60 all-time greatest soap moments-TV Guide

[allmc2008]

I thought Marland left because he didn't want Luke and Laura to be together because Luke raped her, which led to his departure.

[Gino24]

We Love Soaps posted last year an article from 1981 talking about the future of Luke & Laura after their then upcoming wedding. Pat Falken Smith was interviewed and she talks about being responsible for the rape story. She also trashes the Ice Princess storyline that was written while she and her writing staff were on strike. Smith's comments are towards the end of the article.

http://www.welovesoaps.net/2011/11/lukelaura.html

I remember a tvguide.ca interview with Sheri Anderson where she said that the Ice Princess storyline was originally supposed to be about stolen diamonds, not a weather machine.

[allmc2008]

I never heard anything about Pat Smith except that Gloria Monty hated her. I don't even know the specs! Anyway, I am shoked at how blunt she is about raping Laura:

Ms. Smith has been writing DAYS OF OUR LIVES for years when producer Gloria Monty brought her over to help overhaul GENERAL HOSPITAL. "So Laura had just married Scotty," she recalls, "and everybody was married and everybody was happy, and I said, 'Listen, thanks a lot, leaving me all this happiness.' And the thing to do was immediately get Laura unhappy. So we raped her.

So if Marland wasn't responsible for the rape why did he and Monty fight? Did they not fight and I got that wrong? I was under the impression he did not want them to fall in love and that was the begining of the Monty/Marland feud.

[y&r_fan]

Y&R

Nikki's shooting (1998)

Jill and Katherine revealed as mother and daughter (2003)

Cassie's death (2005)

B&B

Taylor's death (2002)

Brooke's rape (2007)

Storm's suicide/Katie's heart transplant (2008)

[sungrey]

I was very glad to see two moments from Edge of Night on the list, my all-time favorite soap. However, the revelation of Josie on the witness stand (type in Edge of Night 1976 on YouTube and the episode pops up) should have been there. How Louise Shaffer was not nominated that year as Best Supporting Actress is a crime.

[Gino24]

From some interviews that I've read with Pat Falken Smith, she does come off very blunt, opinionated, and at times politically incorrect. In regards to her first stint as head writer on GH, Smith doesn't seem to get a lot of proper credit for her work and is often mistakenly credited for the infusion of action/adventure storylines, which occurred during the 1981 writers' strike and after she quit.

I know she was responsible for Alan/Monica/Rick, AJ's paternity, and Luke & Laura on the run.

I was looking over Michael Logan's list and 14) Tracy withholding Edward's medication was also during Smith's 1st stint as head writer. Future Days HW Sheri Anderson wrote the script for part 1, and Scott Hale wrote part 2 of those episodes.

This is from Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3cIaiB4IL8

Here's part of a famous episode from Smith's tenure as head writer where Alan tries to back out of his 1st plan to murder Rick and Monica because he's afraid that he might get caught.

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A 1985 SOD interview with Douglas Marland was posted here a while back where he talks about why he left General Hospital. Apparently Monty wanted him to move to California, and he declined. Marland's had plans for a tragic romance between Luke and Laura before the character was to be killed off. Had he stayed with the show, he would have factored in Luke's growing popularity and changed the ending. Here's the interview,

http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/25492-douglas-marland-interview/

In the book, Screen Couple Chemistry: The Power of 2 by Martha Nochimson, it was mentioned that Luke was supposed to die in Laura's arms. After Luke's death, Laura would reunite with Scott.

I don't know the details of the problems that Douglas Marland and Pat Falken Smith both had with Gloria Monty, but I get the impression that one of the issues was creative freedom. Smith would return to GH as head writer 2 more times.

[allmc2008]

Thanks. You are very knowledgeable.

[jam6242]

[dragonflies]

oh man I wish he'd had the chance to kill off Luke