Lulu. These kids need someone like Mary Mae Ward to knock some sense into them!

Oh my god, I had never seen the Lullaby montage before! That was awesome. What was the story? Was that when Stone's blood got on Robin? Did anyone die?

the Lullaby montage was amazing.

That was beautiful. Whatever happened to Foster? He was so much fun, a really great animal actor. I think he ranks up there with Precious the Orang Utan and Harold on AMC.

That being said, I think Wendy Riche was a truly amazing EP. I thought she still has her hand in GH somehow because so many of the actors still thank her in their speeches. She was a true vision for GH.

I liked Meanlee's dog ,whatever happened to him/her?

She didn't eat the poor thing did she???

I've heard that Claire left a lot of outlines behind for Guza after she left GH in early 96. That could explain why the show didn't falter.

I've read rumors that "Clink-Boom" was outlined before Guza took over in '96.

Actually, many of those writers on GH now didn't leave when Guza left before. Some did, but GH can manage with most of them and being Guza-less at the same time.

The two biggies, Harris and Val Jean both started under Labine, not Guza. Korte was also there starting with Labine too, and even though she's Guza's #2, I doubt she'll leave if Guza gets fired.

Korte didn't leave when Guza left in 2000 and when Jill Farren Phelps demoted Michele Val Jean in 2001 in favor of McTavish. It was the changing of the guard(s) (both Riche leaving and Guza leaving) that bumped Korte up to MVJ's former position of story editor (which MVJ rose to under Labine, if I'm not mistaken). Korte -- having been an associate head writer --has been there ever since, thanks to MVJ vacating the editor spot. Now Korte's in the catbird seat, assigning who writes what on the team and editing things to be pro-mob. It's been rumored that Liason has been postponed for years simply because Elizabeth Korte despises Elizabeth Webber and loves herself some Jason. Rumors were running rampant back in 2002 that in scenes between Liz and Courtney, Korte would give lines in the script originally written for Liz and give them to Courtney, thereby giving Courtney the blow to the scene instead of Liz. I, personally, think Korte has her own agenda for GH, so even if Guza were to leave, she wouldn't risk losing the power she has as story/script editor.

He also knows who to hire. Case in point: Tracey Thomson. It's funny how he sorted the duties: men write the outlines, women write the dialogue.

Mary Sue Price is his hire, too, I believe.

What happened to Megg Bennett?

Korte's been using Tracey Thomson to write Sam-heavy episodes -- apparently that's another one of Korte's pet characters... which, again, lends itself to my "rumor" (which I totally believe) that Korte hates Elizabeth -- because if you notice, Sam always blames Elizabeth -- never Jason nor herself -- for the destruction of JaSam.

As for Mary Sue Price, she came to GH after Another World was canceled -- where she was a script writer as well. Unless someone can let us know specifically if she was a "Guza hire," I think MSP was basically someone in the soap writing community whose agent got her a job which just so happened to be a fabulous fit for her after her last job was canceled -- which just so happened to be under Guza. Don't get me wrong -- I love Mary Sue Price, so I wouldn't put it past Guza to recognize her talent and snap her up. But it's just the timing of everything that makes me think it was just "business as usual." Just like when Port Charles was canceled, Michelle Poteet Lisanti wound up on OLTL and Marla Kanelos wound up on AMC.

I liked Meanlee's dog ,whatever happened to him/her?

Happy just ran away

Korte's been using Tracey Thomson to write Sam-heavy episodes -- apparently that's another one of Korte's pet characters... which, again, lends itself to my "rumor" (which I totally believe) that Korte hates Elizabeth -- because if you notice, Sam always blames Elizabeth -- never Jason nor herself -- for the destruction of JaSam.

reason number one for my sam hate and i could never pinpoint it down for some reason until right now. you are so right,. she always blames elizabeth. never jason or god forbid herself.

Korte's been using Tracey Thomson to write Sam-heavy episodes -- apparently that's another one of Korte's pet characters... which, again, lends itself to my "rumor" (which I totally believe) that Korte hates Elizabeth -- because if you notice, Sam always blames Elizabeth -- never Jason nor herself -- for the destruction of JaSam.

I've noticed that. But, frankly, I don't have a problem with Tracey writing Sam-heavy stuff. I just enjoy her scripts, so as long as she's there, I'll be fine.

As for Mary Sue Price, she came to GH after Another World was canceled -- where she was a script writer as well. Unless someone can let us know specifically if she was a "Guza hire," I think MSP was basically someone in the soap writing community whose agent got her a job which just so happened to be a fabulous fit for her after her last job was canceled -- which just so happened to be under Guza. Don't get me wrong -- I love Mary Sue Price, so I wouldn't put it past Guza to recognize her talent and snap her up. But it's just the timing of everything that makes me think it was just "business as usual."

Possibly, however, as you point out, Guza had to have the eye to recognise a talent. Otherwise, had she not been to his liking, I don't think he wouldn't have hired her.

What's certain is that she sure has one hell of an agent. I'm absolutely convinced that's the case.

Edited April 8, 200817 yr by Sylph

so do most soaps have a writer for char's and couples?

thats intersting.

Edited April 8, 200817 yr by JackPeyton

Korte didn't leave when Guza left in 2000 and when Jill Farren Phelps demoted Michele Val Jean in 2001 in favor of McTavish. It was the changing of the guard(s) (both Riche leaving and Guza leaving) that bumped Korte up to MVJ's former position of story editor (which MVJ rose to under Labine, if I'm not mistaken).

I didn't understand a thing! Sorry! How did the changing of the guards bump Korte to SE position?

Edited April 8, 200817 yr by Sylph