GH: Classic Thread

[carolineg]

I think Reese *might* have worked if they tied her to Carly in the beginning.  By the time we got to the most interesting of her many backstories and motivations the character was too far gone. 

Pratt/Guza did some great work together early on.  It's crazy how it all fell apart in the end.

That makes me feel bad for JB.  Did we ever find out the end result of that lawsuit?  

[Vee]

I don't think Reese was ever going to work. On paper it was nonsense as is. It was just another attempt by the show to prop up with Sonny with an overhyped, prefabricated female lead ever since S&C imploded onscreen and off and Carly/Lorenzo took off more than they'd intended. They spent several years after that trying to keep Sonny romantically relevant, and nothing clicked til Kate Howard (RIP). I remember the Carly backstory and it was a slapdash retcon that made no sense.

I do think Wuhrer's hiring was definitely a Pratt thing. She had a background in the Spelling soaps and the cheap imprimatur of '90s-2000s cable, etc.

I do hope Bransford is well. I will say it cracks me up that Kelly Monaco still complains about their catfight at Jake's to this day lol. She says JB really went for her, and while the recast never worked for me I'll admit it was a very OG Carly throwdown when I watched it live.

Edited August 17, 2024 by Vee

[carolineg]

I said might have worked lol.  Not likely.  KW would have had to have a lick of chemistry with MB or, frankly, anyone on the cast. 

I think the Carly/Reese backstory actually was interesting on paper.  The way Guza (I think it was just him) told it was awful and disgusting.  Somehow blaming Carly for sleeping with Reese's father and Reese's life imploding.  When Papa Reese was the creeper sleeping with his daughter's underage best friend and that's actually a crime lol.  If both woman were presented as victims and the show explored the trauma of how it got Carly and Reese to where they were currently I think it's an interesting idea.  However, I am 100% sure I gave this more thought right now than anyone at GH did at the time. 

Anyhow, glad Reese died, can't stand KW, and really have no idea why I am defending her lol.  Unfortunately didn't Reese dying lead us to bigger atrocity-SONNY/EMILY?

[Vee]

Yep!

I was just so tired of the same old 'this person stole X's identity!' cliche that especially overpopulated (appropriately enough) primetime soaps in that era and the late '90s. I believe Pratt even did something like it with Peter Burns or another character on Melrose Place. It's always the same: Nothing really changes about the core character but it is needless complication. Like, the secret of Carly/Charlotte and Caroline? Who cares?

Edited August 17, 2024 by Vee

[carolineg]

It's been awhile since I have watched later seasons of MP, but I feel like Peter, Amanda, Rena Sofer's character, and Lisa Rinna's character all had weird backstories where they either changed identities or names or took a fall for another character years ago and held a long lost secret over someone else.  Lol.

TBH, someone still needs to explain to me if Carly "stole" the identity.  Reese made it seem like a huge deal, but I think she just stole the name because she legit thought Reese/Charlotte was dead.  The crux of the issue is how Carly "seduced" her dad I think.

Anyway, now I am trying to decide if Reese's story was worse than Sonny/Emily and I think I am still going to go with Soily.   Even though, admittedly, I think Sonny actually treated Emily decently (once you get past the fact he knew her as a child).

[Contessa Donatella]

I was trying to edit a video & I just got stuck on the opening. Makes me feel good. I miss it. 

https://www.facebook.com/shallotpeel/videos/1584019198849062/?idorvanity=3144711669180711&notif_id=1724259642668986&notif_t=video_processed&ref=notif

[AMCOLTLLover]

Now I’m on October 8th and finished September and the first week of October 1981.

FINALLY the ice princess storyline is over. The climax of that story was well done and Luke pretending to understand Mikkos‘s point of view before overthrowing him. 
We lost Alexandria and Tony Cassadine

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I was really hyped about Mikkos ending and it was really well done. 
It was great that they returned to the normal flow of the show and put human story’s back in front like Mike and his grandma.. She just died  

AND YEEES Monica and Alan are front burner again and Monica gets nasty. Susan gets visits from Monica, Edward and Lila and seems to lose faith here in that thing with Alan and if she would’ve been smart she would’ve run as fast as she could lmao 

We finally got rid of Hutch! I still can’t believe they wasted him for like the last 5 months just to give him finally a decent story for his last few weeks. They could’ve done so much more with the Hutch and Rose Lovestory. It felt a bit rushed but it was still a good one. What I really liked was that Heather came in clutch and covered for Rose. it was so amazing to see Heather being a good support and a real friend for Rose after everything she did for her!

Anne got a dear John latter from Jeff who just dumped her LOL 

The only character I hate is Noah Drake! I know, I know. Women are crazy about him and he is a fan favorite but come on. I saw some YouTube comments etc. and how annoying Bobbie was and that she should’ve given into Noah. But that dude was constantly pressuring her to get Bobbie into his bed. People complained about her obsession with Luke.. But can we talk about that her concerns were valid? Luke was on a damn island and got nearly killed and last year he was on the run from Frank Smith.. So of course she is worried sick about her brother… They both had a rough childhood and she was a teen prostitute. Then she lost Scotty and Roy and just started to open up to Noah and all he cared about was her body. FFS! And everytime they got into an argument he ran to other women (Stacey.. Anne Logan now.. HE even said to Anne that he’s not ready to commit).. But HE wants Bobbie to give up her principles and moral grounds to open up her legs? I really hate him. Thank god Bobbie didn’t gave into him. My girl Barbara Jean deserved so much better than this fool. This is why I support women and them saying No! A NO is a NO! And not constantly pressuring her to finally get her into bed. Noah really lost me tbh.

Edited August 21, 2024 by AMCOLTLLover

[victorlord75]

I am amazed at how much I had forgotten from this time, like the Hutch and Rose romance.  When the Kelly's were first introduced on GH, I was not sure what to think about them   I would wondered if they were a "Ryan's Hope" ripoff.

I knew that Noah and Bobbie were involved, but I seem to remember him more being paired with Tiffany.

I was surprised that through the years, they never recast Anne Logan, who, though could be an annoying goody-two-shoes, she was still related to Lucille and Audrey, so she could have been useful for keeping the Hardy's interesting.

 

 

 

 

[AMCOLTLLover]

I was glad we never saw or heard from Anne Logan again and I’m still annoyed that I still have her around

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maybe Noah and Tiffany will be a thing soon but now Bobbie and Noah are about to break up as it seems and he is befriending Anne.

Bobbie and Noah were together for quite the while tbh. He joined late March 81 and they were seeing each other right from April/may up to October where I am now

[victorlord75]

I can see why you disliked Anne as a character.  With a recast, they could have toned down her annoying qualities and mined her familial connection to true legacy characters of the show.  However, that said, the ratings for the show were good at the time and they survived just fine eventually without having Anne around.

 

 

 

[Paul Raven]

re Anne, Gloria Monty didn't recast. I think Heather was the only exception, probably down to Monty disliking Mary O'Brien's performance.

[titan1978]

They only recast Heather because PFS came up with that storyline to facilitate Jeff’s departure and wrap up the Stephen Lars story. She tried to get Mary to return for the wrap up and she declined. RM was supposed to be a temp.

Instead, Robin was a hit with Monty and the audience. They altered Diana’s murder storyline and that was that. I have never seen an official account that Heather was the original killer. But I have read that it was altered. It just makes sense that it was Heather originally.

IIRC Monty apparently disliked the practice of recasts, especially for featured players. So she didn’t use them at all after Heather.

[victorlord75]

What about Rick Webber being recast from Michael Gregory (MG) to Chris Robinson (CR)?  Does anyone know if Rick was recast pre or post Monty, because I sure don't?  This is a case where I liked both actors for different reasons.  I will say that it was easier to believe, appearance-wise that MG's Rick and RDA's Jeff were brothers as compared to CR's Rick.

[Liberty City]

Gloria Monty introduced the Rick Webber the recast. Michael Gregory played the role from 1976–1978, and Chris Robinson portrayed the role from 1978–1986 (his initial role); Robinson later returned for stints in 2002 and 2013.

Edited August 26, 2024 by Liberty City

[Paul Raven]

In the case of Chris Robinson it was early in Monty's tenure and Rick was important to the story plans. Maybe she didn't like Gregory in the  role. Was he fired or chose to leave? 

She had the advantage of helming the #1 show so  actors were less likely to leave but she lost Jeff, Tracy, Scotty, Bobbie, Anne etc 

And the way the show was written they didn't kill them off and then have to do multiple back from the dead later on.