GH: Classic Thread

[dc11786]

I wonder if its a case of what set was up. There is a brief period (spring 1990?) when they were testing Katherine and Colton while Colton was setting up the gym. It was said that the gym and Delafields were either next door to each other or around the corner. 

I found Katherine out of place in her relationship with Robert and his crew. I thought she was a theatrical actress in her delivery and would have potentially been better suited in the Quartermaine crew, but mostly better suited out of Port Charles.

Thanks! 

I'm glad Cindi commented on Audrey's makeup post surgery. Audrey looked awful. The damage that was inflicted on her by Ryan is truly unsettling. 

I don't like Bill and Holly's story much, but I like them as individuals. I thought Bill worked better in 1992 with loving Julia, but Julia being unable to get past Bill's role in her father's death. 

That's a very nice clip I hadn't seen before. 

I am really enjoying the early 1990s. I think there is so much potential in late Monty 2.0 and throughout the Riche's run from the minute she arrives through the 1995 episodes I have seen. I am not surprised it continues into 1997. 

Tracy's exit is remarkable especially given the tension between Elliot and Riche leading up to her departure and the misogynist slant of the writing in this period. It is such a layered performance in all of those interactions with so many little moments to cherish ("I care about you." "Are you ok?" "Goodbye, my girl.") The music though just elevates it to a new level. I assume this is Marty Davich? It's just remarkable. The final shot of Jane Elliot in the Q mansion looking back at Lila just gets me. 

Watching Tracy's return is hard after watching her 1993 exit. It's not like Tracy was leaving on good terms in 1993; she has run over Jenny and has been kicked out of the house by Edward. She has conceded to let Paul off the hook on the trumped charges and agreed to joint custody. Tracy isn't leaving town a winner, but she isn't treated like a loser. Her departure is treated as a true loss and Tracy's self-destruction has gone so far that Edward has deemed it necessary to rid himself of her. It's a devastating blow to the family and I am glad it's treated as such. 

The 2003 scene has that same hostility that could be present in 1993, but it lacks the sentiment and emotion. Tracy was still someone's mother, sister, daughter in 1993. In 2003, those relationships have been stripped of any meaning and devalued to the point that Tracy is nothing more than a parasite. It's a very disappointing writing choice. Also, reverting back to hostility between Tracy and A.J. when A.J.'s final moment in 1993 shows genuine concern and this is what finally breaks Tracy is such a disappointment. A Tracy / AJ partnership would have shaken up the Quartermaine family. The idea of Tracy taking Monica's son under her wing would have just added a new layer to the hostility between Monica and Tracy.  

It's just a shame to see how far the show falls in a decade. 

[BetterForgotten]

Tracy’s 1993 exit, in some ways, reminds me a lot of how British soaps often wrote out important female characters - all of their core relationships crumbling, sentimental moments with some of those key relationships, and leaving with baggage, but also hope for the future.

Jane did come back for that stint in 1996 before going over to The City. From what Jane has said, it sounded like the original plan was to have Tracy return to GH only in 1996, but when Morgan Fairchild wouldn’t renew her contract, someone at ABC had the idea to shift Tracy to The City. 

Were things really that bad between Riche and JE? Did JE leave on her own accord, or did Riche opt to not renew her contract? As has been said, I knew JE publicly criticized the anti-choice stance Tracy took, but was there other tension between her and Riche? 

@dc11786 - the music was provided by Marty Davich, who Shelley Curtis wisely brought over to GH from DAYS.

Edited January 20 by BetterForgotten

[Contessa Donatella]

It was my understanding that Morgan Fairchild only signed a one-year contract by intent & they knew upfront that there was no possible second year. 

And, when was it that Jane was a Producer on LOVING?

 

[dc11786]

@BetterForgotten I may have misremembered the Riche / Elliott tension. I know there was the abortion comment, but I just reread Wendy Riche's interview with "We Love Soaps" and I am wondering if Tracy's abortion stance was made in 1992 when Tracy was pregnant with Dillon and Riche was defacto headwriter. 

I also find some of the backstage drama odd. Kin Shriner goes to the press in 1993 about how he and Riche had a public blowup on set and he stormed off. Yet, later, Riche launches and entire show around him. I don't understand. 

I hadn't read that the plan was for Tracy to return in 1996 to "General Hospital" permanently. Thanks for sharing. 

The score is amazing. 

[titan1978]

Jane won some soap award and profusely thanked Gloria Monty for what she had done for GH and her character, when Riche was in place. I recently saw the clip, maybe a soap opera digest award? IIRC Jane chose to leave the show. In recent years she has been complimentary of Monty without holding back on her failings in treating people poorly and manipulating to get what she wanted onscreen.

Her return to GH in 1996 being ongoing is the first I have heard of this. Tracy was forced on the show to establish her again before taking over The City. There was no long term story planned, just the three week stint, and it was mandated by the network.

 

This is such an important distinction. When she came back the first time in 1989 there is so much joy in Lila’s voice when she says Tracy! She was a fully rounded person.

I grew to love John Ingle as Edward. I cannot imagine David Lewis, especially at that time, playing the Ward backstory believably. But Lewis was so good in scenes with Tracy. You really got their dynamic more with him, the simmering anger he has towards her. Not just the disappointment, outright anger. And Tracy was the one that was most like him and better suited for ELQ than Alan. Only original recipe Edward Quartermaine would be upset his son became a doctor.

[BetterForgotten]

I can’t find the interview anymore, but I could have sworn Jane said her return to GH had “been in the works” for a while in 1996 but plans evolved. I could have not remembered correctly though. 

I think Holly left a month or so after Tracy did in 1993. In some ways, it’s hard to imagine Tracy and Holly were ever on the show under Riche.

I’m not sure if Tracy would have fit in on Labine’s GH interpretation. Labine might have loved the black comedy inherent to Tracy’s character, but Tracy was already one of the more complex female GH characters before that era, so she didn’t really need a ton of tweaking. 

[Vee]

And hilariously, double-checked that both Gloria and her sister Norma were dead before unloading about all this in 2013 during a dishy 50th anniversary interview with herself and other longtime vets. I'll never get over that.

I agree the writing for Tracy's initial brief return in 2003 (to intro Scott Clifton's Dillon and de-Q Skye, IIRC) was shallower, as I've rewatched it not long ago. As I said a few days ago that whole era, particularly '03-'04 when Frons and Pratt were ascendant, was very crass writing-wise. But what I will say for that return is that as a younger viewer my memories of Tracy were few and far between; I knew the legend as a fan, but she'd left just before I started watching GH in '93 as they began promoting the return of Luke and Laura. I had only seen bits and pieces of her in '96 or on The City (which I'd lost interest in by the time she turned up), and beyond that I'd only ever seen the occasional famous episode with her on WOST (withholding Edward's pills, etc.) or wherever else.

So when Jane turned up in '03, for a bored viewer growing very disenchanted with the show's decline she was like a shot of adrenaline to the heart. She was instantly a very, very formidable presence, and the dialogue did sharpen up for her at least to try to keep up with her. Those scenes where she dresses down the whole family, shallow though they may be, stuck with me and I knew instantly they'd be idiots to let her only do this brief stint of a few days and leave when the show was getting so lousy. I was right, because IIRC Jane was back on contract either later in the year or early in '04, and she stayed. The writing hasn't always served her or the family well, particularly in those years, or allowed all the dimension it once had for those characters, but she was instantly dynamite.

[DRW50]

@dc11786 Thanks for telling me about the Monica and Tracy scene. I will have to try to find it. I missed that level of nuance in later writing. They overplayed the Quartermaines as having only one personality trait each and relying on one-liners. At least they did have a few good moments together, like when Edward was dying.

@BetterForgotten You're so right about the British soap exits (something they don't even do anymore, sadly). 

@Vee That is a good point about Tracy reaching a new audience. Similar to how the Luke pairing, which I disliked, did help stabilize her on the show through a number of years where she could have been killed off.

[janea4old]

same when Jane Elliot returned in 2023!

[Contessa Donatella]

The major difference between these two returns is a pretty big difference. This last time she came back, not just from a break, but from retirement. We are so blessed that she came back to us, at all!!! Just imagine the show today without her. No, let's not even think of that. I can only guess that she did not enjoy being retired, even though she had thought she would. Again I say how glad I am that she apparently didn't like being retired. And, one other thing, thank Soap Jesus that Frankie hasn't screwed this up.

[titan1978]

The sad truth is that the Luke pairing kept the Quartermaines onscreen during the mid-2000’s, especially the later part. After AJ was killed, then Alan, they didn’t give them much to do beyond harping on Tracy, Luke, Dillon and Lulu. That and killing Emily, another reason for Monica to be heartbroken. Luke however had many story lanes happening through most of that time.

 

[Franko]

I debated posting this, and ultimately decided on this thread as opposed to the January one or the LC memorial. My apologies if it's already been discussed, or if it's too tacky.

Besides Denise Alexander, who would you want back for Monica's memorial episode? If Jennifer Guthrie has any interest, I wouldn't mind a visit from Dawn's angel.

[Contessa Donatella]

Amber Tamblyn

[DRW50]

Jennifer is a nice idea.

I think Natalia Livingston returning as ghost Emily is probably a good idea just because she did have a rapport with Leslie and with Steve Burton and she has returned before. I'm not sure I need the ghost Quartermaine body doubles this time, unless Sean Kanan can return. Otherwise I might just have Emily talking to the camera and maybe showing us a replica of the old Q dinner table and she'd talk about what Edward, Lila, Alan, Justus, Gail, Bobbie, etc. are doing in anticipation for Monica's arrival.

Amber would be a nice idea too, in some capacity.

If Shelley Taylor Morgan is still able to perform, I might have a brief visit from Lorena, as it might provide a bit of comedy and a distraction and a way for the remaining Qs to unite against an outsider. 

Introducing a one- or two-day character who grew up in foster care and whose education, all the way up to medical school, was paid for by Monica - I would like that. 

Edited January 20 by DRW50

[Franko]

I almost mentioned her, but I wasn't sure what her current feelings are about GH/daytime.

Lorena would be awesome. So many missed opportunities with her. And I really, really like the idea of the character whose life improved thanks to Monica.