GH: Classic Thread

[OldGHFan]

Ugh.  Bill Eckert.  Ugh.

Edited September 20, 2019 by OldGHFan

[titan1978]

I also loved Julia.  And truthfully, I liked Jenny Eckert, Sly, and Mac.  And Paul Hornsby.

 

Bill though-  just awful.  When Tony and Genie came back together as Luke and Laura, it was like a lightbulb went off.  I totally got why Tony was a big deal, and why they were great together, and how much Genie really shines playing Laura.  As Bill I couldn’t stand him.

 

Monty cast some good actors when she came back, and the characters were solid for the most part.  It was just a mess of way too many changes, and sidelining of characters that were at that time integral to the show.  If she hadn’t bombed so spectacularly, we would not have gotten Riche/Labine and that would have been a real shame.

[j swift]

Don't forget Cousin Joey Mancini (aka the lost Eckert).  He was in the first scene of Tony Geary's return episode, flirting with Amy at the nurses station, while Bill was laid up in a hospital bed (hurt by the Mac's eco group's bombing of the Q ship) and Bobbie was shocked by his similarity to Luke (even though Bill was blond and not permed).  Cousin Joey appeared for a couple of weeks and then disappeared into the mist of the Port Charles just like Laura (not literally, but nobody ever mentioned him again). 

 

It was a crazy transition because weeks prior Bobbie was involved in a very heavy baby selling scam story, and crying daily over the loss of her marriage to Tony and her baby.  She was even suspended from the hospital due to her involvement in the illegal adoption.  The villain who set up Lucas's adoption was also poisoning the water supply at the apartment where some of the nurses lived.  And there was a possibility that Scorpio, not the presumed-dead Julien, was Lucas's father.  Meanwhile, Edge Jerome (the Cousin Joey of the mobsters) was flirting with Anna.

 

Then, a month later, Bobbie was suddenly back at GH and had to play wacky in the scenes with Ruby while they spewed exposition about how their cousins lived in Port Charles but they never spoke to them.  The nurse's water was fine and Scorpio was told by Cheryl that he was not Lucas's father.  Anna started tying up Robert in order to seduce him and Edge pivoted to Dawn before both were quickly killed off. 

 

Then, Papa Eckert died, Mama Eckert moved out west (never returning for Jenny's wedding or Bill's funeral),  Bill became wealthy by surprise and his ex-wife returned creating the Eckerts 2.0.  I think the best remnant from that period was Bill and Sly's lighthouse set which Kevin moved into after Bill's untimely death.

[victoria foxton]

I remember all this well. After a couple months i switched over to GL. The changes happen way too quickly. Most of the cast was purged. I hated  that they killed Dawn. I Hated that they made Julian Lucas's father. When it was quite clear that Robert was intended to be Lucas's father. I liked the new characters like Rita and Edge who were dropped. I hated that Bobbie/Cheryl baby Lucas drama was aborted. All of a sudden. Pretty much out of nowhere. Anna and Robert were awkwardly put together. I think cousin Joey was on a couple of months. He dated a fellow newbie Nurse Sheila. 

[carolineg]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNpPbmgIPSTE0P4nHXwHrsg

For those who love Julia it looks like Crystal Carson has uploaded most , if not all, of her scenes as Julia including the late 90's stuff on you tube . 

GH saddled her with Bill for too long but she was enjoyable with both Ned and AJ.  It's so strange to me they basically got rid of her and never brought her back considering she had strong ties to a lot of characters that dominated the mid to late 90's.  I didn't like Bill and Julia together because he seemed too old for her although I am not clear how old Julia is.  Did they ever establish that?  She can't be more than 5-7 years older than Brenda because they had clear childhood memories and interactions together but she acted like she was in her 30's.  Plus she's only 2 years older than VM. 

Anyway, Bill sucked but Jenny was my least favorite Eckert.  She was the worst.  Hated her and Ned.  Hated her and Paul.  Hated everything about her.   I liked Sly though.  They should have brought him back as a teen to be in the Lucky/Liz/Emily/Nik teen scene

 

[Vee]

I know it was much rumored that in the original "Fluke" mess planned on GH a few years ago, Julia, Sly and Jenny would all make appearances. It was clear Fluke was initially Bill due to his veiled references to the Eckerts, the Barretts and making Tracy pay for what she did to his sister (Jenny).

 

When fans figured the twist out and Tony Geary went out for extended medical leave, Ron Carlivati threw out the outline and turned it into cut-rate DID. Sigh.

[victoria foxton]

 

 

[carolineg]

Yes!  I remember Sonny and Sean? his bodyguard talking about Barrett industries and I think Sonny actually called Brenda off screen to talk about it and it went nowhere. It's a shame because even though the characters weren't the best it would have tied the story together better

[j swift]

Didn't Paul Hornsby 2.0 give an expository update on Jenny when he returned a few years ago?  I recall his daughter died of an OD, but I don't recall what happened to Jenny.

 

[slick jones]

His daughter was in a hospital.  I think she was in a coma.

[titan1978]

I had completely blocked out that they brought Paul Hornsby back.

 

Ron should have stuck to the story for Bill, and spun out another story using the Luke backstory he created.  Both would have been great without the DiD mess.

[victoria foxton]

https://youtu.be/S6o3RxbHTF8 General Hospital (October 24, 1997)

[carolineg]

Liked that episode too.  Sarah is such a dud.  So boring. Elizabeth makes her interesting.  And RH is so beautiful.  Julia and Brenda were adorable and Jax and V were cute too.  I felt like they were going there but didn't?  NLG looks better now than she did 20 years ago.. And the Stefan, Luke, Alexis, Katherine Bell stuff is basically zzzzz..  Although MBE looks amazing.  Even though Jax and Brenda did nothing of importance that last scene was very sexy and intimate.  Why can VM sell all the scenes in 1997 but is awful in 2010?

Edited September 24, 2019 by carolineg

[victoria foxton]

 

 

[victorlord75]

While Bill Eckert was pretty much an unpopular character, if I had to be honest, it was probably the beginning for me for respecting Anthony Geary's work as an actor.  I was part of a very small minority who did not like the Luke of the 80s.  Since I was one of the viewers who could remember the fairly straight-laced professionalism displayed by doctors and nurses of the GH just a few years before (the GH that still had the organ music), I was never sure how to process the cartoonish Luke of the early 80s.  While I have heard that Mr. Geary did not like the Labine take on Luke, I liked him much better under her pen, because it was shown that Luke could actually act like an adult.