GH: Classic Thread

[Khan]

Speaking of Phil's murder, did anyone here watch the story in "real time"?  Was the reveal shocking, or was it underwhelming?  Given what I know about the storyline, I question whether I would have found the denouement satisfying.  I feel like "Who Killed Phil Brewer?" was one of those stories that demanded a huge, shocking twist, like "Surprise!  Phil actually killed himself!".

[titan1978]

It does read underwhelming, especially as integral and horrible as he had been.

[Vee]

I know the later Phil Brent (Martin West) best from his infamous role in John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 - the deranged, grief-stricken father who attacks the local gang and spurs the siege of the local police station which the movie is centered around. He spends most of the film incoherent and babbling. I think he must've done it right after GH.

[depboy]

I hope everyone is having a good weekend.  I thought I'd provide a break from the real world and update you on the GH happenings of January 1971!  Enjoy!

Monday, January 4, 1971: Elaine Baxter is furious with Henry for having told her boyfriend, Barry, that she is pregnant; later Elaine calls to apologize and explain that Barry is happy he is going to be a father and asks that Sharon and Henry stand up for them at their wedding.

Tuesday, January 5: Audrey calls Steve and reaffirms her love for him; Steve and Tom quarrel when Steve refuses, at Audrey's request, to not give Tom any information.

Wednesday, January 6: Diana finds out from Lucille that Phil was a woman chaser; Diana asks Phil if he was unfaithful when he was married and Phil offers to leave her if she will be happier, but she can't let him go.

Thursday, January 7: Tom tells Meg he feels as if Steve and Audrey are conspiring to rob him of his child.

Friday, January 8: Audrey calls Steve and tells him that the doctor is going to take the baby soon; Steve asks Lee about Tom's legal rights.

Monday, January 11: Steve tells Lucille that Audrey is having a C-section; Tom swallows his pride and asks Steve about Audrey, finds out she will have the C-section.

Tuesday, January 12: Jessie and Peter return from their honeymoon; Diana begins to rouse Phil's suspicions.

Wednesday, January 13: Diana tells Phil that Peter inquired after him (as Harold); Phil's reaction is so hostile that Diana accuses him of being jealous.

Thursday, January 14: Jane admits to Howie that she sometimes worries about him and Brooke; Jane is horrified when Meg tells her that she had it out with Howie and told him exactly what she thinks of his friendship with Brooke.  Lee suggests Meg get psychotherapy; she is offended.

Friday, January 15: Peter tells Jessie that Meg must have psychiatric help.  Steve and Lucille are worried waiting for Audrey's call.  We see a nurse writing the following: "Hardy, Audrey. Male child. Caesarean section. Friday, January 15, 1971.  Child's name - Steven - name of father - Steven Hardy."

Monday, January 18: Diana admits to Peter that Harold is stuck in a rut; Peter tells Jessie he may try to help by being friendly with Harold.  Steve admits to Jessie he is terribly worried because he hasn't heard from Audrey.

Tuesday, January 19: Meg becomes enraged when she learns Brooke has a key to Lee's office. 

Wednesday, January 20: Brooke agrees to cut class and go with Howie uphill motorcycle racing tomorrow.  Tom tells Meg to quit worrying about Jane's marriage.

Thursday, January 21: Diana learns that Peter has gone to see Harold and is worried, secretly fearing that Peter might discover Harold's identity; Phil is rude to Peter, says he doesn't have time to be friends.

Friday, January 22: Steve decides he is going to Boston to find Audrey.  Howie and Brooke are stuck for several hours while the motorcycle gets repaired; when he calls Jane to tell her he'll be late, Jane asks if he is alone, and he has to admit he is not.

Monday, January 25: Tom reveals to Jessie his bitterness that Steve is looking for Audrey and the child.  Diana questions Phil about his talk with Peter, and hints that something in the past is keeping him in town; Phil flares up angrily.

Tuesday, January 26: Jane returns from a meeting to learn Howie has gone to a movie; later, when Howie learns that Meg has been talking to Jane about his relationship with Brooke, he tells Jane to pay Meg no attention as she has mental problems.

Wednesday, January 27: Steve writes Jessie that he has had no luck in finding Audrey.

Thursday, January 28: Meg gets increasingly fanatical about Brooke, and slaps her, becoming hysterical; Tom sedates Meg and tells Lee that Meg has had a mental breakdown.

Friday, January 29: Diana questions Jessie and Phil separately about the baby that died; Phil tells her to stop being curious.  Peter tells Lee that Meg has the symptoms of a major breakdown and that her case seems grave.

[soapfave06]

Thanks for sharing; interested to see where the Meg breakdown story goes and I like the slow build up of Diana uncovering Phil’s past. 

[slick jones]

Petros Cassadine can be seen in the early January episodes on this playlist:

GH 1980s Playlist

I'm currently looking through for cast crawls, but I remembered someone earlier in the thread asking about his storyline.

 

[depboy]

February 1971, let's go!

Monday, February 1, 1971: Diana, who isn't feeling well, reads a nursing manual for symptoms of pregnancy.  Lee tells Brooke to keep her distance from Meg.

Tuesday, February 2: Al tells Lucille her ultimatum for him to lose weight is causing him to gain weight instead.  Jane goes to see Meg, trying to reassure her that everything is all right for Howie and her; Scotty shows an axe Brooke gave him for becoming a cub scout; Meg, horrified, takes it away.

Wednesday, February 3: Jessie visits Meg and is shocked by Meg's tales of hearing voices.

Thursday, February 4: Peter drops in for a friendly visit with Harold (Phil), finds him hostile.  Tom talks to Meg telling her she cannot return to work, yet; she tells him about the 'voice' and assumes he is against her, too.

Friday, February 5: Jessie tells Tom that Steve has found no trace of Audrey.  Meg confronts Brooke, accusing her of stealing Scotty's affection; in a fit of hysteria and paranoia, Meg throws the axe at Brooke.

Monday, February 8: Lee tries to explain to Scotty that Meg has been sent to Westwood Sanitarium.  Dr. Albert Wallace tells Diana she might be pregnant.

Tuesday, February 9: When Steve returns without having found Audrey, Tom suggests that Audrey may have changed her mind about him; Steve receives a telegram saying Audrey will be home Friday.

Wednesday, February 10: Diana learns she is pregnant.

Thursday, February 11: Phil recalls the time Diana called him "Phil"; Diana comes home and talks more about Phil Brewer and he blows up at her.

Friday, February 12: Audrey arrives -- without the baby.

Monday, February 15: Audrey tells Lucille and Steve that her baby was born dead.

Tuesday, February 16: A miserable Diana urges Phil to go away with her.  When Steve tells Tom that the child is dead, Tom is thrown, but becomes suspicious.

Wednesday, February 17: Sharon notices Al has been losing weight, but Lucille says she can't see any difference; Lucille insists to Audrey that Tom can't have any claim on her now that there is no child; Audrey calls Peggy Nelson to check on how baby Stevie is.

Thursday, February 18: Lee is miserable about having to go to Washington for work and won't be able to contact Meg.  Jessie tells Diana she and Peter are going to see Harold; Diana asks her not to, and after Jessie agrees, Diana privately suffers about what a narrow escape that was.

Friday, February 19: Peter (without knowing his identity) tells Harold that Phil Brewer has been proved innocent of Polly's murder.  Audrey tells Steve she spoke with Tom and assures Steve she only loves him.

Monday, February 22: Audrey tells Mrs. Nelson that because of the divorce, she must keep the baby's presence secret. (Shut up, Audrey!)

Tuesday, February 23: Audrey gets Steve to agree to adopting a baby boy as soon as they are married.

Wednesday, February 24: Phil comes home late, tells Diana he's been in the library and discovered that Phil Brewer was cleared of the murder charge.

Thursday, February 25: Tom tells Audrey he definitely will not divorce her.

Friday, February 26: Tom tells Jessie his suspicion that Audrey (and perhaps Steve) is trying to hide something important from him.

[FrenchFan]

Audrey was so mischevious at the time ! You couldn’t imagine by watching an older Rachel Ames in the 90s’ or 00s’. Love that !

[soapfave06]

Wow, what a packed month! The Meg climax seems chilling, was definitely not expecting some axe throwing. Peggy Nelson officially introduced for the big Audrey plot and Phil realizing he is in the clear! While the stories don’t move at warp speed it does seem you miss a day, you miss a lot. 

[dc11786]

In the late 1980s, Gene Palumbo revisits this characterization during Simone's pregnancy. Audrey becomes a bit meddlesome and is coaching Simone on how to handle the situation in which Simone is married to Tom and unsure if the baby is Tom's or her former lover Harrison Davis'. The result of her part in this leaves Audrey ostracized by both Tom and Steve and leads to some nice scenes where Audrey has to deal with the fallout of her actions. It is by no means a big story, but it is one of the nicer beats Palumbo has a tendency to play in his B- / C-stories often featuring the longterm hospital staff. 

[depboy]

Audrey's in a mess, Meg's in a padded cell, and Diana's in the family way...

Monday, March 1, 1971: When Diana asks Jessie how she managed Phil's temperament, Jessie admits Phil was always his own man; Phil speculates about whether Jessie is happy and if he should reveal himself and claim her back.

Tuesday, March 2: Jane warms to Brooke; Howie tells Jane that Brooke is interested in Lee; Brooke suggests to Scotty that she be his pretend mother until Meg returns.

Wednesday, March 3: Tom and Steve argue because Tom is very resentful that the whole truth about the baby's death has been kept from him.

Thursday, March 4: Diana, upset and frightened, tells Jane she hasn't seen Harold for days.  Audrey tells Steve that she is going to get a divorce from Tom as soon as Lee returns.

Friday, March 5: Phil calls Diana, and Jessie answers; she confides in Steve that she was sure she recognized Phil's voice; Phil confronts Diana, and learns she knows his true identity.

Monday, March 8: Phil waits for Jessie in his car; when Peter and Jessie return home, happy and amorous, Phil is tortured and drives off with a roar.

Tuesday, March 9: Phil, driving and distracted by the fact that Diana knew his real identity and didn't tell him he was cleared of the murder charge, has an accident.  Audrey gets a call from Mrs. Nelson that the baby has had a bad crying spell.

Wednesday, March 10: Lee learns from Peter that tentatively Meg is diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic.  Lucille tells Steve she is worried because Audrey left late at night saying she was going to visit a sick friend.  Phil is brought into the emergency room.

Thursday, March 11: Diana learns that Harold was brought into the hospital in critical condition.  Tom asks Lee if he has a right to demand that Audrey tell him the name of the doctor who delivered the baby.

Friday, March 12: Diana goes to see Harold in the Intensive Care Unit.  Audrey asks Lee's opinion on whether or not she should file for divorce.

Monday, March 15: Diana tells Jane that she sometimes wants the baby terribly, and sometimes she is miserable about it.

Tuesday, March 16: Audrey asks Lucille to be out tonight so she can be alone with Tom and tell him that she is filing for divorce; Tom is so dear and loving that Audrey cannot bring herself to tell him.

Wednesday, March 17: Dr. Morrison, a neurologist, asks Peter's advice about Phil, without mentioning the patient's name.

Thursday, March 18: Tom buoyantly talks to Jane about how things are working out between him and Audrey;  Audrey tries to be pleasant and controlled when she talks to Tom; when he understands what her intentions are, he gets very angry.

Friday, March 19: Tom talks to Lee about contesting the divorce.  Dr. Morrison tells Diana that Phil's condition is grave; Peter examines Phil, and suddenly becomes aware that the name on the chart is Harold Williamson.

Monday, March 22: While Diana is in the chapel praying, Peter tells Jessie that the bandaged patient in the ICU is Harold.  

Tuesday, March 23: Tom tells Audrey he will not contest the divorce.

Wednesday, March 24: Howie scoffs when Brooke tells him how happy she is being a part of the Baldwin family. Lucille intercepts a call from Mrs. Nelson, and her suspicion is aroused.

Thursday, March 25: Diana tries to keep Peter from sending Jessie in to see Harold.

Friday, March 26: Jessie goes to see Harold...she doesn't recognize him.

Monday, March 29: When Howie warns Brooke about "playing around" with Lee, she flares.  Diana panics when she learns Jessie saw Harold, but is then relieved that Jessie didn't recognize him; Peter gets Diana to agree that Harold should have brain surgery.

Tuesday, March 30: Brooke gives Lee a necktie she bought for him; Audrey gets a call from Mrs. Nelson while Steve is with her, she must do some fancy footwork to keep him from knowing what the call was about.

Wednesday, March 31: Jessie and Diana wait for news; Peter comes to tell them that the operation went smoothly, but cannot tell whether Harold will regain consciousness.  Tom signs the divorce papers, tells Lee he must find out how the baby died; at Mrs. Nelson's, Audrey rocks little Stevie.

[Hunnibunni1025004]

Audrey, Audrey, Audrey, Ugh!!! Never would I have imagined that she played with peoples lives like this. Whew! So, Diana in essence was pregnant by Phil on 3 different occasions, because Tracey and Martha were the results of rape. I remember watching Lee get engaged to Meg and I didn't notice the irregularities that she is obviously exhibiting right now. Also, Lee is a psychiatrist correct?? This is giving the idea that he is an actual MD. I am truly loving these recaps of GH’s yesteryear.

[Vee]

What's crazy to me is how long they tried to keep things going off and on over the years with Audrey being caught between Steve and Tom Baldwin, apparently (and a couple other men?). I don't think she and Steve got properly together til the mid '70s IIRC, and then they brought Tom back around one more time to play spoiler again trying to push her to get back with him by kidnapping Tom Jr. or something? And this was like five years after he raped her.

I'll never forget the amazing work Rachel Ames did in those scenes where Audrey told Liz about her marital rape in the late '90s. So good.

I wonder if it was the Meg recast that led to them making her so unstable, or if that started before.

[Paul Raven]

As opposed to today when couples are given their happy ending way too soon and then writers tie themselves in knots trying to come up with some believable conflicts (and usually fail).

[DRW50]

Weird tone to this ad given the nature of the story.