GH: Classic Thread

[Vee]

Yes, that was the year with Michael the murderer and Jennifer Bransford, which was almost certainly a JFP power move IMO - she had been fairly marginalized once Guza returned, and most creative control was given to him. From what I understand she influenced stories and casting where she could, generally with lesser players. Tamara Braun quit because she was sick of Sonny, Jason and the mob. The Bransford casting imploded fast. Kari Wuhrer was embarrassingly bad as Reese. The Michael story met huge backlash and they hastily did a rewrite involving Michael's doctor, old footage of Billy Warlock from years past, and the outrageous claim that the doctor had been hired by A.J. to kill Jason in his coma in the '90s. This was also the summer of the terrible dancing doppleganger story (because Kelly Monaco had just joined DWTS) with Sam and Meg Bennett and her Sam-lookalike daughter, and Michael hallucinating an imaginary friend, "Jodie" who he talked to in front of other people. TPTB claimed this was their reward to Dylan Cash for being an "amazing" young actor. It did not go well.

 

The Alexis/Sam/Ric stuff was the following year. I believe the Ric thing began as KM began making noise about leaving - so they turned Sam into a villainess for a year or two (her most compelling period, IMO).

 

Emily was raped by Nik's doppleganger in late 04-early 05. Emily had difficulty being with Nikolas after that because of the rape, and gravitated towards spending time with Michael and Morgan at Sonny's house. Nikolas and Courtney was the summer of 2005, and wow was it bad. Guza obviously did not give a [!@#$%^&*] about either of them, that much was clear, but the actors had allegedly been pushing for it. They were B/C characters to him at that point without Frons' continued attention to Alicia Leigh Willis. Guza could be vindictive and the story seemed designed to make them hurt, because the writing drove the characters into the ground. Guza had never had much use for Courtney and iced her the following winter after she spent months offscreen. The affair also ushered in Sonny and Emily; Emily had been caring for the boys with Carly ill - she was basically the nanny - and went to stay with them at Sonny's when she learned of Nik's affair. I saw Sonny/Emily coming very early, like a train wreck. People called me crazy, yet I still could not believe my eyes as it progressed. It was (mercifully) over by the fall of '06, IIRC.

 

They did change some things for the better with the revamp: Laura Wright came in strong and nabbed a surprisingly good (if very sudden) pairing with Jax on the B-list, Robin and Patrick ushered in a considerable new re-focus on the hospital and characters in it, and Robert and Anna began to recur in '06. Robin also became central again despite continued attempts to demean her. I would never call it a great show in those years and mostly ceased regularly watching for years on end around that point until 2012, but Guza's awful second reign was never worse than 2005 for me.

 

On a side note, during the writer's strike a few years later, JFP re-masterminded Claudia's introduction (which Guza had planned separately but was not present to execute) and botched it as well - some sort of color-coded thematic thing similar to the failed rollout of Angel in 2001, and to some work I believe she did at GL, maybe with Tangie Hill. With Guza out of the building she also tried to launch a massive story with Ric and his newbie immigrant wife, all of which fans hated.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Vee

[DRW50]

Didn't we first just see Claudia's black heels or something?

 

I'd forgotten all that with Ric and his wife (was this around the time they killed off the nurse Patrick slept with).

 

Thanks. You have a great memory. 

 

Honestly sometimes I forget GH is even still on the air. 

[Vee]

I think there was the shoes and then Claudia kept wearing red or something. JFP was big on that red motif thing, I think she'd done it at CBS. Or maybe the shoes. She had done it with Angel as well in any event - Angel came on wearing all white because she was 'mourning' her husband, and then after killing her father dramatically unveiled her new red wardrobe. Nobody gave a shít.

 

I don't watch atm either. I see clips here and there. I think Chris Van Etten is actually not untalented and has had some better ideas in the last year, but I think it's impossible for him and anyone to do a good show with FV micromanaging more than ever.

 

I don't remember when Leyla, the nurse Patrick was into, died. I do know she was played by Nazanin Boniadi, who went on to greater fame as one of the women who escaped being Scientology-mated to Tom Cruise and has since had a solid career on cable.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Vee

[victoria foxton]

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[j swift]

I have a question:

 

When Laura became Stavros Cassadine's widow, (after she returned the first time when Luke was elected mayor) why didn't she get part of the Cassadine fortune in his will?

 

In the promo for Laura's return, they show Stavros putting this huge necklace around her neck.  Didn't she get to keep any of the jewelry?  She seemed to have all of her clothes, why didn't she pack her diamonds?

 

I was thinking the same thing about why Jennifer Horton didn't get any of the Alamain fortune when she divorced Lawrence.  Soap divorce law can be so unjust.  

 

I know it's a soap, (yadda, yadda, yadda), but I am wondering if there was any mention of this detail in the story?

[titan1978]

The only things I remember is that she had to leave everything behind, because she was terrified of Helena.  The one time she went to get Nikolas, the Cassadines killed her mother (retcon), and she decided to move on for not only her and Luke’s safety, but also Nikolas.  Also was that marriage even valid since she was obviously still married to Luke?  He did not died in the snow accident the Cassadines used to convince her to stop fighting and give in to Stavros.  

 

Adding Stefan to that Cassadine kidnapping story really helps make  it more palatable,  because without that relationship it’s really a very tragic story for Laura.

 

We did learn that Luke somehow had some or all of the Ice Princess diamond and was selling it off by piece to fund his adventures.

[OldGHFan]

I really liked the Stefan/Laura relationship.  They had some smokin' hot chemistry.  And I say that as a huge L&L fan.

[Planet Soap]

Question:

 

Carly is not the most revered charachter here (LOL), but who was the best in the role. I found Sarah Brown the most compelling, and that she had more chemistry amd sex appeal with Jason than the others. Tamera Braun I thought had the most chesmistry with Sonny. Brown to me had more fire with Sonny as Claudia.

 

SB: Laura Wright isn't bad either. 

[OldGHFan]

I detest the character of Carly.  That said, Sarah Brown was the best.  Best actress too.  Loved to hate the early Carly.  Now I just hate Carly.

[Khan]

 

Same.  As Patrick Mulcahey admits, the writers had no real game plan for Carly in the beginning.  It's only because of SB that Carly became a breakout character.  She set the template for that character for the others to follow.

Edited February 13, 2019 by Khan

[carolineg]

I am not a Carly fan really, but I think Tamara Braun was the best.  She had the best  chemistry with Maurice.  But Sarah Brown was the best actress.  I thought we always knew Carly was Bobbie's daughter or at least it was heavily implied.  Or am I crazy?  They did bounce SJB around a lot with Tony, Jason, and AJ which I thought was a little excessive.  She didn't need 3 love interests.

[BetterForgotten]

Somewhere Carly went from be anti-establishment to being the establishment. But anyway, Carly was only really a fleshed out character when Brown was in the role, and she was by far the best actress to play the role. 

[depboy]

I floved SB as Carly.  LW's Carly is a shrieking , meddling mess.  However, LW is more tolerable when she is paired with Jax.

[victorlord75]

I like Laura Wright as an actress, but I do not like Carly either.  I loved LW's portrayal of Lena Spencer.  For me, anyway, the character of Carly has almost become too formulaic.  There are no surprises with the character anymore.  Even Jennifer Bransford's Carly got into a rough and tumble brawl.  I don't see today's Carly doing that.

[BetterForgotten]

Laura Wright has always played Carly like she was the most popular mean girl in high school. The grit from the character is completely gone.