GH History Lessons: Because History is Always Repeating Itself

[LeftPhalange]

I thought Alexis had the princess title but then later gave it up?

[ulkis]

I thought Alexis had the princess title but then later gave it up?

No, she never had it.

Edited February 22, 2016 by ulkis

[dubbel zout]

Even if Alexis had the princess title, her children wouldn't. The titles are patrilineal.

[nilyank]

Alexis was illegitimate as were 2 of her daughters. Mikos also had tried hiding her from Helena by claiming she was a distant cousin.

[ulkis]

Alexis also tried to get something going with Mac, but I guess ultimately they were best as just friends too. I wasn't around for it, but what about Ned? What were they like?

 

 

I liked them. They were together for a decent long while, and then they were getting married Alexis ran out, or she never showed up, I forget which. I dunno why they decided to never let them get married, but after that anyway Ned pretty much general faded into a dayplayer.

[dubbel zout]

Alexis also tried to get something going with Mac

Wasn't that more about all the girls wanting those two together? I seem to remember both Alexis and Mac being satisfied with a platonic friendship, but went through the motions to please their kids. Neither seemed all that enthusiastic about a romance.

[tvgoddess]

Wasn't that more about all the girls wanting those two together? I seem to remember both Alexis and Mac being satisfied with a platonic friendship, but went through the motions to please their kids. Neither seemed all that enthusiastic about a romance.

 

Yes, you're correct. They weren't pushing for it, the kids were. 

[ulkis]

Loser AJ was really hard to like, and since that was how he was written 99 percent of the time, I get why people don't like him. I liked AJ and I found it hard to like him. BW, especially, could play him as really, really whiny, and nothing puts me on the hate train faster than that.

 

Morgan bonding with AJ over being the not-golden child, and Michael getting jealous of that connection? Story possibilities for years. So of course GH kills off AJ permanently.

 

 

To be honest, I thought Sean Kanan was a bad actor too, in addition to the character himself. But AJ/Carly could have been gold. If only they hadn't been able to get RoHo back, they maybe would have gone there.

Edited February 24, 2016 by ulkis

[Oracle42]

Imagining what GH could've been if they hadn't gotten back the OLTL characters hurts a little

[dubbel zout]

It's not as if they've had great stories. I don't think the show would be any better.

[Oracle42]

There would've been no Carly/Franco, no Franco, no Sambien, no Silas/Coma!Nina and no Kiki

RC would've fucked it up in other ways but at this point a Franco/Kiki free GH seems like more than enough

Edited February 24, 2016 by Oracle42

[UYI]

It's not as if they've had great stories. I don't think the show would be any better.

 

From what I remember, they were going in a better direction at the time, probably in large part because the 50th anniversary was coming up, and Ron knew he had to deliver something good. But yes, it's entirely possible everything would have collapsed after that anyway, without the OLTL 3 returning.

Edited February 25, 2016 by UYI

[ulkis]

 

I loved Robin's dress and hair here. So pretty!

 

 

Really like these scenes of Liz and Maxie helping her get ready too, even though there is too much Liz/Jason stanning on Robin's part, heh. The way Robin tells Maxie she has to tell her something and then says "I love you very much", so sweet/funny.

Edited February 25, 2016 by ulkis

[HeatLifer]

Aw. I loved the first wedding. Robin looked so gorg. And Edward! Matt! Coleman! <3

Robin always had so much faith in Patrick, lawd. She's like, "Sit down, fuckers. He's coming." And LOL @ them kissing in front of everyone for a good minute.

[ulkis]

Aw. I loved the first wedding. Robin looked so gorg. And Edward! Matt! Coleman! <3

Robin always had so much faith in Patrick, lawd. She's like, "Sit down, fuckers. He's coming." And LOL @ them kissing in front of everyone for a good minute.

 

oh, and one of the best parts - "is there a doctor here?" hee.

[tvgoddess]

To be honest, I thought Sean Kanan was a bad actor too, in addition to the character himself. But AJ/Carly could have been gold. If only they hadn't been able to get RoHo back, they maybe would have gone there.

 

AJ/Carly was the only thing I liked about him. Chemistry to burn, and the snark was just great.

[HeatLifer]

oh, and one of the best parts - "is there a doctor here?" hee.

Yes! Omg! That was perfect.

They couldn't make that joke today. :( More like, "Is there a criminal here?"

[Oracle42]

AJ/Carly was the only thing I liked about him. Chemistry to burn, and the snark was just great.

I loved watching him connect with Michael and seeing Michael get a more honest/nuanced version of his history. I liked what I though was going to be an eventual truce and team-up with Tracy and Monica's joy at having him home.

Plus, the potential story with Carly or Liz

I don't think SK is a great actor but he's better than every guy currently on canvas at generating chem, speaking his f'ing lines and connecting with his scene partners

[Ambrosefolly]

Sometimes an actor's openness can be as important as talent. It is what made Vanessa Marcil so popular in the 90s. Not just her pairing with Sonny.

[Oracle42]

I was just thinking about her! I think that quality is especially important in soaps. I think DZ has been the best actor on this show for awhile now but watching his stories for the past few years has caused me physical pain. It feels like he's not connected to his primary scene partners or the material - I don't blame really him but it still sucks

Edited February 25, 2016 by Oracle42

[HeatLifer]

I was just thinking about her! I think that quality is especially important in soaps. I think DZ has been the best actor on this show for awhile now but watching his stories for the past few years has caused me physical pain and it feels like he's not connected to his primary scene partners or the material - I don't blame really him but it still sucks

I hate to agree, but yeah. He's just not fully engaged, really. And you can tell he's acting and just performing his memorized lines. Which I hate, as stupid as that sounds.

[RedheadZombie]

 

I loved Robin's dress and hair here. So pretty!

 

This is why I could never stand the character of Robin.  All the fucking standing ovations.

[Chairperson Meow]

In regards to SK: I think AJ is just an interesting character. He's flawed, smart, a businessman, and connected to a major family. He's on paper the prodigal son- mostly law abiding, loves his kid, loves his mom, wants to carry the name on, educated. But his biggest enemies have evolved from himself to actually the danger that the real prodigal son brought in the family. SK has that X Factor. He makes the character watchable and rootable. He can generate chemistry. He gives his screen partners something to work with.

[HeatLifer]

"If Brad is the father of the baby, what were you gonna do when the baby popped out and it looked like him!?"

Between the line and JT and KT's acting in this scene, I have T-E-A-R-S. They did some of their worst acting together.

[33kaitykaity]

Just had the best time watching SJB's glory tour as Carly from showing up at Jason's door pregnant all the way through the HateSex! to the end when SJB walked away.  One scene that left its mark on me, Carly wanted to run away with Michael and Jason and Jason told her "I love you, but if I love you the way you want me to love you, you will break me."  That summed it all up for me.  

[ulkis]

I have to laugh. I was looking at Julie Berman's twitter, and then I jumped from there to Kelly Sullivan's, and some actor commented on a picture of her and Julie: "hey I kidnapped her a few years ago on GH." 

[HeatLifer]

"I love you."

"I love you, too. Robin....I love you always."

[Oracle42]

Wasteful

Edited March 9, 2016 by Oracle42

[HeatLifer]

I had to find this clip. Patrick's face. The baby's face. Robin trying not to laugh. Perfect.

[ulkis]

does anyone remember the name of the school Morgan went to?

[Francie]

I think it was Vanderbilt.

[ulkis]

yes, that was it, thank you!

[cleo]

I've been watching old clips as a first time viewer. Right now watching a lot from the 90s, just finished the shootout episodes where Scully's men were after Sonny and Luke.

 

I was really interested in seeing Sonny and Brenda as I always heard about them as this great super couple, and after watching them from the beginning- I don't understand how Sonny became such a 'hero' and they had such a grand love story. He seems to treat her like crap most of the time, and mainly wants her to sit pretty, be quiet, and stop bugging him. I suppose there are moments where he treats her well, but it seems to be the very small minority of the time. Also, just in general and apart from them as a couple, he just seems obnoxious a lot of the time.

 

So I officially don't get it, and this is coming from someone that typically like tortured bad guys with a good heart (for example, I like Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

 

But Sonny? Meh. Don't get it. I'm not a hug fan of Luke either although he is marginally better. Luke just seems stupid. I don't know the back story with Frank Smith but didn't Luke spend forever trying to get out from under the mob? Only to essentially join Sonny's mob? Not too bright.

 

On another note- how did Robin get HIV?

[WendyCR72]

On another note- how did Robin get HIV?

 

Through sex with her boyfriend, Stone Cates. Stone lived on the streets for a time and was involved with someone who may have (was?) been exposed to the virus and got tested; the test came back negative.

 

But this was 1995 and so he (like others) was not aware of a needed follow-up test. In that time, he and Robin had sex and he later found out he was, in fact, positive.

 

This is the VERY simplistic answer. But look up Robin/Stone on YT (if you can; soap clips are hard to come by now!). It was  an iconic story for back in '95, using a legacy character to draw attention.

[Ambrosefolly]

I've been watching old clips as a first time viewer. Right now watching a lot from the 90s, just finished the shootout episodes where Scully's men were after Sonny and Luke.

 

I was really interested in seeing Sonny and Brenda as I always heard about them as this great super couple, and after watching them from the beginning- I don't understand how Sonny became such a 'hero' and they had such a grand love story. He seems to treat her like crap most of the time, and mainly wants her to sit pretty, be quiet, and stop bugging him. I suppose there are moments where he treats her well, but it seems to be the very small minority of the time. Also, just in general and apart from them as a couple, he just seems obnoxious a lot of the time.

 

So I officially don't get it, and this is coming from someone that typically like tortured bad guys with a good heart (for example, I like Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

 

But Sonny? Meh. Don't get it. I'm not a hug fan of Luke either although he is marginally better. Luke just seems stupid. I don't know the back story with Frank Smith but didn't Luke spend forever trying to get out from under the mob? Only to essentially join Sonny's mob? Not too bright.

 

On another note- how did Robin get HIV?

Not entirely sure if the board is being trolled, but the last sentence is extremely important to the other part I bolded. Stone. Sonny was extremely nice to his mob runner. Supported him and was at his bedside. 

 

To this day he honors Stone's memory of him getting HIV/AIDS by having unprotected sex through knocking up various women. Wait, no, that doesn't honor someone's memory and it is precisely the opposite.

 

I loved Brenda and Sonny at the time, but he was more of a romantic lead type thing, not an out and out hero post 2000, and Sonny and Brenda led into Sonny/Brenda/Jax, which was a great triangle. Back then the show wasn't completely up its own ass and saw that Sonny was a toxic and damaged person. 

 

As for Luke working Sonny after killing Frank Smith...Luke never had the same fear of Sonny as he did Frank. He never really worked for Sonny, but allied with him from time to time, unlike when he did work for Frank. There was a scene, I believe in 2010, after the Kristina Boyfriend Abuse storyline, Sonny went to Luke to apologize for almost killing Ethan, Luke's bastard with Holly. Sonny thought it would a strain in their relationship, but Luke informed him with a smile that he would have killed Sonny himself if he managed to kill Ethan, and honestly, I think if it ever came down to Sonny vs Luke, Luke would have bested him. 

 

Those years were good years for the show, maybe a little depressing, but good. However, I am kind of pissed that Robin, who tried to be responsible about sex gets HIV from her steady boyfriend she wasn't playing games with, winds up dealing with a chronic condition for years but people like Carly and Sonny (together and a part) are extremely reckless about their sex lives (among other things) wind up benefitting from it by having various children.

[dubbel zout]

However, I am kind of pissed that Robin, who tried to be responsible about sex gets HIV from her steady boyfriend she wasn't playing games with

That was a major point, though: that anyone could get HIV. It wasn't just a gay/junkie disease.

[cleo]

Thanks..the thing with Robin, I wondered bc Stone was flipped out during that particular shootout (with Scully's men) that his blood was on Robin, but she wasn't hurt. I saw clips later where everyone knew he had HIV but no one seemed to know about her. I suppose I missed alot in between.

 

Sonny seems to be nice to be to people if they do exactly what he wants and behave in exactly the way he wants.

 

Have only seen bits and pieces past 95, 96.

 

Hero is probably the wrong word- popular? I don't get Luke and Laura's popularity either though, so it may be me.

Edited March 19, 2016 by cleo

[Oracle42]

No, different strokes. I never liked Sonny/Brenda though I willingly acknowledge their chemistry but I loved Luke/Laura after I went back and watched their 70/80s stuff

[Ambrosefolly]

That was a major point, though: that anyone could get HIV. It wasn't just a gay/junkie disease.

My problem is, as I pointed out in that post, is that Sonny (and he really isn't alone on this show. Patrick had a broken condom with Robin, but didn't get infected because Robin takes good care of herself ) is extremely reckless sexually, but he isn't some diseased riddled person (herpes, chalmidya, hpv, what have you). I understand that the message was "HIV can happen to anyone", but I am being real: Robin took a ton more precautions than it seems most of Port Charles, but she was the one that got infected. Why not punish reckless, sexual behavior with any other STD that isn't HIV. I get it can happen to anyone, put let it happen to some being careless.

[katie9918]

Quite frankly, though, Stone was also a highly romanticized Sonny thug as well, especially considering what Sonny did to Jagger and Karen.

Robin should have dropped Stone the moment he didn't want to stop being someone else's hired thug, especially considering who her father was.

[UYI]

Stone & Robin actually stopped using condoms once she got on the pill, that's a big reason she got HIV, almost as much as Stone getting infected by his friend, Crystal. 

[dubbel zout]

Why not punish reckless, sexual behavior with any other STD that isn't HIV.

 

Because that can send the message that being sexually active is bad. I don't care if Sonny is scum of the earth (he is), but he shouldn't be "punished" for having sex with anyone by getting an STI. There's still enough stigma the way it is. Let's not add to that.

 

And it's even worse for women. Robin's story was super important because it showed even "good" people  can get HIV. And the show did an even greater service by giving her a supportive family and community. Not everyone who contracted HIV had that, of course, but it helped show they could live fulfilling lives even with a chronic, often deadly disease. Robin got the fairy-tale ending, but I wouldn't expect less from a soap. GH did a ton of good with that story. 

Edited March 19, 2016 by dubbel zout

[Ambrosefolly]

Because that can send the message that being sexually active is bad. I don't care if Sonny is scum of the earth (he is), but he shouldn't be "punished" for having sex with anyone by getting an STI. There's still enough stigma the way it is. Let's not add to that.

 

And it's even worse for women. Robin's story was super important because it showed even "good" people  can get HIV. And the show did an even greater service by giving her a supportive family and community. Not everyone who contracted HIV had that, of course, but it helped show they could live fulfilling lives even with a chronic, often deadly disease. Robin got the fairy-tale ending, but I wouldn't expect less from a soap. GH did a ton of good with that story. 

He should be punished, not because he has a lot a sex, because apparently judging by the numerous unplanned children he has, he has a lot of sex where whatever birth control he uses does not work. It has now turned into a regular thing with that jerk. For fuck sakes, he had a storyline where the umbilical cord from one unplanned child, (Sam's daughter) to save the life of his other unplanned child from another woman (toddler Kristina) because Morgan wasn't a match, and at the time all of those children where under 3.  On the US version of Queer as Folk, they made it a point for the lead character Brian, to mention that even though he was highly sexually active, he always wore a condom and got tested for HIV every six months. Jason, for all of his faults, was the one presented as some that regularly used protection when he had the occasional one night stand (Carly, and Liz even though that time it proved ineffective to crank up Jason/Liz/Lucky). I hope they never do a story about Lucas getting HIV or even a scare.  

 

Someone very close to me is  a good person: a very involved teacher who loves children and performance art. She too is also on birth control and contracted herpes from someone she casually dated. Basically she has a lot of Robin tendencies, but her sex, hate to say it, mirrored Sonny's from time to time (usually after a bad break up).   Does the fact she got an STD make her a stupid or dirty person? No, but there was a lapse in judgement that unfortunately she has to pay for. Sonny it appears is far more reckless than her IMHO, but instead of getting an STD, he gets a kid to sink his talons into and expand his power base. 

 

However, maybe someone like Liz been pregnant 5 times by 5 different men (one of them being a surrogacy for Jax, so it might not count) and has a lot have unresolved issues from her rape, might make a comparable candidate for getting an STD.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Ambrosefolly

[KerleyQ]

I loved Brenda and Sonny at the time, but he was more of a romantic lead type thing, not an out and out hero post 2000, and Sonny and Brenda led into Sonny/Brenda/Jax, which was a great triangle. Back then the show wasn't completely up its own ass and saw that Sonny was a toxic and damaged person.

 

 

These days, there is just no way that Brenda (or anyone) would choose Jax over Sonny.  Or choose anyone (other than Jason) over Sonny, really.  If that triangle was playing out today, we'd all be throwing shit at our TV's yelling "we know Jax can never win!"  Not to mention that it would be made clear to us that Jax was a shitty choice that no one would willingly make.  

[dubbel zout]

The way to punish Sonny for having a lot of kids is for them to hate him and everything he stands for. And make it a permanent hate, not have the kids give him the insta-forgiveness Michael and, to a lesser degree, Dante gave him.

 

And, Sonny's tied to Carly, Alexis, Ava, and Olivia forever. That's not much of a "reward," IMO. Plus, Morgan.

[MissL]

I'm not sure if I got emotional because I'm overtired but I was watching old Frisco and Felicia scenes (i know...old school) and I saw a scene where Tony tells Frisco that if he ever gets in trouble to remember he has a big brother to help him out and I started crying. I mean just crying. Man I loved those guys. I can't believe what they did to them. I can't believe what they've done to this whole show.

And I do remember liking Sonny in the beginning and Carly as well it's just...they were always best when they were royally screwing up and.they were never supposed to be the moral center of the show and some idiot forgot that.

[Oracle42]

I liked OG Sonny/Carly together.

[ulkis]

I liked OG Sonny/Carly together.

 

I don't know if I liked them but I found their story interesting.

[Oracle42]

I found them compelling. They were both so selfish and needy and destructive but they demanded care from each other.

[KerleyQ]

They were one of those instances where I might not have necessarily liked either character, but there was still something watchable about their story.