GH: Classic Thread

[titan1978]

It’s amazing to remember that Monica (and ultimately Gail too) came from that disaster. Different actress than LC at first, but still. I am glad I was old enough to at least see Jessie from time to time, and know characters like Lee, Steve, Audrey, etc.

I have read recaps and plot summaries for that period of time and it reads dreadfully. Marland and Monty’s 1978 is interesting even as a summary, their new characters much more dynamic. The original Pollock stuff with the Webbers is just awful.

Putting Rick with Lesley, Monica with Alan, and Jeff with Heather (and making him Steve’s son) at least made their stories more entertaining. Jeff is insufferable most of the time though from what I have seen.

[victorlord75]

Yes, Monica and Gail, not to mention Heather made it to Marland's tenure.  I remember liking Cher's sister in the Heather role, but very little footage of her exists.  The actress playing Alice Grant#1 was good, but she looked more like Heather's grandmother than her mother.

I recall too, that around this time, someone tried to update Emily McLaughlin's hairstyle, framing her face with flipped up curls. My mother groaned, "I don't like Jessie's hair.  She used to look nice!"  I have seen a picture with Emily McLaughlin and John Beradino in character with a chart used as a prop, where Jessie has the "offending" hairstyle.

Another memory was the abrupt change dropping the organ music.  Yes it was cheesy at times, and sooner or later, it had to go, but my family missed it once it was gone.  Our favorite organ cue was the gong sound effect when a character was making a shocking discovery.

All these small memories show how seemingly details mattered to loyal viewers.  They are nice memories.  I won't burden the good readers here with too many more.  Thank you for letting me share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Khan]

I agree - and by all means, please feel free to share any more memories from that period that you feel comfortable sharing with us.  So much of GH pre-Marland is not otherwise known to those who weren't alive to see it (myself included).  Any info. on that time would be greatly appreciated!

I'm not surprised.  I've yet to find anything positive about the Pollocks' work on any show, including THE DOCTORS and DYNASTY.

Edited June 6, 2024 by Khan

[DRW50]

I remember Chris Schemering talking about how GH's organ music was much more inventive than organ music on other soaps.

[Paul Raven]

ABC did have a soap in development at that time Ann Marcus' The Best Years so maybe that was their back up if GH continued to fail.

The fact they were willing to pour money into GH showed they knew it was better to try and revive a known show than launch a new one.

I imagine the 13 week aspect is they wanted to see some ratings improvement in that time or cancellation was on the horizon. They would have needed months to get a replacement on air.

[Khan]

My question is, how long was GH in trouble for ABCD to give Gloria Monty such an ultimatum?  Had GH been struggling for years at the network, or were they just being impatient?

[Contessa Donatella]

1975 7.1 10/14

1976 7.0 10/15

1977 7.0 8/14

1978 8.7 2/14

1975-76:

Edited June 6, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
more

[Paul Raven]

@Khan Check out the Ratings from the 70's thread. Jason is currently posted 1976 data and although ratings fluctuate GH is beaten by EON on occasion and sometimes ranks as ABC's lowest rating soap.

I think creatively it was in worse shape than OLTL  even though ratings were similar. I've never seen mention of OLTL facing the axe so I guess there were other BTS factors that threatened GH.

[Khan]

I'm tempted to say that what gave OLTL the edge was that it was Agnes Nixon's creation.  But, on the other hand, Nixon had long ago sold the show to the network and moved full-time to AMC.

[Contessa Donatella]

And, at one point ATWT was of course #1 but AW was #2 & generally ABC was mid-pack to below midpoint. 

[titan1978]

From stuff I have read about those times, it seems ABC was also kind of embarrassed by how bad the show had become compared to what it had been. AMC and OLTL, while dated compared to today in aesthetics, were both considered modern for the times, including more complex characters. GH was kind of old fashioned in a way the network didn’t want to maintain.

if the history can be trusted (which we know is hit or miss), the switch to 45 minutes caused the flood of new stories/characters, which helped destabilize the ratings. Monty arrived just as they were going to an hour, and they didn’t want any more losses like they had at 45 on top of just wanting the show to be better.

[Khan]

Judging from the smattering of pre-Monty material that's currently available on YT, I kind of see ABCD's point.  The sets and wardrobe seem terribly cheap compared to, say, DAYS or Y&R from that same period. 

IIRC, GH's opening sequence before the familiar one (of the ambulance driving past the hospital) was just the words "GENERAL HOSPITAL" against a blue or black screen.  In that respect, they might have been ahead of their time, lol.

[victorlord75]

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The date is definitely wrong on this, but I am wondering if the rest of you saw this.

 

 

[victorlord75]

I would assume that it was probably around late 1974 that the network became dissatisfied, because by 1975, they axed Jim Young as the producer and replaced him with Tom Donovan, who was probably the worst producer GH ever had.

Edited June 7, 2024 by victorlord75
Incomplete

[Contessa Donatella]

Also prior to paying attention to GH they'd had Babbin & Arley at AMC & OLTL. Just not as dire!!!