Although I feel bad for having almost nothing to offer, I realized that GH was the only "current" soap (until now) that does not have a thread that can be used for discussing classic storylines, posting articles, etc. While never a personal favorite of mine, I do consider GH to be the second-most important soap in the genre's history (with ATWT ranking as the most important soap), given the fact that it was largely responsible for shifting the genre's direction away from the "traditional"/P&G method of storytelling to campy plots that were written in an attempt to capture the popularity of young America. (To be fair, Y&R was the first soap designed to blatantly appeal to youth. However, nobody was better at doing this--or was more copied than--GH was back in its 80's heyday.)

To get things started, here is a 1963 (partial) promo for the "new" soap:

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QrCHlvQrnrs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here's a 1963 opening (in poor video quality), with a very beautiful theme:

<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xGoM9CP1p2w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The iconic opening sequence that ran from the 1975 until 1993 had two themes (the first of which lasted just a year), as shown below:

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qe8ZYMK1SiA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jSPVL8HkPfk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edited May 2, 201213 yr by Max

1 minute ago, SoapDope78 said:

David Hamilton looks like a poor man's Robert Reed with that 70's blow dry perm. Did David and Laure have love scenes? Ick !!! if they did. I like this original (Michael Gregory) version of Rick better than Chris Robinson's version. I recently read Gregory quit the show after the 1hour expansion. I always assumed Monty replaced him.

Robinson always comes across as skeevy and having read a bit about him offscreen it fits. I seem to remember comments that Charleson and Alexander didn't like working with. I could picture someone like Chad Everett playing a recast Rick at that time.

Chad Everett might have still been too much of a name to do daytime in 1978, less than two years after Medical Center ended.

I think both Robinson and Gregory were quite good from what I've seen, but there's no doubt CR was stiffer and more patrician which probably suited Rick's evolving role on the canvas. It seems Robinson was very popular in the role despite the leading ladies' issues with him, which I think ended up water under the bridge decades later. Pity about CR's later years though.

I've always wanted GH to bring on his son Rick Jr., as sort of another swinging male medical dick at the hospital. Fulfilling some of the archetype the Webber brothers had. But you can't really do that with Ric Lansing (no apparent relation to the other Lansings!) around. You'd have to change the name.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by Vee

1 hour ago, Franko said:

Chad Everett might have still been too much of a name to do daytime in 1978, less than two years after Medical Center ended.

His career seemed to slide into the toilet after MC ended. Everett continued to work sparingly till his death. I'm surprised he didn't wind up doing a long-term soap gig (daytime or primetime). You would think Aaron Spelling would have latched onto him for Dynasty, The Colby's or built a series around him. He did do one episode of Hotel with his old TV rival James Brolin (they were friends in real life). I saw on youtube he did an interview on Dick Cavett in 1972 where he appeared to have been drinking. The other guest was Lily Tomlin. Chad was discussing an upcoming TV special he had done about animals. He joked/commented that his wife being the most beautiful animal he owned. Lily Tomlin was disgusted and walked off the set. It was awkward and cringy. When he first came out, he handed Lily a paper bag that supposedly had panties in it.

He also tried singing during his MC years and cut a couple of albums that were super cheesy.

He had a very short lived CBS series Hagen in 1980.

47 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

He had a very short lived CBS series Hagen in 1980.

According to Wikipedia 9 episodes were produced of Hagen but only 7 aired.

Too bad he did not have someone pushing him hard like Robert Urich. Urich would do a series it would last 1 season or so get cancelled and he would back next season in an all new series. Urich had starred in about a dozen or more TV shows by the time he passed. Networks were trying hard to make him happen and it wasn't really working. Vegas and Spencer For Hire were 2 that lasted more than 1 season.

Good lord, I didn't know all that about Chad Everett. Last I recall of him was an unfortunate stint on Melrose Place (which led a young me to ask 'who the fúck is Chad Everett?') and of course his memorable cameo in Mulholland Drive where he pretty much played to his IRL type.

7 minutes ago, Vee said:

Good lord, I didn't know all that about Chad Everett. Last I recall of him was an unfortunate stint on Melrose Place (which led a young me to ask 'who the fúck is Chad Everett?') and of course his memorable cameo in Mulholland Drive where he pretty much played to his IRL type.

I remember him for a moving performance in a strong Cold Case episode about gay cops who were lovers in the late '60s. That's the first time I ever heard "My Back Pages," as it was used for the last scene, which really got me at the time.

The last place I saw him was in one of Cinemax's very last softcore shows, Chemistry, where he was the father of the male lead and all his scenes were on a houseboat. Sally Kellerman was also there.

I'm not entirely sure what went on with him after MC to help his career decline. When I used to read some of the old TV gossip magazines some from the early '70s had messy articles about him dealing with a paternity claim or something along those lines (IIRC he was vindicated).

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by DRW50

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

I remember him for a moving performance in a strong Cold Case episode about gay cops who were lovers in the late '60s. That's the first time I ever heard "My Back Pages," as it was used for the last scene, which really got me at the time.

The last place I saw him was in one of Cinemax's very last softcore shows, Chemistry, where he was the father of the male lead and all his scenes were on a houseboat. Sally Kellerman was also there.

I'm not entirely sure what went on with him after MC to help his career decline. When I used to read some of the old TV gossip magazines some from the early '70s had messy articles about him dealing with a paternity claim or something along those lines (IIRC he was vindicated).

Here is the wiki entry about the messy paternity suit.

Beginning in 1973, actress Sheila Scott initiated court proceedings against Everett three times, claiming her son Dale (born 1973) was fathered by him. The lengthy and complicated paternity suit ended in 1984 when a California Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Everett. The court stated:

"From the evidence adduced, the jury concluded that Everett was not Dale's father despite the 94.67 percent probability of paternity from the HLA test"... "In this appeal, we affirm a judgment following a jury verdict finding the defendant and respondent not to be the father of the minor child."^[21]

Everett refused to take any more tests regarding paternity. He entered into a private financial settlement with Scott in 1973 but steadfastly maintained he was not Dale's father.^{[22][23][21][24]} In 1991, Scott was sentenced to three months' probation following a guilty verdict of "harassing" Everett for 18 years, including death threats against him and his wife. She was ordered to undergo psychological testing and never to publicly declare that Everett was Dale's father.

Thanks @SoapDope78 I had no idea it lasted THAT long. Some ask why Jay Z doesn't do this or that in a similar long-running suit he's had. I guess can see why.

I guess Robert Urich must have had good TV Q scores BITD.

Viewers liked him but not necessarily the shows he was in.

5 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

I guess Robert Urich must have had good TV Q scores BITD.

Viewers liked him but not necessarily the shows he was in.

When he hosted SNL in 1982, they had a running gag of him trying to impersonate Burt Reynolds and how he wasn't famous in his own right. I thought, "Well, he's famous enough for you to ask him to host..."

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

I guess Robert Urich must have had good TV Q scores BITD.

Viewers liked him but not necessarily the shows he was in.

I agree. He had several near-hit series - the original "S.W.A.T.," "Vega$," "Spenser: for Hire" - that diehard fans still recall fondly, yet never had real staying power. That's why I feel like he would've been much more successful on a daytime soap (working opposite Susan Lucci on AMC immediately comes to mind, lol).