How was General Hospital in the 70's before Marland/Monty?

[victoria foxton]

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[allmc2008]

I sincerely apologize for posting an OT post.  I just wanted to welcome you to our family!!

Anyway, I can't wait to hear the responses for this thread!

[victoria foxton]

Thanks for welcoming me that's very sweet no need to apologize.

[DRW50]

You can find several 1975 episodes here.

 

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[OldGHFan]

Wow.  1975.  That's pretty cool.  I was a big Denise Alexander fan.

[DRW50]

What did you think of the show at this time?

You can find several 1974 scenes here.

 

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[soapfan770]

Look up old Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes to see what GH was like in its earliest days...

[OldGHFan]

I didn't start watching GH until 1977 - the Marland/Monty years - so I can't comment what GH was like before then.  As a young teen back then, my guess is that I most likely wouldn't have been interested.  Genie/Laura got me hooked on GH in 1977.

[SweetPea36]

I took a sick day from work to watch the very first day of GH. I was in love with John Beradino, and then Roy Thinnes came along and was the frosting on the cake. I liked both Jesse and Audrey, and I always preferred the hospital drama. Still do, when GH chooses to pretend there's a hospital around.

[DRW50]

You can also see a lot of 1977 footage starting here:

 

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[vetsoapfan]

GH was great in the 1960s and through the early 1970s, but stumbled in the mid-1970s and was just...slow, flat and tedious until Douglas Marland's writing revitalized the show. It was amazing to see how INSTANTLY the characters and storylines perked up and came alive under his writing. Marland's material was not always a success (LOVING never really "worked"), but he was a miracle worker on GH.

[allmc2008]

When did Marland start?  Also, what years were the Dobsons there and were they good?

[vetsoapfan]

Dr. Steve was the perfect, strong and comforting paternal figure, and Nurse Jessie was the epitome of the warm, maternal caregiver. Having them oversee the hospital made it feel like home.

 

And Jessie sure was lucky to have that hunky Phil Brewer as a husband. Too bad he turned into such a louse, and ruined both Jessie's and Diana's lives.

[vetsoapfan]

I believe Frank and Doris Hursley wrote the series until 1973 and then the Dobsons took over for two years (from 1973 to 1975). Both the Hursleys and the Dobsons wrote the show very well, and understand its core, its concept, and its characters

 

It was after the Dobsons left that the show collapsed. Three married couples, the Pollacks, the Hollands, and the Elmans, tried their hand at headwriting, but none of them were good, and they only "succeeded" in gutting core characters and alienating the audience.

 

Douglas Marland arrived in 1977 and revitalized the show. GH was must-see TV during his reign, and during the leadership of Pat Falken Smith, who took over in 1979 after Marland was let go, and remained as headwriter until 1981. Then hack writers and painfully stupid sci-fi camp took over, killing the once-fine series. But GH was great from 1963-75, and from 1977-81.

[BetterForgotten]

Were the Dobson's fired or did P&G steal them away for GL? Their GH wasn't that highly rated, so if P&G did steal them away, I wonder why (obviously it worked as their GL stint is probably their definitive writing stint - sorry Santa Barbara fans).