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

[vetsoapfan]

Yes, and also THE DOCTORS.

[OldGHFan]

But Monty left in 1987.  That's why the ratings couldn't be sustained.

[vetsoapfan]

Agreed. The injection of low-brow camp and poorly-executed sci-fi seemed to appeal to a segment of the television audience which hated the traditional (yet hugely successful) soap opera genre and all its supposedly "boring", fundamental elements. The industry turned itself on its ear to cash in on GH's popularity and attract this part of the audience, believing that the new cartoon elements had made the kids and the camp lovers tune in. Never mind that GH's popularity had already soared before the Ice Princess dreck ever began, thanks to the chemistry between Luke and Laura, and all the other complex, interesting characters and interpersonal relationship dramas which had been written by Douglas Marland and Pat Falken Smith.

 

I've always felt that the introduction of cheesy camp helped drive away a large segment of die-hard viewers who had loved the soaps in their traditional form. And when the shows could no longer sustain the fantasy, sci-fi material, the audience who was only watching to get a kick out of frozen cities, clones, spaceships, demon possessions, etc., drifted away as well. By choosing to bastardize the genre with science fiction and camp, TPTB alienated longtime, die-hard fans for a fickle newer audience whom they ended up losing anyway.

 

What a waste.

 

 

 

 

[BetterForgotten]

Even late in her tenure, GH was starting to slip and other soaps were managing to squeeze out weeks at #1 in the ratings (even if they weren't #1 for the season itself). Unlike Y&R and some of the early years of ATWT's ratings domination, GH's time at #1 wasn't uninterrupted. Monty's earlier years had the great benefit of getting some critical praise and high ratings. By the middle of her first tenure, the show, though still popular, was fading and had become a laughing stock for many. 

 

I think it's interesting that it was Bell's Y&R, a show that was always seen as too slow, old-fashioned, yet psychosexual dethroned GH from #1 in the ratings and has consistently kept that position since (even if it too has veered far away from its roots). 

 

[vetsoapfan]

And let's not forget how awful the show was under Monty's return engagement in the 1990s. It took Wendy Riche to turn GH around and make it a fine, adult drama again.

[titan1978]

Monty's GH was always stronger when she had good writers.  The show had indeed slipped during her last year and the gap between it and the other top 3 soaps was getting smaller.

 

I think the Ice Princess was a fun story.  But it did eat the show, and IMO would have been better for the show to end its scifi run there.  The David Gray story was awful.

 

I love the spy and PCPD stories of the 1980's.  But I equally loved Riche, and enjoy the vintage stuff I have seen with Jessie and Steve driving story.  It's that period of about 3 to 4 years just before Marland and Monty arrive that I find little value in.  Even reading the recaps are boring compared to other soaps during that time.

 

Monty had two strong periods when the stories matched the quality of her production, IMO.  From her start with Marland through Falken Smith and the wedding of Luke & Laura, and again when Falken Smith returned and the Anna story begins.

I enjoyed Y&R, but I did find it boring at times back then.  And while the women were professional, I find Bell's women to be pretty weak emotionally and second to the male characters.  On GH, under Monty, the women were strong.  Laura is the only time I can even think of a character raped during Monty's tenure, mostly because she tried to avoide cliches with the female characters.

 

all this conversation reminds me of is how I could watch certain soaps for certain things, because they each had an identity.  That's been gone for over 20 years truthfully.

[OldGHFan]

For me, I loved GH in spite of the Sci Fi stuff.  It was truly the relationships for me that made the show.  I didn't miss an episode back in the day.  I always ran home from school to watch it.  I loved all the supercouples under Monty (Luke & Laura, Robert & Holly, Frisco & Felicia and Duke & Anna) and watching their undeniable chemistry.  I think Monty really excelled at finding those pairs that had extraordinary chemistry.  Some producers try and hit the viewer over the head with a so-called favored couple whereas Monty let it happen organically and sometimes even changed mid-stream (see Luke & Holly to Robert & Holly).  I think that was truly her strength.  She knew the viewer wanted romance, adventure and love and gave it to them.  That all superceded the SciFi stuff IMO . While some of the writing could be a bit weak, her overall vision of the show remained the same until she left in 1987.  Her motto: adventure, love and romance with a bit of the hospital and Qs for balance.  Monty was truly an original.

 

[BetterForgotten]

I do think a lot of the characterization on the show after Marland and Falken Smith's first tenure was very one-dimensional and almost as if everyone was playing a part in a very cheap and B level comic book. 

 

Luckily, they had some good actors to make a lot of the soulless material work. 

[DRW50]

What works best for me in her work at GH is community, which is a faraway dream for any soap today.

[titan1978]

I miss that too.  Even if a character like Tony or Bobbie or even Lucy weren't in the same story with characters like Anna and Robert, they still all felt connected through all the relationships and friendships they had around each other.

 

My favorite scene during Carlivati's first year on the show was Scotty arriving at the PCPD and annoying Anna for the first time in over a decade.  It's a nothing scene, but it reminded me of how the show used to be, and I missed those connections.

[victorlord75]

Just prior to Marland and Monty's arrival, GH was a mess.  By this time, alot of the original cast was fired.  I think the Pollacks were by far the worst writers "GH" ever had.  It was they who almost got the show cancelled.  Yes, the Pollacks did create Monica, Rick, Jeff, and Heather, but they did not understand GH because the original GH was not a "family show" like most other soaps of the 60s and 70s era.  There was no "rich family/poor family" concept like most of the other soaps of that time.  The center of "GH" was the platonic relationship of Steve and Jessie.  Some of the early 70s stories on GH were highly sexual, like Diana being raped by a previously impotent Phil Brewer, and Howie Dawson keeping his secret vasectomy from his wife, Jane, all the while, letting Jane think that he was "helping" when Jane wanted another child.  So, unlike most historians who say the show was bland, stale, and old-fashioned, I disagree.  The stories were daring in their own way, but the production model was indeed very old-fashioned, as evidenced by George Wright's excellent organ music score.  I loved it.  "GH" was the last American soap to ditch the organ music, as far as I know.  Also, despite all the drama on the show, there was alot of fun also, with the characters of Lucille March and Sharon Pinkham in many a comedic scene.  Sharon used to drive poor Lucille nuts.

[vetsoapfan]

Exactly: you watched the show IN SPITE OF the science fiction stuff, not because of it. The relationships were what kept you tuned in. I believe this is true of most traditional soap viewers, who may have gagged, retched, and held our noses through the worst of the low-brow dreck, but stayed tuned because we were emotionally invested in the characters and relationships. The trouble is, the campy material permeated the soap opera genre for so many years, it wore down even the most dedicated among us. We were finally able to leave the pointless daytime soaps behind, and find satisfaction in all the better-written, more adult and literate serialized dramas offered on primetime TV.

[OldGHFan]

BINGO!  It's why I can't watch GH now but still find myself following it on soap boards hoping someday it will get better.  (I know it won't).

[victoria foxton]

I would like to thank everyone who answered this thread. I have always been curious about the pre Marland/Monty era of GH.  What little their is of 1977 on you tube feels dull and the production values aren't great still would love to see more. Unlike today's GH there was a sense of community. and so many great characters like Rick,Jeff, Heather,Lesley and Monica. The stuff from 1975 is stronger so glad that some of the Dobsons GH material is on you tube. I only wish there were episodes featuring Jessie Brewer on trial from my limited knowledge of this era it must of been Jessie's last major front burning  lead story. I loved reading everyone's comments they all were very helpful and insightful.

[All My Shadows]

I've gone on record plenty of times here as not being even remotely interested in GH's 80s heyday -- at all. I'm firmly in the camp that prefers the slow-moving, dialogue-heavy character drama of the pre-80s era. It's really not a jab at science fiction or fantasy or action and adventure, but like was stated earlier in this thread, if I'm looking for that, I'm not going to choose a cheaply produced daytime soap for that. And say what you want about the "high budgets" of the 80s, no matter how high soaps' budgets were then, primetime's budgets were always higher. Mind you, this isn't to say that a soap doing such things can't be enjoyable. I love Dark Shadows, but I think it had way more in common with the traditional daytime soap than people would like to admit.

The domestic type drama was always within daytime's means, which is why that's what they always did best. You don't need a huge budget or special effects to focus on people and how they interact with each other. Early Love of Life had "walls" made of black curtains with fake paintings hanging on strings. Nobody gave a sh-t because the content of the series turned their heads away from its aesthetics. Somewhere in the 80s, that concept was completely reversed*. Hence the steady ratings increase over the 1950s-1980s and steady decrease since then.

* Honestly, though, that statement could be extended to most mainstream movies/TV. Action/adventure and sci-fi replacing coffee and conversation in soaps is easily connected to something seemingly unconnected like the shortening of primetime seasons from 20-30/year to 10-15/year. It all goes together.