Look into the past: March 1974

[MarkH]

I think Peter had a massive heart attack when he realized that Heather was PJ's mother...and that PJ was really Steven Lars.

Oh, how I loved the show back then!!

[SteveFrame]

EON and other shows were more famous for their murder mysteries and trials but GH had some great ones. The Phil Brewer and the Diana Taylor ones were the best.

[MarkH]

Heather, lacing Diana's iced tea with LSD...standing it on a Lazy Susan...PJ spinning it...Heather freaking out and getting institutionalized. One of the greatest moments ever!

[SteveFrame]

Me too.

People get the impression that it was all about Luke & Laura during those days or Scotty & Laura, but they were only part of it.

In fact to tell you the truth even Laura's story to start out with was more about Lesley than it was Laura. It was about a mother sacrificing herself to save her daughter. She knew that Laura killed David but she took the blame and stood trial for it.

This alienated Rick and he turned to Monica because he felt Lesley was sacrificing him because of her love for Laura.

It was really a great time. Douglas Marland truly wrote a well rounded show. It was only when Pat Falken Smith and Gloria Monty got a hold of it that it turned into the action adventure hour.

[MarkH]

Oh yeah!

Monica and Rick on the beach after Lassa Fever, fighting their desire.

Alan stalking Monica and Rick...making the attic collapse...a bomb at the docks...Alan and Monica RIPPING into each other on the balcony on Fourth of July.

Leslie finally letting out her sadness and rage about Rick in a therapy session with Dr. Irene Kassorla.

Bobbie desperately trying to hide her hooker past. What was the name of that hoodlum who kept blackmailing her?

Heather doing the ultimate baby switch storyline, and serving as nanny to her own boy. Heather trying to bring down Annie Logan.

Lassa Fever!

Amazing days. I RAN home for THESE stories. And yes, Laura-Scotty was pretty engaging, and I was shocked at their insta-marital-difficulties. And there is no question that "lovers on the run" was breathtaking. I enjoyed that very much too. Beeches Corners, the Left-Handed Boy, Sally the Tranny Hitman, Hutch the smouldering hitman, the Wall of Jericho.

Even incidental characters, like Rose Kelly and her lust for Hutch. It was all so new and exciting and YES emotion-and-character based. I guess these were the Marland days.

Of course, a year later, we had a lump of charcoal everyone called 'Ice Princess'...and it was kind getting out there. It was still fresh and exciting though, so I'll never view that era -- per se -- as the ruination of daytime. It was the fact that GH never got balance back...they overdosed on the action...and other shows followed suit.

But none of that obviates that "brief shining moment" of greatness the year-or-two before the Ice Princess.

[DRW50]

Thank you for answering my questions, SteveFrame. I sure wish that era of soaps was available. Schmering's soap encyclopedia said Diana was a very popular character, and was a young Jessie. Did the actress eventually leave, and that's why she was killed off? Or was the Diana who was murdered a recast?

I really wish I could see some of Slesar's Somerset work, especially that Jingles the clown story, or whatever she was called.

[SteveFrame]

Oh no it doesn't.

GH was really great during those years. It is sad that they got the awards for the stuff that came later and not during this time.

I'll never forget how chilling it was to see Alan chasing Rick and Monica too down the streets. Oh man that was something. He had that gun and you just knew he was going to kill one of them. I remember he jumped to #1 in the next Daytime TV reader's poll after that. I think I remember them making a big deal out of it because it was the first time a Villain went to #1. Female Villainesses like Lisa and Rachel had been there but never one of the Male Villains. He only stayed there one month, but people were truly enthralled with Stuart Damon as evil Alan.

I loved Paddy Kelly too. He and Rose were so cute. I always wanted Joe and Rose to get together but they never went that route.

During those times there didn't seem to be a bad character on GH. My only complaint was what Monty and Marland did to Steve, Audrey and Jessie. Jessie esp. I know they had their day but none of them ever got another story at all after Monty took over.

Also another complaint was the Bryan and Claudia Phillips were never explored either. They were just token black characters and never given anything to do.

*************************

Was that David Gray that blackmailed Bobbie?

[SteveFrame]

The really popular Diana was Valerie Starrett. She retired from acting. They replaced her with Brooke Bundy. She never had the same chemistry with Craig Huebing as Starrett did. And of course GH wasn't as popular then either but Bundy never was as popular as Diana as Starrett was. She wasn't a bad actress or anything. But after the Phil story, she didn't have any real stories anyway. They were very minor parts of the Jeff and Heather story in many ways. Thus the reason they were deemed expendible.

[DRW50]

Why did Starrett retire from acting?

I remember, years ago, when I first started reading on soap history, and I was amazed that Jessie was such a major part of GH for years and then had nothing to do for the entire 1980s. I thought the actress may have had health problems or something, but I guess Monty just had no use for her.

[SteveFrame]

The last I heard from Starrett she was operating an antique book store I think in California. I never knew why she retired or if I did I forgot. There were several performers back then who would do that from time to time. Susan Harney basically retired after she left AW. Her husband continued to work but she didn't. John Fitzpatrick who was very popular on AW and even won a Best Newcomer award retired and quit acting.

Maybe it had something to do with the work being so hard. You have to admit that if it is your first real acting job, it is a hard one. It would probably turn you off acting unless it was something you loved more than anything else.

Emily McLaughlin was sick her last year on the show I think but that was all. She was only in her early 60's when she died which means GH put her out to pasture in her 50's. But Rachel Ames was only in her 40s when they put her out to pasture.

I always felt that they should have introduced Edward as a widower and linked Edward with Jessie. The last thing she had to do was some dates with Hospital Administrator Dan Rooney and then they flirted with a triangle between Jessie, DAn and Ruby but it never got much play at all.

Most of the time you saw Jessie sitting behind the nurses desk on the 13th floor. And that was it.

[DRW50]

I wonder if Monty just resented the people who made the show famous before her arrival (this seems to be an issue for many soap producers). Lee and Gail never had any stories either, did they, aside from worrying about Scott?

[SteveFrame]

She introduced Gail. Gail was not a character before Monty got there. She was introduced by Marland I think to explore more of Monica's past and to give Monica a confidante.

Susan Brown had worked with Monty on Bright Promise and I think I remember reading that Monty had Marland create the role for her. Same with David Lewis who she worked with on BP too. Then later both Anne Jeffreys and Anthony Geary would come on and they were both on BP too.

Peter Hansen's big story under Marland came very early and that was the alcoholism story that earned him his Emmy. He didn't have a lot to do after that but he did have one big story under Monty's team.

[MarkH]

Oh Alan was amazing. My personal favorite was when he rigged the attic to fall on Monica. It seemed it took WEEKS while he ratcheted the support beams to fall...and thought better of it at the last minute.

Was Jessie's LAST story being "aunt" to her nephew Luke Skywalker? That was pre-Monty, but that's the last I can remember from her. I remember, at one point Audrey turned to Steve and asked him something about "Life passing them by", and he retorted with some line about their having reached peace and stability. But it was sad.

Although I will say this: Steve especially was still pretty heavy in story as a figurehead/supporting character. We still SAW him many days of the week. Somehow, that made it better for me. We barely saw Jessie after a while.

I think David Gray was the one who lured Laura into the fog (from whence she disappeared). I am vaguely remembering that the guy who blackmailed Bobbie was bald, and went by the name of "Cal"?

I remember that Diana from my youth...but Bundy's Diana is really the one I remember. I liked her mole, I'm sorry to say.

I guess Bundy had a role on Days of Our Lives too.

Brian and Claudia were played by such likeable actors, it is a shame that it went nowhere. Of course, back then, everyone was afraid to bridge any racial barriers in terms of love story, etc.

I also thought Amy Vining could have been used much better than she was. When she was introduced, she had a crush on Dr. Alan Quartermaine, and she deeply resented Laura (I guess for precipitating the demise of the Vining family). But all that was dropped.

Lee and Gail seemed pretty heavy in story to me, at times. He was supporting Scotty, and I guess he eventually became mayor. Gail was an adoptive mother to Monica. I didn't mind that they weren't driving story, because we SAW them. Same with Dan Rooney (whom I also liked). He was a regular presence.

I think it was just an early example of the ageism that has come to define daytime?

[sungrey]

In fairness, when Wes Kenney took over GH in the late 1980s he tried to integrate Steve, Audrey and Jessie into the current storylines going on. They didn't drive story like the old days, but you at least saw them around the hospital a lot more than during Monty's final years at the helm.

[MarkH]

Can you think of an example? I can't right now think of when they were re-integrated into the story...but I may not have been watching closely enough anymore.