18 hours ago, Franko said:

The great casting shakeup happened in three waves over the course of 1991-92. Commentary on it starts here.

Thank you for directing back to the last time several of us dissected that run. Your casting list is a great resource for that turbulent 13 or so months!

29 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

Thank you for directing back to the last time several of us dissected that run. Your casting list is a great resource for that turbulent 13 or so months!

You're welcome. @dc11786 deserves much praise for helping get many of the exact dates and lesser-known characters.

On 9/25/2025 at 6:12 PM, FlyRightOrchestraGuy said:

@FrenchFan @MissPalmer Which actress was hired to play Samantha Livingstone first:  Kimberly Beck or Marla Pennington?  How long was Ms. Beck with General Hospital?  Was Kimberly Beck just a temporary replacement for Marla Pennington?  Did Ms. Beck even have a contract with GH?

The script covers I have from Fielden Farrington’s collection has Marla Pennington playing Samantha by November 1975.

 

8 hours ago, depboy said:

The script covers I have from Fielden Farrington’s collection has Marla Pennington playing Samantha by November 1975.

 

Thank you!!! It is really interesting! I guess when the Chandlers left in March 1976, Jeff and Monica started appearing at GH.

Thank you for keeping alive GH legacy!

I had no idea Fieldon Farrington wrote for GH. I know him from his novel 'A Little Game' which became a TV movie. He died in 1977 aged 68.

Thanks @depboy

On 9/25/2025 at 2:19 AM, DRW50 said:

I am not sure of everyone but I think she also cut Larry, Charlene, and Colton. And Edge, although I guess he was never long-term, I don't know.

Did she write Cheryl out or was Cheryl already gone by then?

(I know she comes back to die under Riche)

My memory has proven to be fuzzy, but my impression was that Gloria Monty DID fire Finola Hughes, which in turn, was the last straw for the network, who fired Monty herself not long after.  They cast another actress to play Anna to finish out Anna's story before killing Anna and Robert off in some type of explosion.  If I am wrong, I will be happy to stand corrected.

1 hour ago, victorlord75 said:

My memory has proven to be fuzzy, but my impression was that Gloria Monty DID fire Finola Hughes, which in turn, was the last straw for the network, who fired Monty herself not long after.  They cast another actress to play Anna to finish out Anna's story before killing Anna and Robert off in some type of explosion.  If I am wrong, I will be happy to stand corrected.

That is true. Though I believe Finola was already leaving or taking a break to do Jack's Place, and Monty cut her lead time short to kick her out immediately.

14 hours ago, Vee said:

That is true. Though I believe Finola was already leaving or taking a break to do Jack's Place, and Monty cut her lead time short to kick her out immediately.

She had an out, and used it to work on the new show Jack’s Place. Depending on the interview, she was going to leave anyway. But more recently Finola said ABC was trying to convince her to do both, and they wanted her to stay on the network. And Monty told her either right before filming a scene or right after that this was her last day. No party, no goodbye, no notice. I believe she even still had time left on her contract or had agreed to film longer than Monty was willing to. Petty.

Tristan has been more open about what happened in the last few years than she initially was. And he also complained to ABC executives that Monty was out of control. Riche did reach out to them both to try to get them to stay/come back, and it didn’t work out.

I do believe Tristan was headed out the door anyway. But he had taken at least one extended break or left and came back in the 80’s. It’s what lead to Anna and Burt being co-chief of police and the Mister Big storyline, he was gone for months. So who knows if he would have stayed had the last year not been so miserable.

27 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

She had an out, and used it to work on the new show Jack’s Place. Depending on the interview, she was going to leave anyway. But more recently Finola said ABC was trying to convince her to do both, and they wanted her to stay on the network. And Monty told her either right before filming a scene or right after that this was her last day. No party, no goodbye, no notice. I believe she even still had time left on her contract or had agreed to film longer than Monty was willing to. Petty.

Tristan has been more open about what happened in the last few years than she initially was. And he also complained to ABC executives that Monty was out of control. Riche did reach out to them both to try to get them to stay/come back, and it didn’t work out.

I do believe Tristan was headed out the door anyway. But he had taken at least one extended break or left and came back in the 80’s. It’s what lead to Anna and Burt being co-chief of police and the Mister Big storyline, he was gone for months. So who knows if he would have stayed had the last year not been so miserable.

Do you think Monty was tiring of the characters of Anna/Robert as well or just being petty with the actors?  The Robert/Anna stories at the time weren't my favorite, but I wasn't sure if it was just based on GM disliking the actors, jealous of their popularity, or running dry on ideas for them.

1 hour ago, carolineg said:

Do you think Monty was tiring of the characters of Anna/Robert as well or just being petty with the actors?  The Robert/Anna stories at the time weren't my favorite, but I wasn't sure if it was just based on GM disliking the actors, jealous of their popularity, or running dry on ideas for them.

Petty with the actors. She was really a tyrant as the year went on and her initial plans collapsed the show. From all accounts she was pretty bitter and quite distraught about her husband as the run was nearing its end. Anna and Robert were the superstar leads of the show, and she wasn’t stupid. Jack Wagner left. She brought that star system to GH- it’s why she didn’t do recasts during her first run after Heather Webber. When someone left back then, so did their character. She did a couple of them in round 2.

One of the things that hammered Riche at first was GH had been so star driven, like Reva at GL, so it took a minute to build others back up. And truthfully, Guiding Light had more amazing actors there just waiting for their chance to shine, and they did. Tony was almost a lead character during the first five years of Riche, and he really wasn’t used that way before, he was always in the third tier- you had the folks like Felicia, Frisco, Anna, Robert, Duke, then the next group was the Quartermaine characters and Bobbie’s circle. Then Tony and the rest. People like Lucy  and Scotty moved between groups, but Tony was a true supporting player. Sad to say by the end of Monty’s first run the hospital characters were pretty much dead last.

I also think Tristan was just fed up, and burned out. People seem to have liked Wes Kenney, collaborative and a leader but not as controlling or with the nasty streak Monty had at times. And IIRC Joseph Hardy was not liked and that was a difficult time too.

8 hours ago, titan1978 said:

I do believe Tristan was headed out the door anyway. But he had taken at least one extended break or left and came back in the 80’s. It’s what lead to Anna and Burt being co-chief of police and the Mister Big storyline, he was gone for months. So who knows if he would have stayed had the last year not been so miserable.

Robert was off the canvas twice in the mid-'80s. He left on Friday, Dec. 13, 1985, then came back on Monday, Sept. 22, 1986. He left again on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1987, then came back on Monday, June 1, 1987.

2 hours ago, Franko said:

Robert was off the canvas twice in the mid-'80s. He left on Friday, Dec. 13, 1985, then came back on Monday, Sept. 22, 1986. He left again on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1987, then came back on Monday, June 1, 1987.

Thank you! I knew he wasn’t there the whole time, just not the dates. Same with Rachel Ames as Audrey in the mid 1980’s. She wasn’t on contract for part of that decade but everywhere online has her not leaving until Jill doesn’t renew her contract in 2003. Same sites have Tristan as 1981-1992.

Don't get me started on the idiocy where they now claim Holly and Robert fúcked in early '92 while Anna was missing, then Holly somehow carried Sasha to term while being frontburner onscreen in Port Charles for the next year.

If you really had to give them a secret love child there were many other time windows. Same issue with Mac siring Cody somewhere around the same era.

Edited October 2Oct 2 by Vee

The Sasha timeline is so stupid that I just have to laugh. I can ignore it though for the most part because while Sasha isn't anything to get excited over, I feel like that was something they did for ES and TR knowing that was probably their last big story. But honestly, none of Holly's offscreen time has ever made much sense to me. I still don't know when and how Ethan came about and when she met up with Luke! Is Sasha older than him? Was he born during the time they thought she was dead and Luke randomly knew she was alive? It's confounding.

The Mac and Dominique secret love child still takes the cake for me of craziest retcon. I actually really like Cody and I don't hate the idea of a Mac child but....we never saw Dominique offscreen from the time they met until she died lol. She moved on from Mac pretty fast as well and spent the last few years running around with Scott, Lucy, and Julia and then up and died. Why they didn't just make him Mac's child with some offscreen woman, I'll never know. It's like they just looked for women Mac was with and picked a name they thought most fans would recognise but not think too much about timeline wise. Plus I'm still confused on why she hid a baby from not only Mac, but also Scott and Lucy. 

6 minutes ago, AdelaideCate007 said:

The Mac and Dominique secret love child still takes the cake for me of craziest retcon. I actually really like Cody and I don't hate the idea of a Mac child but....we never saw Dominique offscreen from the time they met until she died lol. She moved on from Mac pretty fast as well and spent the last few years running around with Scott, Lucy, and Julia and then up and died. Why they didn't just make him Mac's child with some offscreen woman, I'll never know.

It's so dumb. I'd still find a way to retcon the Dominique aspect if I could lol. I was not watching for the ins and outs of that onscreen reveal and don't know the exact details of what was said, so who knows if it's possible. It's very possible a shady ex of Mac's from his mercenary days could've glommed on to the Dominique backstory and lied to Cody to try to extract money or something. And then you could introduce a scheming mother!

I just would not reuse Sasha much period, so I don't see a point in revisiting that issue. Agreed it was likely something done for Robert and Holly fans, and their knowing Tristan didn't have much time left. But I also think at the time they'd hoped to keep and re-cement Sasha (complete with Quartermaine baby), who PM had likely tried to 86. Then they had other budget concerns to deal with and off she went.

Quote

I still don't know when and how Ethan came about and when she met up with Luke! Is Sasha older than him? Was he born during the time they thought she was dead and Luke randomly knew she was alive? It's confounding.

I am pretty sure he's older and it's the latter. I have been trying for years to track down the scenes where Luke tells Ethan or whoever the whole story of that ONS. I don't know exactly when they were so I can't even find a transcript on tvmegasite or wherever. I agree it's real murky timeline-wise, but it's nowhere near the idiocy they tried to pull with these recent insta-kids lol.

Sasha even regaled us with a story about how Holly ran off in her childhood to go run a con with David Vickers from OLTL, because of course she did.

Edited October 2Oct 2 by Vee