GH: Classic Thread

[Paul Raven]

Completely  different characters.

Time for you to start reading through this thread!

[depboy]

I am really thrilled you all are enjoying these!  In my mind, 1970 always seemed like a rather enigmatic year, so when I got these, this was the first year I read in-depth.  Hope these help fill some gaps!

Monday, January 5, 1970: Laura Bacardi, a patient with a serious blood condition and a fanatical father is brought into the hospital.

Tuesday, January 6: John Bacardi reacts angerly when he learns that Steve is considering giving Laura blood transfusions.

Wednesday, January 7: Steve decides the transfusions for Laura can't wait, and he asks Audrey to assist.

Thursday, January 8: Lucille prevents Mr. Bacardi from forcibly taking Laura out of the hospital.  Howie is irritated by advice from Jane and Carol on how to behave at a dinner hosted by his new boss.

Friday, January 9: Audrey and Denise politely claw each other at lunch.  Bacardi tells Steve if anything happens to his daughter that he'll kill Steve.

Monday, January 12: Steve tells Tom that Bacardi threatened to kill him.  Meg asks Lee if they can't help Iris find a job.

Tuesday, January 13: Jessie returns.  Phil writes a letter telling Jessie he is alive, but tears it up.

Wednesday, January 14: Bacardi refuses to give permission for Laura to receive another transfusion; Steve decides to go ahead with it.

Thursday, January 15: Bacardi arrives and Sharon and Jessie try to restrain him; he bursts into Laura's room and pulls the transfusion needle from her arm.

Friday, January 16: Lee files for a court order giving the hospital permission to save Laura with surgery; Laura is taken into surgery, with Mr. Bacardi watching grimly.

Monday, January 19: Bacardi barges into the operating room, and Steve has to physically remove him; Bacardi threatens Steve that he will pay with his life if Laura dies.

Tuesday, January 20: Tom tells Audrey that if Bacardi comes back to the hospital, she is to notify him at once.

Wednesday, January 21: Meg tells Jane that Iris has been a great help taking care of Scotty.  Lucille is moved to tears when Bacardi expresses his fears in losing Laura.

Thursday, January 22: Lucille tells Jessie that Bacardi came to the hospital last night and was a changed man.  Phil, under the identity of Harold Williamson, collects money from the real Williamson's final paycheck.

Friday, January 23: Laura is ordered to have no visitors, which angers Mr. Bacardi; Sharon receives an ominous call from Bacardi as Steve leaves the hospital; when Steve gets to his car, Bacardi pulls a gun on him and orders him to drive.

Monday, January 26: The hospital staff worry when Steve can't be located; Bacardi calls Tom and warns that Steve will be the first to go if Laura dies or if the police are called.

Tuesday, January 27: Lt. Fielding comes to investigate Steve's disappearance.  Phil, working as a clerk at a South American hotel, is apprehensive when a tourist says his face is familiar. 

Wednesday, January 28: Howie nixes the idea of making the room off of their kitchen into a nursey.  Mr. Bacardi calls and Lucille tries to keep him on the line as long a possible, but he hangs up on her.

Thursday, January 29: Lee tells Iris that Scotty is well enough to return to school and won't be needing her anymore.

Friday, January 30: Bacardi calls again, and is allowed to speak to Laura, who begs him to come.

Monday, February 2: Denise admits to Tom that she fears Steve is already dead.

Tuesday, February 3: Laura dies, and Lee advises that there should be no publicity about her death.

Wednesday, February 4: Jane and Howie argue over Howie's desire to look for their own apartment.  Bacardi calls, but Lucille refuses to tell him any information about his daughter.

Thursday, February 5: When Howie learns that Carol has a date, he become jealous. 

Friday, February 6: The staff are shocked to see a newspaper article about Laura's death; Bacardi reads the article, weeps and then becomes angry, vowing to keep his promise of killing Steve.

Monday, February 9: Peter tries to comfort Jessie.  The audience sees Steve handcuffed to a bed as Bacardi enters with a gun.

Tuesday, February 10: Bacardi and Steve talk, letting Steve get the upper hand on him.  He pulls a rug from under Bacardi, they scuffle over the gun, and it goes off.

Wednesday, February 11: Lt. Fielding calls with the news that Bacardi has been tracked down;  Bacardi is wounded in the leg, and Steve takes care of the wound; the police arrive.

Thursday, February 12: Jessie is hysterically happy when Steve calls saying he is alright; Steve calls Audrey, but Tom answers; Audrey is relieved; Steve goes to Denise's apartment and she is overjoyed that he is safe, but dismayed when she learns that Steve talked to Audrey first.

Friday, February 13: Phil compares his bearded face to a passport picture of Williamson and thinks he might pass as him.

Monday, February 16: Lee tells Steve that Bacardi will receive a suspended sentence if he is committed to a mental institution.  Audrey stalls when Tom asks her to choose a wedding date.

Tuesday, February 17: Al Weeks comes to see Steve, and is diagnosed with an ulcer.

Wednesday, February 18: Lucille coaxes Al to drink a barium cocktail.

Thursday, February 19: Meg tells Jessie she discovered a lump in her breast.

Friday, February 20: Dr. Donovan tells Meg that if another doctor confirms his feeling that the lump is cancerous, she will need to see a surgeon.

Monday, February 23: Denise asks for three days off to go skiing, then Steve tells Jessie he is rearranging his schedule to have the same three days off.

Tuesday, February 24: Al complains about the hospital to Lucille.  Meg will have a biopsy tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 25: Jane talks to Meg about Howie and Mrs. Dawson not getting along.

Thursday, February 26: Steve and Denise are having a lovely time at the ski lodge until he remembers it is his and Audrey's wedding anniversary.

Friday, February 27: The new head of the hospital, Mr. Butler, calls Peter into his office and gives him a letter from a patient accusing him of rape.

[Khan]

Mr. Bacardi is frantic that her daughter not die...so he abducts the doctor who's doing everything he can to keep her alive.  Make that make sense for me, Frank & Doris!

I can see why GH and THE DOCTORS eventually pivoted away from the "patient of the week" format.  For one thing, you always run the risk of running out of new maladies for your patients.  But, more importantly, those stories tend to feel plot-driven and don't have a real impact on the major characters' lives either.  (I mean, just two weeks after nearly getting killed by Mr. Bacardi, Steve is vacaying at some ski lodge with a thot named Denise.  Talk about your speedy recoveries.)

Of course, that doesn't mean you have to de-emphasize the hospital element and focus instead on mobsters and the teenaged murderesses who love them.  You just dig further into the personal and private lives of the hospital staff and have all the medical stuff play in the background.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Khan

[depboy]

Bridget Dobson is credited as writer with Frank and Doris, her parents, at this stage.  The Bacardi saga seems to have occupied most of the episode acts, with a smattering of Jane/Howie and Lee/Iris.  We're moving into a few more hospital staff-centric stories.  And while I get the need for patient of the week, I was surprised at how heavy the Bacardi story was played.

Edited May 9, 2023 by depboy

[FrenchFan]

Do you know since when Bridget Dobson was credited with her parents ?

[Khan]

How were the ratings at this point?  Maybe the ratings were slipping, and they thought the story would goose them a bit.

[depboy]

A quick look shows that GH was number 10 (8.5) out of 19 serials on the air for the 1969-1970 season.

Episode #1506, 10 FEBRUARY 69 is the first credit for Bridget that I see.  Bridget and her sister Deborah Hardy are credited with their parents individually on various episodes, with Deborah being credited starting with Episode #1511, 17 FEBRUARY 69.

[soapfave06]

I’m very surprised at how quick they took a plot driven turn as the year began. 

[depboy]

1970 rolls on!

Monday, March 2, 1970: Lawyer R.F. Sawyer informs Peter he has been retained to file a $500,000 suit against him for rape.  After Carol impulsively kisses Howie, Mrs. Dawson discovers lipstick on Howie's cheek.

Tuesday, March 3: Meg tells Tom that the biopsy shows that the lump in her breast is malignant.

Wednesday, March 4: After Howie and Jane talk about the lipstick on his cheek, Howie defensively storms out.

Thursday, March 5: When Butler questions Peter on the publicity the lawsuit is receiving, Peter offers to resign, then realizes it was the worst thing he could have done.

Friday, March 6: Steve urges Peter to withdraw his resignation, as it looks like an admission of guilt.  Phil goes through customs at the Mexican border.

Monday, March 9: Jessie tells Mr. Butler that Peter only was alone with the patient who is accusing him of rape because he believed her to be suicidal.

Tuesday, March 10: After Lee and Meg tuck Scotty in, she tells him about the lump and the biopsy results.

Wednesday, March 11: The night before her surgery, Meg is afraid she will be ugly to Lee, who reassures her.

Thursday, March 12: Tom reports that Meg's surgery was entirely successful.

Friday, March 13: Lucille makes Al take his medicine.  Denise proposed to Steve, and is humiliated when he turns her down.

Monday, March 16: Steve learns that Denise has not come to work and calls her, getting no response.  Meg is going through post-operative depression, concerning Lee.

Tuesday, March 17: To prove to Tom that she is not concerned with Steve and Denise's breakup, Audrey suggests they set a wedding date, and instantly regrets it.

Wednesday, March 18: Howie tells Jane he feels trapped in a rut and suggests they go out; Jane is miserable when she can't fit into her party dress.

Thursday, March 19: Audrey tells Steve that she and Tom will be married soon.

Friday, March 20: Carol asks Howie to take her to a party hosted by a big advertiser.

Monday, March 23: Meg is low when she brings home a prosthetic bra.  Jessie tells Peter she loves him.

Tuesday, March 24: Mrs. Dawson is outraged to learn Howie is taking Carol to the party.

Wednesday, March 25: Lee and Peter plan strategy for Peter's hearing.

Thursday, March 26: Bernice Ostrand, the patient accusing Peter of raping her takes the stand; Steve and Jessie serve as character witnesses for Peter, and Jessie indicates her confidence in him by saying that she has agreed to marry him.

Friday, March 27: Peter takes the stand, telling his point of view; under questioning from Lee, Bernice breaks and admits Peter didn't rape her.  Phil gazes at his reflection as Harold Williamson.

Monday,  March 30: Denise phones Steve from New York and apologizes for her behavior.

Tuesday, March 31: Lee tells Peter that Bernice has dropped the lawsuit.  Audrey is very sick, and Steve worries it may be a recurrence of lymphoma.

Wednesday, April 1: Meg has a nightmare about dying.  Howie calls Jane from jail after he is caught speeding.

Thursday, April 2: Lucille catches Al deviating from his diet.  Tom admits to Jessie that Audrey's condition has him mystified.

Friday, April 3: Jessie remembers it is Phil's birthday.  In a restaurant, Phil, alone, is invited to sit at an adjoining table to have his slice of birthday cake.

[Vee]

I wonder when they officially decided to call it quits on Meg and why. Even in the few clips of her around this era in the early '70s she seems unbalanced. It seemed like a long decline.

As dumb as the PC retcon backstory with her and DV Bordisso the psychic spy was, I've always wanted to track down some of those episodes or at least transcripts discussing her, as any mention of Scott's mother is few and far between in the last 30-40 years and I'm curious to see a relatively contemporary perspective from any of the characters on Meg. I haven't seen almost any of that terrible SL since it aired.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Vee

[Paul Raven]

Diana was a waitress so perhaps she meets Phil at that restaurant? We'll see.

[Vee]

Since the news about Jackie Zeman these episodes are obviously one of the first places I went.

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It seems like a petty aesthetic thing to admire at a time like this, but I had never noticed before that they used a slower, more subdued version of the FOTH theme for this crucial episode and (I think) sped up the opening considerably to try to dispense with it and not break the tone or action.

[Planet Soap]

Always liked when they used that slower theme. Wish it were done more often for other heavy episodes like Stone's death.

[Vee]

After the wonderful very early clips of Jackie in the memorial thread I was doing some digging and I was surprised to realize Stuart Damon apparently debuted as Alan in as early as summer or early fall of '77, depending on what source you believe. I was under the impression Monty and Marland (whether their names were officially on or off the show) didn't get going until late in the year, but I also had thought the Qs had come in entirely with Marland. Was Alan introduced as a simple romantic spoiler for Monica/Rick/Lesley ahead of Monty and Marland?

Edited May 11, 2023 by Vee

[Paul Raven]

Alan came on in October 77 under the Hollands,I think.

I recall Marland saying when watching the show he wasn't sure of where Alan and Monica were heading so he 'put them in bed' to establish at least a sexual attraction. The rest of the Q's came in months later when Marland was writing.