GH: Classic Thread

[Vee]

They were pretty involved then, too. But Brian Frons swore by Bob Guza's team, and they had a lot of room to run.

The 2004 hotel fire story just before this was goofy and dumb, and a lot of stories in that era were pretty bad. I do not remember '03/'04 with fondness, lol. But a great deal of the dialogue staff had been there since at least Claire Labine's run, and many remained until Guza was fired/quit in 2011 or until Frank Valentini and Ron Carlivati took over in 2012. Those writers elevated so much of the daily material despite a lot of bad stories, even as the daily scripts also began getting lazy in this same era. But there was almost always some legitimately intelligent stuff amidst the crap, for many years (like the scorching scenes in early '04 when Carly taunts Sam about being just another Brenda clone to Sonny and Jax). And some good stories too, here and there. It's strange that a lot of the 2000s looks like near-art compared to the last decade. The difference is that when Frank and Ron came in they did give the show a lot of its heart back while completely stripping the quality of the day to day writing (and doing many bad stories of their own).

Edited March 3, 2023 by Vee

[victoria foxton]

 

 

[Cat]

The dialogue was top notch. As @Vee pointed out, the breakdown writers at the time were the best in the business and knew how to bring in multiple layers for Guza to tease open again at a later date. I think GH had a strong production team, left over from the Riche days, who knew how to run a show and never leave it flagging. I like GH today, i guess, but the shortness of scenes gives me whiplash sometimes. It's like soap as written by Twitter: 200 characters or less per written scene.

The lighting and dark neutrals gave GH this shadowy feeling of Port Charles being this murky northern city where most things take place at night. And Tamara was IMO a compelling star. I couldn't take my eyes off her. Not as virtuoso an actress as SB, but she had a certain inexplicable IT factor which made her a natural leading lady.

[Liberty City]

Same. Quick scenes but things can drag at the same time.

Please register in order to view this content

BIG mistake!

[Vee]

This is at least partly a FV thing. IIRC it's been said he determined at OLTL that the younger demo at least does not want to watch a scene for longer than 90 seconds. But this is also something constant across the industry at this point, so it's not all him.

[Darn]

[Ava walks into Kelly's and spots Brook Lynn]

Ava: Brook Lynn! I see you're here getting your daily cup of joe. 

Brook Lynn: Yep, Kelly's is my go-to for coffee most days.

Ava: Oh, so no decaf for you? Finding yourself needing a pick-me-up these days hmm?

[Dramatic pause as the music crescendos]

It's their attempt to make scenes that aren't remotely dramatic dramatic and it drives me absolutely bonkers.

[Cat]

Omg you read my mind! That is exactly the space filler I was thinking of. Usually it's a 1 minute scene involving Liesl Obrecht running into a random character in the hospital corridor. "Ahhhhh Ccccarly Corinthos! Who are you checking on in ze hospital today, hmmmmm???" Followed by a close-up of Carly's guilty-looking face and DUN-DUN-DUN music. its lke being mugged by Joey Tribiani's Soap Opera Stare. And the 10-second, next-day preview, stuffed with 5 different scenes coming at you at the speed of light? It's a wonder that hasn't triggered any epileptic fits.

[victoria foxton]

An episode of GH telecast in Australia's Network 10. 

Please register in order to view this content

Edited March 6, 2023 by victoria foxton

[janea4old]

 

[janea4old]

He said "I had plenty of scenes with her and she was good !"
Not very informative but that's okay.  It's the picture I'm interested in.

I'm always happy to see pictures of Emily McLaughlin.  I wonder what the occasion was in this picture?

Edited March 6, 2023 by janea4old

[depboy]

Autumn 1967:

Monday, October 2, 1967: A new rapport is established between Lee and Iris, when he helps her look for Joan Fielding.

Tuesday, October 3: Polly bitterly tells Jessie that her father has cut her out of his will.

Wednesday, October 4: Jessie upsets John when she questions him on why he cut Polly from the will.

Thursday, October 5: Jessie tells Polly she has not been able to persuade John to change the will, and she is afraid to pursue it further, for fear of upsetting him to a point that is dangerous to his health.

Friday, October 6: John asks for Polly to bring him some pills for pain he has in his black bag at home... and not to mention it to anyone.

EDIT: A strike among National Association of Broadcast Employees And Technicians (NABET) against ABC caused a change in broadcasting for one week. (09-13 OCT 1967).  I have edited airdates where appropriate.

Monday, October 16: Polly gives John the pills he asked for.

Tuesday, October 17: Jessie finds John in considerable pain and gives him sedation Tom ordered.  Later,  John asks Polly for some more pills for pain. Jessie checks in on John and he's seemingly resting comfortably.

Wednesday, October 18: Lucille comes on duty in the morning and finds John Prentice dead.

Thursday, October 19: Steve gives Tom the pathologist's report on John; two different pills were in his system.

Friday, October 20: After John's funeral, Jessie receives a special delivery letter from Phil. Steve and Tom learn that Prentice died from ingestion of quantities of barbiturates and alkaloids.

Monday, October 23: Tom quizzes Meg about the night of Prentice's death and anticipates a nerve wracking investigation.

Tuesday, October 24: Lt. Todd of Homicide isn't impressed when Steve protests Jessie's innocence in John's death.

Wednesday, October 25: Iris considers filing a missing persons report on Joan. Lt. Todd interviews Tom.

Thursday, October 26: Lee tells Meg that he and Iris found Joan and that she is in an hepatic stupor.  Lt. Todd comes to question Meg.

Friday, October 27: Lt. Todd notifies Steve that he must proceed to interrogate Jessie without further delay.

Monday, October 30: Lt. Todd asks Lucille to open the medicine safe but warns her not to touch the bottle of Alkaloid X...he is looking for fingerprints.

Tuesday, October 31: Jessie tells Polly the results of John's autopsy. Later, Lt. Todd interviews Jessie.

Wednesday, November 1: Polly seeks Tom's reassurance that her father would know the effects of any medication he may have taken.  Polly denies to Lt. Todd that her father had any reason to commit suicide.

Thursday, November 2: Lt. Todd takes more fingerprints.  Lee advises Jessie not to tell Polly her plan to turn the estate she gets over to Polly.

Friday, November 3: Meg is with Joan when she dies.  Lt. Todd reports to the D.A.

Monday, November 6: Lee and Meg call Iris, who reassures them that she is fine. Alone, she broods on Joan's death and begins drinking.  The D.A. suggests that Prentice's death may have been euthanasia, committed by Jessie, whose fingerprints are on the bottle of fatal medication.

Tuesday, November 7: Lt. Todd interviews Steve and gets answers from him that could support the euthanasia theory.

Wednesday, November 8: Tom guesses that Todd may suspect Jessie of euthanasia and warns her.

Thursday, November 9: Meg persuades Iris to go to AA with Lee.

Friday, November 10: Todd interrogates Polly and reports his findings to the D.A.

Edited March 7, 2023 by depboy
Change to airdates due to NABET Strike

[titan1978]

I always forget just how attractive Garcia was.  What a waste they didn’t invest in him back then.

As someone that adored Labine, I did find that first run of Guza’s to be just about perfect. A mix of the grounded show Riche/Labine did with all that character depth mixed with more of the mystery/action vibe Guza and his team brought at that point.  It was exciting viewing again after the transition period that happened after Stone died.

[carolineg]

I thought Garcia/Lily had some potential when they were hinting he had a crush on her during the Brenda hit and run era when Sonny was neglecting her.  

I find Guza's first run to be almost perfect too.  I appreciated the action as well.  Sonny/Jax/Brenda was the drama we needed after Labine's wonderful (but depressing) run.

Although I have no idea what Tom/Felicia were going for.  They were so boring yet weirdly sexual and cringey lol.  Poor Matt Ashford.....

[Vee]

On paper adding Matt Ashford as Tom Hardy should've worked. Pairing him with Felicia was a mistake and the material with Simone and Justus was, to put it mildly, sketchy. I also think the creative handover and then John Beradino's death kind of screwed him.

Now Tom is a forgotten tentpole character who kind of got supplanted in people's minds by the later resurgence of Steve/Steven Lars. It only makes sense canvas-wise to potentially have one around today, and it's too bad for one or the other.

[victoria foxton]

Totally agree with you. Guza first run was really good. I came to hate his writing later on.