1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

Does anyone know more about the casting of Dr Mark Dante?

James Yorke was cast in August 76 but it seems he only lasted a few episodes before Michael Delano took over,

I still think it's funny how the guy who played sleazy lounge singer Johnny Venture on "Rhoda" also played Dr. Mark Dante on GH, lol.

Aw, damn it, the 1986 episodes are gone. Well, that sucks.

21 minutes ago, Franko said:

Aw, damn it, the 1986 episodes are gone. Well, that sucks.

That's a shame. I've really been enjoying your writeups, even as I kept meaning to reply to the last commentary. I wish Celia had had a more memorable exit. At least she wasn't killed off, I guess.

5 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

That's a shame. I've really been enjoying your writeups, even as I kept meaning to reply to the last commentary. I wish Celia had had a more memorable exit. At least she wasn't killed off, I guess.

Thank you very much. I guess my writeups are the very last victim of the Laurelton Murders.

For what it's worth, March 3-7, 1986, wasn't a terrible week. It had great work from Finola Hughes and Jackie Zeman as Anna and Bobbie work their way from antagonism and angst over the prolonged murder investigation to respect and support. It helps that Bobbie and Jake ended the week having apparently found Terry's medallion, which would make it likely that she wasn't the killer after all. As for Terry, she spent most of the week in a coma after inhaling that gas.

And we even got the return of Dan Rooney, who helped confirm that Terry and the gas was an accident rather than a legitimate suicide attempt. Dan came to Anna's office announcing himself as a commissioner, and until I looked up that he was working as a buildings commissioner, I straight-up thought that Robert and/or Lee just completely did whatever they felt like with the PCPD hierarchy on their way out.

Speaking of the police, Frisco and Sam's activity this week included discovering that a longtime officer's a dirty cop. Perhaps the show was testing the waters for the Burt reveal? I also wondered if we were going to get a fakeout over Capt. Lewis being a bad guy after all.

Let's see ...

-- Kevin played the devoted husband for most of this week, insisting that if Terry died, it's because Anna killed her, and also punching out Patrick after once again being reminded of Valentine's Day 1983. Patrick had a good point, that he's apologized enough and eventually, if Kevin and Terry's marriage doesn't work, it's between them, not him.

-- Guy Mack and Kimberly McCullough had an adorable moment where they're in the background of a scene and Patrick is just charmed as hell by Robin.

-- Robin, Mike, AJ, and Jason all apparently go to the same school, which is STILL having furnace issues. Fix it or condemn it! Edward does his usual curmudgeon thing about the boys being home/school being closed, and Lila points out that he had private tutors during his youth. For whatever reason, I assumed Edward wasn't born into money, that he was self-made.

-- Mike runs away from home -- AGAIN -- and hides out in the park with Jeff. The Webbers and Derek really needed some family counseling.

-- And out of nowhere, we get a quick scene with Bryan and Willie's mom, setting up a will they or won't they?

On 3/6/2026 at 2:19 PM, Franko said:

Aw, damn it, the 1986 episodes are gone. Well, that sucks.

That does suck! I wish ABC would just be cool and let us watch them on YouTube since they won’t do anything about airing them again!

21 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

That does suck! I wish ABC would just be cool and let us watch them on YouTube since they won’t do anything about airing them again!

I suspect they'll be back at some point, in which case I'll resume my watch-alongs. If I felt like it, I could just watch the Laurelton and Sean Swindles the Quartermaines stories on their own, but I prefer full episodes because it gives you a better idea of what was dominating the show during a given week, along with the element of surprise (like that brief moment with Bryan and his would-be fling).

Also, this feels like a good place to vent about the forced humor in 1986 Soap Opera Digest recaps. If you have to strain that much to make a joke, it wasn't very funny to begin with.

Well, it seems reports of my watch-along's demise were premature. I'll give a full recap on March 3-7, 1986, in the next day or so.

The uploader said this won't be up for long. The opening of the Haunted Star.

General Hospital April 6 1982 W/original ABC commercials

One of the first lines being Ruby saying, "I'll tell you how I got off if you tell me," is certainly a jolt.

I wonder why they didn't have Luke's psychic powers return when they had that silly psychic warfare story with Helena and Chloe. Maybe Tony told them hell no.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by DRW50

I still find that big climax of the David Grey story so wild lol. I've only seen bits and pieces of it but I never forgot that scene. Just bonkers.

I think it was Ron who had them mention 'the Treasures of Malkuth' in a local museum exhibit some years ago, or maybe it was the latest team. Another little cheap nostalgia hit, yes, but it amused me to reference the story at all with Grey and the Sword of Malkuth.

Some thoughts on the April 1982 episode:

• Jackie and Luke work much better as friends talking about his missing Laura than as any romantic pairing. The scene where she was in her Barbie dress and hair and disappointed at him not noticing her made me cringe a bit.

• They clearly let Tony have plenty of room to ad-lib, which was smart as his showmanship sold the opening of the Haunted Star. I can't imagine the script having him refer to Jackie's "Flash Gordon" outfit. Or mentioning Lenny Bruce. (the only Lenny Bruce mention ever on a soap?)

• It amuses me how much Rick clearly hates Amy in any episode from this period I see.

• They do a very good job of showing Lesley trying to move forward while still being scarred by Laura's disappearance. The monologue to Rick about how she doesn't even want to go on the yacht due to it representing so much of her fear over Laura was very important, and not something we'd get today.

• Robin Mattson looked beautiful in her evening getup and styled in a way I don't see very often for her. She looked like she was from the Princess Amethyst comics.

• I realized while watching this that I've read about Emma Lutz but did not recognize her. She's very pretty. I see that she is around through 1984, but her husband Charlie is near the end of line. I wonder what the reason was for that.

• In only a few scenes the Q storylines and dynamics are put through so succinctly. They are in their own universe, so I appreciated seeing Edward drawn into the drama at the Haunted Star opening.

• Janine Turner is just so green. One of the greenest actors I can remember on a soap. I can see why she didn't last very long. (naming her Laura probably didn't help either)

• David's plans for JT Laura are confusing to me (admittedly I haven't seen most of the story). If he's worried about how much she knows and her wanting to be with her sister again, you'd think he would just kill her.

• I wonder how fans felt when, after months of talk of sisters reunited, Laura was gone not even after a year later. Maybe relieved?

• The bond between Luke and Ruby is the perfect blend of tough and tender.

• I truly appreciated the atmosphere of the opening night scenes and the episode as a whole. This wasn't just what we often get on soaps with a bunch of characters sitting around. There is a folksiness along with a certain naughtiness, which is not an easy combo to make. Gloria's age makes me think that she never forgot the movies she saw in the '30s and '40s - I could easily see Andy Hardy wandering into Kelly's or the Haunted Star.

• Something else Monty does well is working with an hour episode. That's not easy - most hour-long soaps are slogs, especially when they aren't firing on all cylinders. Somehow, scenes like the whole magic game with Tiffany and Robert don't just seem like killing time (even though they were) - they're a smart lead-in to the more fraught material which closes out the episode.

• The whole sudden psychic break with Luke was...certainly a turn (complete with that dramatic music), but Tony sold it. He was presumably glad to get to play some darker material.

• Kin Shriner was very appealing during the Scotty hero days, but he is the right kind of dirty hot here. I'm sorry, but I loved him trolling Luke with the gift from Laura.

• For as questionable as the stories may be, I will gladly admit that the cliffhanger with Luke lunging for Scotty, the lights going out, and JT Laura appearing was terrific. Monty and her directing team, her whole production team, knew how to do these set pieces.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by DRW50

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

I truly appreciated the atmosphere of the opening night scenes and the episode as a whole. This wasn't just what we often get on soaps with a bunch of characters sitting around. There is a folksiness along with a certain naughtiness, which is not an easy combo to make. Gloria's age makes me think that she never forgot the movies she saw in the '30s and '40s - I could easily see Andy Hardy wandering into Kelly's or the Haunted Star.

Monty and her team really did nail most casting, and allowing the actors freedom and to become tightknit. You can see the throughline in stuff from slightly later this year, when new additions like Blackie and the Templetons join Robert, Ruby, etc. in seeing Luke off on his wilderness jaunt where he will meet Holly, or in stuff from '83 or '84 and later with Anna becoming a part of the town, Bobbie, Tony, Frisco and Felicia and so on. I don't care about Laura Templeton at all but I do buy the easy rapport between most of the characters or at least actors in the mix because the town, the community and the relationships always feel so lived-in in the original Monty era. (Including, as you say, the Webbers' rising and possibly homicidal exasperation with Amy - whose inability to get off the phone and stop gabbing to a reporter contributed to Laura's abduction in January - which also cracks me up.) They also really played the deep emotion and feeling in the relationships, particularly among Ruby and Luke and Bobbie, over the years. Norma Connelly was so amazing. I'm not sure if she ever got a confrontation scene with Sarah Brown's Carly, or Helena; if she did I'd love to see it.

That's what struck me about the LNL wedding episodes as well, finally rewatching them in full again with more knowledge and experience with their stories in '79, '80 and '81. It's a massive splashout, Monty is on some Baz Luhrmann shít, but it works not only because of the sumptuous production value but because you have gotten to so deeply know and care about all these people. Even the smallest characters from Beecher's Corners or the Lutzes have some history with Luke and Laura. In those Monty years they serviced every little piece.

Edited just now1 min by Vee