GH: Jackie Zeman passed away

[Faulkner]

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Edited May 11, 2023 by Faulkner

[Vee]

I remember we unpacked this some time ago, trying to determine based on the available dates and her own anecdotal evidence if Jackie had been hired (in late '77) before Gloria and/or Marland or not. I think the conclusion we came to is that no, she came with them both though perhaps before their names were officially on the show, which does happen. I don't think she was ever part of the attempted Elman revamp.

[Darn]

A gut punch. Ugh.

Luke and Laura and especially Geary get too much credit for the rise of GH. And I think that's mostly because the press is able to hang their hat on the titillation of "victim marries her rapist" angle. They ignore the fact that the rest of the show had to be good to keep people watching and that that story didn't happen in a vacuum, there was so much more going on before and after the disco.

Anyway, back to Jackie. Bobbie and her fiery red hair are (like I told @Vee when he shocked me with this news) are an indelible part of my childhood and part of some of my earliest memories. She really was a throughline across countless regime changes, a constant that helped to shape basically all of the eras post her hiring in 77. This is hearbreaking, she was entirely too young and still so vital.

[Vee]

Me too. That's been on my radar for a long time and I don't think it's incidental that Leslie (who was supposed to be back on her feet and onscreen this time last year) only contributed her voice to Sonya Eddy's tribute.

Denise Alexander, Leslie, the Heathers (Mary O'Brien) and Chris Robinson, later Stuart Damon, etc. don't get enough credit either IMO. Or giving the show a stronger elder support system by zeroing in on Scott's family with Lee and the recently-added Gail, though that began before Monty and Marland (they ramped up that whole end of the canvas).

Tony (allegedly) saved her job in that period, because Jill supposedly wanted to ship Bobbie off to Ferncliff after going psycho over Melissa Bedford, as Jensen Buchanan was supposed to be the new star. We know how that went. I'd been expecting him to appear this year anyway but I will be shocked if he doesn't for this.

Edited May 11, 2023 by Vee

[Darn]

So so good.

 

[Vee]

I didn't see this one:

 

[Khan]

It's almost as if there were TWO GH's happening during that period.  Ask anyone in the industry or the press, and all they can mention is Luke and Laura and the stupid Ice Princess (and - oh, yeah - the rape, too).  But, ask actual, everyday GH fans, as I have, and you know what they talk about?  Rick and Monica and Alan and Lesley and Tracy and Jeff and Heather and Anne and Scotty...and, of course, Bobbie.  Luke and Laura is almost like a footnote to many who actually watched the show.

[Vee]

I don't think we can quite reduce L&L to that, they were gigantic at the time. I think a more accurate summation would be that the media now (and perhaps then) considers the rest of the show a footnote, whereas in reality L&L was the crown jewel amongst a host of very strong stories and characters. There is a reason the silly General Hospital pop song features all those storylines too.

[Khan]

ICAM.

[DRW50]

Watching the Nurses' Ball tribute (not great, but better than it could have been, especially in clip selection), I wonder if they already knew. I guess they must have. I didn't notice how Jackie had to hug Laura Wright so tightly at the end due to emotions. Reminds me a bit of the incredibly poignant moments with Don McLaughlin in ATWT's 35th anniversary party for Nancy and Chris.

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[Vee]

I think it was just meant to be the show showing solidarity with Jackie, who they probably knew was fighting cancer. But the show itself seems shocked by her passing.

I have seen the 1994 saga with Bobbie's family so many times so I have definitely dug back into some '96 and '98 episodes with her and Sarah Brown, Brad Maule, etc. in addition to my late '70s/early '80s binge - I haven't seen most of the Bobbie/Tony/Carly story in decades. I may have to find the great episode in that flashback, where Bobbie counsels Liz after her rape.

Edited May 11, 2023 by Vee

[Darn]

I have a feeling Frank knew, the cast regularly praises him as a great, involved producer so I wouldn't be surprised if she informed him of her illness.

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Darn

[DRW50]

I do get the feeling very few knew (reminds me of Elisabeth Sladen).

I wasn't a big fan of any of the stories themselves but I'm tempted to look for the scenes where she lays into Laura for faking her death in early '97.

GH may have been wrapping up, rather than bringing Bobbie's brother in, if not for the initial success of the Bobbie/Scotty/Laura triangle, along with other plots around then (especially the Heather saga, which powered the show for a number of years). L&L are just easier to write about, the "hook."

Edited May 11, 2023 by DRW50

[Vee]

To me the scene I posted a little earlier with her confronting Luke, while very dark, is some of her (and Tony's) best work and why I've always said that in those years you could've put the show on at night without it doing any brand damage to the primetime line-up. For me, anyway, it was often that good.

[Khan]

I agree.