GH: Classic Thread

[Vee]

As I said a few months back in here, the episodes were so dour that they were hilarious. But also very worth watching! I'm glad there's more here. Incidentally, MST is in another hiatus period atm but they've recently done many more shorts again; if they ever somehow got access to public domain soaps again I'd love to see it.

[DRW50]

I haven't seen those in years. I remember laughing at some of the content but looking back I feel bad that they would make horrified/disgusted noises any time Emily McLaughlin would come onscreen (I think it was her).

[Khan]

They weren't particularly kind to Lucille Wall and her voice either.  In Wall's case, however, it's really not her fault.  The quality of whatever videotape they had access to for the segment distorted her voice something awful.

[DRW50]

I'm grateful for what we have of '60s and '70s GH but most of the time the quality is very rough.

I'd forgotten they went in on Lucille too. 

Watching some bits of these episodes and having Lucille saying Audrey just needs to get over her miscarriage, having Steve belittle someone who had committed suicide or was about to do so, etc. reminds me of how rigid GH feels in morality and tone compared to where ABC soaps were heading at this time.

[titan1978]

It is interesting to think how much those early episodes and years were quite dour. In one of the most recently uploaded episodes I saw the slightest smile on Jessie’s face, and it had to be the first time I ever saw her close to smiling. I bet early Audrey was a breath of fresh air, because she is much lighter before they start piling on the tragedy to her too. Lee Baldwin too- he has such different energy compared to Doctors Hardy and Phil Brewer.

I know amongst original fans, many felt Jessie and Steve should have been together, and never were. EM certainly played a deep affection for Steve in many scenes I have seen of them together.

Those dour early years almost make the miserable JFP/Guza years seem like they were no so out of character. Almost.

 

[victorlord75]

I think the Hursleys realized that there was entirely too much angst at times, and that was why the hilarious constant bickering between Lucille and Sharon was thrown in.  Young and pleasant Sharon had a knack for getting in Lucille's way or saying just the thing to work on poor Lucille's last nerve.  Amy Vining provided a similar light touch later, but there really isn't anything like that today.

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

Well, these writers have been in the business of blowing up couples & situations, not building things up!

[Vee]

A beautiful scene we could all use these days. I don't know if this is also Michele Val Jean's work but I suspect so.

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[DRW50]

That was a very moving scene, especially considering what Rosalind Cash was going through.

[carolineg]

I am sure you and I have discussed this before, but I still wonder what the canvas would have looked like if Rosalind Cash had lived longer.   I have a tough time envisioning the Wards in Guza era GH, but I have to imagine they would have had a greater impact. 

[Liberty City]

I wish the Wards had been more prominent on the GH canvas. The Ashfords are a piss-poor stand-in family.

[DRW50]

If Tommy and Simone hadn't been shrugged off the show would have had more building blocks in place all the way back to the '90s.

I imagine she would have had a big involvement in Damian's murder story. After that she probably would have been written out early in Guza's second run, like Keesha. I'm just sorry we never got to see more of Rosalind Cash as she was such a legend.

[titan1978]

Rosalind Cash was wonderful on GH. A year or so ago I rewatched a Luke & Laura playlist from the beginning of their return. The story for the Wards was so carefully laid out, starting with Laura walking into a clearing and seeing their old family home. Her imagining the family that lived there, right up to finding Bradley’s remains and the affair reveal. It felt like those characters had been there longer than they were, they fit so well.

I also think what Guza did with Damian’s murder was a good idea. Edward protecting Justus, who went along partly for ego for himself and his family name, was a good story. That whole story is fun to watch, the murder, the memorial, and Laura in jail and on trial.

The story with Justus just didn’t go anywhere after that. Much like Tony going psycho kidnapping Michael and Robin and no rebuilding his life after.

I wish I could find that hospital scene with Mac and Stone. Stone is crying and Mac hugs him, like a spell breaking his anger at him up for good in that moment.

Edited February 7 by titan1978

[DRW50]

The initial story of Justus working with the mob, spurning everything that had been taught to him, could have had potential, with the Quartermaines as well as the triangle with legal eagle Dara and cop Taggert. As you said, they just didn't care. Someone also decided that Joseph C. Philips was wrong for who Justus now was, and brought in Monti Sharp, who, similar to his brief ATWT run, seemed to have lost most of what made him special on GL and just seemed slimy. I wasn't surprised he was only on for a short time.

I don't even know what they did with the last Justus, beyond being a monk and being killed.

[Bright Eyes]

That and Faith.