GH: Classic Thread

[j swift]

I enjoyed Brenda's involvement in The Balkan/Theo storyline, but it emphasized an issue that has never been well resolved.  Given that Brenda had an affair with Dante, how much older are Sonny and Olivia than Brenda and Dante? 

Before anyone replies, I admit that ages on soaps are always a bit of a mystery.

However, let's assume that Sonny and Olivia were 18 when they conceived Dante.  According to the GH bio, Dante was born in 1984.  Brenda was in high school when she arrived in Port Charles in 1992, making her at least eight years older than Dante.  So, if Sonny and Olivia are ten years older than Brenda, was Sonny a strip club owning mob boss at 27?  And, given that Lulu was born on screen in 1994, does that mean Brenda is 15 years older than her?

The Balkan stuff was one of the only times that I felt like a mob story worked within the context of GH.  Not only was it an umbrella story that involved Dante, Sonny, Robin, Diane, and many others.  There were strong performances from both Daniel Benzali and Adrienne Barbeau.  And The Balkin seemed like a credible threat because he wanted revenge for a personal vendetta, he didn't want to dominate the world.  Other mob bosses have lacked the gravitas, the sanity, or the intellect to actually be scary.  Also, the story provided a logical reason for Brenda's exit while allowing Sonny to pursue other women.  If she's not coming back I wish they would SORAS that kid.

[carolineg]

That's a difficult question to answer because Brenda's age was clear (and she was also SORASed up to 21 in 1995-so you can age her down a year), but Sonny's was not.  I believe Olivia was 15 or 16 when she gave birth to Dante. I think Sonny was older, but I am not positive.  I believe Sonny is at least 10 years older than Brenda, so he was about 28 when he ran the strip club and he was a few years older when he took over the mob.  That was mostly because he inherited Rivera's territory from Lily when she died, so it accelerated the rise.  He was supposed to be a very young mob boss.   So, anyhow, I would put Brenda sorta in the middle on age.  Maybe 10 years younger than Sonny, but 10 years older than Dante.  Olivia should be about 8 years older than Brenda/Carly/Jason who are all established to be the same age.  Basically, if you go by established age Brenda was either born in 74 or 75 and Dante was born in 84 so that checks out, but that throws Olivia's age off by a few years.  I think it's fair to say Lulu is 15 years younger than Brenda, but she should actually be 20-which is too much and I don't think Lulu is 10 years younger than Dante, but she is younger. 

So long winded answer, but I think the show actually said what year the "affair" happened and I think it was 2007?  I am such a bad Brenda fan, but I don't feel like re-watching lol.  So Dante was 23 and she was 33 and Sonny was 42/43 and that puts Lulu at about 18 or 19 which I think works.   It makes Sonny statutory rapey with Olivia and I don't think that is the case, but I think it's only a variance of a couple years here and there when you break it all down.

Anyhow, I thought the Balkan story was boring AF.  Silly villians are sorta Sonny/Brenda's bread and butter and it just went on too long and lacked sense.  Why not just kill Brenda in Rome instead of having your wife go undercover for years, call Jason, send Brenda to a place she's protected and then exact your revenge?  That makes less sense than any age issues.  It was hyped up to be more, but it did provide some logical reason for Brenda to leave.   I think Guza actually had a much bigger idea on this (possibly Franco as the baby daddy?) and a lot of things got changed or scrapped when the return was a failure and VM refused to do Dante/Brenda. 

Agree 100% Alec should be aged and show up.  I thought it was who Dev was going to be for awhile, but it would be really dumb for Brenda to lose her kid twice lol

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by carolineg

[j swift]

Our preferences for The Balkan aside @carolineg, I think we can agree that while women having affairs with both a father and a son are an accepted part of soap history, it would be rather distasteful in real life.

[carolineg]

I agree wholeheartedly. I think it would have been very soapy though.  I thought young cop Dante with his Chachi hair was adorbs.   And Dante/Brenda could both get a pass because they didn't know one another existed.  It would have been the death knell to Sonny/Brenda though and I don't think GH ever wants to deal with that.  But then Brenda pretended to sleep with Michael so Idk?  The kid clearly should have been Jax's.  

I will say in re-watch (which I haven't done in a while) the Balkan story doesn't play that bad.  I think in real time with everyone else on the show talking about the Balkan it moved very slowly.  There is some good Sonny/Brenda stuff especially the actual wedding-which I thought was very well done up until Clink Boom part 15

Edited November 20, 2022 by carolineg

[depboy]

Long time, no post!

Research has led me to summaries for classic GH episodes, and I decided to share a TV Guide-style description (in my own words, mostly) of some of them:

---------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, December 28, 1964: Randy insists on knowing the origins of Audrey’s engagement ring. 

Tuesday, December 29, 1964: Audrey and Steve postpone their wedding. 

Wednesday, December 30, 1964: Ken Martin examines Randy. 

Thursday, December 31, 1964: Eddie tells his mother that perhaps he won’t go back to college. 

Monday, January 4, 1965: Lee and Jessie rehearse for the divorce hearing. 

Tuesday, January 5, 1965: Angie again turns down Bob Ayer’s marriage proposal. 

Wednesday, January 6, 1965: Eddie comes to see Angie. 

Thursday, January 7, 1965: Steve agrees to be a witness at Jessie’s divorce hearing. 

Friday, January 8, 1965: Jessie takes the stand. 

If you're interested in reading more, I'll post.

[MissPalmer]

Interesting! Thank you!!!!

[Joseph]

I so enjoyed Adrienne B. In this Story, I wonder If whoever cast her as Victoria Grayson's Mom saw This

[Paul Raven]

Yes please!

[Paul Raven]

By June 64 GH had hit a 35 share, the best performance ABC had achieved in daytime to that point. 

In Jan 64 it moved from 1pm to 3pm. Up until the move  ratings had been fairly low Sept-Dec 63 had an 18 share.

[depboy]

More summaries (in my words), TV Guide's are noted.

---> From TV Guide - Monday, January 11, 1965: Jessie’s divorce is finalized. 

Tuesday, January 12, 1965: Lucille questions Audrey about Randy. 

Wednesday, January 13, 1965: Steve phones Phil Brewer in Peru. 

---> From TV Guide - Thursday, January 14, 1965: Randy talks with Audrey.  

---> From TV Guide - Friday, January 15, 1965: Steve tells Jessie Phil may return to the hospital. 

Monday, January 18, 1965: No info. Lucille checks in on Randy’s condition.

Tuesday, January 19, 1965: Kate Larkin attempts to woo Bob Ayers. 

Wednesday, Janauary 20, 1965: Audrey urges Steve to marry her soon – now – but Steve wants to wait. 

Thursday, January 21, 1965: Jessie receives a special delivery letter from Phil. 

Friday, January 22, 1965: Jessie tells Dr. Lyons that she would rather leave the hospital than stand in Phil’s way of returning. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by depboy
Added info 18 JAN

[depboy]

The previous post was edited to include info for Monday, Jan. 18.  

Monday, January 25, 1965: Steve asks Angie if she’s considered putting her baby up for adoption. 

Tuesday, January 26, 1965: Mike presses Angie for information about Eddie. 

Wednesday, January 27, 1965: Ken Martin predicts trouble if Phil Brewer returns to the hospital. 

Thursday, January 28, 1965: Cynthia daydreams of her past with Phil. 

Friday, January 29, 1965: Steve repeats to Audrey his reasons for postponing the wedding. 

---> From TV Guide - Monday, February 1, 1965: Dr. Phil Brewer’s arrival at G.H. and Randy Washburn’s departure stir up a dramatic storm. 

Tuesday, February 2, 1965: Audrey is distressed. 

Wednesday, February 3, 1965: Phil and Cynthia unexpectedly cross paths. 

Thursday, February 4, 1965: After pressuring her to put their baby up for adoption, Angie throws Eddie out. 

Friday, February 5, 1965: Jessie and Phil’s relationship begins to thaw. 

[Hunnibunni1025004]

Thank so much for these recaps. I would rather watch these old recaps then whats on the screen today, but we cant have nice things, so I will settle for reading the recaps.

[depboy]

It's fun, isn't it?  The old episodes certainly are different to today's show, but then at the same time, they're similar.

More drama from 1965, all in my own words (more or less) from episode summaries:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, February 8, 1965: Randy invites Audrey on a ski weekend, and she agrees to go.

Tuesday, February 9, 1965: After dinner, Jessie and Lee talk.

Wednesday, February 10, 1965: Cynthia tries to persuade Ken that she met with Phil by chance.

Thursday, February 11, 1965: Doug Warren tells Jessie he is marrying Connie and leaving General.

Friday, February 12, 1965: At the ski lodge, Randy again proposes marriage to Audrey.

Monday, February 15, 1965: Randy urges Audrey to agree to marry him.

Tuesday, February 16, 1965: Jessie and Phil work to save a patient’s life.

Wednesday, February 17, 1965: Lee comes to take Jessie to dinner.

Thursday, February 18, 1965: Jessie’s words of comfort to the patient’s husband has special impact on Phil.

Friday, February 19, 1965: Steve apologizes to Audrey for making her wait to marry and proposes.

Monday, February 22, 1965: Angie comes in for a checkup.

Tuesday, February 23, 1965: The nurse trainees are agog when Lucille receives a call from a man.

Wednesday, February 24, 1965: Jessie lectures Sharon after she mislabels a bottle of medicine.

Thursday, February 25, 1965: A drunk Randy tells Audrey she is making a mistake in marrying Steve.

Friday, February 26, 1965: The day of Steve and Audrey’s long-awaited nuptials arrives.  Meanwhile, Angie goes into labor.

[Bright Eyes]

Damn, they planned weddings so quick back then.

[DRW50]

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