GH: Classic Thread

[titan1978]

Agreed.  Running Port Charles and GH was a huge mistake IMO, and GH suffered.  Guza’s storylines totally collapsed about 2 years into his return from Sunset Beach and the show was a dark mess.  

 

When did Frons take over ABC daytime?  Because I think that his type of interference was present towards the end of her time there.  I know she and Bob were not getting along by that point either.

[amybrickwallace]

 

I've read he came on in August 2002. Of course, JFP was the EP of GH by then.

[cassadine1991]

Wonder how Riche will be like if she'd ever return as EP

[titan1978]

Better than Valentini.  Truly.  Also, all the stories will have emotional stakes.  She was very big on even a big action story having an emotional grounding.

 

The problem is, who writes it for her?  Because she can turn excellent writing into a great show (Labine, most of Guza), and mediocre writing into something at least watchable (Levinson and most of Culliton).  Sadly, Korte and Val Jean’s brief tenure was boring af, and Whitesell and Iacobuzio and an entire year of Guza was nearly unwatchable.

 

I was so excited when there were rumors she was possibly going to ATWT and again Y&R years ago.  I think she would have been a good fit at ATWT.

[OldGHFan]

Brian Frons joined ABC Daytime in August of 2002.  The beginning of the end.

 

The funny thing is that I really enjoyed Sonny, Jason and Carly in the early 90s.  It's the fact that they have remained the sole focus of everything since.  I absolutely abhor all three characters now.  Way to run a once great show into the ground, ABC.

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[BetterForgotten]

Riche also did a good job of checking Tony Geary's ego, and he hated her for that. 

[titan1978]

And yet he also did some of his best acting work under her production and teams.  Nuanced, delicate work that later got bigger and bigger.

 

As much as he hates it, that early family unit of Luke, Laura and Lucky was really great stuff.

[Khan]

 

Tony Geary wanted Luke and his family to behave as if it were still 1980, which was a definite contrast, IMO, to Genie Francis, who seemed more okay with the idea of Luke & Laura being older and living more settled lives.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Khan

[titan1978]

There were times when I thought they went too far with Laura in that direction.  She could be dangerous, impulsive and reckless just like Luke, and they tried to make her a little too domestic.  

 

But at least we saw her growing more anxious with the mob.  Lucky was shot, she was kidnapped and shoved down the stairs while pregnant with Lulu, her house was shot up and she killed a man to save Luke all in like a year.

 

It annoyed me as time went on and it became Laura wants to bake cookies and Luke wants adventure.  Which did neither character any justice.

 

One thing I will absolutely give Labine- her Laura was both vulnerable but also incredibly strong.  And Guza wrote her as a basket case.  

 

She had an emotional collapse when Nikolas arrived and had to be sedated.  She almost killed herself on the train tracks after Lucky died.  She went crazy when she thought she killed Rick.  She was just a mess under Guza.

Edited March 16, 2018 by titan1978

[victorlord75]

At least Labine knew how to keep Luke and Laura interesting AND married.  Ultimately, it was Guza who decided that the only way to keep Luke and Laura interesting was to break them up.

[katie_9918]

BYE Guza and BYE Tony Geary, who cheerled him all the way when it was Genie who kept Geary relevant past his - what was it, six month contract?

 

ETA: Substitute stronger language for BYE

Edited March 17, 2018 by katie_9918

[titan1978]

And I felt that was kind of sacrilege.  I think they broke them piece by piece in a way that I could get behind as long as the end result was to build them back up together.  Instead it became pretty clear they just kind of gave up on her character.  Luke was still off being Luke and Laura was crying all the time about Lucky.

 

Nikolas, and revealing Laura having a kind of love for Stefan on the island and then Lucky learning about the rape and the fire were really good, character driven reasons for their relationship falling apart.  But they should never have been divorced.

[amybrickwallace]

The reveal of what his dad had done to his mom before he was born and how it impacted Lucky was must-see TV. "The Cowboy" had always had such a hero worship for Luke. Those scenes where Lucky confronted Luke and Laura (separately) were some of the best work of the Francis/Geary/Jackson triumvirate. The dynamic was never the same after JJ left (though he came back years later).

[OldGHFan]

 

I totally agree.  The revisit of Laura's rape was so good.  I was so surprised when Genie didn't even get nominiated for an Emmy that year.  Then again, that was the year that Susan Lucci finally won.

[BetterForgotten]

And that's another example of a story that Monty would have never done.

 

She was good at big plots and creating larger than life characters, but the depth just wasn't there otherwise. While I see the "fun" element in a lot of her GH work, it's just lacking soul and integrity to me overall. 

Edited March 19, 2018 by BetterForgotten