GH History Lessons: Because History is Always Repeating Itself

[statsgirl]

1 hour ago, HeatLifer said:

I also think the natural progression of Jason, as long as he was involved with the mob, should have been to recognize his mistakes and to not repeat them. 

I agree. And then I remember who is writing this show and what the over arching motif is.

[jsbt]

I also think it made no sense for Jason to just jump to having a baby with Sam unless he was out of the life (is he still?) - and even then you're never really out, not with guys like him. I think it was only done to satisfy the audience and Brian Frons. Tit for tat with giving Liz Jason's illegitimate son.

[ulkis]

He's out, and it's kinda absurd that he's just walking around not actually having an official job title. I guess even BM's Jason is too macho to say he's a stay at home dad.

[TeeVee329]

I do remember hating that the lesson of Jake's "death" seemed to be, "Well, kids can just wander out doors and get killed, so it's really not any more dangerous to bring a baby into a mob-laced world".  Which...not quite.

[nilyank]

6 hours ago, ulkis said:

@HeatLifer

It's not that I felt Jasam should have never had kids (although, yeah, ideally, the hitman/ex-hitman should probably not have kids), it's just that I always felt cynical about Sam's wanting a kid. It felt very much like Guza's mindset was probably like, "okay, well, now I gotta give Kelly Monaco something to do while Jason does cool mob stuff, I guess her wanting a baby and not being able to get one will be her story." It was baby rabies at its core, even though Guza was better at making it deeper.

I thought it was ridiculous Sam wanted the baby with Sonny way back when. To me, they should have been a one night stand/revenge sex that should not have lasted as long as it did. But she got pregnant and she suddenly wanted to have a family with Sonny. 

However once Sam lost her first child and then was told later that she couldn't have babies due to her damaged uterus, it made sense to me why she had baby rabies.

[dubbel zout]

11 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

I do remember hating that the lesson of Jake's "death" seemed to be, "Well, kids can just wander out doors and get killed, so it's really not any more dangerous to bring a baby into a mob-laced world".  Which...not quite.

Ugh, that was so gross. "Hey, kids die no matter what you do" doesn't belong in the pro column for Jason to have had another kid.

8 hours ago, nilyank said:

However once Sam lost her first child and then was told later that she couldn't have babies due to her damaged uterus, it made sense to me why she had baby rabies.

I don't think there's ever a reason for baby rabies. Wanting kids, sure, but the show always turns the women into crazed hysterics wanting a baby at any cost—Nina ripping Avery out of Nina's womb, anyone?—and that's incredibly insulting.

I'd love to see an adoption or fostering story, but there's no way this fakakta show would do it in any thoughtful or sensitive way. The child would be considered less, somehow, and no doubt grow up with a giant chip on his/her shoulder. Yeah, it's super tough to be wanted by someone who isn't a birth parent. Spare me.

[peachmangosteen]

2 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I'd love to see an adoption or fostering story, but there's no way this fakakta show would do it in any thoughtful or sensitive way.

I wish we could see this with Brad/Lucas, but yea like you said, it'd be horrible. And actually probably even worse if it was done with Brad/Lucas.

[TeeVee329]

The last time I remember someone on this show being a foster parent, it was that ridiculousness with SWSNBN and Diego.

[jsbt]

That was so fucking stupid. She was maybe three years older than him tops, it looked like they should be fucking. But because he's "Latino, from the streets!" she adopts him. Both racist and ridiculous.

40 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Ugh, that was so gross. "Hey, kids die no matter what you do" doesn't belong in the pro column for Jason to have had another kid.

I think it was also to sanctify and validate the wounded Jason/Sam fanbase and placate Brian Frons, who loved Kelly Monaco. I'm really not some big Liason shipper by any stretch of the imagination - I never got it in the late '90s/early 2000s, only liked them in the mid-2000s when they finally got together and I despised their last few go-rounds starting in 2012 (I'm still fucking disgusted with Liz BTW) - but to me killing Jake seemed punitive, like making a point, that only one woman would get Jason's sainted spawn.

Edited May 9, 2017 by jsbt

[Oracle42]

Quote

I'd love to see an adoption or fostering story, but there's no way this fakakta show would do it in any thoughtful or sensitive way. The child would be considered less, somehow, and no doubt grow up with a giant chip on his/her shoulder. 

Technically, Michael is an adoption story, so was Lucas and Bobbie was BJ's adopted mother. I guess Leo (why does he even exist?!?) Jerome is a possible adoption story but there's not really been an adoption story on GH where the child wasn't an adored member of the family

[Melgaypet]

3 hours ago, Oracle42 said:

Technically, Michael is an adoption story, so was Lucas and Bobbie was BJ's adopted mother.

Going back further, Jason was adopted by Monica and Scotty was adopted by Lee. Those were stepparent adoptions, like Michael and BJ. I think Lucas might be the only kid adopted and raised by non-blood relations? Onscreen, I mean, not as part of a backstory like Ethan or Carly.

[dubbel zout]

Other writers were responsible for those stories. I'm talking about the current group, which has no relationship whatsoever with nuance or sensitivity.

Edited May 9, 2017 by dubbel zout

[Melgaypet]

Oh, sure, I don't think these writers could do a decent adoption story, even though it seems an obvious avenue for Brad and Lucas, for example. And you might be right that the show might take a Luke Spencer-esque attitude toward any adopted kids. Look at the way Liz's non-Jake children are ignored. I was just agreeing with Oracle42 that that hasn't been historically the case on this show. If anything, like in the case of Jason and Michael, the adopted children are the favored ones.

(Because I'm predictable and most roads lead back to Lucky for me, I always thought his favorite kid was Cameron.)

[dubbel zout]

Carly was adopted, and she blew into town with a gigantic chip on her shoulder. That was well written, I'll give it that, but it was still a nightmare of someone resenting not being adopted by someone rich.

IMO, the only decent adoption story that's been told was Ethan's. He had no grudge against any of his parents, birth or adoptive. It was surprising to me that there was no drama there. And I really appreciated it.

[Melgaypet]

Those were adoption backstories, though. That's not to say they were unimportant - it was a huge part of Carly's character and motivation - but I admit I don't think of them as adoption stories. The story was the long-lost child coming to find their biological family. Which is fine. A-tried-and-true soap staple, in fact, but not the same thing as an adoption story that played out onscreen.

And seriously, Lucas is the only one (besides the various stepparent adoptions) that I can think of. Is that weird? I think that's weird. And it was kind of soapy and bonkers - didn't Bobbie, like, buy him on the black market to begin with? Without Tony's knowledge and when he found out, that was the first big crisis of their marriage?

(I agree that Ethan's attitude toward his adopted parents was refreshing.)

[dubbel zout]

I couldn't think of any adoption story shown onscreen, LOL. I wasn't watching GH regularly when Lucas appeared.

[UYI]

2 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Going back further, Jason was adopted by Monica.

And even then, Monica originally resented baby Jason because he reminded her of Alan's affair with Susan Moore. Funny how things change, huh? (And by funny, I mean sad. Poor AJ.)

I can't help but think that Carly's story should have ended something like the late actress Dana Plato's (Kimberly from Diff'rent Strokes). Dana's biological mother was a teenage girl, and she was adopted by two parents, where the dad walked out shortly after, but the mom stayed and happily raised her daughter.

After Kay Plato (the mom) died in 1988 (she had had a terminal case of scleroderma--she knew she was dying for a few years), Dana decided to locate her birth mother, and she did, and formed a relationship with her and other biological members of her family.

However, about a year later, she dropped all contact with them, and according to Dana's ex-mother in law (whom she remained close to even after she divorced her son--she was the grandmother of Dana's son, Tyler, who sadly committed suicide 11 years after his lost his mom), it was because Dana realized at one point that her biological mother and her various and sundry biological family members were strangers to her--she didn't know them, and in her heart, Kay Plato was still her mother (of course, just as much of this could have been Dana being ashamed of the drug addiction that would eventually take her life, but probably not entirely).

I have a feeling that's a story--in addition to adoptees who search for their bio parents and form strong relationships with them, and those who never try--that happens more often than we think. Adopted kids who want to meet their bio parents, only to come away disappointed and reaffirming who their real parents are, in every way that counts.

I think Carly's story probably should played out like that--first, to keep up with what happened on the show, she would tell Bobbie who she was, and then Virginia would die shortly thereafter. But then, unlike what happened on the show, Carly would realize that not only was Virginia her mother in all the ways that counted, and now it was too late to get her back, but that Bobbie, while technically not a stranger, like what happened with Dana, was a person who felt that Carly had poisoned the well too much for a real relationship--and so Carly would leave town with Michael, ready to repair her life and become a better person. Perhaps the scene where she goes to Florida with Jason to visit Virginia's grave could still happen, but this time it would end with them saying goodbye and permanently parting ways.

Plus, the two decades-plus destruction she has caused since would have never happened! What a nice dream. :) 

27 minutes ago, Melgaypet said:

 

And seriously, Lucas is the only one (besides the various stepparent adoptions) that I can think of. Is that weird? I think that's weird. And it was kind of soapy and bonkers - didn't Bobbie, like, buy him on the black market to begin with? Without Tony's knowledge and when he found out, that was the first big crisis of their marriage?

 

Lucas was born in 1989 (the same year as me!) before Bobbie married Tony. She originally adopted him (bought him on the black market, whatever) as a single mother, then Tony became his de facto dad once they married the following year.

Edited May 9, 2017 by UYI

[UYI]

Okay, so I'm reading some of the old Soap Dish thread from TWOP on the Wayback Machine, and it says that Guza's women-hating ways included having one become sterilized by frigid South American water. Assuming that was from GH, who the hell was THAT? 

[Oracle42]

Courtney. Until she miraculously got pregnant with Spencer

[UYI]

Thank you! 

[Oracle42]

Yeah, she miscarried in the frigid waters off the coast of Bolivia and was rendered temporarily sterile.

[statsgirl]

If only more women knew that you could get sterile from cold water -- it would save all the pain of getting your tubes tied.  Not to mention disarming any angry husbands who wanted their wives to keep having babies.

Edited May 12, 2017 by statsgirl

[dubbel zout]

Except she wasn't permanently sterile, so beware, ladies!

[stlbf]

Well, alot of medical things with SkipperBitch were temporary. Like her instant prescription drug addiction! And remember how she was cured? All she needed was for St. Jasus of PC to toss her bottle of pills out! 

No wonder AJ was a drunk fat loser. He just needed Jasus to tell him to quit! 

[TeeVee329]

Answering my own question, Robin did meet Alex during her visit to AMC in 2001: 

[MissL]

So. Random moment unrelated to the Jason babies topic.  Yesterday I walk into the locker room at my gym and "are you that somebody" by Aailayah was playing which immediately flashed me back to original recipe Emily giving Nickolas hip hop dance lessons in the Quartermaine living room. So funny that it's such a strong memory tied to that song. I remember back then being embarrassed for them and thinking it was out of character for Nickolas but now....such a sweet moment. Man I miss the 4 musketeers. Even those stupid brownie toasts. 

[Asp Burger]

I loved Four Musketeers then and now. I ate it up with a spoon. There was something special and magical about those actors together. The whole was more than the sum of the parts. Their last Christmas together (1998) was one of my favorite General Hospital memories. When I think about what was passing for a youth group on this show just five years later, I wonder how I kept from crying. Sage, Brook, Diego, and that lot. I don't think this show has done "young" well since then. But it hasn't done a lot well since the late 1990s, has it? 

[TeeVee329]

9 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

Sage, Brook, Diego, and that lot.

Oh geez, Sage.  She was the one who got killed during the awful "Scream" rip-off week at the Q mansion, right, by crazy Mary Bishop?

Maybe Amy 2.0 will start complaining about Sage having been mean to her next. #eyeroll

Edited May 23, 2017 by TeeVee329

[dubbel zout]

20 minutes ago, TeeVee329 said:

Oh geez, Sage.  She was the one who got killed during the awful "Scream" rip-off week at the Q mansion, right, by crazy Mary Bishop?

Yep. She was Alcazar's (unnecessary) niece.

[TeeVee329]

Right, right.  And which guy was she after, Dillon?

[ulkis]

2 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

I loved Four Musketeers then and now. I ate it up with a spoon. There was something special and magical about those actors together. The whole was more than the sum of the parts. Their last Christmas together (1998) was one of my favorite General Hospital memories. When I think about what was passing for a youth group on this show just five years later, I wonder how I kept from crying. Sage, Brook, Diego, and that lot. I don't think this show has done "young" well since then. But it hasn't done a lot well since the late 1990s, has it? 

I think Guza succeeded with that because he didn't try to make them a teen scene. He integrated them into the adult stories, and when he did try to integrate them, that's when their story because a bit cheesy.

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

Oh geez, Sage.  She was the one who got killed during the awful "Scream" rip-off week at the Q mansion, right, by crazy Mary Bishop?

I loved that story lol!

[dubbel zout]

6 hours ago, TeeVee329 said:

And which guy was she after, Dillon?

Yep again. She knew Georgie liked Dillon and messed with them. Sage set up a séance so that Brook Lynn could communicate to Lila beyond the grave (I know) and pretended she was stabbed. When the teens discovered it was all fake, they were furious with her, and Georgie locked her in the standing freezer. Mary killed Sage by mistake, thinking she was Emily. 

[TeeVee329]

Right, right, the freezer.

And I remember Faith and Justus spent that whole week in bed together because they had turned out to have A Past.

Edited May 23, 2017 by TeeVee329

[stlbf]

13 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Yep. She was Alcazar's (unnecessary) niece.

Awww, I liked Sage. Stupid name or not. I thought the actress was fairly good. Especially after the show actually wrote some decent scenes for her in the last few months of poor Sage's life. She had good parent/child chemistry with Ted King. 

I liked her more than Maxie, Brook-Lyn or Lulu.

[Asp Burger]

Getting either locked in the freezer or locked out on a roof in the cold was quite a thing on GH in the early aughts, wasn't it? Also, falling/being shoved down stairs or getting pushed into freezing water. 

[peachmangosteen]

7 hours ago, stlbf said:

Awww, I liked Sage. Stupid name or not. I thought the actress was fairly good. Especially after the show actually wrote some decent scenes for her in the last few months of poor Sage's life. She had good parent/child chemistry with Ted King. 

I liked her more than Maxie, Brook-Lyn or Lulu.

+1. I loved Sage. 

[ulkis]

An NB act that doesn't make me cringe!

[HeatLifer]

I never had an issue with the NB until Ron and Frank ruined it. 

[ulkis]

oh, I did. The acts made me cringe for the most part then too.

[HeatLifer]

10 minutes ago, ulkis said:

oh, I did. The acts made me cringe for the most part then too.

I need an example of an act that was worse than the shit Ron and Frank put on TV.

[dubbel zout]

It's always been a mix of decent(ish) acts and total embarrassment. It was more cohesively written—people talked about their acts beforehand, for example—and just about the entire cast attended, so there was a genuine community feeling to it.

[ulkis]

6 minutes ago, HeatLifer said:

I need an example of an act that was worse than the shit Ron and Frank put on TV.

Hey! I didn't say any of them were worse. But here, here's a particularly painful one:

[HeatLifer]

9 minutes ago, ulkis said:

Hey! I didn't say any of them were worse. But here, here's a particularly painful one:

Damn, you're playing dirty. Scott was basically me.

[Oracle42]

Despite the weird cringiness of Luke and Bobbie disco dancing together to Last Dance - can we take a minute to think about the number of great, coherent well-integrated storylines that were happening during that episode/time period? Today's NB has what? 2 boring, badly-written "stories" with insultingly bad pacing?  3 I guess, if you count the Twins and their anti-chem romance - and I don't. 

 

Edited May 25, 2017 by Oracle42

[ulkis]

2 hours ago, HeatLifer said:

Damn, you're playing dirty. Scott was basically me.

Gia's face is also pretty reflective of the quality of the act lol.

[UYI]

13 hours ago, ulkis said:

An NB act that doesn't make me cringe!

Vanessa Marcil is ridiculously fit and beautiful here. I hate her. LOL. 

12 hours ago, HeatLifer said:

I need an example of an act that was worse than the shit Ron and Frank put on TV.

Luke & Lucky doing some 90's rap act sounds pretty cringey. I've never been able to watch it, ever. It just SOUNDS terrible! 

Edited May 25, 2017 by UYI

[Asp Burger]

Here is the pretty good "Footloose" number with Becky Herbst, Michael Saucedo, and Amber Tamblyn, mentioned yesterday in the episode thread. They have the year wrong, though. It was definitely 2000. Juan was not a gleam in anyone's eye in 1997. 

On one of the other uploads of this clip, some people were asking, "Who is the guy in red pants?" Kind of sad. Juan did not make much of a mark in his year and a half or so on General Hospital, did he? He would probably be even less well remembered if the actor had not married Becky in real life. Then there was his Sabrina connection, but she is gone now too. 

[dubbel zout]

28 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

his Sabrina connection

I suspect someone realized Juan and Sabrina had the same last name and made them cousins. I doubt the original plan was to connect them.

Juan was mostly a Miguel-lite, IMO. MS didn't have anything near RM's charisma or talent. I'm happy he did better offscreen than on!

[UYI]

Okay, so I finally watched the 1995 Nurses Ball performance I feared watching. It starts out great, with Mary Mae singing (RIP, Rosalind Cash!), and then Luke & Lucky start performing, and it has to be said: What white nonsense is this? (Full disclosure: I'm white.)