GH: Classic Thread

[amybrickwallace]

Do you think Anna/Finola would have been added had Emma not left to join Dynasty and The Colbys?

[Franko]

I suspect not. What I wonder about, though, is what was going through Gloria Monty's head during this time.

 

According to Waggett's Soap Opera Encyclopedia, she was fond of having a successor right on the heels of the departed. By the time Luke was gone for good, Robert was the leading man. With Robert and Holly gone, was she pushing for Frisco and Felicia as the marquee couple, or was it always in the cards to bring Robert back? I know Anna was intended for Dr. Buzz before clicking with Duke.

Edited February 27, 2018 by Franko

[amybrickwallace]

 

Really? I never knew that. Wow.

[Paul Raven]

And Gloria had worked with Don Galloway way back in the 60s on Secret Storm.

[OldGHFan]

But Gloria was a smarty lady.  She knew there was no chemistry between Finola and Don.  Gloria referred to Frisco and Felicia as her "young leads".  Robert & Holly were more of the main leads.  So, when Emma left, there was a supercouple hole.  Quickly, Anna Devane became a heroine and then they cast Ian Buchanan as Duke.  The 4th GH Supercouple was born.

[titan1978]

Don’t forget Pat Falken Smith was the head writer then.  She may have had plans for Anna with or without Holly.  They set up the Anna/Robert backstory and Robin so well.

 

Anna really took off considering how many people loved Holly.  I could not get enough of her for her first tenure on the show.  I actually enjoyed her relationships with both Dukes more than with Robert (although I didn’t hate them as a couple).

 

Edited February 27, 2018 by titan1978

[depboy]

Not sure exactly what happened, but the YouTube channel that was posting the episodes from ‘85, ClassicGH, has been terminated.  A shame really as I was enjoying the episodes.

 

I noticed a while back that another channel I was subscribed to, called bogied2, was taken down due to copyright infringement.  I wonder if ABC is cracking down on people posting the classic GH stuff.

[Faulkner]

Yikes. That’s sad about the old GH stuff. Maybe there’s hope that classic GH will be on Disney’s streaming service? If there’s any possibility of a long-running soap streaming, it’s when the soap’s producer starts its own platform.

 

[Paul Raven]

 

 General Hospital Enters 8th Year

Back on Monday, April 1, 1963, the ABC Television Network's Network's daytime serial "General Hospital" aired its first half- hour episode. On Wednesday, April. 1, 1970, with episode No. 1,797, the five - times - a - week series about the hospital staff and its patients patients began its eighth year on the air.

Of the original cast only John Beradino (Dr. Steve Hardy) and Emily McLaughlin ( Nurse Jessie Brewer) remain. Along the way 250 principal players and. 395 bit performers have come and gone. Behind the scenes, the original producer - director, James Young, is still at the helm and the show's creators and writers, Doris and Frank Hursley, who have turned out a record - breaking 53,885 pages of scripts, are still at their typewriters. Dr. Fran Bauer, dean of the University of Southern California Medical School, who read the first scripts, continues as the series' medical advisor.

Runner-up to John and Emily is Lucille Wall, who joined the show as Lucille March in episode No. 14 and has played the role ever since. The part of Dr. Phil Brewer, which Martin West has played for the past two years, had three other actors in the preceding five years. Roy Thinnes played the role for I6 months, was written out for a time, then came back for another six months. When Roy left to star in ABC's "The Long, Hot Summer," Dr. Brewer was again written out. Ricks Falls then came into the part for a few months when he was injured in a fall and the character was written out again. In February 1966, Robert Hogan put on Dr. Brewer's whites which he wore for almost a year and a half before leaving to play the minister in ABC's ''Peyton Place." And Brewer was sent off on another trip. In March 1968, Martin West, became Dr. Brewer.

Patricia Breslin played Meg Baldwin for four and a half years until she left last summer to marry Art Modell, owner of the Cleveland Browns. The role of Meg is now in the hands of Elizabeth MacRae, who joined the series in August 1969

. Many names familiar to television viewers have appeared appeared in the long-running series. Mark Miller played Randy Washburn for two years, leaving for "Please Don't Eat the Daisies." Leonard Nimoy did a one-shot appearance as a dope pusher preceding "Star Trek," and Liam Sullivan played an addict prior to ABC's "The Monroes." Young Johnnie Whittaker a run while he still had his baby curls before he went on to "Family Affair." Others include Ed Platt of "Get Smart," Greg Morris of "Mission: Impossible'  and Lew Parker of ABC's "That Girl." Simon Scott was a hospital patient, patient, now plays recurring roles in ABC's "The Mod Squad" and "The FBI." Other familiar players who. have appeared during the past seven years are Coleen Gray, Rudy Solari, Jan Shepard, June Vincent, Isabel Randolph and Harry Bash. Former juvenile star Tom Brown recently returned to the show after a two-year absence. Other principals now in "General Hospital" include Peter Peter Hansen, Rachel Ames, Julie Adams, Paul Savior, Shelby Hyatt, Ray Girardin, CraigHuebing and Sharon DeBord.

[victorlord75]

I remember Ed Platt's character, or I should say, I think I do.  He played a Mr. Chamberlain, if I remember right.  He was the father of a patient Lesley was treating, the wife of a man, a college professor that she had an affair with as a college student.  It fell on lovable Jessie to keep the professor out of the room until Lesley was finished treating his wife and naturally, Jessie failed.  I can still remember the organ fade out when Lesley and the professor's eyes met in his wife's hospital room after he stormed past Jessie.  Simple as the story was, I'd take it over mob stuff any day.

[amybrickwallace]

According to Sharon DeBord on FB, it was John Beradino who introduced Pat Breslin to Art Modell. Before the controversial decision to move the Browns out of Cleveland in 1995, the Modells lived in a mansion in the wealthy part of my county - Waite Hill.

[Franko]

Talking about Dawn on the roles that didn't survive recasts thread got me thinking about Monty 2.0.

 

I'd always heard about a wave of characters/actors leaving the show and a new wave arriving, and thanks to curlyqgrl's summaries, I think I have the the final tally. It was really more like three waves. 

 

Monty's first day back, according to Wikipedia, was Wednesday, Feb. 13, 1991. Her last day was Friday, Jan. 24, 1992.

 

First Wave:

Out:

Katherine Delafield (Edie Lehman, 11/26/90)

Shep Casey (Bradley Lockerman, 12/21/90)

Rita Lloyd (Kim Terry, 1/10/91)

Lucy Coe (temporarily, for Lynn Herring's maternity leave, 1/29/91)

Broxton (actor name?, 2/1/91 it appears)

Simone Hardy (Stephanie Williams, 2/12/91)

Carla Greco (Laura Harring, 2/14/91?)

Frankie Greco (Robert Fontaine Jr., no clue on date, but presumably around this time)

Cheryl Stansbury (Jennifer Anglin, 2/14/91?)

Colton Shore (Scott Thompson Baker, 2/26/91)

Charlene Simpson (Maree Cheatham, 2/26/91)

Dawn Winthrop (Jennifer Guthrie, 2/27/91)

Eric Jackson/"Edge Jerome" (Mark St. James, no date given, but presumably late February-early March)

Nurse Jessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin, 3/1/91; not a writing decision, but notable)

Decker Moss (Michael Watson, no date given, but presumably early March)

Larry Ashton (Hugo Napier, 3/22/91; back for a few days in July)

 

In/Back:

Jenny Eckert (Cheryl Richardson, 2/13/91)

Mac Scorpio (John J. York, 2/18/91)

Bill Eckert (Tony Geary, 2/19/91)

Fred Eckert (William Boyett, 2/20/91)

Angela Eckert (Carol Lawrence, 2/20/91)

Sly Eckert (Glenn Walker Harris Jr., 2/20/91)

Finian O'Toole (Arte Johnson, 2/22/91?)

Harlan Barrett (Michael Cole, 3/7/91)

Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring, 3/12/91)

Paul Hornsby (Paul Satterfield, 3/18/91)

 

 

Second Wave

Out:

Fred Eckert (William Boyett, 5/31/91)

Angela Eckert (Carol Lawrence, 6/5/91; back for Jenny and Ned's wedding in February 1992)

Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner, 6/11/91)

Ned Ashton (Kurt McKinney, 8/30/91)

 

In/Back

Nancy Eckert (Linda Dona, 5/28/91)

Dominique Taub (Tawny Fere Ellis, 6/4/91)

Leopold Taub (Chip Lucia, 6/6/91)

Connor Olivera (Michael Lynch, 6/24/91)

Simone Hardy (Stephanie Williams, 6/25/91)

Cesar Faison (Anders Hove, 6/26/91)

A.J. Quartermaine (Gerald Hopkins, 6/26/91)

Nurse Sheila something-or-other (actress name?, 6/26/91 it appears)

Julia Barrett (Crystal Carson, 6/27/91)

Susan Hornsby (Irina Cashen, 8/21/91)

 

 

Third Wave:

Out:

Nancy Eckert (Linda Dona, 10/14/91 -- whodunnit storyline for another month)

Felicia Jones (Kristina Wagner, 11/5/91; back in May 1992)

Dominique Taub (Tawny Fere Ellis, 11/14/91)

Finian O'Toole (Arte Johnson, 11/21/91?)

Harlan Barrett (Michael Cole, 11/22/91)

Leopold Taub (Chip Lucia, 12/5/91)

Cesar Faison (Anders Hove, 12/5/91)

Anna Devane (Finola Hughes, 12/17/91)

Susan Hornsby (Irina Cashen, 12/27/91)

Anna Devane (Camilla Moore, 1/20/92)

Cesar Faison (Anders Hove, 2/25/92)

Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers, 2/25/92)

David Langton (Jeff Pomerantz, 3/23/92)

Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring, 3/27/92)

 

In/Back:

Ned Ashton (Wally Kurth, 9/9/91)

Dr. Eric Simpson (Brandon Hooper, 9/18/91)

Edward Quartermaine (David Lewis, 11/26/91)

Dominique Taub (Shell Davidson, 12/3/91)

Jason Quartermaine (Steve Burton, 12/19/91)

Anna Devane (Camilla Moore, 12/20/91)

David Langton (Jeff Pomerantz, 1/13/92)

Holly Sutton (Emma Samms, 1/16/92)

Cesar Faison (Anders Hove, 1/17/92)

Nikki Langton (Camille Cooper, 1/30/92)

Edited March 13, 2018 by Franko
One more name to add.

[BetterForgotten]

Did Monty ever give an interview after that disastrous second stint ended? Curious to know what her take was on why it didn't work.

 

It must have been humiliating for Monty to not even make it a full year after her success only a decade prior. 

Edited March 12, 2018 by BetterForgotten

[DRW50]

 

She was interviewed in the late '90s by SPW but I don't think she talked about her stint. I think she had a somewhat tense interview with the press in her last months as producer. 

 

I didn't realize she didn't even last a year until I saw the timeline above. 

[BetterForgotten]

I know Wendy Riche's early interviews were not very kind to Monty - I remember Riche going on and on about how there weren't actually any stories going on when she joined the show, at least nothing with any substance..