On 6/7/2026 at 4:25 PM, DRW50 said:

I thought Lowry was pretty bad on AMC at that time, although he eventually got a little better. Still, he could have been a departure.

I freely admit I always found him incredibly attractive and thought he had enough going on to at least be a soap hunk if he had the right pairing or character. But probably not strong enough to make AJ into an actual character.

On 6/7/2026 at 4:40 PM, carolineg said:

Katherine was a really ill defined character and MBE doesn't really work for the part as written. It makes me mad sometimes they derailed Stefan's arcs to appease some recreation of Patch/Kayla that DID NOT WORK at all.

This is exactly part of the problem I think Shelley Curtis was responsible for during that time on GH. I don’t see this coming from anybody but her. It did give us the fantastic scenes with Laura and Katherine at the Ball though. Much like Michael’s conception, it was an inherited thing Guza spun into gold when he came back in late 1997!

BTW, I also want to make clear that I love Shelley Curtis and think she should be working on soaps, either DAYS or GH right now, and both shows would be better for it. I just think it was kind of a rough patch at GH and the beginning for me as a viewer tuning into a soap and seeing it fully populated by huge actors from other shows consistently. I can imagine how OLTL fans felt when JC and GR invaded after Rauch pushed them out at Another World!

14 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

BTW, I also want to make clear that I love Shelley Curtis and think she should be working on soaps, either DAYS or GH right now, and both shows would be better for it.

I agree and I'll add Y&R to that list, too. Y&R has improved since Sally McDonald became the show runner, but I think the show still lacks vision.

Rewatching lately I think Leigh McCloskey is perfect as Damian. That voice and his looks really do it for him, and he has real chemistry with many women. Had they not turned him into a bit of a cartoon in '95/'96 he might've been able to run a bit longer. They could still add some surprise Smiths today to make trouble.

I last saw McCloskey when he played Dorian's very brief paramour to write her off OLTL in 2000. As someone who grew up not making the connection between Damian and LMC's role in the Dario Argento Italian horror classic Inferno, it was a shock to realize they were one and the same (probably right before or after he began on Dallas).

I get what people are saying about the DAYS transplants. I think SN always worked well throughout despite his story falling apart in '97. I still miss Stefan. And I will stick up for MBE. No, Katherine shouldn't have stayed as long as she did or had all the stories she had, but MBE played her to the absolute hilt and she's fun to watch at least early on making trouble, in '94/'95 (I skip over all the Stefan stuff). It was night and day vs. Kayla to me. That's one more needless undead return I might support, Katherine turning up briefly to be behind conning Cody and Mac or something. Or Katherine's twin! I'm not picky.

10 hours ago, Vee said:

I get what people are saying about the DAYS transplants. I think SN always worked well throughout despite his story falling apart in '97. I still miss Stefan. And I will stick up for MBE. No, Katherine shouldn't have stayed as long as she did or had all the stories she had, but MBE played her to the absolute hilt and she's fun to watch at least early on making trouble, in '94/'95 (I skip over all the Stefan stuff). It was night and day vs. Kayla to me. That's one more needless undead return I might support, Katherine turning up briefly to be behind conning Cody and Mac or something. Or Katherine's twin! I'm not picky.

It wasn’t as egregious as Valentini to me, but it was noticeable and not fully successful. MBE did her best, she didn’t seem like Kayla (neither did her Sierra). Nichols was fantastic. But MA and Billy Warlock did nothing to shore up either character, and the right actor might have made a huge difference.

12 hours ago, Vee said:

They could still add some surprise Smiths today to make trouble.

Speaking of the Smiths, has GH ever established the family's ethnicity or nationality? Is "Smith" their actual name, or did Frank or one of his ancestors anglicize it? I realize the show wanted to avoid stereotyping Italians - which is why they also called it "The Organization" and not La Cosa Nostra - but the idea of a WASP who isn't Irish running an organized crime outfit is just absurd.

2 hours ago, titan1978 said:

But MA and Billy Warlock did nothing to shore up either character, and the right actor might have made a huge difference.

You could tell almost right away how disappointed Bob Guza, Jr. was with BW, lol.

On 6/7/2026 at 4:40 PM, carolineg said:

Katherine was a really ill defined character and MBE doesn't really work for the part as written. It makes me mad sometimes they derailed Stefan's arcs to appease some recreation of Patch/Kayla that DID NOT WORK at all.

I'm gonna be annoying and remind folks once again that I'm a Stefan and Katherine fan.

But putting that aside I want to say that I miss the overall scrappiness of characters on GH. It seems that everybody regardless of socioeconomic status, age, gender, or what their position is in a story (hero/heroine, anti heroine/hero, or villainess/villain) they talked trash like they could beat someone up or they just directly did it. Even prissy (this isn't a insult) characters like Brenda and Maxie would try to catfight. Even dudes like Ned and Patrick who hated the mafia would try to fight.

Edited Wednesday at 08:32 PM1 day by melanatedbtgfan

16 hours ago, melanatedbtgfan said:

I'm gonna be annoying and remind folks once again that I'm a Stefan and Katherine fan.

But putting that aside I want to say that I miss the overall scrappiness of characters on GH. It seems that everybody regardless of socioeconomic status, age, gender, or what their position is in a story (hero/heroine, anti heroine/hero, or villainess/villain) they talked trash like they could beat someone up or they just directly did it. Even prissy (this isn't a insult) characters like Brenda and Maxie would try to catfight. Even dudes like Ned and Patrick who hated the mafia would try to fight.

MBE and SN still had some chemistry I suppose. Nothing about the Katherine/Stefan pairing was organic. It always felt forced upon us. The speed at which Katherine came into the Cassadine fold and Stefan fell for her was too fast.

I don't think I would ever describe Brenda or Maxie as prissy. They were both pretty scrappy from the jump (Maxie as a teen/adult). Maybe more chic and fashionable* than other characters because of their careers, but not prissy. I can't really even think of a long term GH character I'd describe as prissy. Maybe Molly? MW's Kate?

*Maxie is supposed to fashionable so I'll let KS's wardrobe and hair choices slide

21 hours ago, melanatedbtgfan said:

But putting that aside I want to say that I miss the overall scrappiness of characters on GH. It seems that everybody regardless of socioeconomic status, age, gender, or what their position is in a story (hero/heroine, anti heroine/hero, or villainess/villain) they talked trash like they could beat someone up or they just directly did it. Even prissy (this isn't a insult) characters like Brenda and Maxie would try to catfight. Even dudes like Ned and Patrick who hated the mafia would try to fight.

That much we can agree on (though I also don't find Brenda prissy). These days a lot of the cast are neutered in that respect. You look back at the action of the '80s, '90s and 2000s and while sure, some of it in the latter decade was sometimes trashy stuff out of the primetime Melrose/90210 playbook courtesy of Chuck Pratt, many of those characters were willing to throw hands. These days BLQ, etc. will sit on their resentments for the better part of a year. Action too often comes from external threats like Sidwell or his various henchmen, as I've said before. Have Carly and Nina ever even had a real catfight outside of that brief pool scuffle? The Carly of 15 years ago (let alone 20 or 30) would've. Sam and Carly were still going at it hammer and tongs into the Obama years.

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by Vee

She is discussing the Laura and Luke rape right now.

Finola Hughes (and Steven Ford):

New Hollywood Squares|Episode #112886

4 hours ago, Liberty City said:

The entire interview is in-depth, I recommend listening to all of it. . And yes she talks about how the rape of Laura was written.

It can be discussed here, of course.
I'm glad you also gave the Sheri interview its own thread, since she discusses multiple soaps and also the process of writing. and working with other soap writers, etc.
https://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/70161-sheri-anderson-interview-june-11-2026/#findComment-2101011

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by janea4old

THE JOURNAL-NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1975

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Talk about whodunits! Not even the actors on “General Hospital’’ know who’s guilty. Guilty of murder, that is. One is required to add that clarification because characters on soap operas are always guilty of something. The crime is the recent murder of Dr. Phil Brewer, that cad of a character who had upset so many lives over the years, breaking up marriages, fathering illegitimate children, double crossing friends — you know, the usual things that soap opera villains do. There are five characters with excellent motives and each has been filmed committing the foul deed. Only one version will be seen by viewers at home. Which one? (The five suspects were Jessie, Peter, Diana, Jim and Augusta)

“It’s the best kept secret ABC has ever had,” says Emily McLaughlin, the actress who has played nurse Jessie Brewer since the serial debuted on ABC nearly 12 years ago. , The only people who know are “General Hospital” producer James Young and writers Jerome and Bridget Dobson. And they are not talking.“It would be kind of stupid if I did, wouldn’t it?” remarked Young. “I’ll tell you the mechanics of it, but no more. That's the game. If you’re going to have a mystery, let’s have one. Agatha Christie doesn’t give you the answer to her mysteries in the front of the book.” In most film and television mysteries, everyone connected with the production knows from the outset who the murderer is because it’s in the finished script. The nature of soap operas is much different, however. There is no finished script, for one thing; there’s only a script from week to week the story lines must be interesting and unpredictable enough to hold an audience — not just for two hours but day after day, week after week, month after month.

So Young’s feeling was that if only qne version of the murder had been filmed, word would have leaked out about the criminal’s identity and the dramatic impact would have been substantially reduced. Also, in all probability, the program’s ratings would suffer. Explains actor James Sikking, whose alcoholic Dr. James Hobart is one of the suspects: “If you’ve programmed the story for, say 90 days, and word about the ending gets out tomorrow, then your next 89 days are screwed if you’re basing them on suspense. ”

How long Young and the Dobsons will draw out the suspense on “General Hospital’’ remains undecided. Young says he’s hoping it will play for several months — including a trial — before the murderer’s identity must be revealed. But it all depends on how well they can maintain viewer interest. While the multiple endings and secrecy are sound ideas, the concept is a bit difficult for the three actresses and two actors whose characters are suspects. How do you play your scenes properly if you don’t know whether you’re innocent or guilty? Miss McLaughlin reflected on the problem one morning recently while having her make up put on for that day’s filming. “It’s an interesting idea but as an actress I want to know what I’m doing,” she said. I am playing innocence based on what I feel about my character. You have to go on some assumption and that’s mine.” Make-up man Joe Belasco paused from his task. “I think you’re innocent,” he deadpanned. “I’m giving you innocent makeup.” . Joking like that has become commonplace on the “General Hospital” set. The cast and crew even have a pool going as to who the culprit is.

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by Paul Raven

I know there's been lots of discussion of Pat Falken Smith on this GH thread and on other threads. I recommend the new June 2026 Sheri Anderson video interview during which Sheri talks about working for Pat Falken Smith and how, in those days, there were writing teams.
Link to Sheri interview thread

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by janea4old

18 hours ago, Vee said:

That much we can agree on (though I also don't find Brenda prissy). These days a lot of the cast are neutered in that respect. You look back at the action of the '80s, '90s and 2000s and while sure, some of it in the latter decade was sometimes trashy stuff out of the primetime Melrose/90210 playbook courtesy of Chuck Pratt, many of those characters were willing to throw hands. These days BLQ, etc. will sit on their resentments for the better part of a year. Action too often comes from external threats like Sidwell or his various henchmen, as I've said before. Have Carly and Nina ever even had a real catfight outside of that brief pool scuffle? The Carly of 15 years ago (let alone 20 or 30) would've. Sam and Carly were still going at it hammer and tongs into the Obama years.

I think it's another way of sanitizing GH. Much like the lack of sex scenes, the show doesn't want their heroines getting too trashy or violent. I absolutely agree that there needs to be more tension and scheming to propel interpersonal drama and action, but I am okay without catfights. I found it silly when Sam and Carly were rolling around Jason's pool table throwing punches and pool sticks lol or when Brenda was throwing bread at Carly's head at the Nurses Ball. It felt so juvenile. That being said, I wouldn't mind a few more dramatic slaps. The show just got very PC about non-mob/villain violence.