GH History Lessons: Because History is Always Repeating Itself

[Chairperson Meow]

Ohhhh. Damn. Good. For a moment I got scared.

[Ambrosefolly]

I, for one, hated that they rewrote the whole "Michael smothered his father to death" story line because I was hoping that might make Michael, somehow, disappear for a good while. They centered so much of the show around that damn kid back then, hell it started before his birth even and they still do even today and it grates. So many deserving Qs have been hacked to pieces over the years and this usurper raised by the greasy rat Sonny somehow ends up running the company and everyone doting on him, as usual...

 

There was always one thing I had hoped for with Michael and that was a rewrite of who his biological father was.

Thank heavens someone else feels the way about Michael that I do. I realize that Tracy isn't the warmest person in the world (okay, she can be down right horrible), but I really hate that the company that worked so hard to achieve is pretty much handed over to Michael with everyone singing his praises. AJ at the least wanted to run the company as much as Tracy did, as ludicrous as it was that he became president almost 5 minutes after everyone found out he was alive, and schemed almost as much. 

 

He just has too much of the tint of Sonny and Carly and always will. Sorry. Plus, have always been underwhelmed by Chad Duell's acting. He was slightly more tolerable with AJ, but just barely.  

[CPP83]

Thank heavens someone else feels the way about Michael that I do. I realize that Tracy isn't the warmest person in the world (okay, she can be down right horrible), but I really hate that the company that worked so hard to achieve is pretty much handed over to Michael with everyone singing his praises. AJ at the least wanted to run the company as much as Tracy did, as ludicrous as it was that he became president almost 5 minutes after everyone found out he was alive, and schemed almost as much.

 

He just has too much of the tint of Sonny and Carly and always will. Sorry. Plus, have always been underwhelmed by Chad Duell's acting. He was slightly more tolerable with AJ, but just barely

 

 

 

Couldn't have said it any better myself. To me Michael has never been nor will he ever be a Q. I know Monica can't let go of the fact that they lost him to those two pieces of filth, she or AJ, but facts are facts. He is the product of Sonny and Carly and always will be. And Chad puts me to sleep, I call his Michael Eeyore for that reason, he plays Michael so bland and lifeless, he's like a bowl of living oatmeal.

 

Couple all of that with the fact that Tracy is being dismantled and turned into a joke just so that Michael can be the "winner", it just...my blood pressure can't handle it.

Edited August 21, 2014 by CPP83

[Ambrosefolly]

Couple all of that with the fact that Tracy is being dismantled and turned into a joke just so that Michael can be the "winner", it just...my blood pressure can't handle it.

 

Oh she isn't being dismantled for Michael, that is just a side effect. She is being dismantled because Tony Geary wants his edgy storyline, so like KSt's Maxie, she is being made to look as stupid as possible. From what I have learned , it is perfectly keeping that she would make herself a fool for a man, but her bull shit detector should be pinging with Luke's over concern about ELQ. Maybe Tracy is so thrilled that she thinks that someone is finally supporting her in her lifelong fight to takeover the company as she get next to zero support (despite the fact she has always showed the most interest in the company). She has no clue that Fluke has bad designs for the company that she wants so much to run and make even a greater success than her father. 

 

Besides, with the amount of AJ hate Sonny and Carly had instilled in Michael and their lack of any type of morales, I thought it was perfectly in character for that kid to up and kill AJ. 

 

For me, Michael is the worst combination of everything wrong with this show. From in the late 70s-early 80s when the Qs and Luke took over and pushing aside the Hardys and Baldwins, to Jason the eternal Golden Boy to how the Cornithios infecting nearly major on GH, he is that .

Edited August 21, 2014 by Ambrosefolly

[Cattitude]

it's the only way to beat Chandy, Best Inanimate Object EVER.

I miss Chandy.  He was good people. He could really get some shit done in Port Charles. 

 

Okay I need someone to explain who or what this is, it sounds interesting.

[MSquared]

Okay I need someone to explain who or what this is, it sounds interesting.

 

Chandy was actually from OLTL.  It was a chandelier in a church that fell and killed a attemptedly redeemed rapist, Robert Ford (who was another disgusting character that Ron elevated to sainthood while whitewashing all his crimes, including raping a mentally incapacitated woman, Jessica Buchanan.)  He was hero to many at the end of OLTL (Chandy, that is).   

[dubbel zout]

Ford also punched a nun (seriously) and LAUGHED ABOUT IT. Ugh. He was reprehensible. Being killed by Chandy was too good for him, but at least we got that.

[Chairperson Meow]

Damn. Why did you guys have to remind me of Chandy? I want Chandy back.

[jsbt]

I feel like it's time to bring this back. This is some of the craziest shit I've ever seen. Interpretive dancer/singer Connor Olivera (Sean Donely's?? son???) takes over the Outback in 1991. I wonder how long before or after this ABC decided Gloria Monty had to go. Finola Hughes's face throughout is priceless.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZKrkpRa4EA

 

Ulp, embedding disabled. Click through - it's so worth it! Endgame isn't this bad. Yes, he is singing and dancing with his own music video.

Edited August 25, 2014 by jsbt

[Cattitude]

@jsbt that was a truely horrible sight to behold.eeekk!

 

Is it wrong that Robert's hair was the best thing in the whole scene? TR had it goin' on with that do! I think 1991 Robert and 2014 Silas need to have a hair off.

Wonder who would win!

[rur]

If you look in the background of that scene,  you'll see the fan that's currently in Dante and Lulu's apartment. So, I guess they're living in a remodeled Outback. 

 

ETA: I had forgotten that Faison was rather handsome back in the day. 

Edited August 25, 2014 by rur

[ulkis]

I feel like it's time to bring this back. This is some of the craziest shit I've ever seen. Interpretive dancer/singer Connor Olivera (Sean Donely's?? son???) takes over the Outback in 1991. I wonder how long before or after this ABC decided Gloria Monty had to go. Finola Hughes's face throughout is priceless.

 

Ulp, embedding disabled. Click through - it's so worth it! Endgame isn't this bad. Yes, he is singing and dancing with his own music video.

 

The spin in the beginning is painful. But if I had to choose, Endgame would still be my pick. Still, this makes Starr singing look amazing.

Edited August 26, 2014 by ulkis

[Francie]

I feel like it's time to bring this back. This is some of the craziest shit I've ever seen. Interpretive dancer/singer Connor Olivera (Sean Donely's?? son???) takes over the Outback in 1991. I wonder how long before or after this ABC decided Gloria Monty had to go. Finola Hughes's face throughout is priceless.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZKrkpRa4EA

 

Ulp, embedding disabled. Click through - it's so worth it! Endgame isn't this bad. Yes, he is singing and dancing with his own music video.

That was in July of 1991 and Gloria was fired in January of 1992.

 

This would have been filmed about a month after Finola got her green card and knew she could quit GH and stay in the country (she had a work visa before that and couldn't be unemployed for 6 months straight or she'd be deported). That look on her face, to me, said, "I cannot wait to get out of this place."

 

1991 had kernels of good stuck in with oh so, so, so, so, so much bad. It still hurts thinking about how much Gloria was trying to make Jenny Eckert (the girl with all the close ups) happen.

[dubbel zout]

That video is classic good-bad GH. It's a time capsule!

[UYI]

What's painful is hearing TRACY, of all people, comment on Connor's talent at the end of the clip! WTF?

 

And that haircut Monica had back then was so awful.

 

Fin getting her green card was actually the reason she couldn't accept her Emmy in person that year. 

 

ETA: I actually think Connor is kind of cute, though. No, really. Take the singing and dancing out of the equation and I find him attractive. 

Edited August 26, 2014 by UYI

[ulkis]

Props to whomever mentioned this is the biggest out of nowhere, tacked on ending since Liz's rapist was revealed. I had no doubt at that time that they were setting it up to be Tony Jones (No, not Tony!), but then chickened out at the end and pinned it on some random guy. Yeah, what ever could go wrong with that plan? Aside from losing goodwill with viewers in terms of satisfying pay off.

 

 

I think the part where they REALLY chickened out was finding out who it was in the first place, but I can understand why they gave in to it. Liz's rape was well-written (well, there are issues I have with it being mostly done to facilitate Lucky and Luke's story, but still the Liz parts were well-done, imo) and thus, fairly painful to watch. 

[Francie]



TA: I actually think Connor is kind of cute, though. No, really. Take the singing and dancing out of the equation and I find him attractive. 

 

But you can't, Blanche, you can't take the singing and dancing out of the equation!

 

Yep as to why Finola couldn't be there in person for the emmys in 1991.

 

And I hated what Gloria did to the Qs in 1991. Alan and Monica had a thrown together, hasty wedding in a freakin' civil hall! After hosting half the weddings on GH for years (Sean and Tiffany's, Ned and Dawn's, and Robert and Anna's "in the garden" to name a few), Gloria wouldn't even let Monica get married in her own house! (Alan gave it to her!).

 

The best part of the above clip is that deaf, statuesque Dominique of the flowing sundresses is nowhere to be found.

[dubbel zout]

I don't think the photographer was all that WTF as Liz's rapist. It didn't need to be someone she knew well, and I thought it was a decent counterpart to Laura's rape, which was part of the story.

 

The story had its problems, but the identity of the rapist was the least of them, for me.

[Francie]

I think the part where they REALLY chickened out was finding out who it was in the first place, but I can understand why they gave in to it. Liz's rape was well-written (well, there are issues I have with it being mostly done to facilitate Lucky and Luke's story, but still the Liz parts were well-done, imo) and thus, fairly painful to watch. 

 

Agreed that the storyline was really well done. yes, it facilitated conflict between Luke and Lucky, Luke and Laura, and Lucky and Laura, but it never was untrue to its core. In fact, it was great in that it created all those conflicts, organically.  The Lucky and Liz storyline was amazingly well done and expertly acted.  Tony really did shine and Jonathan Jackson was superb. The supporting characters -- Bobbie and Stefan come to mind -- did a stellar job too. It was a layered, intelligent story, the likes of which Ron could only dream of writing.

 

I had become disenchanted with GH in 1997, and Liz's storyline brought me back.

 

The one issue I had was Luke confessing to the hooker, and Tony's insertion of the line about how the hooker should have heard of him. It was definitely a 180 from the Luke that had been portrayed on the show in the prior years. Not that having Luke confess it all to a stranger was an altogether bad idea -- but something about the whole set up rang untrue to me. It was the start of the riff between Tony and Genie, and I wish that Tony had taken the higher road back then. The whole scenario of Luke confessing the rape to the hooker came off to me very 'stagey,' whereas Luke's confession to Lucky was possibly one of the best episodes of GH, ever. 

Edited August 26, 2014 by Francie

[rur]

That video is classic good-bad GH. It's a time capsule!

 

True, and it's also true to how Port Charles was being depicted at the time --  a not-very-big city within driving/flying distance of big cosmopolitan areas, but not so very cosmopolitan itself. Connor would have been exactly the kind of entertainment that would be booked into a second-tier nightspot that was, apparently, the only "nice" place in town. 

 

But that said, I think I remember suffering second-hand embarrassment for everyone who was in the listening audience that night. 

[ulkis]

The supporting characters -- Bobbie and Stefan come to mind -- did a stellar job too. It was a layered, intelligent story, the likes of which Ron could only dream of writing.

 

 

One of my favorite scenes is when Lucky comes to Stefan asking him if it was a lie what he told Nikolas (about Laura's rape). These two had an interesting dynamic and I wish they had had more scenes. It was like - but disliked and distrusted the other but couldn't work themselves up to hate, like Nikolas and Luke did. Anyway, at the end of that scene Lucky bends down and when he stands back up, to quote someone, it looked like he had aged 10 years for a moment. Phenomenal job by JJ.

[Francie]

I don't think the photographer was all that WTF as Liz's rapist. It didn't need to be someone she knew well, and I thought it was a decent counterpart to Laura's rape, which was part of the story.

 

The story had its problems, but the identity of the rapist was the least of them, for me.

I don't think it needed to be someone we knew, and I would say that there even would have been a benefit of it not being someone we already knew. It didn't need to be all tied up in a bow. The writer who used her own rape as a teen ager as the basis for the storyline never knew her attacker. 

 

But if GH intended it to be a stranger, they did a horrible job in laying out the storyline once it got to the point where the photographer was on canvas. It was clunky, and the storyline had an entirely different -- and implausible -- vibe. Suddenly, instead of being an intelligent, thoughtful tale, and a very dark tale with a wonderful touch of light that was Lucky's and Liz's burgeoning love story, it was a plucky "let's go find the bad guy!" tale of four teens on the hunt. All that was missing was the Great Dane. YMMV.

 

Further, I do think that the story, at least at the outset, was intended to be tied up in a bow, with Tony begin the "out of nowhere" attacker. I could see the wheels clicking at the time with the head writer ("No one will think it's Tony!"). And once they went down that road, they either needed to commit to it or change it to make the ending plausible. I would have been happy with an open-ended ending where Liz came to terms with never knowing. I know a lot of people were fine with the ending, but it really struck a wrong chord with me.  I quit GH again in 1999, for a number of reasons, but mainly the awful story telling, and I didn't come back until 2012. 

One of my favorite scenes is when Lucky comes to Stefan asking him if it was a lie what he told Nikolas (about Laura's rape). These two had an interesting dynamic and I wish they had had more scenes. It was like - but disliked and distrusted the other but couldn't work themselves up to hate, like Nikolas and Luke did. Anyway, at the end of that scene Lucky bends down and when he stands back up, to quote someone, it looked like he had aged 10 years for a moment. Phenomenal job by JJ.

That's exactly the scene I was thinking of when I made the comment about the stellar jobs by the supporting cast. That scene where Lucky confronts Stefan had so many nuances to it. Stefan never hated Lucky, though solely because he was a product of and extension of Laura. So that scene had so many dynamics to it:

 

Stefan not wanted to hurt Laura; Stefan being a father figure himself to Nikolas and recognizing that he'd be destroying the father-son bond between Luke and Lucky; Stefan hating Luke and who would ordinarily relish the chance to hurt his nemesis.

 

God, today, if Ron wrote that scene, it would be filled with horrible one-liners referencing some 80s television show Ron watched as a teen.

 

Jackie had some good scenes, too, with Liz and Luke.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Francie

[jsbt]

I also remember finding the denouement of the story to be lame. There were magazine covers with the kids proclaiming that they were off to nail "Mr. Mertle" or whatever his name was, like it was Scooby-Doo - I thought it went against everything the show had done with the story so far, that it was pandering to my age group (I was like 15 or 16 at the time) and was a weak attempt. But the original material itself - the rape, the fallout, Liz's recovery, the Luke and Laura angle - all still holds up IMO.

Edited August 26, 2014 by jsbt

[Francie]

I also remember finding the denouement of the story to be lame. There were magazine covers with the kids proclaiming that they were off to nail "Mr. Mertle" or whatever his name was, like it was Scooby-Doo - I thought it went against everything the show had done with the story so far, that it was pandering to my age group (I was like 15 or 16 at the time) and was a weak attempt. But the original material itself - the rape, the fallout, Liz's recovery, the Luke and Laura angle - all still holds up IMO.

That's exactly what I was trying to say -- but you did so, so much more concisely!

[ulkis]

I also remember finding the denouement of the story to be lame. There were magazine covers with the kids proclaiming that they were off to nail "Mr. Mertle" or whatever his name was, like it was Scooby-Doo - I thought it went against everything the show had done with the story so far, that it was pandering to my age group (I was like 15 or 16 at the time) and was a weak attempt. But the original material itself - the rape, the fallout, Liz's recovery, the Luke and Laura angle - all still holds up IMO.

 

Mr Myrtle (yes I even remembered how it was spelled, can't remember what I wore yesterday but I remember that) was the high school English teacher. They thought he was the rapist for some reason and Lucky insinuated he knew his secret. Lucky broke into his house and it turned out Mr Myrtle's secret was that he was gay, so that turned out to be a dead end too. Then two months or so later Emily got sent a naked picture with her head photoshopped on it and them tracing down where it was delivered from. I don't think they knew the name they were after yet, just that it came from that place. So at the point, they were just looking for Emily's blackmailer, and he conveniently turned out to be the rapist too, hoorah! I just remember feeling a lot of second-hand embarrassment when Nikolas had to tell Stefan how Emily had been getting naked photos and how Nik pretended to be a male model. That scene did lead to a moment I really liked though, where Laura said she couldn't help but love that her sons teamed up together, and Stefan was incredulous and saying, "they didn't team up for a *tennis match*, Laura, they went to catch a psychopath". 

 

Here's the Lucky/Stefan scene for anyone curious. Unfortunately it's pretty low-quality, recording-wise

 

 

ETA: and now I'm thinking, there was another great scene, where Luke comes to scare Nikolas a little because he was angry that Nikolas told Lucky about the rape, and Stefan comes and he and Luke have this confrontation scene and Stefan says, why are you blaming Nikolas? Did you never think there'd be any consequences to your actions? You call Cassadines murderers, but you're a man who came up here to threaten a boy, pimped his own sister  . . . raped his own wife.

 

I wish I knew who wrote that line, it was sooo good.

Edited August 26, 2014 by ulkis

[Francie]

Man, Anna Devane may be my all-time favorite GH character, but 1996 was my all-time favorite year of GH. I love Stefan and I loved the wrench that he threw into everything.

 

I had so fervently hoped at the time that part of Stefan's "grand plan" was just to let Luke self-destruct.  Luke was running around town, like Chicken Little, yelling "Stefan is evil! Stefan is evil!" and, as a preemptive strike, Luke would do stupid things like bug Stefan's house, lie to Laura, taunt Nikolas, and cheer on when Lucky accidently seriously injured Nikolas. It was dark for Luke, but, IMHO, it was in character. And it would have been in character for Laura to leave him due to Luke's hatred of and danger to Nikolas. And, true to Laura's character, again YMMV, I could see her turning to Stefan, out of romanticized idealism of their prior time spent together, a desire for security and a revived vanity from her younger days with Scotty and Luke.

 

I thought an awesome step in that storyline would have been for Laura to choose Stefan after leaving Luke "out of necessity," in her mind, and thinking that Stefan wanted to start a life with her. Then have Stefan reject her -- and leave her with nothing. His master plan turned out to be to trick Laura into giving up everything and he would have achieved it by capitalizing on Luke's and Laura's weaknesses rather than by moustache-twirlingly evil acts.

 

Anyway, that's what I had hoped to see. I have always wondered what Guza's original plan was. He said he left very explicit directions for how the story was supposed to play out, but Culliton scrapped it all, starting with the Twist of Fate prime-time special (oh, the second hand embarrassment I suffered watching that). Part of the new story was out of necessity, Genie was pregnant and wanted time off from the show.  But part of it just went to places that were just plain horrible with no excuse (the horror, the horror of Katherine and Stefan mooning over a crystal tree).

[ulkis]

I had so fervently hoped at the time that part of Stefan's "grand plan" was just to let Luke self-destruct.  Luke was running around town, like Chicken Little, yelling "Stefan is evil! Stefan is evil!" and, as a preemptive strike, Luke would do stupid things like bug Stefan's house, lie to Laura, taunt Nikolas, and cheer on when Lucky accidently seriously injured Nikolas. It was dark for Luke, but, IMHO, it was in character. And it would have been in character for Laura to leave him due to Luke's hatred of and danger to Nikolas. And, true to Laura's character, again YMMV, I could see her turning to Stefan, out of romanticized idealism of their prior time spent together, a desire for security and a revived vanity from her younger days with Scotty and Luke.

 

 

Yup. And even now when I go back and watch clips sometimes, I feel myself thinking, "Luke, you damn idiot." All he had to do was say, "hey Nikolas, come by and visit once in a while, you're welcome any time" and Stefan's plan would have fallen apart. But like you said, you could see why and how Luke would act the way he did.

 

But part of it just went to places that were just plain horrible with no excuse (the horror, the horror of Katherine and Stefan mooning over a crystal tree).

 

 

"the man who shot me . . . the eyes were kind . . . " So bad.

Edited August 26, 2014 by ulkis

[MSquared]

 

Twist of Fate prime-time special (oh, the second hand embarrassment I suffered watching that).

 

And that was what started me as a fan of GH.  Damn cousin made me watch it and it's been downhill ever since.  All her fault.

[jsbt]

It took years - too many - for Luke to stop treating Nikolas like scum. He finally did in the last ten years or so, but he still has lapses.

[dubbel zout]

Wasn't Mr. Myrtle played by Patrick Fabian? He always seems to get semi-creepy roles.

 

It took years - too many - for Luke to stop treating Nikolas like scum. He finally did in the last ten years or so, but he still has lapses.

 

I hate that Luke has lapses. At this point, Luke should basically ignore Nik. Laura and Lucky are gone, and Lulu is married, so it's not as if Nik is a constant presence in Luke's life. But I guess I should be grateful Luke could finally look at Nik without wanting to spit on him.

[TeeVee329]

Does Frisco have an disgruntled love interest or an enemy from his past Levi could be related to?

[UYI]

As far as a love interest, I don't think so. Before Felicia, he was with Tania, and she wound up with his brother before she died. Felicia WAS jealous of Samantha Welles, his partner at the PCPD, but otherwise I think Felicia is basically the only woman that ever really mattered to Frisco, once they were together.

Edited August 26, 2014 by UYI

[SlovakPrincess]

Early 90s GH wasn't great, and I was mad as hell at how they wrote Robert and (especially) Anna out! But I must say, the stories generally made sense and the characters generally acted like real people - more than I can say for current GH. Also, Jagger and Brenda and Karen came on around '92 or '93, and I liked them.

I'd forgotten about Connor. He was cute but pointless! And I didn't buy him as Sean's son.

Jenny was dull, dull, dull. With a different actress the Ned-Jenny-Paul-Tracy story might've worked a lot better. It had interesting elements. I did enjoy Tracy backing a car over Jenny, though!

I remember my kid self being so disappointed FH wasn't there to get her Emmy! That's the only time I have ever bothered to watch the awards and I remember I was so excited she won for Anna, because she was my favorite.

I think I would have enjoyed the Spencer-Cassadine stuff from the 90s a lot more if those goofballs weren't constantly standing around in the dark at either the docks or the grounds of Wyndemere! Like, go inside with the electricity to have your stare-downs and fights, ok?

[UYI]

Speaking of early 90's GH, here's part 1 of Tracy giving birth to Dillon. Jane Elliot was great in these scenes.

 

 

 

The best part of the above clip is that deaf, statuesque ×Dominique of the flowing sundresses is nowhere to be found.

 

I love what I've seen of her with Scott, though. He finally finds a woman he loves as much, or even more, than Laura (although I like him and Lucy in the old days, too), and then she dies :( .

 

To be fair to Shell Danielson, though, she left because she became a writer for the Power Rangers franchise--which began in 1993, the year she left GH--and I can't possibly blame her for being involved with one of the best parts of my childhood, can I? :)

Edited August 26, 2014 by UYI

[SlovakPrincess]

UYI, They changed actresses between temporarily deaf Dominique and the version who fell in love with Scotty. And changed the character a bit with the cast change. I loved the Scott and Dom story, too.

[UYI]

Wasn't Shell playing her by the time Dom went apeshit and pointed a gun at Mac at R&A's wedding, and then sent off to rest while Steve Hardy looked after her?

 

That was weird, BTW. She saw a wedding decoration--a bell, I think?--and then lost her mind temporarily. Or as Robert put it, "the sun must have melted her glue!" LOL! 

[Tiger]

So "Dominique" was a writer on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers?!?  That is really cool!

[UYI]

Yes! And for Zeo and Turbo, and the two movies, too.

[Francie]

Wasn't Shell playing her by the time Dom went apeshit and pointed a gun at Mac at R&A's wedding, and then sent off to rest while Steve Hardy looked after her?

That was weird, BTW. She saw a wedding decoration--a bell, I think?--and then lost her mind temporarily. Or as Robert put it, "the sun must have melted her glue!" LOL!

Ha, no. That was still the Dominique whose name we don't remember because she never had another notable acting job in her life.

Between her and the Eckerts, GH was ruined for me for a couple years.

[SlovakPrincess]

Original recipe Dom was both psychosomatically deaf and had a memory block because something terrible happened at her own wedding - when she was introduced she was married to a much older member of Faison's crime syndicate. Can't remember what, but she blocked it out then had a freak out when she saw wedding decorations. Said evil hubby gets conveniently killed somehow so she can hook up with Mac.

(I remember all this because my sister and I chased each other around the house after watching the show, going "No wedding! No! No wedding!" and making fun of that scene. My mom thought we were nuts.)

[ulkis]

Wasn't Mr. Myrtle played by Patrick Fabian? He always seems to get semi-creepy roles.

 

 

 

 

I hate that Luke has lapses. At this point, Luke should basically ignore Nik. Laura and Lucky are gone, and Lulu is married, so it's not as if Nik is a constant presence in Luke's life. But I guess I should be grateful Luke could finally look at Nik without wanting to spit on him.

 

 

I still hate that Nikolas named his child Spencer. Really, Nikolas?

[jsbt]

Original recipe Dom was both psychosomatically deaf and had a memory block because something terrible happened at her own wedding - when she was introduced she was married to a much older member of Faison's crime syndicate. Can't remember what, but she blocked it out then had a freak out when she saw wedding decorations.

 

That's hilarious.

 

I thought Nikolas was trying to honor Laura by naming Spencer and I was always good with it.

Edited August 26, 2014 by jsbt

[ulkis]

That's hilarious.

 

I thought Nikolas was trying to honor Laura by naming Spencer and I was always good with it.

 

I get why, but maybe he could have gone with Webber then or something lol I don't know. Laurence? Spencer is too Luke-specific. I just didn't like Nikolas giving his kid a name Stefan would hate.

 

Was Dominique's death written by Claire Labine? It seems like the timing is right but no one ever mentions it in the panoply of depressing Labine stories. Or did she just write Serena's birth?

[UYI]

No. That was Bill Levinson, the HW right before Labine. Dominique died in April 1993; I think Labine's stuff began airing in October.

 

That said, both that story and Tiffany's suicide attempt later that same year (July, to be exact) seem like stories she would write. 

 

But yes, she wrote Serena's birth (which was in December 1993). 

Edited August 26, 2014 by UYI

[KerleyQ]

I thought the Spencer name was to honor his relationships with all three of Laura, Lucky, and Lulu.  And part of the reason was kind of because Helena and Stefan would hate it - because he was trying to rid the next generation of every trace of the Cassadine/Spencer antagonism, by symbolically naming his son as part of both families. 

[ulkis]

I thought the Spencer name was to honor his relationships with all three of Laura, Lucky, and Lulu.  And part of the reason was kind of because Helena and Stefan would hate it - because he was trying to rid the next generation of every trace of the Cassadine/Spencer antagonism, by symbolically naming his son as part of both families. 

 

Meh, I don't think my poor Stefan deserved that. :( 

 

Thanks UYI

[TeeVee329]

Can someone refresh my memory?

 

When Luke and Tracy first got married (or "married" or whatever), was Luke's relationship with Skye already over?  Or was that the final nail in the coffin?

[Harmony233]

Speaking of early 90's GH, here's part 1 of Tracy giving birth to Dillon. Jane Elliot was great in these scenes.

 

 

 

I love what I've seen of her with Scott, though. He finally finds a woman he loves as much, or even more, than Laura (although I like him and Lucy in the old days, too), and then she dies :( .

 

To be fair to Shell Danielson, though, she left because she became a writer for the Power Rangers franchise--which began in 1993, the year she left GH--and I can't possibly blame her for being involved with one of the best parts of my childhood, can I? :)

I actually do think scott loved Dominquie more than Laura.He actually seemed at peace and happy with Dominquie.I think the laura stuff became more an obsession and more about his rivalry with Luke.

Tracy running over Jenny was fun though lol.

[jsbt]

I can't even remember how far Luke and Skye actually got onscreen. I know they made out, I think it started shortly before the Port Charles Hotel burned down. You could tell that JFP thought she finally had the right 'in' on GH for her beloved Robin Christopher, who she had shoehorned into the show any way she could. She's with Luke, now no one can extricate her! I thought it was desperate and trying too hard, and of course it dried up fast when they got Tracy back. I can't remember what happened.

 

It's not that I don't like RC, because I do, I always have. But she was so out of place and forced on OLTL and then even moreso, IMO, for most of her time on GH. On '90s GH she might have worked better, but business/con artist stories were swiftly a thing of the past in the 2000s. She had chemistry with a lot of people, but most of the relationships, rivalries, etc. were Instant Coffee, out of nowhere. I've only come to tolerate her on the show in recent visits when she pops up and tangles with people, but isn't pushed too hard as 'a Quartermaine' or shit like that.

 

"Blaze!" That was Luke's name for her. God, shut up, Luke.

Edited August 26, 2014 by jsbt

[TeeVee329]

I think it's because I didn't know Skye from AMC or OLTL that I was more easily able to accept her as a Quartermaine.  Because without that baggage, it was simply your classic soap story of a long-lost child storming into town and wrecking havoc on their new family.  And I liked the relationship she built with Alan, the bond she shared with AJ, the tension with Monica and Edward, and the romance with Jax.

 

But yeah, after the Jax relationship was torched but good during the 2002 Brenda return, they really struggled with what to do with her, what her place on the canvas was for years.

 

In recent years, I did like the Jax/Skye tease during one of Jax's sadly short-lived breaks from Carly and her loyalty to him.  I liked the rapport with Edward (there was a hilarious scene where Skye assured him that she wasn't back to cause any trouble and Edward laughed and was like, "Save your breath, bitch.").  And the 2012 return for his funeral really captured most of the qualities about her I dug.

Edited August 26, 2014 by TeeVee329