GH History Lessons: Because History is Always Repeating Itself

[jsbt]

1 hour ago, UYI said:

Yeah, Sarah and Amber wanted to quit and did, but JFP more or less pushed them both to leave earlier than they wanted, right? At least in Amber's case. I seem to remember something about Sarah being asked to stay a bit past her original contract to wrap up Carly's story, and that there were several shouting matches between her and JFP before she left (although I guess not enough that she wasn't willing to return as Claudia in 2008). 

I don't think either Sarah or Amber would've left anywhere near as early as they did without JFP in the mix. At least in the case of Amber I personally don't believe it would've been that year, and with the business being what it was I'm not convinced Sarah wouldn't have re-upped too.

[Jenniferbug]

I decided to start trying to watch again and I'm getting caught up with the episodes available on Hulu, so I have a few questions about recent history:

Is Peter definitely Anna's and is his father Faison? I've occasionally poked my head in the forums here and I thought they were gearing up to reveal je was Alex's. Did that not end up happening? Who was he raised by?

I also remember reading that one of these new young females would be Nina's daughter that she lost during the coma. Did that happen or was that plot a casualty of the recast? 

Chase (new detective?) is Finn's brother? 

Thanks!

[dubbel zout]

1) Unfortunately, yes, Peter is definitely (until the show decides to retcon it) Anna and Faison's son. He was taken away from Anna at birth by Valentin (! whatever, Show) and given to Faison to raise, which caused Peter to hate Anna for a long time, because of course the mother is always at fault. This was one of my rage-blackout stories, for so many reasons.

2) Sasha is Nina's "daughter," as set up by Valentin. (Yes, he has his fingers in a few baby pies.) So far no one has been revealed as Nina's actual bio daughter, so who knows it that's been forgotten or abandoned.

3) Chase is Finn's brother. They share a father and have different mothers. Finn resented Chase for that, because of course it's Chase's fault he was born. But they're on fairly decent terms these days. They're trying to be family.

Edited July 25, 2019 by dubbel zout
finish the list

[tessaray]

I was wondering the same thing.

Also, I was kind of aware of there being a Ryan story with Kevin held hostage? Should I even ask how they retconned his previous death/organ donation?

ETA: I may be getting my Ryan deaths mixed up. Was he dead before the latest story? 

[Jenniferbug]

Thanks @dubbel zout! That all sounds...pretty on par for GH 😂 

I don't know if I've seen Sasha in the episodes I've watched yet. I think I've mostly seen Willow (or is it Sage?) dealing with the baby paternity drama of Wiley. 

Who is Dev? Joss just referred to him as her cousin and he's living with them? He's annoying me already. 

[tessaray]

1 hour ago, Jenniferbug said:

Who is Dev? Joss just referred to him as her cousin and he's living with them? He's annoying me already. 

Thanks to the endless repetitive dialog I know this!  And I've only been back watching about half of the last 2-3 weeks.

Dev (some kind of street kid and pickpocket) helped Sonny out of a jam when Sonny was in Turkey (really?)  finding/rescuing Dante.  Evidently there were some kind of life debt level heroics involved, because now Dev has a complete set of fake documents identifying him as a cousin of Sonny's from Bensonhurst.  And a place in his home. Blech. 

[tessaray]

I'm still getting the younger characters sorted out. I keep mixing up the girl Michael is dating (Sasha) with the other girl who was in jail. Willow maybe?  And Peter and Chase, though that's getting easier.  

The last time I poked my head in, Nelle was terrorizing Carly in the lamest story reveal ever. Now she's in jail prison? 

[Jenniferbug]

Thanks @tessaray! 

I recognize Peter because he was Wyatt Halliwell on Charmed (I'm not proud for knowing that, by the way haha). Chase I still see and go "who...oh, the new detective". 

I did finally see Sasha and she and Willow do resemble each other. 

Speaking of Nelle- I'm confused on the in story reason Michael is so invested in Wiley. I know that it's really his baby that he thinks is dead, but I'm confused why he cares so much about the paternity/adoption drama going on with Willow, Brad, and Lucas. Did they finally let Michael have some friends? 

[tessaray]

Lucas is Michael's uncle, so it makes sense that Brucas might make him the godfather.  Though I'm not sure how any of that stuff happened. Just guessing. 

[Laur]

8 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

1) Unfortunately, yes, Peter is definitely (until the show decides to retcon it) Anna and Faison's son. He was taken away from Anna at birth by Valentin (! whatever, Show) and given to Faison to raise, which caused Peter to hate Anna for a long time, because of course the mother is always at fault. This was one of my rage-blackout stories, for so many reasons.

Well, the show did go as far as have Robert and Anna discuss the likelihood that Peter is Alex's son due to the false memory twin study. She's still trying to get answers from Alex (a storyline while Finola travels for the summer), so I think that's fairly likely. Either way, I imagine she'll unfortunately always consider him a son of sorts at this point due to carrying those memories and the likelihood that Alex probably doesn't want to be in the picture as his mom.

Edited July 25, 2019 by Laur

[Jenniferbug]

I'm very close to being caught up now! 

Remind me- Hayden was still pregnant when she left the show, right? I'm remembering she lied about losing the baby. So that baby (I think it was a boy?) should be out there somewhere.

[dubbel zout]

The baby is Dev. Ha!

[Jenniferbug]

Don't even put that in the universe @dubbel zout - this show would do it! 

Um did they just say that Robert is the DA? When did he get a law degree?? 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Just now, Jenniferbug said:

Um did they just say that Robert is the DA? When did he get a law degree?? 

In offscreenville. Before he was recruited by the WSB, and Before he appeared on this show. He talked about it with Laura three weeks ago.

[tvgoddess]

2 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

I'm very close to being caught up now! 

Remind me- Hayden was still pregnant when she left the show, right? I'm remembering she lied about losing the baby. So that baby (I think it was a boy?) should be out there somewhere.

They never said whether it was a boy or a girl, unless I'm completely losing my mind. Anyway, since we don't know the sex of Spina Bifida Baby yet and it could go either way, I'm having trouble trying to guess. Leaning towards Baby Finn - girl and Baby Corinthot - boy (to replace Morgan) but what the hell do I know?

[dubbel zout]

So what do we think, will Baby Corinthos die on the operating table (or shortly thereafter) or will surgery be a complete success and we'll never hear about spina bifida again? The former is Emmy bait, and the latter means we're stuck with another useless Corinthos.

[ouinason]

But a badly told story about a disabled child that is never seen is "relevant" and emmy bait for years, depending on how many health crisises they can milk, and how well then can cast the character in the future.  Plus, DIVERSITY!!

[tvgoddess]

They already had the Emmy bait when Morgan died (more LW really as she actually did some good work). So I'm guessing complete success. 

[Jenniferbug]

I'm going to guess baby Corinthos will be a boy and the surgery will be a complete success. 

[ouinason]

it feels like Sonny has too many daughters already, but it's really only 2, so the new baby could be a girlchild.

[statsgirl]

No on-screen sons since Dante is away and Morgan is "dead". Only girl-children around. I'm guessing it's going to be a boy with magically quick growth spurts so Sonny can show him the ropes.

[Jenniferbug]

Ok so last I remember Cassandra Pierce, she was someone Finn was somehow connected to and he and Anna were trying to track her down. I must have missed a lot with her, because I don't remember her being connected to Nina or Dr O at all.  I'm not sure I even remember why Finn and Anna were looking for her in the first place. Can someone please fill in the gaps for me?

[ouinason]

Anna was looking for Cassandra because she is a criminal drug  and other stuff dealer that worked with Valentine and the WSB wanted to nail him.  Finn was involved because stupid.... or in story because Cassandra was a hypochondriac and Anna was looking to get at her through that angle, with Finn as the doctor.  Cassandra got wise and planned on killing Anna, but Nina went to Anna's house and came upon her and there was some kind of scuffle or whatever and Cassandra ended up injected with her own drug and in a coma.  Last summer Anna was kidnapped by some of Cass's associates who wanted her back and Finn and Anna woke her up with... made up medical stuff?  

[tvgoddess]

Someone in the Another World forum is asking questions about the whole Stavros/Lulu/Baby Thermos debacle (a clip was posted after a lengthy discussion on RKK). Anybody want to help out?

[ulkis]

Leslie Charleson totally rips the Eckerts in Steve and Brad's podcast. Hilarious. You gotta wonder if everyone at the studio just rolled their eyes at Tony every time he complained. 

She also said that Monty set aside the Qs in her second stint. Was Tracy set aside as well? She seemed to get story then.

[TheMediaHo]

Monty was very clear when she returned that she wanted to take the focus off the very wealthy, and so she created the blue-collar Eckert family. As it turned out, the audience, craving escapism, preferred the lifestyles of the rich and famous to those of regular folks working hard to put food (and baked goods) on the table. I'm sure TPTB were inundated with negativity from focus groups. Adios, Eckerts...they lasted well past their sell-by date!

[statsgirl]

She could have watched Sullivan's Travels and learned that.

[ulkis]

Posting this link to a 1997 interview with Tony Geary and Genie Francis here as well that was posted in another thread. Thanks @Hiyo for the link!

http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/UNRevised/articles/tvguide97.html

[Asp Burger]

Picking up on Alexis's romantic history from the News thread:    

53 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

And, to be honest, I always thought Ned/Alexis was boring as hell, too.

Same. So many of their scenes were smug self-congratulation about how they were the only sane people in their respective families. We kept hearing (out of the mouths of the characters themselves) a writing-room pitch for why they'd be a good couple, but the good-couple chemistry and writing never materialized. Two people apparently having a lot in common is a good justification in real life, but not as much for drama. 

Then, their complications, like the "Eddie's Angel" would-be comedy (Alexis having her photo snapped in lingerie and becoming an unwilling pin-up sensation), were pretty bad, even though NLG attacked everything with her usual neurotic intensity.  

I did like Sexis at the time it was ramping up and happening in 2000-02. It's not that I was a Sonny fan even then, but there had been almost 20 years less of him, and much of the worst was still ahead. So I wasn't as vehement against him. Also, Sexis threw a roadblock up for Sonny/Carly (a coupling I've hated from the first) and made their fans unhappy. Anyone who remembers what the worst of turn-of-the-millennium S/C fans online were like will at least understand how I could be that petty.  

53 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

But again, that probably had a lot to do with NLG knowing Sonny was a front-burner character and wanting her character to remain relevant, so...

An argument could be made that that's also why Wally Kurth liked the Nexis pairing. In fan-favorite terms, NLG was and is a bigger fish than he is. Without her, at the time, all he had was squabbles with his family, and his subsequent pairings (e g., Big Kristina, Faith) didn't do much for him. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Asp Burger

[Dr.OO7]

12 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

And, to be honest, I always thought Ned/Alexis was boring as hell, too.

Were they EVER. 

[ffwbe]

7 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

An argument could be made that that's also why Wally Kurth liked the Nexis pairing. In fan-favorite terms, NLG was and is a bigger fish than he is. Without her, at the time, all he had was squabbles with his family, and his subsequent pairings (e g., Big Kristina, Faith) didn't do much for him. 

I got the same impression. WK lost his front burner status after Rena Sofer left and his relationship with Alexis was just about the only storyline he had left that wasn’t Ned cleaning up his family’s messes so of course he was going to want to stay in that relationship. But I think they just got thrown together because the show was set on doing a Cassadine/Quartermaine romance and couldn’t do Nikolas and Emily because of the actors’ age difference. Ned and Alexis weren’t exciting to watch which is probably why they got the wacky hijinks SLs. I’m shocked that they were together on and off for 4 years since that’s an eternity for a pairing that’s between 2 contract actors that aren’t a supercouple. 
 

I liked Sonny and Alexis as friends and it was nice to see him actually listen to someone else for a change. Sonny was a lot more tolerable in those years but they really amped up with misogyny once Guza took over. However, I never saw romantic chemistry between them so I wasn’t excited about their potential romance. 

I’m surprised that Ned and Alexis got back together after the Tony Jones trial since they seemed to be teasing Alexis and Luke for a bit. It would have been a lot more soapy and there would have been more fallout than whatever Luke and Felecia had around that time. 

[dubbel zout]

I hated Sonny and Alexis and am glad it was basically a ONS. They are much better as co-parents. 

[Captanne]

I didn't hate Sonny and Alexis together because, as two of the "stars" on the show (whether I want them to be or not) they can click.  However, for me, they both have really good comedic timing so -- as co-parents of a child resulting from an OTS, they are better suited.

I'm particularly amused by NLG's ability to do comedy.  The fun of that talent is whether (as a viewer) you like Sonny or not -- NLG can bring the snark and the humor in just about any situation.

[Asp Burger]

I was trying to find that notorious Nikolas/Emily love scene (the one with all the weird lighting, and Tyler with half his face visible, peering over Natalia's knees). I wasn't successful, but I did grab a capture of the Cameron conception. Sixteen years ago this past Halloween! 

[GHScorpiosRule]

33 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

I was trying to find that notorious Nikolas/Emily love scene (the one with all the weird lighting, and Tyler with half his face visible, peering over Natalia's knees). I wasn't successful, but I did grab a capture of the Cameron conception. Sixteen years ago this past Halloween! 

That’s Zander? Looks like Ric to me.

[ouinason]

Yep, that's Zander.  You can see the stripes on his pants from his union officer Halloween costume. 

I loved that whole thing with Liz and Zander hooking up in commiseration.  And Zander and Ric did favor each other in certain lighting and contexts, which adds a touch of something to Liz sleeping with him while dealing with divorcing crazy pants Ric, even though she obviously still loved him even after what he did.  

Edited November 26, 2019 by ouinason

[WendyCR72]

On 11/26/2019 at 12:12 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

That’s Zander? Looks like Ric to me.

Definitely Zander. (Still miss him! But lookalike Aaron whisking Emily's twin Rebecca/lookalike Emily out of town was an inspired touch.) Chad Brannon did have his hair styled differently at times.

[Asp Burger]

ANGER BOY IS ANGRY! Thirty seconds into the scene, the Jacobot 2000 gets incorrectly set on "10" when "6" would have sufficed for the situation.  

[Asp Burger]

Delving into the famous 2011 firing and rehiring of Rebecca Herbst... 

Specifically, the claim at the time (before they reversed the decision) was that it was necessary for the character to make a "storyline-dictated exit," and that Elizabeth would be involved in something over the next few months that people would not want to miss. 

I've always wondered how they had planned to write her out. What was going on at the specific time she was originally supposed to have made the storyline-dictated exit? Was it Jake's "death," coming not long after Liz had been institutionalized? I do recall she was hallucinating him, and she made an error at work that almost had dire consequences for Siobhan. That resulted in her being suspended. I wonder if the original plan was for her to lose her license, or maybe go out with the wig-on-a-stick method. I just have a hard time seeing a simple "leave town/fresh start" exit, with the character's storylines in the first half of 2011.  

All three of Liz's men who were on-canvas at that time had other partners. Jason was with Sam, Lucky was with Siobhan, and Nikolas was doing whatever that was with Brook. But if they surveyed that scene and thought she was the most expendable of those four women, they really miscalculated.  

[dubbel zout]

8 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

ANGER BOY IS ANGRY! Thirty seconds into the scene, the Jacobot 2000 gets incorrectly set on "10" when "6" would have sufficed for the situation. 

LOL. We didn't call him Shouty McYellerson for nothing.

[makelemons]

7 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

Delving into the famous 2011 firing and rehiring of Rebecca Herbst... 

But if they surveyed that scene and thought she was the most expendable of those four women, they really miscalculated.  

i'm still shocked they reversed themselves... and then still tried to ax her again... i just understand what the higher ups have against her. she seems to showup, do her job, and flies under the radar (antics wise -- obviously she has a huge fanbase)

i guess it originally leaked ... but how?  I'm sure BH was contractually prohibited from telling anyone.... but it got out awfully quickly for her exit to still be months away

[GHScorpiosRule]

8 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

I've always wondered how they had planned to write her out. What was going on at the specific time she was originally supposed to have made the storyline-dictated exit? Was it Jake's "death," coming not long after Liz had been institutionalized? I do recall she was hallucinating him, and she made an error at work that almost had dire consequences for Siobhan.

I thought, and I think a lot of us had speculated when the announcement came out--(I know I was like WTF???!) that Jake's death would probably have Liz go crazy and they would usher her out with that story line. This was before the reversal, and her mistake nearly costing Siobhan's life came after she was re-hired, but got really sick and it was her temporary casting that made the blunder.

But, who knows? It was a DICK move, and I'm glad that outrage was enough to have them re-hire her.

[dubbel zout]

Yes, let's fire the woman who comes in and does her job uncomplainingly, even when she's backburnered for a decade. But we'll keep the asshole who uses the show to pimp his side business.

[cleo]

I'm still watching old clips as a first time viewer. I'm on the ice princess, just at the art auction.

The story with Luke and Laura is entertaining, and Luke on his own is a likeable entertaining character, but I continue to find him an asshole in terms of how he treats Laura. Man Robert is so much better 

Also I dont know if this is a UO but even though I find the ice princess stuff interesting, I'm much more into the Monica and Alan storylinea and their enmity and if I were to rewatch a second tine I would like choose the stuff with Monica/Alan/Tracey and Rick over LL.

Also I guess Rick is popular but I thought he was a sleaze for cheating on Lesley, dumping her, and then squirming back after finding out the baby wasnt his.

[ulkis]

1 hour ago, makelemons said:

i'm still shocked they reversed themselves... and then still tried to ax her again... i just understand what the higher ups have against her. she seems to showup, do her job, and flies under the radar (antics wise -- obviously she has a huge fanbase)

i guess it originally leaked ... but how?  I'm sure BH was contractually prohibited from telling anyone.... but it got out awfully quickly for her exit to still be months away

They didn't try to fire her again.

[makelemons]

17 minutes ago, ulkis said:

They didn't try to fire her again.

no.  they just were giving her lowball offers so she wouldn't re-sign.... add in Varni being a tool about it on social media .... so IMO they were trying to ax her... 

[ulkis]

7 minutes ago, makelemons said:

no.  they just were giving her lowball offers so she wouldn't re-sign.... add in Varni being a tool about it on social media .... so IMO they were trying to ax her... 

But that was a totally different set of people in charge and imo they didn't want her to leave, they were already setting up Friz at that point.

[Asp Burger]

Twenty years ago on General Hospital (January 6, 2000), abbreviated from a long recap at Soap Central:  

* Edward threatened to oust AJ as CEO of ELQ, and told him that the only thing he had going for him was Carly. Monica and Alan defended AJ. 

* Mike's feelings for Tammy complicated his plan to pretend to romance Gertrude to get information for Chloe.  

* Chloe hired Liz as her new assistant. 

* Juan's singing impressed Ned, who warned him about the pitfalls of the music business. Juan told Emily he had no interest in a music career.

* Liz wanted to be with Jason in spite of all the danger, but he said he had to stay away from her for her own good. Liz ran away in tears.

* Hannah believed a bomb had been intended for Jason rather than Sonny. Mac advised her to put her feelings for Sonny in the past. 

* Helena gloated that she would soon have Faison right where she wanted him.

* Carly bemoaned her estrangement from Jason and envied that Sonny still got to see him and talk to him, while she was a prisoner in the Quartermaine mansion. Sonny told her she was only a victim if she let herself be. She revealed she had a plan.

Mentioned characters still on the show in 2020: Sonny, Carly, Jason, Liz, Monica, Mike, Mac. Five of seven are still played by the same actors.  

[ouinason]

I used to be a Liason fan, and I understand how big of a ship that has been, but thank the great spagetti monster in the sky that is over!

 

Also, I was always bummed that Liz didn't become a clothing designer as a way to turn her talent and interest in art into a career.

[Melgaypet]

@ulkis, I went looking for the scene we were talking about, and mea culpa, you were right, her slap didn't land:

(The not-slap is about at 12:30)

Side note: I had to mute these scenes as I watched, and because of good acting, not the usual reasons! Lucky is just so cruel and cutting and Laura so hurt and blindsided, it's hard to take.

Edited January 6, 2020 by Melgaypet