GH: Classic Thread

[Khan]

Back to the 1970 summaries:

Henry/Sharon and Howie/Jane are almost interchangeable to me.

Meg is [!@#$%^&*] nuts.

Audrey couldn't go through with the wedding because she was suffering from vertigo?  Where were she and Tom planning to marry?  On top of the Sears Tower in Chicago?

I repeat: Meg is [!@#$%^&*] nuts.

[Darn]

I'm in the same boat, Billy was my AJ and I hated the hypocrisy of Sonny, Jason, Carly and their sycophants so much that I had to love him. Luckily I've grown past that and simply being in opposition to one of those three doesn't make me a fan. See: Nina.

@Khan Billy's height never bothered me, though I think his stature absolutely influenced the writing (despite the fact that he and Mo see eye to eye) it always felt so...petty. But what can I expect from Elton John meets Jean Randolph.

[carolineg]

I always noticed Billy Warlock's height and the show did make it obvious that AJ was short.  While I didn't even realize Sonny was short until Jax showed up because Mo's height was always hidden by shorter love interests.   I would also agree with the comment that BW's AJ didn't have much chemistry with his family or love interests although I did like him and Skye as schemers.   Idk, it's so how to grade BW's AJ because his writing was just so truly awful and I can't think of a good story where his AJ came off in a positive light. 

[MissPalmer]

Thank you for the 60s and 1970 summaries. I love them! It is wonderful....and thanks to it, we have discovered that one of the first GH restaurants is " The isle of Capri"....Has anyone ever seen a picture of this restaurant? It would be awesome to see it! And I would love to see "The Isle of Capri" nowadays...with Josslyn and Dex having dinner in a place like that...

Edited May 26, 2023 by MissPalmer

[titan1978]

Billy just wasn’t right for me as AJ.  SK had the chemistry with everyone thing that Billy did not- both Carly’s he played against, Jason, the rest of the Q family.  Even Liz.

Billy would have made a better offspring of Celia and Jimmy Lee Holt if they wanted him in the Q fold.

[Vee]

I do think Sean Kanan's A.J. was sympathetic, especially in his initial return in 2012-13. Early on, at least, there was a clear investment in playing him with Michael, with Monica, with Elizabeth, with beloved characters like Brenda to rebuild the character in a positive way. They made a big deal of him racing to see Edward before he died and being heartbroken, racing up the stairs only to miss the moment. They turned on him later but A.J. remained (for me, anyway) rootable.

But I'm biased in general towards A.J., because I also think Billy's A.J. did have real chemistry with the family unit and a lot of people. (It's touching to hear him talk about how close he was to John Ingle and Stuart Damon.) They just had no investment in him for him, in part because as Billy says in that very dishy podcast interview, GH never wanted him and neither did Riche. I was surprised to discover JFP and co. apparently wanted him back full time in 2005, promising him the moon story-wise, and that he was apparently very happy with his material for the first time during that short stint - but DAYS offered him 'an ungodly amount of money' and he went there (despite BW's having spent the past year performing The Normal Heart in NYC and preferring theater), only to not work for his first two months and discover they had no story for him, they just wanted to take him off GH. Classic Ken Corday!

His OLTL story was amusing - he got called by Michael Bruno to talk to FV and then was hired and working the same day on 45 pages of material, only to discover he was a recast of Michael Lowry. "Michael Lowry is six foot two!"

Interesting too to hear that Guza approached him to apologize for never writing for him and 'underestimating him.' Better late than never, I suppose. I have no idea what role Billy played on Y&R.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Vee

[Liberty City]

Billy Warlock played Ben Hollander from 2007 to 2008, who was Jack's campaign manager when Jack was running for Wisconsin State Senate.

[Khan]

Part of that was during LML's run, I think, when she hit upon the notion of Nikki doing something other than sitting all day at the Newman ranch and waiting for Victor to come home.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Khan

[Vee]

He said he got on there because he was a friend of the EP (LML, I presume).

[carolineg]

@VeeI didn't listen to Billy's podcast.  Why didn't Riche want him on GH?  How did he ended up getting the job?  Was the show just in a rock and a hard place with SK's unexpected departure?  And if so, how did BW stay so long?  

[Vee]

As I think someone else mentioned, Barbara Bloom mandated they take him after the initial recast post-SK filmed for a week and didn't work out - she knew from DAYS and Baywatch that he could deliver. Riche and Guza took him because they were told to. It was good money and while he never liked the story he loved all the people he worked with, including Mo and Steve who he was close to and who he said hated beating up on him everyday lol. He was also very, very close with JI and Stuart Damon.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Vee

[Liberty City]

It's also telling he that he tried to get out of his 2005 return, and was unable to.

[Vee]

Before he began filming it, yes. He'd heard from an inside source he was to be killed off and tried to back out but was threatened with litigation. He claims he arrived on-set furious, but JFP took him aside and said it was going to be a fakeout and that they wanted him back on contract full time. BW says he ended up loving his material in '05 but still took the DAYS offer because of the money involved.

I have my doubts any of the big promises they made him about A.J. would ever have materialized, but I am glad he enjoyed his final stint.

[Franko]

Did Billy and Marcy Walker have an amicable divorce? I ask because earlier in the Billy discussion, the idea of his doing a New York soap came up. For whatever reason, All My Children was the first one that came to mind. I'd have cast him as Andrew Hunter, fresh from prison.

[Vee]

I didn't listen as closely to the earlier portion so I don't know how much he discussed MW. He was very candid about having many ups and downs with Julie Pinson before they got married.