GH: Classic Thread

[Dion]

 

Apparently it is Sullivan according to https://general-hospital.fandom.com/wiki/Lesley_Webber_(Denise_Alexander) (As always with these Wikis, take with a grain of salt)

Would have likely to have been revealed during either the original Florence storyline or in the lead up to Laura's arrival.

[slick jones]

  I was discussing it on Facebook with a past Soap Opera Weekly  and SOD Historian/Columnist from snippets from the "Look Into the Past Thread" and he remembered Lesley saying the Clinic was named after her mother, Mary Sullivan. A few days later it appeared in that wiki. I had always assumed her father was Walter Williams until reading comments here on SON several months ago.

 

[carolineg]

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This will never not be the hottest thing ever on GH

[titan1978]

When the show was more balanced I loved Sonny.  This is a great clip demonstrating Sonny’s issues with vulnerability and Brenda’s desperation to have him.

Was this the tail end of Labine or was a Guza there?  I can’t remember when this happened.

[carolineg]

This is Labine.  It's in 1995 a little after Stone died.   Sonny is handing his partnership of Luke's over to Lucy because he's being investigated by the feds, but Sonny ends up getting arrested at the party.  He takes a deal with Lily's father to get out and marries Lily and you know the rest lol.  I believe Guza starts in March 1996, so a couple of months before Lily blows up.  I know he gets credit for Clink, Boom, but I have never been clear how far Labine's projections went with that story.  I always wondered if it was Guza's idea or if he just tweaked an existing Labine idea and Lily was always going to die.

[Contessa Donatella]

Lingering Questions Have Answers!

GH: I know that the Daytime Day of Recognition started with all the soaps doing something to recognize HIV+ and AIDS one day around the 20th of June, but at GH, who started the Nurses' Ball? Was it Wendy Riche?
Some information but not an answer. According to the GH Fan Wiki https://general-hospital.fandom.com/wiki/ the first Nurses' Ball was in 1994. Wendy Riche was EP from Jan. 28, 1992-Jan. 22, 2001.
Answer: YES! We were right, she did think it up. Wendy Riche! It was her idea, that she pitched to #ClaireLabine & magnificent Writers @MicheleValJean @MulcaheyPatrick & Karen Harris & Elizabeth Korte & they loved it & ran with it & through the invaluable aid & assistance of Producers, Directors, the Cast, the Art Dept., Wardrobe, Hair & Make-up, Sound & Camera take us to Rehearsal & then the Nurses' Ball was born!

GH: We know now that Claire Labine left GH by her own choosing, because she was tired, etc. (Thnx WRiche) so now I want to know who fired Wendy Riche & why in the heck did they do so?
Angela Shapiro. Why? Who knows? She obviously couldn't see a gem in her midst! Mayhap & perhaps she was an FOJ!

[Franko]

And here's how the introduction played out in-universe:

March 7, 1994 -- Damian wants to honor the nurses of GH in a public way. He learns about how Bobbie wants to revive the Nurses's Ball. Damian goes to Audrey wanting to underwrite the entire cost of the Nurse's Ball. Damian wants Bobbie to chair the event.

March 9 -- Audrey asks Bobbie to chair the revived Nurse's Ball. Bobbie learns the money to underwrite the ball came from Damian. Bobbie confronts Damian telling him she is not for sale. Damian apologies and Bobbie does not want GH to suffer so she agrees to think about chairing the ball. Bobbie tells Tony that she wants to decline to chair the ball due to Damian's involvement. He thinks she should do it, as it would benefit GH.

March 18 -- Lucy asks Audrey if she can co-chair the Nurse's Ball with Bobbie. Bobbie agrees to let Lucy help her with the Nurse's Ball. Lucy does have a good idea to bill the ball as a talent show. Lucy tells Damian that she just volunteered to co-chair the Nurse's Ball.

[Liberty City]

People keep saying Wendy Riche was fired from General Hospital but, in every single report I've seen, it was Riche who stepped down after previously stepping down from Port Charles. And Riche always stated she and Claire Labine worked well together.

[Contessa Donatella]

So, now you've seen one item that Angela Shapiro fired her. You can run a tally.

But, WR adores CL & vice versa. Or CL did while alive. RIP. Only Claire's own exhaustion, being tired of being the HW of GH, a 24/7 job for 4 or 5 yrs. takes its toll. Pete Lemay & others have talked about HW Burnout Rates. CL left at her own request. WR has talked about how hard & taxing the HW job is.

Thnx for adding that!!

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[Liberty City]

Well, I found confirmation: Riche did an interview with We Love Soaps in 2010, and does confirm she was fired.

We Love Soaps: What led to your leaving GENERAL HOSPITAL?
Wendy Riche: I was fired.  But it was time for me to leave.  I knew it, and ABC knew it.  I knew personally it was time to move on.  But I would have stayed there forever, I loved it so much. I guess I needed a push in another direction.

And this is what she said, in a May 1992 interview with Entertainment Weekly about joining as the soap's executive producer: "I will say that the show needed to be more character-driven rather than plot-driven. It needed to be more relatable in its story pursuit. It needed to balance fantasy and reality better. And it needed more romance."

[Vee]

Riche and Guza were embroiled in a battle royale over creative control in their last year or two at GH - stuff like the 'billboard couples' of Sonny/Hannah and Jax/Chloe, A Martinez, the outcome of the mixed marrieds storyline were all among the disputes, IIRC. Ultimately Guza got ousted, but Riche quickly followed. That led to the ascent of JFP (after a brief interim where Guza and Labine's staff writers, Michele ValJean and IIRC Karen Harris, took over).

When Jill and Megan McTavish tanked the show, the newly-arrived Brian Frons begged Guza to return and save it. Guza did so, but took a co-producer credit for his troubles and retained the lion's share of creative control within the show itself (not above Brian Frons) - as in, no EP could tell him what to do ever again. From what we know, it seems Phelps was reduced to his line producer.

[Contessa Donatella]

So, when I said that we now know that Clarie left of her own whatever & put in Pren (ThnxWRiche) did you think I was being sarcastic? Because I was literally thanking her for the information that no one fired Claire & CL was tired & hated to go & they hated to see her go, but you gotta let people take care of themselves. She gave up that info to me right after her Locher Room chat in the Notes to the chat. Sorry if I confused the issue.

Isn't that quote upon joining the team just divine?

[Liberty City]

It is. And shows how serious she took joining; I love that she also revealed she spoke to William J. Bell & Agnes Nixon upon taking her position. She took is seriously, and is missed in daytime. But I just don't know if daytime would be patient enough for Riche's production.

[Contessa Donatella]

At the end of JFP's tenure at AW although there was no Producer credit given to the HW, she still was more in power than Jill was. Effectively Margaret de Priest was in favor with P&G and NBC & Jill was out of favor & just treading water till they showed her the door.

[Contessa Donatella]

Monthly Bipolar Magazine Cites Famous People with Bipolar

Carrie Fisher (RIP), Chamique Holdsclaw (women's basketball), Maurice Benard, Patty Duke (RIP) 

Generally I find fans less patient.