Port Charles Discussion Thread

[althea-davis]

PC before the arcs is so completely different than arc-PC. Has any thought about doing a thread focusing on just the non-arc PC years? Would there be any interest in that whatsoever? Or am I the only one who favored those years over the vampires & avatars stuff? lol

[dc11786]

Recently, I've been watching the early years of Wendy Riche's "General Hospital" run and I was curious about how I would feel about early "Port Charles."

I've seen the early months before so I jumped into January 1998. There are definitely things that remind me of what I've seen in early Riche pre-Labine "General Hospital." Continuing the Scott/Lucy/Dominique story with Rex Stanton is intriguing, but it lacks the heart of the original tale. I appreciate the friendship between Scott and Lucy and Scott and Kevin, but it lacks the depth of emotion that was explored when Dominique was dying. Also, I feel like Lucy's motivation should be questioned more. If Lucy is with Rex and Rex has Serena, Lucy has the opportunity to be with Serena. That's an intriguing scenario with mixed motivations, but that doesn't seem to be what's developing. 

Similarly, continuing the story of Karen Wexler after watching her strive to be a doctor in her teen years was nice to see. I wish that Rhonda was around, but I do like her relationship with Scott. I also appreciate the attempt to retell a bit of the original Karen story with Lark Madison. I wish they had developed that a little longer. I feel like we meet Suzanne Madison and the story wraps up quickly. It might have been nice to introduce a boyfriend for Lark as a red herring and then it turns out it was Suzanne who had gone off her meds possibly with Kevin being involved. 

I think the strongest emotional material is Ellen recounting her marriage to Sam Burgess, his dream of becoming a lawyer, and his death of a cerebral hemorhage after marrying Ellen. Ellen's mother and brother are on the scene because Alice Morgan has a heart condition. I don't think they end up doing anything with the mother or the brother outside this arc, which is a shame since there is a bit of investment there. Meanwhile, the groundwork for the Matt backstory is developing with Matt keeping quiet about his past while Chris digs into his past hoping to discredit him for the Quartermaine Fellowship, which both men are in line for. Chris' father is calling looking for money, but I'm not sure if that really goes anywhere in the long run. I know Chris' brother Jack is introduced years later, but I don't think theres anything in the immediate future. 

Jake seems to be a deadend now that Danielle is gone. Rib Hillis is an attractive man, but not the most engaging. Julie and Frank are tied up in the Lark story. Joe and Karen are cute, but there is no real meat to the story now that Karen and Jagger are divorced. There was a nice scene with Joe and Frank about whether or not their late father was an alcoholic and how that impacted the family. 

I'm not sure how long I would stay in this period as I'm not super interested. It just lacks the spark. The hospital setting is utilized well. The action is intriguing, but it's missing stronger characterization. I might stick around though because I'm curious to see the General Homicide story; the third serial killer storyline on ABC daytime in a short period of time. Also, the arrival of Courtney, who seems like a real gem. Matt's mob story is something I've seen bits of but I would like to see how it all plays out. I know 1999 is very bumpy with the psychic espionage/DV Bordisso tale and the arrival of Rachel Locke. 2000 is fairly strong, but I'm not sure if I would appreciate it as much without seeing what comes before. 

[Vee]

I watched PC on and off, especially in the Karen Harris(?)/Barbara Bloom period when I think they wrote the show. General Homicide had its moments but it baffled me that the story seemingly spun for months on people being convinced that Julie Devlin did it and then, when it finally ended, surprise: It's Julie! I liked many of the characters but it never fully cohered. The closest it came was the Harris/Bloom/whoever period for me.

Kimberlin Brown's Rachel Locke was a fun character and one I've always wanted to see again on GH, but the recast and subsequent writing out of Ellen Burgess upon her arrival was bizarre. To this day I'm not sure if they concretely confirmed or denied whether or not Rachel murdered Ellen while faking her exit from town.

The numerous attempts to re-pair Scott and Lucy on this show never worked, nor did Kevin and Eve. And I loved Eve. The DV psychic spy story (and its nonsensical Scott paternity retcon) was terrible. But I've always wanted to revisit it just to see if I can find any commentary from any of the characters on Meg Baldwin, a very forgotten totem of GH's past.

IIRC Rhonda appears later on. They have a story spinning around her in the more supernatural arc-based era.

Courtney was reasonably popular, but all I remember about her or Neil now is the actress tanking her chance as the Victoria recast on Y&R and the little lisping boy going on to be in The Cell with J-Lo. When they transitioned the show towards more high-octane stuff (first Rachel, then Caleb/Michael Easton and the supernatural) I'm not sure if characters like Lark, Courtney, Neil, etc. even got an exit.

There were so many Joe recasts. David Gail was hot but a world away from Michael Dietz. Then they hired a Latin dude, I think.

Edited July 22, 2023 by Vee

[dc11786]

The "Port Charles" wiki looks right for the headwriters. 2000 is a mess. Scott Hamner finishes off his run in January/February. No headwriter listed in February. Harris and Jonathan Estrin for a few weeks, then Harris solo for a few weeks, and finally Harris and Bloom. About a month before the books, Brown and Essensten take over in early November. I don't think the show ever truly had a shot given its timeslot, but I am curious how the ratings would have looked if Harris took over a year earlier pre-SoapNet. I remember there being online buzz for 2000, but I'm curious if the numbers weren't reflective due to the advent of SoapNet. Then again, VCRs had already messed with the numbers for years. 

Rachel came in July, 1999, according to IMDb. Scott Hammer would have been in charge for a few months at that point. Hammer's stuff seems very disjointed and abrupt. Ellen's disappearance. Eve's dead child by DV. It's all very bizarre from the little I've seen.  

DV was brought in at the tailend of Lynn Latham. I think Scott's paternity is done in the crossover time, but I could be wrong. The show dug up Noel Clinton, the man that was in love with Meg but married Brooke, to confirm that yes, Meg had slept with DV back in the day. In theory, I get the point of DV and the paternity reveal. They were trying to build a longterm villain, and having the lawyer as the son of the criminal businessman makes sense, it was just so poorly done.

Pre-Arcs, the strongest longterm antagonists seem to be women (Rachel/Courtney) rather than some of the men (DV/Rex). Who knows what Hammer's plan was for Rachel and Ellen if he even had one. 

Having recently watched some of the  Scotty / Lucy /  Dominique / Serena story from 1993, the stuff in early "Port Charles" is more meaningful. Without that background knowledge, it just doesn't stick because there just isn't an emotional attachment built onscreen in 1997. When I watch the Cullitons work on "Port Charles," I feel like I'm watching edits of a show, rather than an entire show. I think that's a problem I'm seeing under Latham as well. Riche was good with the hour long format at providing a dose of romance, comedy, family drama, hospital politics, and friendship. On "General Hospital," a lot of time those played out in different stories. On "Port Charles," there wasn't the time for that. There needed to be overlap and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'm still in January, 1998, and Karen and Joe are trying to consummate their relationship now that Karen is divorced. Lots of comedy of errors with getting locked on the roof in a snowstorm, a fire starting in Karen's apartment, being called in to work repeatedly. There is a brief discussion on Karen's part about making sure that they use condoms and how Joe wasn't prepared last time, but was this time. It's an attempt to do a little of it all, but I just still cannot completely commit to it. The strongest potential comes out of the Lark story for Karen and Joe, each being forced to revisit their childhood, but it hasn't gone there yet. Lark is also just super bitchy almost like a combination of early Brenda, but with Karen's backstory. I think Lark is dumped during Scott Hammer's run and I'm not sure what happens. The character is recast I believe.

Rhonda does appear during "Time in a Bottle." I just think Rhonda would have been pushing Karen at Chris Ramsay, who pretends to be more well off than he is, which would cause some tension for Karen/Joe. Especially since Rhonda would be sure to throw it back at Karen that she told her that Jagger was a mistake. 

Neil's leukemia was the kind of story "General Hospital" did well so I'm curious to see how it will play out on "Port Charles." I watched a bit of March, 2000 (maybe a week) and I thought the setup was good. Neil was in the hospital during the Nurses' Strike while Joe was also up for termination for some action he took in treating Neil. There's a lot of potent family drama here. How did Mary feel about the strike given the impact it had on her grandson? Is Joe ever gonna get over feeling fatherly to Neil? One of the nurses crosses the picket line to sneak Serena in to see Neil with Rachel being a royal PITA about Nurse Katie being in the hospital accusing her of sabotage. I believe Neil and Courtney leave as Harris is out the door and B&E come in. 

Michael Dietz is probably the best of the Joes, but I think they could have found someone more dynamic. Dietz's Joe is a hothead with a mouth whereas David Gail's Joe seems more brooding and a physical hothead. Alex Mendoza is the last one, I think. By that point, the show has pretty much given up on Joe. To be fair, Joe's function on the canvas is pretty much absorbed by Ian Thornhart. Plus with Joe's HIV status up in the air, they weren't going to do much with Joe storywise, even though they could have. 

[Vee]

That is crazy. That Noel Clinton thing is something the classic GH thread might care about. The DV story is terrible but I'd love to see some of the material again pertaining to Meg directly and what people who knew her have to say about her decades later - her whole character arc and saga is so strange to read about. And yes, DV sucked. They tried multiple heavies - Rex, DV, Greg Cooper and none worked.

I think so too but I think she must've only appeared a handful of times. I don't remember an exit for her or for the Kaneloses but I'll take your word for it, you're much more up on this stuff than I am.

IIRC Amy Van Horne (Lark) later auditioned for one of the Soleito crime family (maybe a Carla recast from The City) during Garin Wolf's brief GH HW tenure in 2011, but those big plans were all dumped.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Vee

[dc11786]

Scotty asks Noel Clinton about Meg and Lloyd Bentley. The week starts with Scott and Victor discussing a picture Scott found of his mother in DV's apartment. There is follow up on Wednesday. This episode is Friday.

[Vee]

Wow, thanks.

[dc11786]

The writing staff, or maybe Wendy Riche, was really big on referencing the history of "General Hospital" on "Port Charles." During the January, 1998, episodes, Scott is on trial as Rex has set him up as having faked Serena's kidnapping to get his hands on her trustfund. When Lucy throws Scott under the bus in order to keep Rex under the impression she's on Rex's side, Lee is quick to say in open court that Lucy was previously found guilty of perjury during the O'Connor murder trial as a part of Lucy's opening story. An episode or so later when Scott's on the stand, he claims he would never use Serena's trust, but the prosecutor is quick to remind him how he had no issue utilizing Jason Quartermaine's trust in the past. 

I know the DV story really goes against the established history, but it seems like such a low hanging fruit. Lee was always the only father Scott knew and this didn't change it. If anything, it was stupid to dump the character as quickly as they did, but his stories were so over the top, I'm not sure how the character would have been able to function in Karen Harris' "Port Charles" a year later. Also, it's worth noting that the DV reveal is all happening the week Lynn Latham works ends and Scott Hammer work starts. 

In my skimming to find the scene, I ran across some scenes from earlier in the week from Mary Scanlon's bridal shower which features a rather brutal reference to Karen's past as a stripper when it comes up and Mary bluntly places the blame on Karen's shoulders. 

 

[dc11786]

Still in 1998 and stumbled upon something that maybe everyone else knew, but I didn't. Chris invites Eve, Matt, and Grace to a dinner party with the intention of gathering information on Matt to ruin competition for the Quartermaine Fellowship. When asking the room about their family, Grace states that most of her family is still in China. I was bit surprised. I went looking into Lisa Lord, the actress playing Grace Sullivan, and saw that she was married to Mark Teschner. She is also the daughter of Winston Lord, a politician, and Bette Bao Lord, a Chinese American writer. Given the limited number of Asian Americans characters in the history of daytime, it's a shame that this wasn't given a little more attention at the time it was going on. 

[Vee]

I never did understand the point of the Grace character.

[Soaplovers]

Grace was supposed to be the nurse with a heart of gold that provided the nurturing the interns needed while Ellen provided them with the ins and outs of being doctors.

I remember people liking Grace..but felt she was wasted as the loser in the Ellen/Matt/Grace story.

 

[Contessa Donatella]

I was a huge fan of PC - all of it with the possible exception of the Angels arc where I had trouble with suspending my disbelief enough. Naturally during the course of the show I had a Minority Rapport because apparently I am the only fan of Kevin & Eve. That's just how big a Jon Lindstrom fan I am. As you probably recall that was not a real relationship. They were only together in Lucy's dream. (And some fans talk about PC as if the whole show itself was only a dream.) 

The history of half hour shows near midday if they are the lead soap is pretty bad in terms of clearances, ratings, longevity, etc. and ultimate success or failure. I've been told that one week it was broadcast nestled between AMC & OLTL & that the ratings went from a 2.7 to a 3.8. 

Here is Kevin & Eve's wedding. 

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[robbwolff]

I don't think this is true. What I recall is that Port Charles aired a special one-hour episode on one day only -- toward the end of December 2002. The episode kicked off the next arc. And it was only months before ABC announced the cancellation. I recall Frons talking about it to the press, but don't remember what he said. It was sandwiched between episodes of All My Children and General Hospital. One Life to Live was preempted that day. My employer was closed that week for the holiday break and I remember watching a bit of the one-hour episode. 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

Okay, it was just something someone said that I had no verification of. I wonder what the ratings were. Thank you for clarifying. 

[dc11786]

@robbwolff That's how I remember it. It was the start of one of the books. The concluding episode of the last arc aired in the 12:30 slot, I think, and the hour long episode during the 2:00pm slot. I don't remember the hard numbers, but I think there was a bump for the episode in the 2:00pm slot though not that much. 

I liked "Secrets," the arc with the angels, because it was self-contained for the most part. The story ended with the three returning to heaven with Eve in the fourth chair. I thought it was effective in that way. I remember trying to stick with it through "Superstition," but that arc was just very slow and silly. Something about Rebecca Barrington ( played by Vanessa Branch) making candles in the past and being accused of witchcraft with Alison doing the same thing in the present. 

I feel like by the time "Torn" was over the show was just a vampire soap opera. I remember trying to watch "The Gift" because ABC announced the cancellation in May or June 2003 so I wanted to see the end. It was also very bad. Rafe and Alison were opening a gym. I think Chris was messing around with a cop in a C-story. I didn't blame Kiko Ellsworth saying even if the show had continued he had no intention of renewing his contract. The stuff with Imani the werewolf was not super engaging either from what I recall.