GH: O’Connor/Van Etten OUT! Mulcahey/Korte IN!

[Liberty City]

One of the first things Mulcahey did on GH was "Clink Boom":

[Contessa Donatella]

Also when he talked about Clink/Boom! he said something I'm not sure I understood & that was that Guza created Carly but that his outline made no sense. I guessed it was criticism but I wish he'd said a bit about HOW it flopped. And, of course, I imagine the outline is only part of the character profile & some people just are good at outlning & some not so much. 

[BetterForgotten]

Carly’s creation is a muddled mess. The Labine’s claimed they started the idea for the character, Guza brought her on,  but then he left a few months later to fulfill his contractual obligations at SuBe, so Richard Culliton oversaw much of her initial development as well. All the while Mulcahey and Korte were reportedly the two staff writers fascinated by both the character and Sarah Joy Brown’s performance. 

[Liberty City]

Mulcahey flat-out stated he did not create Carly and technically credited Bob Guza as Carly's creator, and called her hanging out was "good strategy" for introducing new characters but he found himself impatient because of the "lightning in a bottle" with Sarah Joy Brown, so he made decisions which is why he believes this is why people associate the creation of Carly with him and not Guza.

[Efulton]

I was able to read it and found it very interesting. It also gave us some insight into Patrick Mulcahey.  Thank you @TonksIsHere

[BetterForgotten]

Carly debuted about a month after Guza’s first HW-big stint (roughly April ‘96) from what I recall, but he was gone by that September. Richard Culliton was the HW for like 9 months after that when Carly’s story really started going into high gear. So much of Culliton’s GH is dismissed because of Tony Geary publicly bashing him, and yes, much of it wasn’t great, but I do think much of Carly’s foundations were under him. 

But what’s also weird is Claire Labine taking credit for the character. Seems Guza just took the aspects he liked from what Labine left behind that hadn’t yet made it on the screen. 

https://www.welovesoaps.net/2009/11/soaps-hope-claire-labine-interview-part_4945.html?m=1

We Love Soaps: Carly Roberts came on right before you left the show. Was she your creation or a different writer’s?
Claire Labine: She was ours. We left them really well set up. We really tried to leave the show with takeoff points. The next writer could choose the direction, but they had good springboards. And Carly was part of that, and so was Jax. I thought he was going to be a lot of fun. We left after his first few episodes. There was a lot set up for Mary Mae Ward’s family as well, but they chose not to take that path. That story with Mary Mae was one of my favorites. Rosalind Cash was one of my favorite performers. We had so much fun with that. 

 

Edited January 31, 2024 by BetterForgotten

[Contessa Donatella]

Thanks, glad you like it. Comes from a really fabulous book! 

[Liberty City]

DAMN!

[John]

Rosiland Cash died in nov 1995 so whatever labine had planned for Mary Mae was moot but she is also right that Guza  didnt really use the Wards that well. Although justus killing damian and repersenting Laura when she was tried for the murder was good. But it was also OOC for justus to let Laura take that blame. 

Edited January 31, 2024 by John

[Vee]

That's because, according to the sidebar, she edited her post and this time used a camera manufactured after 1980. Small favors, I suppose.

[Contessa Donatella]

Actually, darlin', I got someone else to snap it for me. I have Parkinson's & no matter how good the meds are sometimes the hand shakes. But, sure you can think of it as a "small favor to you" if you wish. 

[Contessa Donatella]

I read that & my eyes popped out of my head! WTG, Claire! 

[titan1978]

People forget things over time too- it is possible Claire Labine is simply mistaken. I tend to believe the first hand accounts we have been given by Michele Val Jean and Mulcahey.

We know Guza was working with them before Labine’s material had officially ended, and that Claire was very generous in that respect, letting them set up the changes before she was actually gone.

As far as Culliton goes, his only lasting contribution was Carly sleeping with AJ and conceiving Michael, and possibly resurrecting Lesley. Riche made them use Guza’s projections which included stuff like Miranda. The writers on the team kept the tone consistent and their ideas onboard until 1997. As a viewer it becomes increasingly obvious Richard Culliton was the wrong fit there as 1997 goes along. 

[Liberty City]

Could that be what Mulcahey meant when things "went south" at General Hospital?

[BetterForgotten]

No, I think he meant Richie and Guza’s deteriorating relationship, and more pressure from ABC executives as time went on. He left GL and SB for similar reasons.

B&B is an outlier since the Bell’s own it outright and only have to answer to CBS when it come to the licensing fees and renewal periods.