GH: Classic Thread

[titan1978]

She was not. There is that anecdote from Tony Geary about Monty bringing her to actual tears for a scene by being abusive to her. And I found an interview online where Mary disagreed with how Monty wanted her to play things, and they did not get along from then on.

They did try to get her back for Diana Taylor’s murder and Jeff’s exit, to wrap the story up. She declined. This has added to my opinion that Heather was supposed to be the killer all along, and they changed it because Monty like Mattson.

Edited June 16, 2024 by titan1978

[Vee]

That was the other interview I was thinking of. I think she did a great job from what I've seen. There was a flat affect to her demeanor as Heather at times - different from Mattson's own studied flatness on occasion - that highlighted the void at the center of her.

[titan1978]

From what I have seen, and most of it is closer to the end of her time on the show, her Heather was the center of the schemes but somehow convinced herself that these were things happening to her, not ones she created herself. It is an interesting take, it reminds me a bit of what Sami was like in her first couple of years under Reilly at DAYS. It really comes out a lot when she has scenes with Alice. Mattson’s Heather, even early on with her sanitarium friend, is much more calculating and self aware. That only grows after Jeff divorces her and takes Steven Lars.

All this Heather/Alice talk reminds me how much I love Susan Moore too. I understand why they killed her, but I also wish she had been able to pop in over the years and make Alan and Monica miserable and complicate things with Jason.

Does anyone that watched back then know when exactly Scotty leaves the show for the first time? I don’t have a clear idea for what happens with Scotty after he punched Luke off the boat and sent L&L on the run. I have seen most of that era online, but I’m having a hard time remembering his exit, or how long he stayed after the punch before leaving.

[Vee]

Exactly. Which is more self-obsessed and sociopathic to me in a way than some of Robin's excellent but very particular work - Mary O'Brien feels like a credible portrayal of a 'normal' woman whose deep disorder would often go unnoticed.

[janea4old]

These discussions are interesting to me.  I watched GH in the 1969-1976.
I watched sporadically after that ... but stopped when the mob became the focus. 

There were also long periods of time when I lived in homes with no television, or with roommates who would have never agreed with me watching soaps- so I went for years without watching. 

And a big thing was that nobody I knew watched soaps. No family members or friends or classmates, so I didn't discuss it with anyone.  My sister introduced me to soaps in 1969 but then she moved away in 1971, so there was nobody after that.
 Whenever I traveled to visit my sister during a vacation or holiday, I would watch soaps at her house, but that would be only a few days per year.

All the discussions here about GH in the 1990s are mostly about things I never watched.

I did see some stuff on soapnet in the early 2000s, but I don't remember if it was reruns or what?  I did see some new episodes in the early 2000s.  I also started watching Cindi Rinehart's daily recaps which helped me to follow along when I couldn't watch entire episodes.
 

What is notable about my more regular viewing in the 1970s is that there was no way to record a show, there was no internet, and I had no access to soap magazines.    And teenaged me never thought to read the closing credits.

Therefore I had no idea who was cast and was often completely unaware when a character was recast, unless I happened to be watching live on a day when there was
a voiceover "the part of __ is now being played by __" .

Regarding recasts, if an actor/actress looked *very* different, I might notice, but otherwise I might just assume it was the same person playing the role differently ...
... well not exactly ....
a more accurate way to describe it would be that I didn't really pay attention to the actors, as I was totally focused on character/story.

I started reading soapcentral (back when it was amcpages.com) in the 2000s so I knew how to look up character/actor bios there, but I would research stuff only if there was something I was curious about.   If I didn't know there was a recast, I wouldn't look up who played the role.

---

Re: current discussion on this thread about the recast of Heather.  I knew that Robin Mattson is known for having played the role of Heather, but I didn't realize until reading this thread TODAY that someone else played the role previously.
Okay so the Heather I knew was the one played by Mary O'Brien?

Edited June 16, 2024 by janea4old

[Liberty City]

TWO played Heather prior to Robin Mattson.

Georganne LaPiere (sister to Cher) originated the role from 1976 to 1977; she was replaced by Mary O'Brien from 977 to 1979.

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[janea4old]

Yeah I just looked it up and read that about Cher's sister!  I must have watched them both but not realized about the recasting, LOL.

[Liberty City]

That is a sign of good recasting of the times to me.

 

[janea4old]

 

No it's just a sign of me being unobservant while watching intermittently!

Looking at the years, it must have been Georganne LaPiere's Heather that I watched while I was in high school.

Edited June 16, 2024 by janea4old

[victorlord75]

This is really pathetic on my part, but the only detail I can remember about Kin Shriner leaving GH the first time was that he was leaving to appear on "Texas", which was in the same time slot as GH on NBC.

[Contessa Donatella]

So that makes it 1980. 

[Vee]

I knew Tyler and Maura had it together even then. It's a real tragedy this couple can't ever be revived with Tyler back in the role, let alone that we can never see him with Nicholas Chavez.

Edited June 16, 2024 by Vee

[Liberty City]

Same; it's a shame there was that glimmer of hope between them. And then Nick Stabile came in and had fantastic chemistry with Maura West, as well. Just hate we never got the true vision, though.

[Paul Raven]

@janea4old  Your reminisces remind us of a different era. As you say, no outside info unless you went searching, just immersing yourself in the 'story'.

However, that is still the case for a lot of viewers today. Here we are online discussing this, that and the other while there are thousands of viewers who tune in for whatever show, watch,enjoy and that's it. The vast majority really.

[Contessa Donatella]

The ubiquitous "they" say that online viewers of soaps today make up approximately 12% of viewers. Used to be 10. I have NO clue how anyone comes up with numbers like that, though!!!