1 minute ago, Khan said:

IIRC, JJ left on his own. He had been itching to leave for years in order to try his luck in primetime and films.

I know fans have complained about how Young's Lucky was too angry and Vaughan's Lucky too much like a himbo, but I think that's because Young and Vaughan weren't capable of playing Lucky with the same layers as Jackson.

2 minutes ago, Vee said:

Jonathan Jackson was insanely popular at that time and both Tony Geary and Genie adored him. They did not ever want the role recast because of this. He left to pursue movies.

Thank you both! :)

Promo for Jan.1, 2026 airing of Tony Geary's final full episode.
(He did appear a couple years later for a few seconds to greet Tracy in Europe. But otherwise this was his final episode)

On 12/27/2025 at 9:24 PM, Khan said:

IIRC, JJ left on his own. He had been itching to leave for years in order to try his luck in primetime and films.

I know fans have complained about how Young's Lucky was too angry and Vaughan's Lucky too much like a himbo, but I think that's because Young and Vaughan weren't capable of playing Lucky with the same layers as Jackson.

I think Greg did show some talent in those moments when he was on DAYS, even if he wasn't as good as Jackson was in his first few years as Lucky. Greg just never had a chance.

Edited December 30, 2025Dec 30 by DRW50

I think Greg worked very hard and had real chemistry with people like Becky, Kelly Monaco and Kirsten. It was never the same and the character was profoundly different (in part because he was a more limited actor when younger) and downgraded, but he did a good job in a tough position.

If they had recast Lucky with a more quirky actor that had a lot of depth instead of two actors who were talented but also more traditional and definitely closer to the soap hunk mold, maybe Lucky would have been as important as he should be, and they would not be beholden to JJ’s schedule.

But they also wanted Liz and Lucky to be young adults and in those stories, and Greg fit that better than Jacob Young or Jackson would have at that time. Although I did buy JJ’s Lucky as a cop with Dante as his partner.

3 minutes ago, titan1978 said:

If they had recast Lucky with a more quirky actor that had a lot of depth instead of two actors who were talented but also more traditional and definitely closer to the soap hunk mold, maybe Lucky would have been as important as he should be, and they would not be beholden to JJ’s schedule.

But they also wanted Liz and Lucky to be young adults and in those stories, and Greg fit that better than Jacob Young or Jackson would have at that time. Although I did buy JJ’s Lucky as a cop with Dante as his partner.

I think he still would have had a hard time getting over due to Tony (and to a lesser degree Genie as she was gone for most of the '00s) and nostalgia. Unfortunately, as shown (in my opinion) in both of JJ's returns, nostalgia is just that and provides little benefit to present day.

Edited December 30, 2025Dec 30 by DRW50

11 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

I think he still would have had a hard time getting over due to Tony (and to a lesser degree Genie as she was gone for most of the '00s) and nostalgia. Unfortunately, as shown (in my opinion) in both of JJ's returns, nostalgia is just that and provides little benefit to present day.

The stories he had to play in his first return were atrocious and tonally about deconstructing Lucky and it was miserable to watch and for him to play. This recent return there was no story. It’s just a shame because he and Becky still have chemistry and I actually prefer his sweeter natured Lucky to the misery only character Guza wanted.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: when Lucky said he should've left Liz to die in the snow, I was done with them as a couple. You don't come back from something like that.

14 hours ago, titan1978 said:

If they had recast Lucky with a more quirky actor that had a lot of depth instead of two actors who were talented but also more traditional and definitely closer to the soap hunk mold, maybe Lucky would have been as important as he should be, and they would not be beholden to JJ’s schedule.

ICAM!

Edited December 30, 2025Dec 30 by Khan

I'd have Greg Vaughn back as Lucky as he's a more stable option and I'd like Laura to have all her children on the canvas as well as something for Elizabeth to do.

Remind

Anthony Geary’s Most Memorable ‘General Hospital’ Leading...

Though Luke and Laura were the hottest couple in soap history, the actor had a few other notable romantic pairings.

A TG montage is planned.

I'm curious to know a bit more about Tony Geary's working relationship with all the exec producers he was under.

Gloria Monty (both times); Wendy Riche; Jill Farren Phelps & Frank Valentini.

Given all the talk and evidence of how Tony Geary was not always easy to work with, I'm eager to know how he got on with various bosses. Head Writers might be harder given the volume of them that he was with.

5 hours ago, BadBoy93 said:

I'm curious to know a bit more about Tony Geary's working relationship with all the exec producers he was under.

Gloria Monty (both times); Wendy Riche; Jill Farren Phelps & Frank Valentini.

Given all the talk and evidence of how Tony Geary was not always easy to work with, I'm eager to know how he got on with various bosses. Head Writers might be harder given the volume of them that he was with.

Monty part 1 78 to 84 worked well

Monty part 2 91 to 92 did not end well

Riche liked her but they fought

Phelps pretty good

FV Geary seemed to like him

Not sure re writers 78 to 84 but he didn't like norma monty.

Michele Val Jean on soapy tgat during her time at GH 93 to 2012, she spent a lot of time in AG room rewriting his dialogue

liked RC at first not so much by 2015

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by John

5 hours ago, BadBoy93 said:

I'm curious to know a bit more about Tony Geary's working relationship with all the exec producers he was under.

Gloria Monty (both times); Wendy Riche; Jill Farren Phelps & Frank Valentini.

Given all the talk and evidence of how Tony Geary was not always easy to work with, I'm eager to know how he got on with various bosses. Head Writers might be harder given the volume of them that he was with.

He has publicly stated he loved Gloria Monty, they were close. I honesty don’t know what his opinion of her was at the end of her second run, but around the 50th he still had more love than criticism. Tristan Rogers has been much more open about his feelings on her return.

With Wendy Riche it honestly depended on what his complaints were and when he was asked. While she was the EP he was diplomatic and at times praised her. By the 50th he was much more critical and didn’t seem to like her all that much.

He honestly has said very little about Jill, except in that interview with Kim Shriner and Jane they all seemed relieve when Guza, Frons, and JFP were let go. There were other times, like when Stuart Damon was fired and when distancing himself from the Endgame story he created and sold to ABC that you could read between the lines that he wasn’t thrilled with the decisions of her regime.

He has had nothing but praise for Frank Valentini, comparing him to Monty as far as floor time and directing and crediting him and Ron with saving the show. He later hated Ron though.

As far as writing goes, that’s difficult. We know he absolutely hated Richard Culliton’s brief tenure. He didn’t like Claire Labine’s vision of Luke, even if he had respect for the overall show at that time. Loved Bob Guza until the later part of that run, complaining about stuff like Luke being an alcoholic and the heart attack storyline.

During his original run he clearly loved the stories Pat Falken Smith wrote, they created the version of Luke that existed to the end of his run. But I haven’t read anything by him in recent years about her. Like a lot of that group, he seems to have a lot of respect for Doug Marland, and his creation of the Spencer family (although Luke was created by Monty wanting Geary after he auditioned for another role).

1 hour ago, titan1978 said:

Like a lot of that group, he seems to have a lot of respect for Doug Marland, and his creation of the Spencer family (although Luke was created by Monty wanting Geary after he auditioned for another role).

Yeah, I remember Genie Francis and Jackie Zeman saying in separate interviews that Marland never got enough credit for creating those characters and saving GH from cancellation.