GH: Classic Thread

[carolineg]

Love these scenes!

They were both living a bit in a delusional for awhile, but when you laid it all out nothing had really changed.  The same reasons that always broke them apart were still there and neither were willing to compromise.  It was surprisingly realistic and believable for a Guza era breakup.

Anyhow, Sonny had decent material for the next year or so.   I think Kate was re-introduced too early and I would have waited for a few more months.  The initial connection was okay and then the DID nonsense was introduced.  Sonny at least seem to respect and like KSU's Connie/Kate at the beginning though.

With Dante, I think the show married him off to Lulu too soon.  I would have waited much longer.  They were married within 6 months of Brenda leaving and that left them with nowhere to go.  I can't recall if RC started the Dante cheats with Britni Sarpy's character, but that was a horrible story.  A waste of a Spencer cousin? and a huge chink in Dante's armor that seemed very OOC.  It seems not long after that Dante was basically severely back burned

[Vee]

100%. That was a weird period where they seemed eager to marry off everyone, including Jasam. But Dante and Lulu was far too soon and it cemented Ron being totally uninterested in them as what titan has already indicated - 'boring nice people' - when he came in the following year. The only time he bothered with either was when he tried to redo the insanely unpopular Teen Jessica storyline from OLTL with Rylan's Lulu and Milo after her Cassadine cryofreeze - a sentence I cannot believe I just typed.

I don't think they were ever really frontburnered under Ron, at least not by my standards, except for that period. Even the Valerie thing was an afterthought. Now that character is radioactive despite being a compelling idea that should be reused, a biracial Spencer.

[carolineg]

Far too many marriages in a 8 month period for 3 big couples (Sonny/Brenda, Jasam, Dante/Lulu).   I don't know if it was to balance Patrick/Robin, Spixie, and CarJax all falling apart (and a few months later S/B) or what.  It was a weird time.

I can't really recall Dante/Lulu being front burner much after unless it involved the weird circumstances of their spawns being created.  RC clearly had no use for Dante and Lulu was mostly used as a showpiece due to her parents.

I seem to remember Valerie/Kristina being tested?  I think you could bring the character back in that fashion at some point perhaps.  Especially with Blaze not being up to par for KM/Kristina IMO.

[Vee]

I wouldn't necessarily lump Sonny and Brenda into that - that was the Guza regime, and I think the other quickie weddings were all Garin Wolf desperation throws (or throes, depending on who you ask). Sonny and Brenda's marriage was also the culmination of decades of buildup and lack of payoff, and I didn't post those but the Sonny/Brenda wedding scenes (where he accepts her despite the Dante secret right there at the altar, and tells her her domineering father Harlan lied to her about her self-worth) were also some of Mo and that writing team's greatest work in years. And I say that, again, as someone who was not a S&B fan in their heyday and preferred other people to Brenda back then lol. It took me a long time to fully appreciate her, or them and revisit the classic era with new eyes. 

I couldn't care at all about that tease or the weird recast Valerie lol. I do think you could bring her back, sure, but I probably wouldn't revisit the Kristina thing. I would try Valerie with more men, since I believe she (like Krissy once upon a time) was explicitly bisexual.

Edited July 12, 2024 by Vee

[carolineg]

I don't disagree that there were years and years of build up to that Sonny/Brenda wedding.  It was deserved.  I am not mad that they got married even if it was way too short.  I loved the entire wedding even the silly Clink Boom redux because Jax and Edward were both on fire in the scenes after they thought Brenda died.  Sonny was great in those acceptance scenes saying he could get mad and leave again, but the first time he left was the biggest mistake of his life.   The wedding was extremely well written and thoroughly thought out and felt like Sonny and Brenda of old.

As a lifelong S/B fan, I will say it felt quick overall.  The build up in the current iteration of Sonny/Brenda just wasn't there.  Too much Dante/Jason focus.  I knew they loved one another, I knew what they had been through, and I knew they were soulmates.  Guza & co didn't really show it in present day.  It coasted more on past feels and assuming the audience was well versed on their history.

Anyhow, I could, and have, practically written a dissertation on the flaws and issues I had with Brenda's 2010 return so we won't go down that road again lol.

I wonder if the Dante/Brenda bomb of a story kind of tarnished Dante to other writers.  It was a lot of Dante in a place he didn't really need to be and I wonder if GW just put Dante/Lulu together and married them to stop the negative response by fans.   And more to my initial point, I wonder if GW decided to do all these weddings to mitigate the damage of other big couples breaking up at the time.  It was an easy way to appease fans quickly.

I could take or leave Valerie.  It was a huge mistake to put her with Dante so quickly.  Honestly the only other thing I remember about her was the Kristina tease.  You could probably reset the character though.

 

[Vee]

Oh, I agree. I'm just glad it got done (via VM's insistence) despite Guza wasting a lot of the time on the Dante angle, getting to tease the Jason/Brenda pairing again, the Balkan, etc. Those fascinations and biases were his typical fatal flaw. IMO what I liked about the pairing and marriage is what the actors (even Maurice, who VM activated and energized as she always does) and the daily writing team brought to it. The actors and writers (especially Vanessa) all had to drag Guza to get them to the altar really, as you say. And seeing them turn over a new leaf in moments like the wedding, actually living together as husband and wife, etc. That interested me.

It's also what interests me about the endgame scenario many of us have posited now: If we get Sonny and Brenda, if he moves out of hard crime to more white-collar scheming for Brenda and resumes the patriarch role he'd begun to settle into some time back a la Victor Newman, if they are married, become Victor and Nikki, and (unlike that couple) she becomes the prime mover in that couple's major story on the show while he takes a back seat (which would frankly better suit Mo's current energy level and health), what does that look like? How do they function as a married couple, live together, co-parent, etc.? That to me is the new frontier.

Edited July 12, 2024 by Vee

[carolineg]

To me, it would take a lot of weight of Mo/Sonny.  With Brenda's long absences she isn't played out at all.  You could use her in several places easily on the current canvas and it would give Sonny a much needed break.  Whether Mo would play that or not I don't know, but he's never seemed particularly jealous of VM's star power.   Even if he thinks he "helped" her along I do think it's clear he knows he owes a good portion of his longevity to her and that pairing taking off.   It would be an interesting dynamic to see Sonny truly support a partner equally especially if it's Brenda who deserves that from him.  The show would have to lose that 2010 narrative that Brenda is weak, flighty, and in constant need of protection though.

[Vee]

She can still be volatile and unpredictable without being a damsel. Brenda's always been good at that.

[Doc Lesley]

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.

 

Scotty Baldwin's last episode was September 19, 1980.  

[DRW50]

https://deadline.com/2024/07/james-b-sikking-dies-90-hill-street-blues-doogie-howser-md-actor-1236010148/

Already mentioned elsewhere but I thought I'd put it in here too. 

I think I've just seen one episode of his time on GH (if that). That whole story arc seems very depressing and repetitive, but he did look striking with a beard.

[Planet Soap]

Layman Soap reference! At 5:50 while discussing Richard Simmons death, talk show host Rickey Smiley recounts watching Simmons on General Hospital. The hosts also brought up watching One Life to Live, Search for Tomorrow, Ryan's Hope and The Edge of Night. I found it interesting because you hardly hear the latter three soaps mentioned outside of niche groups these days!

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Edited July 16, 2024 by Planet Soap

[depboy]

February 1975:

Monday, February 3, 1975: Jim leaves the courtroom and everyone is still stunned by his testimony.  Lee obtains a 24-hour delay from the judge; he tells Steve that Jim changed his story, and Steve asks if Lee can’t make Jim tell the truth.  Scott brings Augusta home and sees she has a packed suitcase; she tells him she is going out of town, but not where.  Lesley and Joel begin to make up; they find out what happened in court.  Diana tells Peter she has to do something to keep Jessie from going to jail.

Tuesday, February 4:  Steve tries to reassure Audrey about Jim’s testimony.  Lee admits he is quite worried about Jessie now.  Ross searches Lesley’s office in the hope of finding another geode.  Audrey finds Jim at Johnny’s bar and asks him to come home.

Wednesday, February 5: Ross discovers from Lesley that there was a second geode almost identical to the first.  Joel is irritated to see Lesley and Cameron together.  Augusta assures Dr. Ackerman that she wants to go ahead with the abortion; they schedule it for tomorrow.

Thursday, February 6: Dr. Thompson refuses to answer Steve’s questions about Jessie’s health.  Jim tells Lee the reason he said what he did on the witness stand.  Lesley asks Joel why Jessie doesn’t defend herself.  Lee sadly warns Audrey that he is going to have to expose Jim as an unreliable witness.  Diana is sleepless and suffering; when Peter leaves her alone, she hurriedly goes to her purse and takes from it the second geode - the real murder weapon.

Friday, February 7: Augusta is miserable as a nurse goes over the procedure with her.  Joel is shocked when Cameron tells him that Cameron has had him investigated; Joel tells him to get out.  Jim takes the stand again, and Lee makes him admit that he was angry with Phil and that he was drinking on the night of the murder and that his drinking cost him is job.

Monday, February 10: Steve finally gets Jessie to agree that he can talk to Dr. Thompson about her health.  Augusta is upset when an anesthesiologist flirts with her right before the abortion.  Jim breaks down and we see his bitter humiliation.  Groggy from the preliminary anesthetic, Augusta decides against the abortion and gets out of bed to start packing.

Tuesday, February 11: Lt. Todd tells Ross that he has been unable to locate another geode. Lee and Lesley speculate about Jessie’s chances; Joel pushes the idea of Jessie pleading guilty.  Augusta refuses to get back into bed, and when the nurse gets firm with her, she starts crying for help; she pleads with Dr. Ackerman that she doesn’t want the abortion; she calls Peter and begs him not to let Ackerman give her the abortion.

Wednesday, February 12: Peter remembers (via flashback) talking with Dr. Ackerman and stopping Augusta’s abortion.  Lee is annoyed by Joel’s rather casual description of Jessie’s dilemma.  Jim, drunk, suffers because of his testimony; Audrey cannot comfort him.  Diana secretly takes out the geode and recalls the night Phil died.

Thursday, February 13: Lesley is annoyed when Steve criticizes her for not recognizing and treating Jessie’s illness.  Diana talks to Jessie and says that she knows Jessie did not kill Phil and she can’t let Jessie suffer.  Jessie admits to Lee that for the first time she has allowed herself to think about what it would be like to spend her life in prison.  Lesley asks Diana if it’s possible that Jessie is protecting someone else; Diana, sensitive to that, prays that Jessie is not protecting “us”.

Friday, February 14: Steve scolds Kira for keeping the facts of Jessie’s illness from him.  Jane fills Augusta in on the events of the last week - Jim’s change of testimony and the probability that Jessie will stand trial.  Lesley tentatively suggests to Jessie that she plead guilty and get a lighter sentence; Lesley doesn’t realize her mistake until it is too late.

Monday, February 17: Lee gives Scott a birthday present and they discuss the possibility of Lee marrying in the future.  Jessie asks Steve not to blame Kira for not confiding in him about the illness.  Lesley apologizes to Jessie.  Augusta, sleepless and miserable, tells Jane she has done things she is not proud of.

Tuesday, February 18: When Ross and Lesley ask Diana if she knows anything about the second geode, she lies and says she knows nothing about it.  Joel tells Lesley that Cameron had him investigated, and warns her that if she has any skeletons in her closet, she better watch out.  Augusta asks Jane to describe what it is like to have a baby.

Wednesday, February 19: Diana goes to see Jessie and assures her that she was not responsible for what Phil did to Diana; Jessie feels she was responsible because she didn’t give Phil a child.  Audrey goes to visit Jessie.  Augusta explains to Peter why she canceled the abortion.  Diana feels like she can no longer keep the geode a secret.

Thursday, February 20: Lee tells Audrey that she would benefit from Al-Anon; he advises her not to cope with Jim’s alcoholism alone.  Lesley tells Joel she is considering moving out of Jessie’s house and that she doesn’t feel his influence on her is  good.  Audrey upsets Jim by refusing his physical attention.

Friday, February 21: Diana insists that Peter not go with her to the hearing; Peter is confused by her behavior.  Jim goes to Jessie and talks to her about his testimony and how he didn’t want to hurt her.  The judge announces that Jessie will stand trial; Diana stands up and tries to get the judge’s attention.

Monday, February 24: Diana stuns the courtroom by saying she killed Phil Brewer; Diana is taken away by Lt. Todd and Ross; Lee and Steve are unable to reassure Peter;  Diana admits to Ross that she lied about the missing geode and about Phil being alive when she last saw him; Chase fires Ross.  Jessie admits to Lee that she thinks Diana is guilty; she explains that she felt responsible for much of what Phil did to spoil Peter and Diana’s happiness.

Tuesday, February 25: Jane tells Augusta about Diana’s confession; Augusta wonders what will happen to Peter if Diana goes to jail.  Lee tells Peter that Diana wants to waive the right to a preliminary hearing and that she refuses to plead not guilty.  Diana tells her story to Lee and Chase, saying that she didn’t want Phil to tell Peter that he hadn’t really raped her.  The lab verifies the second geode as the murder weapon.

Wednesday, February 26: Diana is released on $100,000 bail.  Lesley suggests to Jessie that it would be a good idea if she moved out of the house.  Diana asks Peter why he hit Phil, if it was because Phil told him that when Diana got pregnant, it wasn’t rape; she is surprised when Peter tells her that isn’t what Phil said.

Thursday, February 27: Cameron encourages Lesley to look at a small English cottage. Chase accepts Ross’ apology.  Ross tells Jane that he did not like to prosecute any of the people on the seventh floor.  Jim, very drunk, tells Audrey he has nothing left.  Lesley tells Joel she doesn’t think they are good for each other and that she doesn’t want to see him for a few days.  

Friday, February 28: Cameron tells Lesley that he is certain he can arrange for her to get the English cottage; she is pleased.  Augusta tells Peter that there is no need for him to think of her and the baby now; he wishes that he couldn’t.  Peter gets the idea that Diana may be protecting him because she thinks he killed Phil.  Jessie remembers the night she found Phil dead and she faints.

[Vee]

I remember us talking about this a while ago on the board but I am rewatching some scenes from '94 where Sonny takes over Frank Smith's organization, and I can't remember the earlier details - was the Paradise Lounge always a Smith operation (i.e., Sonny was already on the payroll pre-debut) or did Sonny only begin working as a bagman or whatever for Frank when Luke came into the mix?

[Vee]

And another thing! How far did the Alan/Bobbie affair storyline go and what was the fallout? I vaguely recall it BITD and I'd thought they nipped it in the bud faster, but in rewatching Tony just caught on to them being at the same hotel in the wrong city. It's weird it just got memory-holed.

[carolineg]

The Paradise Lounge was a Joe Scully operation IIRC.  That's why Scully wanted a cut of Luke's when it opened.   Sonny starts working with Damian and eventually Luke basically on the side to gain more power.  I honestly think there was something to do with human trafficking on the Smith side of things, but I don't think Frank had any control over the Paradise Lounge.  

When Frank died Sonny just decided he was taking over.  He didn't really have any right or claim to the territory.  He just made a boss move lol.