GH: Classic Thread

[carolineg]

Brenda's bubble bath fantasy?  Brenda used to have a lot of little fantasy sequences in the early Sonny/Brenda days.  I guess she grew out of it?  It's kind of hilarious the show was testing Vanessa/Brenda out with all these men though.  I genuinely think any of those guys would have been a decent pairing for her.  Not Sonny level, but decent.

[OzFrog]

Currently watching 1994 Karen and Jagger, and I was today years old when I learned that they originally brought on *Miguel* as a potential spoiler. Also funny that even Jagger was warning Brenda against Sonny back in the day!

On a related note, the Labines were such incredible dialogue writers, and every scene actually meant something. For example, this simple scene between Jagger and Rhonda has a surprising amount of depth to it…

 

For any long-time fans out there - is the Ned/Jenny/Paul/Tracy quadrangle worth rewatching?

[carolineg]

I don't remember Miguel being a Karen/Jagger spoiler, but he was an orderly at the hospital and moved into being a singing bartender so I guess that makes sense.   Due to Karen/Jagger's popularity I would assume that would have been a failure, but most everything Miguel did on the show was a failure, so it checks out.

I didn't like the Ned/Jenny/Paul/Tracy stuff personally because I felt Jenny was not worth fighting over and Tracy's character seem to be slightly humiliated by hanging on to Paul.   Others may have different thoughts though.

[janea4old]

@BoldRestless asked about episode numbers on another thread.
It was about Bold episode numbers on the bold thread, so I replied there.
Here is my reply to the side question about GH episode numbers:


This is what I have:

There were four GH "A" episodes in April/May 2020.
These were created by taking prefilmed episodes and editing repeated (recent flashback) scenes into them to make the episodes twice as long and then splitting them into two episodes.
This was to created filler after they stopped filming for the COVID break, to stretch out the airing of what was already filmed into the summer.
So for four weeks they had four episodes split in two.
And then they also had repeats on Fridays from prior years.
That helped stretch the already-filmed episodes out by a couple of weeks before they went entirely into all reruns for the next couple of months.

_______________________

The first split episode was the retcon of Carly and Nelle's past.
https://www.soapoperanetwork.com/2020/04/general-hospital-carly-laura-wright-eden-mccoy
This was supposed to be a single episode but it aired over two days,
as #14519 and 14519A.
And the abc.com episode thumbnail photos show these episode numbers. 
Wednesday, April 08, 2020    #14519   split episode
Thursday, April 09, 2020   # 14519A    split episode

_______________________

The second split episode was Violet's birthday party, stretched into two episodes full of flashbacks of recent convos.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020 #14522 split episode
Thursday, April 16, 2020 #14522A  split episode

_______________________

The third episode expanded into two, had some Mike Corbin scenes.
Episode originally scheduled for Thurs April 23, 2020.
This was split into two episodes and then padded with flashbacks.
Began Thursday April 23, continues Monday April 27.

This was during the time when Fridays were reruns from prior years,
so that's why the new episode began Thursday and completed on the coming Monday.

-Sonny confides in Jason. 4/23/2020 (about Mike)
-Sam crosses Brando. 4/23/2020
-Jordan contemplates resigning. 4/23/2020
-Alexis’ day goes from bad to worse. 4/27/2020 (re: law license)
-Lulu gets a surprising phone call. 4/27/2020 (from Diane)

Thursday, April 23, 2020   #14526  split episode
Friday, April 24, 2020   (repeat from 2018)       
Monday, April 27, 2020   #14526A  split episode
_______________________

And the fourth split episode

The spoiler line-items came from previously-written episode descriptions, later changed --
due to scenes being reassigned to different episodes.

Thursday May 7, 2020
-Michael and Willow put their wounded feelings aside.
-Sonny meets with Curtis.
-Portia is surprised.

Friday May 8, 2020 -repeat from 2018

Monday May 11, 2020
-Michael makes a life-changing decision.
-Julian helps a friend.
-Nelle has a proposition.

Thursday, May 07, 2020 #14533 -split episode
Friday, May 08, 2020 (repeat from 2018)    
Monday, May 11, 2020 #14533A -split episode

_______________________

Episode #14513    Monday, March 30, 2020 Episode #14513
Episode #14514    Tuesday, March 31, 2020 Episode #14514
Episode #14515    Wednesday, April 01, 2020 Episode #14515
Episode #14516    Thursday, April 02, 2020 Episode #14516

repeat    Friday, April 03, 2020 repeat
(April 2, 2019 - remembering Gail Baldwin)

Episode #14517    Monday, April 06, 2020 Episode #14517
Episode #14518    Tuesday, April 07, 2020  Episode #14518

Episode #14519    Wednesday, April 08, 2020 Episode #14519 -split episode

Episode #14519A Thursday, April 09, 2020 Episode #14519A -split episode

repeat    Friday, April 10, 2020 repeat
(July 30, 2018 - Jonah is born and the real Wiley dies at Brad & Lucas' place;
meanwhile Jason and Franco break Carly out of Ferncliff)

Episode #14520    Monday, April 13, 2020 Episode #14520    
Episode #14521    Tuesday, April 14, 2020 Episode #14521    

Episode #14522    Wednesday, April 15, 2020 Episode #14522 -split episode

Episode #14522A Thursday, April 16, 2020 Episode #14522A -split episode

repeat Friday, April 17, 2020 repeat
(Jan. 17, 2018 - Ava undergoes plastic surgery
and has a dream or out-of-body experience)

Episode #14523    Monday, April 20, 2020 Episode #14523    
Episode #14524    Tuesday, April 21, 2020    Episode #14524
Episode #14525    Wednesday, April 22, 2020 Episode #14525

Episode #14526    Thursday, April 23, 2020 Episode #14526 -split episode

repeat    Friday, April 24, 2020 repeat
(Nov. 12, 2018 - Sonny dreams about what his life would have been
if he never joined the mob.)

Episode #14526A Monday, April 27, 2020 Episode #14526A -split episode

Episode #14527    Tuesday, April 28, 2020    Episode #14527
Episode #14528    Wednesday, April 29, 2020 Episode #14528
Episode #14529    Thursday, April 30, 2020 Episode #14529

repeat    Friday, May 01, 2020 repeat
(April 1, 2014 - AJ dies. Three Carlys)

Episode #14530    Monday, May 04, 2020 Episode #14530
Episode #14531    Tuesday, May 05, 2020 Episode #14531
Episode #14532    Wednesday, May 06, 2020 Episode #14532

Episode #14533    Thursday, May 07, 2020 Episode #14533 -split episode

repeat    Friday, May 08, 2020    repeat
(Nov. 27, 2018 - Curtis and Jordan's wedding)

Episode #14533A Monday, May 11, 2020 Episode #14533A -split episode

Episode #14534    Tuesday, May 12, 2020 Episode #14534
Episode #14535    Wednesday, May 13, 2020 Episode #14535
Episode #14536    Thursday, May 14, 2020 Episode #14536

repeat    Friday, May 15, 2020 repeat
(March 30, 2018 - The Metro Court is converted for one evening 
into a re-creation of "Luke's Blues Club" - from GH's 1990s era.
This was to cheer up Mike Corbin)

Episode #14537    Monday, May 18, 2020 Episode #14537
Episode #14538    Tuesday, May 19, 2020 Episode #14538
Episode #14539    Wednesday, May 20, 2020 Episode #14539
Episode #14540    Thursday, May 21, 2020 Episode #14540

repeat    Friday, May 22, 2020 repeat
(April 1, 2015 - Luke Spencer remembers killing both of his parents)

Monday, May 25, 2020 through Friday, July 31, 2020 - all repeats
 

Edited November 7, 2023 by janea4old

[janea4old]

I found two  split episodes of GH in 2023...

Monday, June 05, 2023    Episode #15235
Tuesday, June 06, 2023    Episode #15235A

Wednesday, June 07, 2023    Episode #15236 
Thursday, June 08, 2023    Episode #15237

Friday, June 09, 2023    preempted 
Trump indictment-Florida
Some markets got rerun of #14924 (March 1, 2022)    

Monday, June 12, 2023    Episode #15238  

Tuesday, June 13, 2023    preempted 
 Trump arrest/arraignment -Florida
Some markets got rerun of #14966 (April 29, 2022) 

Wednesday, June 14, 2023    Episode #15239

Thursday, June 15, 2023    Episode #15240
Friday, June 16, 2023    Episode #15240A

I don't know why they did that but it seems to have been around the time that the final episodes would have aired that were written before the writers strike?  Maybe they wanted to do the same pattern as the split episodes in 2020?  But they didn't do it after that, so I don't know.

So that's a total of six "A" episodes.
Four in 2020 and two in 2023.

Edited November 7, 2023 by janea4old

[Khan]

No.

[depboy]

Fifty years ago this month!  Take a look at what was happening on the 7th floor.

Thursday, November 1, 1973: Pre-empted by V.P. Ford confirmation hearing.

Friday, November 2: Lesley finds that Peter still hasn’t gone home; he is unable to face Diana.  Audrey visits Jim and realizes that he either does not know or is concealing the fact that his hands may be badly damaged; Audrey asks Steve about Jim, and Steve realizes her great concern, asks if he himself is out of the picture and if she intends to marry Jim; she doesn’t know.  Peter returns home, exhausted; he and Diana do not have a showdown, but he tells her that he knows about the baby; he plans to sleep on the couch.

Monday, November 5: At their apartment, Peter refuses Diana’s breakfast; he says he will support her and the child and that she can stay in the apartment; and he agrees to stay temporarily.  Howie hurts Jane when he takes an adamant stand against another baby - - - in front of Augusta; Augusta is ready to take Howie’s side.  When Peter arrives at the hospital, Lesley begs him to do nothing drastic.

Tuesday, November 6: Howie checks with Henry on the doctor he’s selected for his vasectomy; Henry is dubious of Howie’s not telling Jane.  Jim tells Steve he will never do surgery again; Steve is sympathetic; Steve tells Jessie he is worried that Audrey will marry Jim out of pity; Jim is bitter and depressed; Audrey tries to help, and is obviously moved by great pity.

Wednesday, November 7:  Diana rocks the baby, and mourns the fact that the baby reminds Peter of Phil.  Audrey consults Lee about her possible marriage to Jim; Lee warns her that pity and gratitude do not add up to love.  The nurse who was on duty when Jim was brought in from his accident tells Steve that Jim had alcohol on his breath.

Thursday, November 8: Howie tells Henry that he had the vasectomy.  Lesley pleads Diana’s case to Peter.  Audrey tells Steve she will stick with Jim to the point of marriage; Steve is devastated and afraid for Audrey.

Friday, November 9: Jane tells Lucille and Jessie that she is not pregnant.  Steve seeks out Lee to talk about Audrey; they are both worried for her future; Steve tells Lee that Jim had alcohol on his breath the night of the accident.  At dinner, Audrey suggests to Jim that they get married, but Jim won’t hear of it until he is well again.

Monday, November 12: Al tries to get Lucille to stop worrying about Audrey.  Jane tells Howie she is not pregnant and is surprised to find his relief mixed with discomfort; privately, Howie admits to Augusta about the vasectomy.  Audrey tells Lucille she is going to marry Jim.  Diana and Peter realize their old spark is gone.

Tuesday, November 13: Phil tries to explain to Lesley that he wants to protect Diana, but Lesley only hopes that Diana and Peter can get together again.  Jane wonders to Mrs. Dawson if Howie’s peculiar reaction to her not being pregnant means he is disappointed; when Howie tells Jane he had a vasectomy, she is devastated.  At Peter’s urging, Lesley tells him the story of her love affair with her English professor, Gordon Grey; Lesley (through flashback) recalls that they met in poetry class, where he impressed her with his sensitivity and understanding.

Wednesday, November 14: Lesley continues her story, remembering passionate commitment to the young professor. Audrey warns Lucille not to tell Steve of her plans to marry Jim; Lucille confides in Jessie; Jessie tries to tell Steve how she needs him and leans on him, but finds herself in tears, to Steve’s bewilderment; Audrey tells Tommy she thinks she found a daddy for him; Jim arrives, happy with the progress he’s made in his left hand, and agrees that he and Audrey should marry.

Thursday, November 15: Diana tells Jane how miserable she is in spite of Peter’s kindness.  Phil tries to get Jessie to understand that he wants to love and protect Diana, but Jessie tells him that he does not understand Diana’s feelings. Audrey goes to Lee with her plans to marry Jim, and Lee is concerned it is based on pity; she admits she hasn’t had the nerve to tell Steve; Steve finds Jim optimistic.

Friday, November 16: Audrey, realizing Steve is hurt because she is avoiding him, asks him to dinner.  Phil asks Peter his intentions regarding Diana, and Peter tells him to bug off.  Howie tries to explain why he had the vasectomy to Jane, but Jane resents his  doing so without consulting her.  Lesley continues her story, telling Peter how she discovered she was pregnant by Gordon, and then found he was married; she went away to have the baby, and that the baby was born dead. Before Steve can propose to her, Audrey tells him she is marrying Jim.

Monday, November 19: Lucille and Audrey quarrel; Lucille defends Steve.  Howie tells Henry that his vasectomy is breaking up his marriage.  Diana tells Lee her troubles and asks if he thinks she should divorce Peter; he advises her to give her marriage time to recover.  Jim is convinced that Audrey is marrying him out of pity; she insists she is not and they set December 14 as the wedding date.

Tuesday, November 20: Jessie asks around what Diana and Peter have named the baby, but no one has ever heard what it is.  Jane tells Lucille of the vasectomy; Lucille is irate.  Steve congratulates Jim on his forthcoming marriage.  Mrs. Dawson defends Howie to Jane in regard to not wanting a large family, but when Jane tells her of the vasectomy, Mrs. Dawson is stunned; Howie arrives and suffers Mother’s indignation.  Diana asks for help naming the baby, but finds he would rather not.

Wednesday, November 21: Al coaches Lucille on what not to say to Audrey, but of course when Audrey comes, everything goes wrong; Audrey tells Lucille nothing will change her mind.  Lesley tells Peter about her disastrous second marriage that followed her affair with Gordon and the death of their love child; Steve asks Lesley to check a new patient, Florence Grey. Jim comes to show Audrey that his bandages have been removed; he is optimistic about their marriage and gives her an enormous ring.

Thursday, November 22: Pre-empted.

Friday, November 23: Pre-empted.

Monday, November 26: Diana tells Jane she is thinking of naming the baby Martha, and that Peter isn’t interested.  Jessie asks Steve to Thanksgiving dinner.  Peter asks Lesley why she never went back to Gordon; Lesley meets Florence, but does not connect her to Gordon.  Diana asks Lesley for Thanksgiving dinner; hating to be alone with Peter; when Peter hears of the plan, he tells Diana he would rather not.

Tuesday, November 27: Steve tells Lesley that Mrs. Grey is fond of her.  Lee and Audrey talk about her marriage.  Tommy reassures Audrey by his reaction to Jim, calling him “Santa Claus”.

Wednesday, November 28: Jane tells Phil that the baby’s name is Martha; furious, Phil confronts Peter; Peter tells Phil that Diana chose the name.  Peter tells Lesley she is partly responsible for the tragedy of her affair because she deliberately disappeared without telling Gordon where she was going;  Lesley and Florence make friends, and Florene tells Lesley of her husband, whom she calls Brad; she wants Lesley to meet him.  Jane urges Diana to keep trying with Peter.

Thursday, November 29: Audrey shows off her ring; Jessie persuades her to invite Lucille to the wedding; when Audrey does, Lucille weeps but agrees to come.  Howie hits the ceiling when Jane suggests they adopt a baby; they quarrel and Jane walks out.  Lucille tells Steve she prays something will happen to stop the wedding; Steve recalls the nurse telling him of the alcohol on Jim’s breath; Audrey invites Steve to the wedding; he accepts and assures her he will always be standing by if she needs him.

Friday, November 30: Lesley persuades Peter to go home for dinner instead of staying at the hospital; Diana tries to rouse Peter’s affection for Martha, but it doesn’t work.  Florence is eager to have Lesley meet Brad; Lesley will not be in the hospital this evening; the two talk about marriage, Florence claiming hers has stability but little passion, which is how she likes it.

[OzFrog]

Sometimes there are some shots when rewatching old storylines that just make you so happy. Having made it all the way to Karen and Jagger’s wedding, I can honestly say that this shot is one of the sweetest ever (Stone and Jagger immediately post-wedding). In another thread, a poster commented that back in the old times, the payoff was worth it. This was no exception - these two worked hard to repair their sibling relationship for ages, and this was the moment it finally came together. What can I say, I’m a sucker for happy moments like these…

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[FrenchFan]

Thanks so much @depboy

[depboy]

We are getting close to the last of the daily summaries that I have (for now)...enjoy December 1973!

Monday, December 3, 1973: Jane is afraid her marriage might be on the rocks; Mrs. Dawson urges Jane to tolerate Howie until he changes his mind; Howie feels like the women are ganging up on him and explodes; he storms out.  Lucille is disturbed when Lee agrees to stand up for Jim at the wedding; after Steve rebukes Lucille for listening to hospital gossip about Jim having alcohol on his breath the night of his accident, Lucille accuses Steve of not being a fighter; she is horrified by what she has said.

Tuesday, December 4: Al bawls Lucille out for interfering with Audrey and making Steve angry; Lucille tries to apologize to Steve, but manages to make things worse.  Jim tells Audrey he knows her friends disapprove of the marriage; he insists that she must want him for herself…not as just a father for Tommy;  Jessie joins Lee, Audrey and Jim for dinner; Audrey is puzzled when Jim says no to an offer of wine, saying he’s given up drinking; alone, Lee remembers Steve’s suspicions of Jim.

Wednesday, December 5: Peter is worried about Diana when Phil calls and upsets her; Peter consults with Lee about how Phil can be kept from interfering in Diana’s life; Lee says a court battle would bring much difficulty; Peter threatens Phil to little avail.  Lesley remembers her romance with Gordon; Gordon comes to visit Florence; Lesley misses seeing him.

Thursday, December 6: Jane tells Augusta that Howie hasn’t returned home; Howie comes home to collect some clothes; Mrs. Dawson tells Jane that Howie visited; Jane is still torn between anger and sorrow; Howie goes to see Augusta who is sympathetic.

Friday, December 7: Jane tells Augusta that Howie has moved out.  Lesley and Florence chat about college and Florence discovers that Lesley attended Ivy State where her husband once taught; Lesley realizes that Florence’s husband Brad, is Gordon Grey, whom she was once so deeply in love with.  Peter enlists Steve’s aid to protect Diana from Phil; when Phil is confronted by Steve, he insists he is standing by to help Diana is she needs him.

Monday, December 10: Lesley worries about whether she dares see Gordon again, face to face; unable to stay away, Lesley questions Florence about her husband.  Lucille tells Audrey about the liquor on Jim’s breath the night of the accident; Audrey is furious at Lucille for repeating vicious gossip.

Tuesday, December 11: Jane tells Jessie her and Howie have separated.  Lee encourages Diana to fight for her marriage.  Jessie goes to see Lucille and hears the story of Lucille telling Audrey of Jim’s drinking.  Peter gently urges Diana to go out more; after he has gone to bed, she enters his room in a nightgown, but he rejects her.

Wednesday, December 12: Lucille gets little comfort from Steve when she tells him she told Audrey of Jim’s drinking on the night of the accident; Steve seeks Audrey out to tell her Lucille is sorry; Audrey and Lucille make up.  Jim goes to see Lee, who lectures him on Audrey’s problems; Jim says he can try to make her happy.

Thursday, December 13: Diana tells Peter that she cannot go on living in a marriage that is meaningless.  Lesley visits Florence, who gives her a gift; Lesley catches glimpse of Gordon and barely avoids being seen.  Phil tries to persuade Diana to leave Peter; when he attempts to see Martha, Diana hurls a heavy pan at him, hitting him in the head.

Friday, December 14: Henry tells Jane he went to visit Sharon, and is alarmed that Sharon has reconnected with an old beau.  Steve shows Jessie a lovely Chinese good-luck figurine he has bought for Audrey.  Alone, Jim takes the last drink in a bottle and swears he will never take another and smashes the glass.

Monday, December 17: Augusta sympathizes with Henry when he tells her Sharon may leave him.  Audrey is moved deeply by Steve’s gift; the guests arrive at the apartment for the wedding; Audrey collapses in the middle of the ceremony.

Tuesday, December 18: Phil, with his head bandaged, tells Lesley he is ready to give up on Diana.  Lesley goes to see Florence; Jim, Steve and Lucille make special effort to revive Audrey; she wants to continue with the ceremony, but the others refuse; Lucille whispers to Al that this delay is what she has prayed for.

Wednesday, December 19: Steve tells the staff that Audrey fainted and the wedding has been postponed; Jim is kind with a very apologetic Audrey.  Diana tells Peter about hitting Phil with the pan; Peter is more amused than upset.  Phil tells Steve he is quitting and leaving town.

Thursday, December 20: Lesley is astonished to see Phil’s things are gone from the office; Steve explains; Lesley tells Peter that Phil has left; Peter is relieved.  Augusta tries to cheer Howie, while Jane tells her troubles to Henry.  Lesley tells Jessie she has seen Gordon, the man she loved and realized he is Florence’s husband; when Gordon leaves after visiting Florence, Lesley freezes; he does not see her.

Friday, December 21: Jane asks Henry to come help her decorate her Christmas tree.  Jessie and Steve discuss the many things that have happened over the past year; Jessie tries to persuade him to tell the Christmas story; a nurse from pediatrics asks Steve to come tell the story to the children; Audrey will bring Tommy; with assistance from Scott, Steve tells the Christmas story.

Monday, December 24: Henry calls Sharon, who tells him she has filed for divorce.  Augusta asks Jane if she minds if she tries to cheer up Howie; Jane can hardly say yes; Augusta teases Howie into having a beer with her; Henry comes to the Dawsons with an ornament for the tree; Howie returns with a gift for Jane, sees Henry and leaves in a huff.

Tuesday, December 25: Lee comes to the hospital and tells Lesley that he and Scott are having a tough time on this first Christmas without Meg; Lee shows Peter a will he has received from Phil, leaving everything in his estate to Martha;  Peter tells Diana about the will; she hopes that Phil is gone for good.

Wednesday, December 26: Lucille bawls Howie out.  While Florence is in the bathroom, Lesley answers the phone…it is Gordon; he finds Lesley's voice familiar.  Henry comes to Jane with a present for Joanne just as Howie arrives; Howie walks out when he sees Henry.

Thursday, December 27:  Lucille presses Audrey about her wedding plans; they quarrel; Al warns Lucille, telling her to butt out.  Over lunch, Henry and Jane find comfort in each other; Howie and Augusta find comfort in each other, too.  Steve worries about Audrey; Jessie and Steve share their thoughts about Phil.

Friday, December 28: When Lucille suggests to Audrey that perhaps she unconsciously does not want to marry Jim, Audrey is furious.  Howie tells Augusta he is thinking of going skiing; later, Augusta tells Jane she is thinking of going skiing with Howie, which hurts Jane.  Lee asks Audrey her wedding plans and Audrey reveals her uncertainty.

Monday, December 31: Jessie is invited to be co-chairman of a nursing seminar at the university.  Peter tells Diana he won’t be home for New Year’s Eve; she is hurt.  Florence shows Lesley a huge bouquet that was sent from her father and how he spoils her; she tells Lesley she is determined to make a better go of her marriage.  Jim resists champagne until Audrey decides on a wedding date; he uses it as an excuse to go off the wagon.

[depboy]

No problem! I hope you’re getting valuable information.

[janea4old]

omg @depboy your recaps of November and December 1973 from 50 years ago --
these characters Gordon Grey and Florence Gray.
Gordon is Laura Webber Collins' biological father.  And Gordon Grey and Florence Gray are the parents of present-day characters Martin Grey and Cyrus Renault.

I didn't know that Gordon and Florence were part of an actual storyline from 50 years ago.

I was watching every day after school.  But if I missed something, there was no internet and I had no access to soap magazines, so I often missed parts of storylines, or I completely forgot that some characters existed.

 

And now we get to see the recaps of this.  Cool!

Fifty years ago!

Edited November 13, 2023 by janea4old

[dc11786]

Not a longtime fan by any stretch, but have been dipping in and out of different times in the 1990-1995 era. I enjoy parts of the Ned / Jenny / Paul / Tracy quad, but I can really watch anything from 1992-1993 and find some things to enjoy. Ned and Jenny are clearly a redo of Ned / Dawn, but slightly more effective because Wally Kurth only has to try and create chemistry with Cheryl Richardson while Kurt McKinney had to try to make it work with the four Dawns in less than two years. 

I think when Jenny and Ned are together, and happy, while Paul lusts for Jenny, and Tracy is pregnant with Dillon is solid. Watching Tracy who has gotten everything she has wanted for most of her life not know what to do to get Paul was fun for me to watch, but I can see how others wouldn´t like Tracy being in a position that makes her look desperate. I liked see another side to Tracy. That period (1992-1993) is very interesting because while the story isn´t always the strongest, a lot of the moments between characters evoke strong emotions and play on history. I find little moments to love. 

Once Paul and Jenny get together, there part of the story isn´t my favorite. Paul tends to be a bit of a deadend. Satterfield was more effective on ¨Savannah¨ in a swarmy role, which may have benefitted Paul. Richardson can be charming when they allow Jenny to show intelligence and spunk. When she gives as good as she gets, I find Jenny highly enjoyable. The umbrella story involving the sentorial hearings regarding Jenny´s affair with Senator Kensington ties a bunch of splintering groups together. Tracy and Marco Dane are great together. Julia and Ned are a surprisingly effective B-couple (maybe B is generous though I remain they function well for story purposes), but theirs is a doomed relationship because Ned carries a torch for Jenny. The business stuff between Paul, Bill, Ned, and Julia in early 1992 seems to work to move the story along, but it´s nothing that I would cry about if I hadn´t seen.  

I would try it out yourself and see if you like it. I don´t think they get the full angsty love montage music sequences set to then current pop hits like Jagger and Karen, but the story definitely has some strong emotional beats among some stretches of boredom. 

Edited November 13, 2023 by dc11786

[Paul Raven]

Press Democrat 27 June 1991

 New producer, new life for 'General Hospital'by Jerry Buck

 Gloria Monty, whose Innovations sent "General Hospital" to the top of the daytime ratings a decade ago. Now she is back at ABC for another try at resuscitating the slumping soap opera. In her first reign as executive producer, from 1978 to 1987. Monty began with daytime's  usual fare of amour, animosity and angst and then gave the program a new twist. She filled "General Hospital" with larger-than-life characters and outrageous situations that seemed right out of James Bond.

The once-placid town of Port Charles seethed with underworld Intrigue, spies, weird Inventions and impossible romances. At the time of her departure, the heat was gone from the show, and although it was still in first place, it was being overtaken by "The Young and the Restless" on CBS. During her absence, the CBS show took firm possession of first place as "General Hospital" lost some of its luster. At one point the show had fallen to fifth place. It's now back up to second place among soap operas and third overall In the daytime ratings, behind "The Young and the Restless" and "The Price Is Right." "ABC wanted me back to see if I could infuse new life Into the show," says Monty, who returned last fall. "Gradually. It's been going downhill, as has all of daytime. We've had to make some drastic changes. I had the unfortunate duty of letting the writers and some of the actors go. "Their contracts were up for renewal, so either we continued In the same vein for another six months or we made a fresh start. We're bringing in new people to see how It works."

"General Hospital" reached the highest ratings in the history of daytime television In November 1981, with the wedding of Luke and Laura, played by Anthony Geary and Genie Francis. The ratings were 12.7. The show, still second behind "The Young and the Restless," had a rating of 7.0 the first quarter of this year. The current rating Is down to 5.5, which Monty and ARC say Is due to all the changes taking place in the show. Monty's housecleaning added to her reputation for being tough and has inspired a lot of rumors. She dismisses the rumors as a smear campaign. "We're doing everything we planned to do," she says. "We're getting rid of everything that we feel doesn't work. I think we know quicker than the audience what's working. We brought In a new family, but they didn't catch on. I think the audience was afraid we were going to get rid of all the old people."

The show centers on four families, the Spencers, Scorpios, Quartermaines and the Hardys. The Hardys, once the main family, are playing a smaller role because of the aging of some of the players.

This time she's drawing on writers from prime time. Except for her sister, Norma Monty, all of the writers previously worked on such shows as "Dallas," "Trapper John, M.D.," "Nightingales," "The Colbys" and "Dynasty." "These writers from prime time will give us new blood and new sophistication," she says. "1 wanted to do as I did before break the mold. It didn't take them long to catch on to working a serial. . . We're putting in more humor. "I didn't want the writers who go from show to show and haven't learned anything new. That's why I wanted writers from outside daytime. Monty says one thing she's had to drill into the writers is the soap opera doesn't have the budget or the time of a prime-time show. That means the production rarely goes outside for location work, although they did go to the harbor for a sequence involving a ship.

After she left "General Hospital" in 1987, Monty went to 20th Century Fox to develop prime-time series. Monty says the secret of getting an audience to accept stories that have elements of fantasy is to do them realistically. "You use realistic actors who play very real people who are caught in these larger-than-life situations," she says. "Our stories have some fantasy in them, but they're not that different from some of the movies. We have a style of playing that's like Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn."

[Soapsuds]

How long did Monty last during her second run? Who did she get rid of?

The show was fine at #2 but ABC got greedy and wanted it at #1 which wasn't going to happen again.