How long did it take before the Qs became generally a comedic family?

9 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

This was Pat Falken Smith's writing (with much' 'input' from Gloria I'm sure).

Was this one of the first stories where a villianous character got away with a crime ?

Alan was planning murder, but he certainly was not charged. Was he made to suffer in any way?

 

John Kelly Genovese critiqued this storyline in Afternoon TV and wasn't happy in that the viewer wasn't sure who they should be rooting for...

Maybe that was deliberate, in that each character had their point of view or was it just muddled?

 

Anyway, it seemed the harbinger of things to come in the 80's and beyond, where characters routinely were not punished for their crimes.

Alan loss the precision in his hands that he neede as a surgeon, and had to go into general practice because of it.  He had been a gifted surgeon before the accident.  So he lost a lot on a personal level considering how hard he worked to become a doctor, especially with Edward not approving of that.  It also led to his drug addiction in the late 1990’s, as he was initially using the pills for pain from a surgery to reverse his old injury and get back to surgery if I am remembering correctly.

 

 

18 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

How long did it take before the Qs became generally a comedic family?

I think that original Edward was always kind of snide and funny.  He was the most catty character on the show.  Then the rest kind of flowed from there.  They used to have humor, but didn’t become a joke until Guza came back from Sunset Beach.  Then it was just put them in scenes and have them argue over the same stuff over and over again.

 

Alan and Monica often had very humorous fights, even in their early years.

2 hours ago, titan1978 said:

I think that original Edward was always kind of snide and funny.  He was the most catty character on the show.  Then the rest kind of flowed from there.  They used to have humor, but didn’t become a joke until Guza came back from Sunset Beach.  Then it was just put them in scenes and have them argue over the same stuff over and over again.

 

Alan and Monica often had very humorous fights, even in their early years.

 

Thank you for sharing all that. I love it!! I do remember seeing a scene from the early 1980s of Alan and Monica in marriage counseling, bopping each other with these Nerf-like things. Hilarious!! 😂

16 hours ago, Franko said:

Speaking of that, who all can we name?

1. Random socialite.

2. Amy

3. Stella

4. Tommy Hardy

5. Jeremy

6. ? (Diana?)

7. Howard Lansing

8. Luke

9. Ruby (note Mitch and Susan throwing discretion to the wind)

10. Bobbie

11. Jessie and Dan

12. Audrey and Steve

13. Claudia and Bryan

14. Laura and Scotty

15. Tracy and her champagne

6th in line was Zelda Berstein, the Quartermaine family lawyer, played by Sarah Simmons.

8 hours ago, amybrickwallace said:

 

Thank you for sharing all that. I love it!! I do remember seeing a scene from the early 1980s of Alan and Monica in marriage counseling, bopping each other with these Nerf-like things. Hilarious!! 😂

 

5 hours ago, depboy said:

6th in line was Zelda Berstein, the Quartermaine family lawyer, played by Sarah Simmons.

Thanks!

 

I should note that by 1990, the crowd at a Quartermaine party was easier to weave through.

 

6 minutes ago, Franko said:

 

Thanks!

 

I should note that by 1990, the crowd at a Quartermaine party was easier to weave through.

 

Ugh, the third of four actresses to play Dawn Winthrop was so miscast.  Poor Lisa Fuller.  I had such a (non-sexual) crush on Dawn #4, Jennifer Guthrie! 

3 hours ago, Franko said:

 

 

Yes!! That's the scene I meant. Thanks for posting it. I know I saw it as a flashback. I believe it was in the 1997 episode where Alan and Monica looked back, reminiscing on their "crappy anniversary". (Which also commemorated Leslie Charleson and Stuart Damon's 20th anniversaries on the show, if I'm not mistaken.) Which year did this scene take place, exactly?

 

I've said it before but it's worth repeating...GH shot itself in the foot big time by getting rid of Stuart Damon, and over a decade later, I still haven't forgiven TIIC. I loved Alan and the way Mr. Damon played him. Alan and Monica were probably the hottest couple in GH history. (Forget Luke and Laura...they didn't even come close!) Their chemistry was off the charts, yet there was real love there as well. They were made for each other.

Edited June 19, 20187 yr by amybrickwallace

Big big hair showdown b/w Monica and Dawn ...

6 hours ago, amybrickwallace said:

 

Yes!! That's the scene I meant. Thanks for posting it. I know I saw it as a flashback. I believe it was in the 1997 episode where Alan and Monica looked back, reminiscing on their "crappy anniversary". (Which also commemorated Leslie Charleson and Stuart Damon's 20th anniversaries on the show, if I'm not mistaken.) Which year did this scene take place, exactly?

 

I've said it before but it's worth repeating...GH shot itself in the foot big time by getting rid of Stuart Damon, and over a decade later, I still haven't forgiven TIIC. I loved Alan and the way Mr. Damon played him. Alan and Monica were probably the hottest couple in GH history. (Forget Luke and Laura...they didn't even come close!) Their chemistry was off the charts, yet there was real love there as well. They were made for each other.

I'm guessing 1986. And I remember that anniversary episode, too. That was the first time I'd seen footage of the nursery accident and the waterfront stalking.

1 hour ago, Franko said:

I'm guessing 1986. And I remember that anniversary episode, too. That was the first time I'd seen footage of the nursery accident and the waterfront stalking.

 

Thanks! Of course, both the nursery accident and waterfront stalking would be seen several months later in the 35th anniversary primetime special. Stuart Damon gave hilarious commentary. 

38 minutes ago, amybrickwallace said:

 

Thanks! Of course, both the nursery accident and waterfront stalking would be seen several months later in the 35th anniversary primetime special. Stuart Damon gave hilarious commentary. 

Wick Webber!  I love that special.  And Denise Alexander saying the slap was so satisfying because she slapped Monica instead of the other way around.  

13 hours ago, Franko said:

 

Thanks!

 

I should note that by 1990, the crowd at a Quartermaine party was easier to weave through.

 

 

 

Oh thank you so much for posting these scenes.  I can only imagine that Stuart Damon and Leslie Charleson had a blast filming that "red bat" scene.  I miss the Qs so much.  And I loved all their parties.  There was always something happening in them and the Q mansion was always sort in the background.  So many storylines got woven into that mansion - even non-Q stories.

 

I will reiterate what someone else said: they NEVER should have killed off Alan Q.

4 hours ago, OldGHFan said:

I can only imagine that Stuart Damon and Leslie Charleson had a blast filming that "red bat" scene.  

 

I know LC did. She mentioned it in a SOD article about her most memorable moments as Monica (say that three times fast), saying that she got a lot of tension out that day!!!

Monica has had a remarkable arc as a character.  It would be hard to imagine that the woman who couldn't commit to Jeff or Dawn's father, taunted Leslie over her chemistry with Rick, and cheated on Alan would eventually adopt two children and then grieve the loss of three out of four of those kids on her own; although her grief over Dawn and Emily is mentioned less frequently than the loss of AJ.   She went from very selfish and mean to demonstrate extreme compassion.  Some writer could have made the connection between Monica's upbringing in an orphanage and her ability to parent Jason and Emily but I don't recall anyone doing so.  I know more recent writers have had Monica tell Jason or Drew about parenting an adopted child when Sam was pregnant but I don't think she talked about her own childhood.   Also, looking back her relationship with Gail as a mentor was so much more cleaver than making her a long lost daughter; especially because she was married to the long lost son of Steve Hardy.

Edited June 20, 20187 yr by j swift

4 hours ago, j swift said:

Monica has had a remarkable arc as a character.  It would be hard to imagine that the woman who couldn't commit to Jeff or Dawn's father, taunted Leslie over her chemistry with Rick, and cheated on Alan would eventually adopt two children and then grieve the loss of three out of four of those kids on her own; although her grief over Dawn and Emily is mentioned less frequently than the loss of AJ.   She went from very selfish and mean to demonstrate extreme compassion.  Some writer could have made the connection between Monica's upbringing in an orphanage and her ability to parent Jason and Emily but I don't recall anyone doing so.  I know more recent writers have had Monica tell Jason or Drew about parenting an adopted child when Sam was pregnant but I don't think she talked about her own childhood.   Also, looking back her relationship with Gail as a mentor was so much more cleaver than making her a long lost daughter; especially because she was married to the long lost son of Steve Hardy.

I’ve also seen several really compelling scenes of her and teenaged Laura where she references her past and how much she wanted to have a relationship with Laura that has nothing to do with Rick or Lesley, to help her with her troubles.

 

I used to feel that way about Bobbie too.  On paper this is someone that has a background of tragedy and even when she was after Scotty she was still a good nurse that worked hard to give herself a new life.  To see people try to shame her in later years about her past as a sex worker and have her not be embarrassed, to be open and trusting and a loving character (who still sometimes had an edge) was great.

 

They just don’t write them like they used to.