14 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Steve and Audrey’s reunion may have even taken longer. Denise Alexander said GH hired her to play a doctor, and the only other thing they really had locked down was she was going to be with Steve. Once they cast her they decided it didn’t work the way they planned so they moved away from that. One of her only issues at that time was they didn’t really have a character for her and it took them months of Lesley airing to figure it out.

When you think about this, it is maddening! GH essentially stole DA from DAYS by offering so much money that it couldn't be turned down. At that time she was said to be the highest paid person in daytime. At DAYS she not only had a character but one with a backstory, family, a future, etc.

14 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

They really kept people apart back then. I think the assertion that married couples are boring is really a flaw in their writing. I don’t care how great Bill Bell and other giants of the genre were- married couples are capable of being written well for. It’s kind of sad that the prevailing thought is that they are so boring, stabile, and stale. Did they all think this about their own marriages?

We know at least that Bill Bell didn't think that. He valued Lee & considered them to be a partnership. He looked at her as his equal.

Agnes Nixon & her husband Bob didn't treat each other as problems to be solved. 

Clearly the Cordays were equals also. 

Irna, of course never married.

 

Edited February 11Feb 11 by Contessa Donatella

9 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Steve and Audrey’s reunion may have even taken longer. Denise Alexander said GH hired her to play a doctor, and the only other thing they really had locked down was she was going to be with Steve. Once they cast her they decided it didn’t work the way they planned so they moved away from that. One of her only issues at that time was they didn’t really have a character for her and it took them months of Lesley airing to figure it out.

They really kept people apart back then. I think the assertion that married couples are boring is really a flaw in their writing. I don’t care how great Bill Bell and other giants of the genre were- married couples are capable of being written well for. It’s kind of sad that the prevailing thought is that they are so boring, stabile, and stale. Did they all think this about their own marriages?

Sadly, in some ways, they were "right" in that Audrey and Steve never had major story again after they married, although part of that is probably down to aging out of a central narrative. At least efforts were made to keep them with more of a focus than Lee or Jessie got. 

This is still a common view now, to the point where one soap I watch (Home & Away) only has characters have children if they are about to leave the show. 

It's amazing that Lesley did manage to connect with viewers, unlike many high-priced poachings from other networks (one of them being Gerald Gordon a few years later). They seemed very close to bungling the whole thing. I know the main reason given is the Laura story. I wonder how much is also down to Michael Gregory. They have such a natural connection which I don't think she has with Chris Robinson. 

Watching the individual episodes is worthwhile, but I'm not sure how I would have felt watching GH in the '60s or early '70s knowing the characters could never progress and would just have to relive the same traumas again and again, only stopping along the way for another dead baby. 

Maybe that's where the patient stories served as a palate cleanser for viewers.

Edited February 11Feb 11 by DRW50

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

Sadly, in some ways, they were "right" in that Audrey and Steve never had major story again after they married, although part of that is probably down to aging out of a central narrative. At least efforts were made to keep them with more of a focus than Lee or Jessie got. 

Until the Jeff is Steve’s son story, which also ends as soon as Jeff is gone in 1981. Then they languish until they decide to age up Tom and pair him with Simone. IMO one of the places where Wes Kenney did right by the show was bringing that focus back. Audrey had a couple of years in the mid 80’s where she barely appeared. IIRC, Ames was taken off contract or didn’t renew and complained publicly about Steve and Audrey having nothing.

Lee actually fares better with a return of his alcoholism story, and his handwringing over messy Scotty post 1981. He even has to lose to Luke for Mayor.

Lesley seems to take off once they start the Laura story, before we get to the Vinnings. A testament to Denise Alexander and her fans I am sure.

Edited February 11Feb 11 by titan1978

This isn't directly GH related, but I was looking around Youtube and see that last year someone put up a 1949 episode of the Herb Shriner Show they'd managed to piece together from a rough tape. This was Herb's first TV show. Herb was the father to three kids, one of them being Kin. I wonder if he knows about this video.

 

Edited February 11Feb 11 by DRW50

3 hours ago, titan1978 said:

They really kept people apart back then. I think the assertion that married couples are boring is really a flaw in their writing. I don’t care how great Bill Bell and other giants of the genre were- married couples are capable of being written well for. It’s kind of sad that the prevailing thought is that they are so boring, stabile, and stale.

Even Joe and Rhoda faced this same dilemma back in the '70's.  In their case, however, it wasn't so much that they weren't as interesting anymore as it was that the producers' hands were tied by Standards and Practices over what kinds of stories they could write for a modern, married couple, especially on a half-hour series that aired during the so-called "family hour." 

So, what happens?  Joe and Rhoda get divorced, and "Rhoda" almost immediately goes down the tubes, as the show now has no premise upon which to hook their stories.

Anyways.  That's one reason why writers hold off on marrying off their characters for as long as possible.

Edited February 11Feb 11 by Khan

5 hours ago, titan1978 said:

Steve and Audrey’s reunion may have even taken longer. Denise Alexander said GH hired her to play a doctor, and the only other thing they really had locked down was she was going to be with Steve. Once they cast her they decided it didn’t work the way they planned so they moved away from that. One of her only issues at that time was they didn’t really have a character for her and it took them months of Lesley airing to figure it out.

They really kept people apart back then. I think the assertion that married couples are boring is really a flaw in their writing. I don’t care how great Bill Bell and other giants of the genre were- married couples are capable of being written well for. It’s kind of sad that the prevailing thought is that they are so boring, stabile, and stale. Did they all think this about their own marriages?

I'd rather they keep people apart for longer than do what Brad Bell did to Brooke on B&B. The poor woman got married almost once a year (or so it felt). It was ridiculous. Thankfully it has slowed down recently.

Edited February 11Feb 11 by I Am A Swede

On 12/18/2024 at 9:49 PM, depboy said:

Hi friends!

As an early Christmas gift, I would like to share with you a reproduction of the script (with commercials) of the Christmas Day 1963 episode of GH.  Enjoy this look at the first time Dr. Hardy reads the Nativity story to the hospital's Children's Ward!

GH - December 25, 1963

I hope you all have a happy Holiday season, and I look forward to sharing more classic GH research with you in 2025!

dep

Thank you very much!!! It is a pleasure to read this piece of history!! I love it!!! I hope we can discover more stories from 1963 and 1964... It is really difficult to know what happened exactly in these episodes!!

On 2/12/2025 at 4:08 AM, DRW50 said:

This is still a common view now, to the point where one soap I watch (Home & Away) only has characters have children if they are about to leave the show. 

That actually reminds me of a friend of a friend who back in 2002 was convinced that they were about to write Toni out of Shortland Street since she'd just given birth to Harry...only for Toni to stay for another 6 years and Harry to grow up into a teenager with a kid of his own before departing (of course as you know they brought him back and made him a killer).

On 2/12/2025 at 9:40 AM, I Am A Swede said:

The poor woman got married almost once a year (or so it felt). It was ridiculous.

No you're absolutely right, it was once a year from 2001 - 2006 (Thorne 2001, Whip 2002, Ridge 2003, Ridge 2004, Eric 2005 and Jack 2006) and then slightly less often after that.

 

On 2/12/2025 at 5:54 AM, titan1978 said:

Until the Jeff is Steve’s son story, which also ends as soon as Jeff is gone in 1981. Then they languish until they decide to age up Tom and pair him with Simone.

Regarding Tom, they did have a college-aged Tom who was the peer of Blackie in 1982. But for whatever reason it seems they weren't that interested in developing the character at that time. And actually I've had the thought that Jack Wagner would have been good as Tom instead of the unattached to anyone Frisco, by that I mean he's Tom but still has all of Frisco's storylines. But then again, that would mean Tony wouldn't have been his brother...though in that alternate universe I suppose you could then put Brad Maule in as a recast Jeff.

Does anyone know where we can watch this episode??? With the real voices....

 

Man, they were harsh on that episode, lol!

IIRC, Michael J. Nelson and several others on the MST3k writing staff were discussing AMC; and somehow, they learned the GH episode was in the public domain and therefore available.

2 hours ago, MissPalmer said:

Does anyone know where we can watch this episode??? With the real voices....

 

@MissPalmer Check your dm’s.

Edited February 18Feb 18 by depboy

17 hours ago, depboy said:

@MissPalmer Check your dm’s.

thank you! ❤❤

 

From the Beyond the Gates press tour: Jon Lindstrom talks about Michele Val Jean being responsible for the creation of Kevin and the Kevin/Lucy pairing.

On 2/17/2025 at 5:45 PM, MissPalmer said:

Does anyone know where we can watch this episode??? With the real voices....

Thanks for sharing the old MST3K cuts. My favorite comment is from someone who wanted to see the rest of the story. A reminder of how soaps can reel you in even when you are just laughing at them as many of those fans were. 

On another topic, reading Wikipedia reminded me that they briefly teased Liz/Jax while she was carrying his baby with Courtney. Was that ever going to be a story? Did it just get dropped?