GH: Classic Thread

[Vee]

The mention of Taggert's past in the main thread got me thinking of the great Vanita Harbour as long-suffering ADA Dara Jensen, and this hilarious scene I have never forgotten from summer '98, in which Helena reveals that Katherine is alive after all after the fall off the Wyndemere parapet (a now common death or near-death location of choice, as Esme and Brad can attest). Even in poor quality the face journeys Dara, Alexis, Stefan, Nikolas, etc. go on as Helena gleefully lays her insane story out below (timestamped appropriately at the link) are hysterical. I would embed if I could, but you can see it here.

Edited February 19, 2023 by Vee

[Planet Soap]

Just remembered this scene. Luke, Laura and Lucky are staying at Bobbie's house due to broken heating. Bobbie tells Lucas and Lucky to stop eating under the table to which Laura interjects that Lucky isn't hurting anyone so what he's doing is fine. Such a great scene because it takes an average domestic moment like disciplining children and turns it into a conversation analyzing the historic tensions between Laura and Bobbie, and L&L's undomesticated lifestyle.

To me, Laura & Luke are completely wrong.  Laura should allow Lucky's aunt to render some discipline and be able to set boundaries in her own house--especially if her son is following Lucky's behavior.

This is what the 90s GH had, deep charachter driven conversation even when nothing plot significant was occurring. You also have characters with layers to the relationship. Bobbie and Laura get along more now, but still have some underlying tension from the 70s.

Edited February 20, 2023 by ironlion

[Vee]

I remember this scene. It was great, but hits differently with the wealth of late '70s/early '80s material now available where Bobbie was an absolute hellraiser and made Laura's life agony.

[titan1978]

For me the subtext of that scene, especially at the time, was that Bobbie is actually more upset with Luke.  He’s been making digs about boring domesticity to/about her. He’s been getting under her skin, which leads to the Damian affair.  That and the fact that Tony was so taken with and had an almost instant bond with Laura.  She’s just taking all that frustration out on Laura.  And Laura absolutely is pushing her buttons by letting Lucky do whatever he wants in Bobbie’s house.  But I think the anger is truly about Luke’s needling.

I have always liked that Bobbie and Laura have a tenuous relationship after the ‘93 return.  Sometimes good, and sometimes it can be nasty.  Which is fitting for their history and characterizations.

[depboy]

Hello! As I continue to research the effect of 1967's AFTRA strike on the broadcast pattern of GH, I'll continue to post the log lines from the summaries.  In my previous post, I edited the dates with a strikethrough from the April 5, 1967 (tape date March 29, 1967, which would have been the first day of the strike) episode forward.  I've learned that 'Father Knows Best' reruns aired in place of GH during the strike, but I am still gathering information on when they went back into production.  We join the staff of the seventh floor in the spring of 1967:

Tuesday, May 9, 1967: Phil tells Audrey that Dr. Jones is not washing her hands of the case, and advises she tell Steve about the artificial insemination.

Wednesday, May 10: George Morton tells Lucille his troubles and protests to Steve that they are keeping Alice Seaton in the hospital without cause.

Thursday, May 11: Celebrations as it is revealed that Prentice doesn't have congestive heart failure and the wedding plans can go forward.

Friday, May 12: Lee helps Iris move to a new apartment.

Monday, May 15: Audrey is trapped into telling Lucille the truth.

Tuesday, May 16: Lucille acts tragically at Audrey's admission. Alice tells Phil why she is afraid of Morton.

Wednesday, May 17: Iris remembers the start of her romance with Baird Roberts.

Thursday, May 18: Iris gets a call from Baird Roberts and is badly shaken. Morton learns Alice told Phil about him...and is enraged.

Friday, May 19: Lucille urges Audrey to tell Steve the truth before Dr. Jones comes to town...she is due to arrive in a week.

Monday, May 22: Lucille intercepts a call for Steve or Audrey from Dr. Jones.

Tuesday, May 23: Phil tells Alice they must release her from the hospital.

Wednesday, May 24: Audrey meets with Dr. Jones, who is outraged by learning that Audrey forged Steve's name on the consent.

Thursday, May 25: Alice is questioned by the ADA Walter Thompson.  Baird makes an ardent appeal to Iris.

Friday, May 26: Longworth takes Morton's complaint about Alice to Steve. Audrey can't face the moment of truth.

Monday, May 29: John Prentice receives a telegram from Polly.

Tuesday, May 30: Morton comes to the hospital to see Alice and learns she has been released.

Wednesday, May 31: Iris reveals to Meg that Baird Roberts has asked her to return to him and she is shaken.

Thursday, June 1: Lee tells Phil that if Alice is in danger, so is he.  Audrey confesses to Steve, who is shattered.

Friday, June 2: Iris won't be tempted to return to Baird Roberts. Prentice is worried that Polly will return to an empty house while he's in the hospital and Jessie says she will invite Polly to stay with her.  Steve returns to Audrey and tells her he's moving out.

Monday, June 5: Lucille leaves work to be with Audrey.  Steve tells Jessie he feels like a failure as a man.

Tuesday, June 6: Alice, who is hiding in Phil's apartment, is scared into letting Morton in.  Dr. Jones apologizes to Audrey for insisting that she tell Steve the truth.

Wednesday, June 7: Morton threatens to ruin Phil if she doesn't agree to marry him.

Thursday, June 8: Prentice tells Jessie that Polly is coming home.

Friday, June 9: Morton probes Alice about what she has told Phil about him...and forces her to write a farewell note.  As they are about to leave, Phil enters and Morton draws a pistol.

Edited February 23, 2023 by depboy

[will81]

Newspaper listings show Father Knows Best began airing Monday April 03, 1967 and General Hospital returned Tuesday April 11, 1967. Maybe ABC was not allowed to air the show at all during the strike or thought it best to just replace the show immediately rather than wait for episodes to run out. Not sure. 

My other thought, do actors get paid if the episode doesn't air? Maybe ABC didn't want to pay actors on strike. 

Edited February 24, 2023 by will81

[depboy]

I looked up articles on newspapers.com, but didn't think to add Father Knows Best to the search! Thank you!

Here's more from the summer of '67.

Monday, June 12, 1967: Morton hits Phil over the head with the pistol.

Tuesday, June 13: It's the end for George Morton as the cops arrive.

Wednesday, June 14: Lucille visits Audrey and discovers that the nature of Phil and Audrey's relationship was at least part of the reason why Audrey was artificially inseminated.

Thursday, June 15: Tom agrees to entertain Polly at Jessie's request, as a mark of his determination to win Jessie over.

Friday, June 16: Phil hears from the book publishers that his manuscript will be too late for publication.

Monday, June 19: Sharon tells Judy Clampett that she is going to play hard to get with Henry.

Tuesday, June 20: Baird Roberts calls Iris, who prepares to cope with him.

Wednesday, June 21: Iris betrays her vulnerability to Baird.

Thursday, June 22: Polly returns and accepts Jessie's invitation to stay with her until John is well enough to go home.

Friday, June 23: Phil tells Steve he accepted a job in San Francisco.  When he says goodbye to Jessie, he kisses her ardently.

Monday, June 26: After cancelling their date, Henry is scared by his competition for Sharon.

Tuesday, June 27: Polly and Tom get acquainted on the beach.

Wednesday, June 28: Lee points out that there is a great deal they don't know about Iris' problem.  At dinner with Baird, Iris declines champagne.

Thursday, June 29: Tom tells Jessie that Polly is a good kid, but that for the present, she is lost.

Friday, June 30: Lucille contacts Dr. Jones and asks her to talk to Steve and explain Audrey's good motives.

Monday, July 3: Jessie tells Tom she is having a hard time communicating with Polly.  Tom says that he has no trouble.

Tuesday, July 4: Henry Pinkham's uncle arrives, and joins them for lunch, where Sharon charms him. Later, Uncle Henry warns Young Henry to stay away from girls like Sharon.

Wednesday, July 5: Dr. Jones tells Steve there is an outside chance the baby could be his.

Thursday, July 6: Baird makes a final plea to Iris. She rejects him.

Friday, July 7: Iris tells Meg she's made a mistake in rejecting Baird, but Meg makes her promise not to yield to the impulse to call him.

Monday, July 10: Jessie urges Steve to tell Audrey the baby could be his, but he refuses.

Tuesday, July 11: Steve and Audrey receive letters from Phil, urging them not to let their marriage crumble.

Wednesday, July 12: Henry invites Sharon to the Interns' Ball.

Thursday, July 13: Polly makes a play for Tom.

Friday, July 14: Iris, without explanation, gives Steve her notice and says she is moving back to Kansas City.  Later, she receives a letter from Baird, who is going to try to make a success of his marriage. Iris struggles, then drinks deeply from her bottle.

[FrenchFan]

Thanks ! Didn't get exactly the Alice / Morton storyline. Why was she afraid of him? He wanted to marry her but he killed his wife?

[depboy]

From the brief information from the episode summaries, that’s what I got out of it.

[Paul Raven]

They Endure A Lot, The Heroines Of Soap Operas ADVANCE NEWS  SUNDAY, MAY 4,1975 0GDENSBURG, N.Y

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Poor Jessie Brewer. The years haven't been kind to her. Particularly the last 12. Why, they're enough to make you cry. She has been married four times, believe it or not. First it was to Dr. Phil Brewer, ending in divorce. Then there was another doctor, but he had a heart condition and died. The first husband came back into her life, they married again and he left her life, winding up listed as dead in a plane crash in Peru. So Jessie married Peter Taylor. But then it turned out that Brewer really hadn't been killed and they were still married, so the Taylor knot had to be untied with an annulment. But then Brewer really was killed. Jessie almost married one other time in those 12 years — but her fiance ran off instead with the teen-aged niece Jessie had been raising. Wow, you're saying? Hold on — there's a lot more. Jessie's love life is only one of her problems. In the past 12 years she's also: Seen her one baby die in infancy... Endured an untimely death in an auto accident of a stepdaughter ... Had a miscarriage ... been raped ... Undergone a .hysterectomy ... Been charged with murder twice. Despite the emotional traumas, Jessie has remained a dedicated and efficient nurse and a source of strength and sympathy to her friends.

Welcome to the world of television soap operas, where characters with tainted pasts are the sole inhabitants. Jessie Brewer of ABC's long-running "General Hospital" is but one typical example. Who could take these story lines seriously? Well, for one, the actress who plays Jessie. And, for another, the millions of devoted viewers who tune in.

Emotional turmoil is the lifeblood of the daytime serials and always has been, even back in the days when they were on radio. And the recurring tragedies are a big part of the attraction. Says Kylie Masterson, associate producer of "General Hospital:" "The audience says 'Poor Jessie. What else can happen to her?' It's like the oldtime serials which always left you hanging — 'The Perils of Pauline.' "Pauline's problems were physical; Jessie's are always emotional." Emily McLaughlin speaks with personal conviction when she deals with the question of whether her character of Nurse Jessie is unrealistic.

She has played the role since "General Hospital" debuted in April 1963. Her answer is a resounding no. "I've been through a marriage and divorce," Miss McLaughlin explained evenly. "I've been married again — happily — and had my husband die. I have one son but at the time of birth there were some problems and I had to have a hysterectomy. "I wanted a large family and couldn't have it.All of this I use in the character."Miss McLaughlin also says the individual problems that soap opera characters confront are real. It is only when you string them together over the years that profound doubts are raised about the ability of one person to endure them, Miss McLaughlin contends. "Things do happen like death and the loss of babies and alcoholism — you name it," reflected Miss McLaughlin. "You can laugh at it on (soap operas) because it's compressed in time, but these are real problems that are there every day for every American housewife — and now I'm getting lots of mail from men too."

[Planet Soap]

Definately alot of history there!

At what point did Steve, Audrey and Jessie stop getting consistent stories?

Edited February 27, 2023 by ironlion

[Paul Raven]

For Jessie, I would say 1975 after Phil's murder.

Steve and Audrey after their remarriage 1977.

[Planet Soap]

Wow that's relatively early in the show's run. I can only imagine what kind of stories or scenes Emily McLaughlin could have gotten under the Riche era had she lived loger. I liked some of the humanist material she gave the older actors like Edward, Lila, Steve and Audrey.

[Paul Raven]

I think a few factors came into play.

Jessie had been front and center for 12 years and at that point ratings were softening and it was felt new characters were needed.

Also,Emily had illnesses which I think contributed. To be a little brutal,she was not aging well.

I think it was time for Jessie to step back. However,she should still have had story and romance .

Same with Steve and Audrey. They had come full circle.

Fortunately the hospital setting allowed them to be seen regularly,depending on the TPTB.

That's where other soaps went wrong in constantly pushing the same characters to the front burner to the point where they wear out their welcome due to increasingly ridiculous stories eg Brooke B&B, Marlena DOOL etc

[titan1978]

Even after being moved off the front burner, Jessie was still seen and had that barely there relationship with Dan.  It didn’t amount to much, but they did keep using her for a while there as a kind of hospital staple.  You would be hard pressed to know she had once been the leading heroine on the show though.

Steve and Audrey really get sidelined once Jeff leaves.  They didn’t have much to do even on the back burner from 1981 until Wes Kinney brought back Tom as a doctor and introduced Simone.