GH: Classic Thread

[titan1978]

I love the closing Autumn Breeze music, during the holidays you would get the long version with everyone that worked on the show for the whole year in the credits. That speeding ambulance just fit the tone of the show. The music could be modernized, but a speeding ambulance is pretty timeless, as long as it looks like the ones we see today.

The 90’s ABC openings just worked for me. The falling photos AMC one with a similar beat as it faded to black to start the open, the GH overlapping, and the one that holds up the best for me, the mid 90’s OLTL opening. Perfect length, split up so only Viki was in each version, most of the shots they chose were great.

[Vee]

I like the mid '90s OLTL opening (and the focus on the paper, the city, etc). But if OLTL were around today I think an updated version of the famous Peabo song with a similar montage to the mid '90s opening would work best. I don't think anything is as timeless as FOTH and the AMC '90s-2000s tune though.

[DRW50]

Another GH promo I hadn't seen around:

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Someone also put this up, for any of you Katherine (not that Katherine) fans:

 

[victorlord75]

I remember how excited my mother was when "GH" started to use the ambulance visuals in its opening credits, a serious upgrade from the simple blue screen with the words "General Hospital" in big white letters.  There was a new George Wright theme to go along with it.  I have written about this topic before.  I have absolutely zero proof for my opinion, but I think the "General Hospital" speeding ambulance opening was a rip off of the opening for the CBS prime time series "Medical Center".

[carolineg]

I know Katherine is a fairly common name, but it is a bit strange GH used the same name and spelling for two different characters only a few years apart.

Also why is she at the gym of all places selling magazines lol?  Was that a popular thing in the late 80's?

I have heard a lot of people actually liked Katherine and Katherine/Robert.  I found Edie Lehmann lacked charisma or an it factor.   I know EL is more a musician than an actress and Katherine was mostly an okay character-I just find her very forgettable. 

[titan1978]

I didn’t enjoy Katherine. I was much more a fan of Cheryl and Robert, and lots seem to dislike that pairing too. But I also didn’t mind him with Anna, although that was no Duke/Anna, much like they were no Robert/Holly.

I love Holly, but this person they call Holly since the bio toxin storyline is nothing like the woman before. I know she was a con artist, but that was such a small percentage of her onscreen character between her first two runs, now it’s like that is the only part.

Edited January 4 by titan1978

[DRW50]

I sometimes wonder if part of the R/K popularity was Duke/Anna fans who didn't want R/A to get back together but also didn't like Holly, although from the bits I've seen of Katherine she does seem genuinely nice, which can go a long way (a number of characters who are meant to be nice often don't seem that way due to actor portrayal or writing or both - maybe most blatant with GH and Anne, who was vocally hated by a number of fans even years after her exit).

(speaking of Anne, I did not realize until now that she and Noah reconciled offscreen in 2014, when whatever happened to make Rick Springfield stop appearing on the show)

It must be tough for Holly or Robert/Holly fans - multiple regimes just failing the character. I suppose given Emma's health and the lack of respect for Holly in the writing it's just a miracle to get her back onscreen at all.

[carolineg]

I think it's especially difficult for a character that had 2 supercouple pairings (I know Robert/Anna is debatable) to have any other pairing memorable or accepted even if they weren't half bad.  Holly was gone but Anna was still around and I assume the popularity of that pairing was enough to ignore any other pairing unless it was absolutely standout. 

Lightning can strike twice, but is there any character on GH that had 3 super popular pairings?  Robin is the only one I can think of and by that time supercouples were on their way out.

[titan1978]

She did, didn’t she? I was thinking Carly but I don’t think it counts the same because it was three different Carly’s- SB with Sonny, TB with Alcazar, and LW with Jax.

Bobbie was in popular pairings but I wouldn’t put her in the supercouple arena. Maybe for Jake. I have seen a lot of the original Roy and I can’t stand him.

Laura had Scotty and Luke but I don’t think Stefan/Laura ended up strong enough.

[carolineg]

I think you can make an argument for Jason, but I don't know if any of his pairings were "supercouples" exactly.  Robin/Jason come the closest, IMO, but 3 very successful pairings and he probably would have been quite popular with Brenda as well. 

[DRW50]

Jax/Carly is one of those pairings that got such hostility from the show I was never sure how much fan support ever broke through or how sustained it was. The soap press was happy to play along. I still remember their chiding fans who were upset when Carly laughed at her husband being raped.

Robert/Anna is probably one of the more controversial supercouple pairings I can remember - as many fans who love them seem to dislike them together.

[carolineg]

I really liked IR and LW together.   As a Jax/Brenda fan I still thought it was a good pairing although I side eyed Carly a lot.  I also think Jax was an adult who was aware of what it would be like to commit to one of Sonny's exes.  I would consider Jax/Carly more popular than any pairings Sonny had at the time.  I honestly wouldn't hate if they were endgame, but I assume they will either recast Jax or kill him off at some point.

I like Robert/Anna better than Robert/Holly and I have said that more than once worried about backlash lol.  I don't really think they were that popular, but over time it seems like soap press, polls, general musings, etc hold Robert/Anna up as a supercouple.

[DRW50]

I thought they worked well together too, when given the chance.

Sonny had some dire pairings in those years, like that lady lawyer - does that count as a pairing? Does Claudia count as a pairing? And the one that did have some support (Sonny/Kate) seemed to be disliked by the show. Which led to Sonny/Olivia - does that count as a pairing (what was onscreen)?

I think what helps Robert/Anna is they had some good scenes over a period of decades, even if they weren't involved at the time. Robert/Holly mostly have the first run (which I need to see more of) and a lot of mess afterward. I know some appreciated the scenes they had together right before Robert "died," even if those now apparently were meant to have led to them hooking up and having a baby offcamera while Holly had her Holly robot from her closet take over for her in Port Charles for the next year.

[carolineg]

Claire was the lawyer lady that I believe you are talking about.  They slept together a few times and he took her to the island and immediately broke up with her when he found out Brenda was in town.  I have no idea what the point was of the whole thing because it amounted to nothing.  

Sonny/Olivia were a pairing briefly.  She got shot and it was indirectly Carly's fault, but Olivia and Sonny broke up after that.  I don't recall why, but I don't really care lol.  They weren't awful together or anything.  

Regarding Robert/Anna I think there is a difference between two good screen partners and actual romantic chemistry.  I do think Robert/Holly had more romantic chemistry, but I don't really like Holly and haven't for years.  I know it's not her fault, but I think there is something more respectful, honest, and long lasting between Robert/Anna.  Emma Samms is charismatic and delightful but the hatchet job that character endured is hard to come back from.

[titan1978]

There were times when Anna/Robert had some heat IMO. I think their backstory of recreated flashbacks, including their first wedding, worked very well in disrupting Robert/Holly and cementing Anna as more than just an interloper. I also remember Duke being threatened a couple of times by their closeness, and the show would have Robert kind of look at her with longing sometimes. It wasn’t a stretch for me when he called her frumpy and their actual romance began again with her tying him to the pillar and leaving him there. I think the biggest issue is Anna did not need rescuing all the time, and that was kind of baked into Robert Scorpio.

Accepting Anna was a huge ask when she arrived, with her wobbly scar story, being a double angent, Robin  and Holly’s popularity. I think Monty cast her and Robin very well.