Who Was Worse for GH?

[AbcNbc247]

Which regime do you think has been worse for GH overall? 

 

The Frons/Phelps/Guza regime or the current regime of Varni/Valentini/Ron, Jean, Shelly, etc.?

 

I'm posting this thread because honestly, I can't decide. In my opinion, both teams had some positives but a lot of negatives. Under Frons/Phelps/Guza, I watched GH on and off, but I remember thinking that the show was a little dark (not just the lighting) and depressing. And I really didn't like the decimation of the vets and the Quartermaines. To this day, I still think that the firing of Stuart Damon and the killing off of Alan was the biggest mistake GH ever made. Yes, even bigger than RH as Franco. At the same time, however, I really did enjoy a lot of it, mainly those month long Sweeps events (PC Hotel Fire, MC Hostage Crisis, B&W Ball) even though I hated the resolutions and aftermaths of several of them. (RIP Alan) Plus, in some cases I thought the acting was a lot better than what we see now.

 

Under Frank and Ron was when I started watching GH every day, and though there were some things that I hated and often joked that that was the year GH became OLTL I did enjoy their first years. But now, with Frank's obsession with his pets and OLTL friends, both on and off screen, I sometimes find myself wishing for dark and depressing, The Sopranos of daytime, Frons/Phelps/Guza GH.

 

What do you think?

[DRW50]

Guza wrecked everything of GH. Nothing was left by the time "Cartini" arrived.

[SteelCity]

I actually really miss the Guza events.

[victorlord75]

I'd cast my vote for neither as a long time viewer on and off, because in my mind, there was no regime worse than that of Tom Donovan/The Pollocks in the mid-70s.  Second place would go to the Gloria Monty/Too many writer changes to keep track of during Monty's brief return in 1991.  What both periods shared in common was desperation tactics employed to pick up ratings quickly, and it didn't work in either case.

[AbcNbc247]

What was it like in the mid 70’s? I know the show was nearly cancelled at that time. Did bringing in Denise Alexander as Lesley help at all?

[titan1978]

This is hard for me to quantify.

 

I think Phelps produced a better looking and acted show.  And Guza’s team of writers wrote way stronger material.  The individual scripts and storylines had more depth, more drama, higher stakes and made bold decisions.

 

But I absolutely hated their interpretation and destruction of the characters they inherited.  I liked a lot of the ones they added though- Ric, Johnny and Claudia, Faith, Patrick, Alcazar, Dante etc.  I can’t say the same for Valentini’s era under any writers.  But I hated the show.  Stopped watching it.  Bob Guza needed someone that checked some of his impulses, and Phelps didn’t (even if she wanted to, I believe he got a producer credit when Frons brought him back).

[victorlord75]

Denise Alexander as Lesley came aboard in 1973, the period I'm referring to was in 1976.  In 1975, Tom Donovan came aboard to pick up ratings and to update the show.  So, he got rid of the trademark organ music and long-time characters like Henry Pinkham, Jane Dawson, Lucille Weeks, and Lee Baldwin were all quickly written out, and replaced by a new family named the Webbers, which consisted of Terri, Rick, Jeff, and Jeff's wife Monica.  Almost whole episodes were wasted featuring Terri singing in her nightclub.  My mother was one of the viewers lost during this time, and she never returned.  Her complaint was, "I don't know any of these people."  As for Lesley, she was raped and kidnapped by Cameron Faulkner.  He threw poor Lesley in a car as his prisoner, but he got killed in the car accident while behind the wheel, with a kidnapped Lesley in the passenger seat, and Lesley was left carrying his child.  Lesley later lost that child after falling down a flight of stairs after a huge fight with Monica, and thereafter, could not bear any more children.  Melodrama after melodrama after melodrama. Despite all the terrible storylines featuring new characters that longtime viewers didn't care about, the story of Lesley's daughter that she thought was dead that turned up alive did actually save the show, so there is some irony there.

[titan1978]

I had no idea Monica caused Lesley to loose a child.  What a great rivalry the show eventually wasted.  They should have been rivals like Jill and Katherine.  Dormant and then back at it again every few years.

 

I do sometimes wonder if Monty hadn’t decided to get rid of Lesley (well her and the network, when all Denise wanted was time off before a new contract), what would have happened with the show. Would later regimes have kept Rick and her and kept up the focus?  I think she still had potential as a character and could have easily stayed without Rick.  But Rick without Lesley- i see why they wrote him out.

[victoria foxton]

I think both regimes were equally damaging. Completely different but just as malignant.  Even though Bob completely decimated GH. Frank found new degrading ways to further decimated  GH. As bad as Gloria's second run was. It left no long term damage. Wendy quickly repaired the damage Gloria did.

[John]

well Monty was only there  a year the 2nd time & thats when ABC actually gave a damn

[AbcNbc247]

Sounds like they were smart back then. 

 

If only they were as smart now. 

 

Btw this Dranco crap is definitely making me wish for Phelps and Guza again.

[FrenchFan]

For me Phelps and Guza were worse. They took all the vets away from the show. With Valentini, we can still have some Laura, Bobbie, Scotty, Monica, Mac and Felicia. We even saw Lucy and sometimes Lesley. The storylines are bad but we have the familiar faces and I prefer.

[John]

I dunno Toxic Balls is so much worse than FrancoDrew but its close

[slick jones]

Both regimes have been equally destructive. Guza and Phelps destroyed the show and ValenVarni brought in their friends at the expense of what was left.

[Bright Eyes]

 

One killed the past, the other is killing the future.