GH: Classic Thread

[KMan101]

 

To be fair with Garcia and Taggert, I always felt they were written to be "wrong" and Sonny/Jason to be "right" so of course they were over the top ... I saw through the blatant writing. lol

 

I know. The show does need a major shakeup. Unfortunately I've lived through enough to know we'd lose who we like and not the ones we think should go

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 sooooo .... but still. It's past time. There's been a lot more outcrying lately about the state of the show, such as Frank and his pets, firing him, the writers, how Monaco is doing her best Chandler Massey and thinking about pizza (who could blame her? but she's been meh for years and years now ...)

 

And then you read interviews with Altman and Van Etten and the whole tease for the Robert/Anna/Finn stuff sounds ridiculous. What they really want to say is "we're forced to do Anna and Finn so we're using Robert to make things interesting for them because they're so goddamn boring together". Robert's only angst for them, he's not a real threat. But he should be.

 

The show could be so much better. They have tons of veterans still able and willing. They have a lot of good castmembers. But Frank is and has been the problem for a long time. Even during Ron's time period, lots of folks blamed him for certain things but it's clear it's Frank who's the problem (I also think Nathan Varni is destructive and clueless), but that's not to defend the writers. Ron was a hot mess (to put it nicely) after his first year and Shelly and Chris, while not awful (and I would like to see them without Frank or without interference), aren't exactly setting the world on fire with their writing. So it's time to clean house. But again I wouldn't mind seeing how Shelly and Chris did without Frank and him forcing his pets on them.

Edited May 12, 2019 by KMan101

[John]

Matthew St Patrick was bad as Taggert. He was gtreat on AMC as Opal's lost son

[carolineg]

 

Lol!  Chandler Massey's smirking is much more exciting than any acting Kelly Monaco has done as Sam.  She is one of the most boring, monotone, lifeless performers ever.  She has always looked like she was thinking about what she was going to order from the bar after work in her scenes.  I don't get why JaSam or Sam are popular, but they are. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I guess the biggest difference between 1997 and now is literally none of the stories in 1997 made sense in that episode posted above, but there was an energy and spark to the show.  There are certain performers that are still bringing it but everything feels stale.  Again the stories aren't awful they just aren't good.  Robert should never be just angst for Finn/Anna.  When you get Tristian Rogers back use him.   The Ryan story is probably the best story right now and it had it's good moments, but now is seems to be dragging.  And DOD is literally taking over the show, but I think Shiloh is a pretty good actor.

 

I wonder what Shelly and Chris could do without Frank.  They aren't really destructive, but I get the sense they aren't allowed to write what they really want or for who they really want.  It must be hard to write for the character of Franco as a hero and a viable love interest for Liz.  I agree it seems like Frank has a lot of control.  It's a shame Ron's first year on Gh was so good and it all fell apart.  He's been just passable on Days, nothing he's done there has been as good as GH's first year under him.

 

Sadly something needs to change and soon.  I just get the feeling GH is slowly dying right now.

[titan1978]

I was watching a bunch of random GH clips on YouTube and it occurred to me that Bob Guza loved courtroom scenes.  There were so many trials and scenes in a court during his run.

 

Laura on trial for murdering Damian.  Luke on trial for something (I can’t remember what) when his affair with Felicia came out.  Monica Vs Dorman for sexual harassment. Tons of Sonny or mob related court scenes.  Custody of catatonic Laura.  Custody of Michael.  Dianne, Alexis, Ric and Scotty were always in court for something.

 

It’s almost as big a trope in his writing as misogyny. 

[DRW50]

 

[AdelaideCate007]

Some new photos that were uploaded (or reuploaded possibly in some cases) to Getty Images in their big soap photo dump. I'll post more later and as I download them-

 

 

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[DRW50]

Thanks. And thanks for the episodes you recently put on your channel.

[Khan]

Stuart Damon and Leslie Charleson looked so gorgeous and sophisticated BITD.

[titan1978]

I do not think I have missed anyone that Guza and JFP got rid of more than Alan Quartermaine.

 

Sure I loved Brenda, and enjoyed and see the potential in Emily, Georgie, Tony, Zander and so many others they got rid of.  But Alan is a hole to me as big as Maureen Bauer on GL, just in a different way because they are different characters.

 

Alan is just missing and nothing has ever filled that void.  As a doctor at GH, his specific place in the Quartermaine family, his relationships with his children, animosity with Sonny, and his complicated marriage with Monica.  He could be ruthless, and he could also be sensitive.

 

Alan was not a played out character.  

 

When Labine and Riche wrote out Sean and Tiffany, I missed them but I also got it.   They were expensive talent that didn’t have enough story left for what they cost.  These were not actors that would have gone recurring or taken huge cuts at that time just to never be the lead in a story again.  I kind of felt the same way about Tony once he was off contract.  But I think Alan had story still to tell.

 

 

[Franko]

Co-signed!

 

That 1987 episode was a treat. It's fun watching Tony get wrapped around Lucy's finger. Their courtship was relatively slow-burning (at this point, Tania's been dead for two months), but they still got married by the fall.

[KMan101]

 

Agreed. It was JFP's Maureen Bauer-esque mistake. Again. She never ever learns. It was such a massive mistake and I'm annoyed they never corrected it. It seems too late now. But I'd welcome it in a heartbeat.

 

He had a lot of story and life left him in.

 

JFP (and by extension, of course, Guza) truly gutted General Hospital. JFP took so many vets off contract, killed off so many promising characters ... drove actors away ... just awful. And then she got hired at Y&R, I mean, you just can't make this stuff up LOL. It's just amazing how the soap world works with "producing talent". Just recycle hacks left and right (only thing people can defend her for are either the sets or production values and she knows how to win an Emmy ... she really should have been a primetime producer because that's clearly what she would have rather been doing ...). 

Edited May 18, 2019 by KMan101

[OldGHFan]

I just get mad everytime I think about JFP killing off Alan Q. 

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On another note, I love the pic with Gloria Monty, Kin and Jackie Z.

[BetterForgotten]

JFP didn't kill off Alan, that was all Guza and approved by Frons. JFP was just the messenger who broke the news to Stuart. 

 

At that point, JFP had very little creative input on stories - Guza pretty much had free reign. That wasn't like when JFP fired Ellen Parker at GL to free up budget to hire Justin Deas. 

[j swift]

1.  When Scotty left Laura while she was on the run with Luke, did he get a proper send-off scene?  I recall a scene when Laura returned that she had with Lee to get Scotty to sign the divorce papers, but I don't recall Scotty leaving Port Charles.

 

2.  Wasn't Laura already an adult/over 18 when Rick adopted her after marrying Leslie?

[Darn]

We all know the ratings for Luke and Laura's wedding were insane (30 million) but does anyone know what the ratings were like in the days leading up to the wedding and the days after?