IIRC Nathan Varni made a public statement about trying to get lapsed viewers back around the time Burton returned, and alluded to the show returning to feeling more like a classic GH with characters the audience associates with the show. This had followed a year of declining ratings and the show not capitalizing on Sprina who were generating their own publicity. There were a bunch of mismatched couples, and several stories hinged on recurring cast members or newer folks and the contract cast was mostly in the stories but not the focus.
It started with Burton’s return, then Mulcahey, longer scenes, then almost all Frank’s besties or personal favorites were slowly shown the door. As far as Lucky and Lulu, Genie had been quietly lobbying for their return for a long time. And to Valentini’s credit, he did try to get Julie Berman back several times before going with an ABC name recast.
I truly believe the second JJ’s scheduling became complicated Frank was done with even pretending to integrate Lucky. TPTB clearly didn’t want him there because the natural stories were there and he wasn’t in them.
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titan1978 ·
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