GH In The News: The PC Press Club

[b2H]

1 hour ago, absnow54 said:

That's so sad! I wonder if they'll do some sort of tribute episode, even though they killed his character off so many years ago. Maybe they can dedicate a hospital wing to him or something. 

They said something about his character having been killed off the show in something like 2008 or 2009.  It would be kinda weird for them to do something now, after all these years.

[Ambrosefolly]

7 minutes ago, BlancheDevoreaux said:

This one hurts. I really liked him and felt he was done wrong by GH. I always held out hope they'd find a way to bring him back. He was my definition of the perfect man when I saw him as the prince in Cinderella when I was a child. May he rest in peace. Maybe I'll get to waltz with him in heaven one day.

I know that few defend Stuart being fired for his health issues, especially with his back, but I think in the previous decades, the show would make efforts to accommodate him. He was already hardly featured, and I doubted it was because of his health issues. 

[WendyCR72]

Lovely post from Scott Clifton (ex-Dillon; now on B&B)

 

[BlancheDevoreaux]

Renal failure. Wow. I'm posting from a place the hospital put me in post-op after donating a kidney to a life-long friend. I saw what he (my friend) went through prior to the surgery as he was in end-stage renal failure. It looked rough. To think of Stuart Damon going through that with little hope of a transplant or cure is heartbreaking.

But I'm loving reading the kind things his costars post about him. Now let's just hope Mo doesn't figure out a way to make this about him.

[UYI]

I will say this straight up:

My favorite male actor on the show, and my favorite male character on the show, ever. I am heartbroken right now. I used watch clips on YouTube of Monica's breast cancer story even before I ever watched the show on TV itself. I always adored him, and I secretly hoped against hope that maybe, just maybe, something could be done to reverse Alan's death, even if it only meant a brief appearance by SD, given his health issues, but alas....

I'll be thinking of his grandson in particular, he and his wife raised him after his daughter had too many substance abuse issues to raise him herself.

RIP, Stuart.

 

Also, on a completely different note, Amber Tamblyn wrote this the other day. Free Britney, BITCH!

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by UYI

[UYI]

 

[Dr.OO7]

Alan!

I've never forgotten how excellent the '94-'95 breast cancer storyline was. As well as the simultaneous "Edward on trial for murder" storyline, which gave us some spectacular Edward/Alan scenes.

It's really rattling how many beloved soap veterans are passing away--Ray Martin from AMC (Dr. Joe Martin) just died a few days ago.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Dr.OO7

[UYI]

Also, this was posted by former GH writer/current B&B writer, Michele Val Jean. That second tweet--I'd love to pin it on JFP and/or Brian Frons only if this is true, but who knows? In any case, such a HUGE loss. 

 

[UYI]

One thing I keep thinking is how I can't imagine how--outside of Stuart's wife, Deirdre, of course--how Leslie Charleson must be feeling right now. Her sister, Kate Charleson (who played Jeff Daniels' other woman opposite Debra Winger in Terms of Endearment) committed suicide in 1996, and while Stuart is obviously much older, and with his health issues was to be even more expected, she was so close to him for so long--he was hired by GH just a few weeks after her in 1977! I hope she has a lot of support around her right now. <3 

Edited June 29, 2021 by UYI

[driver18]

I always loved Alan. Stuart Damon was wonderful. So sad to hear. RIP.

[Laur]

Ugh, so sad to hear. I always liked when they found ways to bring him back in ghost form and never fully forgave them for that period of time where they were killing off so many Quartermaines, including someone who should've been on the show until the end like Alan. 

May he rest in peace and may the show remember him with a thoughtful tribute. I like the idea of renaming a hospital wing in his honor. 

[jsbt]

The GOAT. RIP

[CanaryFan98]

1 hour ago, UYI said:

One thing I keep thinking is how I can't imagine how--outside of Stuart's wife, Deirdre, of course--how Leslie Charleson must be feeling right now. Her sister, Kate Charleson (who played Jeff Daniels' other woman opposite Debra Winger in Terms of Endearment) committed suicide in 1996, and while Stuart is obviously much older, and with his health issues was to be even more expected, she was so close to him for so long--he was hired by GH just a few weeks after her in 1977! I hope she has a lot of support around her right now. <3 

And John died earlier this year as well

I think they'll do some sort of tribute to him like a wing and Tracy will return to town for it.

[absnow54]

25 minutes ago, CanaryFan98 said:

I think they'll do some sort of tribute to him like a wing and Tracy will return to town for it.

I hope they do something like this. It’ll give an excuse for Skye and Robin to come back (poor KM is going to be coming back for more and more memorial episodes over the next 10-15 years.) If Amber Tamblyn is feeling generous, she could appear as a former patient who’s life was changed by Alan’s care when she was a kid. 

[Laur]

28 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

I hope they do something like this. It’ll give an excuse for Skye and Robin to come back (poor KM is going to be coming back for more and more memorial episodes over the next 10-15 years.) If Amber Tamblyn is feeling generous, she could appear as a former patient who’s life was changed by Alan’s care when she was a kid. 

I think Amber would cameo for something like this if they asked her back and she were in the area at the time. She's always been really positive about her soap days at GH.

I'd love to see Skye back for it too. Maybe she could bring Lila Rae with her.

[UYI]

 

[UYI]

6 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Lovely post from Scott Clifton (ex-Dillon; now on B&B)

 

 

I wonder if the death scene he was referring to was this one (Lila; his scene with SD is near the beginning):

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by UYI

[DanaK]

I’m surprised to learn Stuart was fired for health reasons, I either didn’t know or had forgotten; I think I thought at the time they killed off Alan just because and they were killing off Q’s. Given the accommodations they made over the years for Anna Lee as Lila as she clearly declined, that sucks

[UYI]

5 hours ago, DanaK said:

I’m surprised to learn Stuart was fired for health reasons, I either didn’t know or had forgotten; I think I thought at the time they killed off Alan just because and they were killing off Q’s. Given the accommodations they made over the years for Anna Lee as Lila as she clearly declined, that sucks

I think he WAS fired because of the decimation of the Q's; it was his health issues that kept him from returning once TPTB changed later on. And of course, Anna Lee wound up getting fired herself; many people--including both Leslie Charleson and Anna Lee's son, Jeffrey Byron--think that it accelerated her death. Just so sad. 

[TheMediaHo]

4 minutes ago, UYI said:

I think he WAS fired because of the decimation of the Q's; it was his health issues that kept him from returning once TPTB changed later on. And of course, Anna Lee wound up getting fired herself; many people--including both Leslie Charleson and Anna Lee's son, Jeffrey Byron--think that it accelerated her death. Just so sad. 

Oh, it most definitely hastened her death. Since the loss of her husband, writer Robert Nathan (The Bishop’s Wife and others), she truly looked forward to being on set. When the bastards fired her, she was lost, and her health steadily declined. They’re lucky the internet didn’t exist for most of the population back then. Bastards!

[UYI]

1 minute ago, TheMediaHo said:

Oh, it most definitely hastened her death. Since the loss of her husband, writer Robert Nathan (The Bishop’s Wife and others), she truly looked forward to being on set. When the bastards fired her, she was lost, and her health steadily declined. They’re lucky the internet didn’t exist for most of the population back then. Bastards!

Well, she died in 2004, so the Internet was definitely around, but WiFi, smartphones, and social media were either not around or in their infancy, so yeah. 

[TheMediaHo]

6 minutes ago, UYI said:

Well, she died in 2004, so the Internet was definitely around, but WiFi, smartphones, and social media were either not around or in their infancy, so yeah. 

That’s what I meant when I said the internet didn’t exist for most people. Guess I should have been more specific.

[UYI]

11 minutes ago, TheMediaHo said:

That’s what I meant when I said the internet didn’t exist for most people. Guess I should have been more specific.

It's fine. I just think of 1995 as the year of the World Wide Web taking off as it were, and certainly USENET and message boards similar to one like this were always around.

In any case, her firing certainly foreshadowed SD's firing (and the overall decimation of the Q's in general), and the fact that he died just now, years after Alan was killed off, makes me wonder how a tribute episode would work. It's not like when Peter Hansen, Susan Brown, and John Reilly died (or, for that matter, John Ingle and Anna Lee--at least when she was fired, Lila was thought to be still alive, making her death easy to write in), and they could just as easily have their characters pass away at the same time, too. I guess we shall see! 

Edited June 30, 2021 by UYI

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 minutes ago, UYI said:

the fact that he died just now, years after Alan was killed off, makes me wonder how a tribute episode would work.

Just thinking about Alan, and do a bunch of flashbacks. I don't think it would be that difficult. A one-off. Like the stupid way they did the 100 year anniversary of the woman's vote. Not that the anniversary was stupid, but how the show handled it and who played the key characters.

[UYI]

4 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Just thinking about Alan, and do a bunch of flashbacks. I don't think it would be that difficult. A one-off. Like the stupid way they did the 100 year anniversary of the woman's vote. Not that the anniversary was stupid, but how the show handled it and who played the key characters.

Actually, I thought about this yesterday, and just remembered it now after my post: Alan & Monica's anniversary was in the summer. Take your idea with the flashbacks, with Monica missing him on their anniversary, and boom, there's your episode! 

Edited June 30, 2021 by UYI

[GHScorpiosRule]

3 minutes ago, UYI said:

Actually, I thought about this yesterday, and just remembered it now after my post: Alan & Monica's anniversary was in the summer. Take your idea with the flashbacks, with Monica missing him on their anniversary, and boom, there's your episode! 

Yup.

And so glad to see Kimberly's tweet. Hers was the only one I couldn't find/didn't see. This show wasn't the only time Sean Kanaan and Stuart Damon acted together--they were all--including Genie, in the final Perry Mason Movie that Raymond Burr starred in: Case of the Killer Kiss. Playing soap opera actors!

[DanaK]

36 minutes ago, TheMediaHo said:

Oh, it most definitely hastened her death. Since the loss of her husband, writer Robert Nathan (The Bishop’s Wife and others), she truly looked forward to being on set. When the bastards fired her, she was lost, and her health steadily declined. They’re lucky the internet didn’t exist for most of the population back then. Bastards!

Man, I clearly forgot about that, but I'm starting to vaguely remember it. Were they the same people who fired Stuart?

Edited June 30, 2021 by DanaK

[UYI]

4 minutes ago, DanaK said:

Man, I clearly forgot about that, but I'm started to vaguely remember it. Were they the same people who fired Stuart?

Yes. JFP/Frons. Of course. Sigh.

[Ambrosefolly]

I am going to say this: I do agree with the sentiment that no one should have a job for life, which is what the past regime had promised Anna Lee. With that said, it was still a shitty move to get rid of her, and not very smart. I remember a YouTube video about "Boy Meets World" and it main point was that the strength of the show is that the show went through the different stages of Cory's life, from childhood, to dating, to marry his high school sweetheart Topanga, just as the audience were reaching different milestones in their lives, instead of stopping the show when the show grew out of being a kids' show, like the sequel "Girl Meets World." Nice thing about GH, and what it used to do very well, was showing these through lines about different families. People get old, they have kids, grandkids and in sometimes great grandkids, and many times, it is the same actor playing this roles for decades, even children. 

Lila very easily slid into the role matriarch, because she gave off the aura of wisdom, kindness and composure. They tried to make Emily the new Lila, but it didn't work. Not only because Natalia L could come off as very judgmental but because Emily lacked the implied & actual life experience and history that Anna Lee' Lila possessed. I am glad they kept Dr. Steve Hardy as long as John Beradino was alive. JB may not have been the best actor, but he connected the show to the very beginning and came across as stoic. While it can be argued that Alan Q was a very volatile replacement because he's volatile character, but by that time it was place for the character to move on to as he was headed to the new phase of his life and it was earned. 

Since Guza and JFP, the show has managed to not only not connect very much with the history of the show, save for a few episodes when a beloved past character dies, but it comes across as very dated, which is the exact opposite of the 90s.

[tvgoddess]

2 hours ago, UYI said:

Actually, I thought about this yesterday, and just remembered it now after my post: Alan & Monica's anniversary was in the summer. Take your idea with the flashbacks, with Monica missing him on their anniversary, and boom, there's your episode! 

Does "dedicate an upcoming episode in his honor" mean an actual full episode or just something at the end that says "Dedicated to/In Loving Memory Of Stuart Damon"?

Surely a full episode, if anyone warrants that it would be him.

[Ambrosefolly]

They could dedicate a new wing to Alan. I thought it was really stupid that Edward would leave all of his money to PBS. He would have allotted what would have been Tracy's inheritance to that. Or better yet, have Jane Elliot return for a tribute episode and announce that she plans to donate money in Alan's honor in order to make amends for stealing money from him when Alan died on screen.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Ambrosefolly

[absnow54]

1 minute ago, Ambrosefolly said:

They could dedicate a new wing to Alan.

They just named Monica chairman of the board at the hospital too. They can have her reviewing plans to reallocate part of the hospital, hell make it the secret wing of the freezer holding Peter's dead body, and have the board unanimously suggest to name it after Alan. The Q's show up for the dedication and everyone waxes nostalgic about their best times with Alan along with a gauzy clip. Jason shows up to remind everyone that he didn't get along with Alan, but Monica is okay, he guesses. Monica and Tracy admire Alan's photo with tear filled eyes as they fade into the dedication title. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Ambrosefolly said:

I am going to say this: I do agree with the sentiment that no one should have a job for life,

Do you mean in the entertainment business or in all industries? Because I disagree. If, in the entertainment industry, you are doing the role successfully in a long running series, and you're playing the character since childhood, like, say Jonathan Jackson and Kimberly McCullough, and they had stayed with this Fakakta show, they could have played Lucky and Robin till the end. You had John Beradino, who played Steve Hard, all his life until he passed. Jessi, and Audrey. The Quartermaines were introduced to the show in the mid-to-late 70s.

People in other careers have the same job their whole life.

[Ambrosefolly]

4 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Do you mean in the entertainment business or in all industries? Because I disagree. If, in the entertainment industry, you are doing the role successfully in a long running series, and you're playing the character since childhood, like, say Jonathan Jackson and Kimberly McCullough, and they had stayed with this Fakakta show, they could have played Lucky and Robin till the end. You had John Beradino, who played Steve Hard, all his life until he passed. Jessi, and Audrey. The Quartermaines were introduced to the show in the mid-to-late 70s.

People in other careers have the same job their whole life.

Maybe I should rephrase: no one should have be guaranteed a job for life, which is what the previous regime promised Anna Lee, if you can't make sure that happens, considering the regime changes that often happens on soap operas. However, if you read the rest of my post, I thought they should have kept her on contract because she added to the show in a positive way, even if it was in the role of wise sage of the Qs and mentioned it was a good thing that Steve Hardy stayed on the show until the actor died. 

[Asp Burger]

2 hours ago, Ambrosefolly said:

However, if you read the rest of my post, I thought they should have kept her on contract because she added to the show in a positive way, even if it was in the role of wise sage of the Qs

This is really the only point on which we disagree. What I remember about her later appearances is close-ups in which she delivered short lines with obvious effort. And the sage had long since been turned into a Sonny shill, which was especially galling given the carnage he had wreaked on her family. "Oh, I think Mr. Corinthos is quite charming."

So there were two things in conflict: on one hand, my compassion for a real 90-year-old in obviously declining health. On the other hand, a character I no longer enjoyed, played by someone who wasn't really able to engage with other actors and participate in scenes the way even limited actors typically do. 

To back up UYI above, GH and other surviving soaps had an enormous and very vocal internet following by 2003-04. That was actually a little past the turn-of-the-millennium peak of SoapZone. Not as many people were doing streaming video yet, and social media was only in its infancy, but I think of the mid to late '90s as the time when the internet really became a big dimension of entertainment fandom. The difference today is that internet usage penetrates all age groups. (In 2000, 72% of the U.S. 18-29 group, only 14% of seniors. Today, 99% of the 18-29s, 75% of seniors.) 

Edited June 30, 2021 by Asp Burger

[absnow54]

30 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

To back up UYI above, GH and other surviving soaps had an enormous and very vocal internet following by 2003-04. That was actually a little past the turn-of-the-millennium peak of SoapZone. Not as many people were doing streaming video yet, and social media was only in its infancy, but I think of the mid to late '90s as the time when the internet really became a big dimension of entertainment fandom. The difference today is that internet usage penetrates all age groups. (In 2000, 72% of the U.S. 18-29 group, only 14% of seniors. Today, 99% of the 18-29s, 75% of seniors.) 

TWoP was around before 2004! The main difference was social media was still in its infancy. Facebook was still exclusive to a handful of universities, and MySpace and live journal weren’t places you could interact with show runners. People who wanted to complain had to send letters to the studio, now they can rage in 140 characters on Twitter directly to the EP. 

[CanaryFan98]

22 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I hope they do something like this. It’ll give an excuse for Skye and Robin to come back (poor KM is going to be coming back for more and more memorial episodes over the next 10-15 years.) If Amber Tamblyn is feeling generous, she could appear as a former patient who’s life was changed by Alan’s care when she was a kid. 

Robin Christopher has retired from acting but I could see her come back for this actually. If GH lasts that long yes I expect that to be KM's lot on the show for the rest of GH's stint. I mean I'm glad to see her but I wish it was under better circumstances. 

 

7 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Yup.

And so glad to see Kimberly's tweet. Hers was the only one I couldn't find/didn't see. This show wasn't the only time Sean Kanaan and Stuart Damon acted together--they were all--including Genie, in the final Perry Mason Movie that Raymond Burr starred in: Case of the Killer Kiss. Playing soap opera actors!

Linda Dano was in that one too. I loved that one but I adored the Perry Mason movies.

[WendyCR72]

Soap Opera Digest has compiled responses to the passing of Stuart Damon, some already here, some not:

https://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/stars-pay-tribute-to-stuart-damon/

[absnow54]

The fact that Mo couldn’t bother spelling Stuart’s name correctly in his tribute post is pretty 😒

[Cheyanne11]

Lovely tributes.  I especially teared up at Steve's, Kimberly's, and Finola's. 

[Auntie Velvet]

I recall a photo from a couple of years ago in which a few of the vets, including LC, had gone to Stuart's house to visit him for lunch. It was really sweet. He clearly wasn't in great health, but I'm sure the talk was spicy and affectionate around the table.

This week has been tough. Along with Stuart Damon, AMC's Ray MacDonnell (Joe Martin) passed. Another of the great soap patriarchs (albeit a much more of a traditional one than Alan, who spent more time in his early years trying to kill Monica than anything else, LOL). 

[GHScorpiosRule]

19 hours ago, CanaryFan98 said:

Linda Dano was in that one too. I loved that one but I adored the Perry Mason movies.

Oh, there were a bunch of soap stars in that movie.  One from Guiding Light; the killer was the dude married to Hunter Tylo. But we had Three vets from this show: Stuart, Genie, and Sean. 

[UYI]

https://soaphub.com/general-hospital/exclusive-ghs-leslie-charleson-shares-memories-of-stuart-damon/

 

[Daisy]

I remember being online (can't remember which msg board it was, maybe maybe soap central)  when we found out that SD had been fired and we were watching the the metrocourt crisis and it was just.. devastating how they wrote him off the show and to me it just symbolized (a lot) literally killing off the hospital (Alan) for the Mob (Sonny et al and the Crisis) but it was just one after another after another because if it wasn't Q's it was Tony being killed by the virus etc. We were all like "can we DO anything?" (nope) :(

I never got JFP at all. Like she murdered Frankie on AW after tonnes of people wanted her alive (and most people believe that's what killed Another World, because the show never recovered from Frankie's death), she axed a lot of Santa Barbara too (but i was too young for that one) and then just the Q/Jones-assassinations... all for the mob. (also how she treated Genie). like  no respect for the genre she was in. 

[Asp Burger]

I could be wrong about this, but I always felt that after JFP's first year as EP tanked, she was more or less a figurehead. I put most of the big decisions from about mid-2002 on others, such as Brian Frons and the Guza/Pratt team. I say that because the whole year of 2001 and early 2002 was very much in a JFP signature style familiar from her earlier soaps. After that, not so much. 

Also, actors she was known to favor (such as A Martinez, Jensen Buchanan, Linda Dano) quickly disappeared. 

I suspect Guza would only have agreed to come back as head writer if the EP were relatively hands-off. He had clashed so much with Wendy Riche.

[YaddaYadda]

On 6/30/2021 at 1:43 PM, tvgoddess said:

Does "dedicate an upcoming episode in his honor" mean an actual full episode or just something at the end that says "Dedicated to/In Loving Memory Of Stuart Damon"?

Surely a full episode, if anyone warrants that it would be him.

I think they should have a whole episode, personally. Everyone (not Sonny and Carly) can come together to commemorate X number of years since Alan died and dedicate a wing to him at the hospital or something. It's not hard. 

[Ambrosefolly]

16 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

I could be wrong about this, but I always felt that after JFP's first year as EP tanked, she was more or less a figurehead. I put most of the big decisions from about mid-2002 on others, such as Brian Frons and the Guza/Pratt team. I say that because the whole year of 2001 and early 2002 was very much in a JFP signature style familiar from her earlier soaps. After that, not so much. 

Also, actors she was known to favor (such as A Martinez, Jensen Buchanan, Linda Dano) quickly disappeared. 

I suspect Guza would only have agreed to come back as head writer if the EP were relatively hands-off. He had clashed so much with Wendy Riche.

Which wasn't a bad thing because she seemed to keep a lot of his stupider ideas in check. The only idea she nicked that she shouldn't have was Jax and Alexis as a romantic couple. (Also calling Gene fat. I hated that).

Quote

I think they should have a whole episode, personally. Everyone (not Sonny and Carly) can come together to commemorate X number of years since Alan died and dedicate a wing to him at the hospital or something. It's not hard. 

If Sonny returns to being Sonny, I want a scene where someone tells Sonny and Carly point blank to not show up to any dedication they are having for Alan. If Michael protests, have whoever say:"Michael, this isn't about you" which would be first time ever he heard someone say that. 

Edited July 4, 2021 by Ambrosefolly

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, Ambrosefolly said:

If Sonny returns to being Sonny, I want a scene where someone tells Sonny and Carly point blank to not show up to any dedication they are having for Alan. If Michael protests, have whoever say:"Michael, this isn't about you" which would be first time ever he heard someone say that. 

Again, not gonna happen. At Robin’s funeral, Patrick told Mooby to take a hike, but Mooby refused and made Robin’s funeral all about him.

[ffwbe]

It will be like Gail’s memorial all over again. We’ll all hate it and complain but Sonny and Carly will be there. The show can’t help themselves. 

[UYI]

July 14th! :D