Much the same way a lot of Days fans don't want to separate Jack from Jennifer, GH has the same problem. Even though Luke's moved on and had some good stories, there's still a huge chunk of fans who think "LukeandLaura". It'll be very interesting to see how far GH's ratings go up when Genie makes her guest appearance (I doubt it'll be enough to overtake Y&R, but if GH shoots up into the high 3s or low 4s then that's a success in these days).

I don't know enough about GH or Luke & Laura to comment on that. Every situation is different. Many Jack & Jennifer fans are also fans of Jack as an individual. Of course, viewers will always associate Jack with Jennifer but that doesn't mean he can't be a success on his own. Hogan is a writer known for not revolving stories around couples so in many ways, being on his own would create even more opportunities for the character.

Put it this way, when Genie left back in 1982 the GH audience pretty much left right along with her. The show still had unheard of numbers of viewers (I think they were still drawing around 10 million a day... God, remember THOSE numbers?) but it dropped probably around five or six million right after she left.

Back then, you could swallow a ratings loss like that. Today, not a chance.