Ghosts of GH Past Viewing Party: '80s, '90s, And All Eras Of Non-Suckitude!

[Oracle42]

I skimmed through a few 70s bodice rippers from my great aunt's house - disturbing doesn't even begin to cover it

[statsgirl]

22 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

I hate to say it, but Stuart Damon must have become a much better actor over his time on the show, because I don't think he's very good in that scene. 

Have you seen him as Prince Charming in 1965's Cinderella? Wooden is a good word.

(Interestingly Prince Charming in the 1957 version with Julie  Andrews was played by Jon Cypher who played Max Van Stadt on GH in 1981.)

Edited November 14, 2018 by statsgirl

[SlovakPrincess]

On 11/12/2018 at 8:43 PM, cleo said:

I'm just at the beginning of the Ice Princess storyline. Hutch is in the hospital recovering. I wish he had stuck around. Much hotter than Luke lol. And more charming.

Just saw Scorpio's first scene I think. He was waiting in Luke's apt with a gun.

I like Laura but she is often snotty and bitchy with her friends, like Claudia.

Amy Vining. What a thankless role. Why did they make this character so awful? I feel bad for the actress, can't believe she stuck with it so long.

 

I think Hutch kind of had his own storyline (about trying to survive in prison) during the Ice Princess story.  I kinda fast forwarded through a lot of it, but if you're a Hutch fan, I think there are "full episode" feeds that could show you what he was up to during this time period.  

 

Early Scorpio is fun.   Although I must say, for the millionth time, Laura was a damn fool not to take Scorpio up on his flirting and ditch Luke back then!

[UYI]

Sometimes it's so easy to forget that this show premiered 55 years ago--and therefore, merely around eight months before this fateful day. Unlike As the World Turns, the show interrupted on CBS, the timing here meant that GH was preempted completely. It's very easy to not think of this connection between this show and this piece of American history unless it is pointed out to you, but here it is:

[UYI]

I missed the rerun from yesterday, but I just found it on YouTube; someone posted it a few months ago, before the announcement had even been made about it airing this year.

[Neptune]

[Pete Martell]

 

Scotty somehow manages to make what I would often call a hairdon't look adorable. 

[SlovakPrincess]

The hair is fine, it's the suspenders that are killing me.  

Ned looks like he's about to start eating the divorce papers at the beginning there, lol.    

Bill and Holly ---- ugh.  And Jenny, blah.  All the annoyance comes flooding back to me now .... lol.  

[UYI]

30 years ago today! Happy Anniversary Sean and Tiffany...er, Elsie Mae Crumholtz-Donely! (Yes, Donely--no extra "n" or "l".)

Some fun facts about their wedding:

1. Sharon Wyatt really kicked/stepped on John Reilly's foot at the end of the aisle, enough that his foot was caked in blood for the rest of shooting. Gross.

2. IIRC, they were the only two people in the cast who had scripts for the wedding scene. Everyone else found out what happened for the first time as they were shooting.

3. Look carefully at the wedding party as the ceremony comes to an end--Robin has disappeared! Since KMc was still a kid at the time, the strict child labor laws all child actors face probably meant she had to go home LONG before everyone else, as of typical when a soap is shooting a wedding...but it also means she's off-camera before the ceremony is even over, LMAO. 

4. I was born about two months after this aired! Yes, my 30th birthday is at the end of February. :)

These scenes are courtesy of udhoop, a YouTuber who is probably one of at least two people on Earth who actually liked Robert & Tiffany's sister Cheryl as a couple (there was also at one point another GH YouTuber named robertlovescheryl; I shit you not). 

Edited December 23, 2018 by UYI

[UYI]

Also, if you're interested, YouTube's resident Sean & Tiffany expert, The Donelys, has a video of the wedding with Pop-Up Video-type comments! They might be smaller than they were several years ago, but hopefully you'll be able to read them pretty easily. :)

[dubbel zout]

Ah, back when the GH writers had genuine senses of humor and wrote that intentionally into the show.

[UYI]

Also: This was the last time Cheryl was on the show for awhile, before she comes back sometime in 1989, very pregnant with Lucas (no, I will not say "who?" and dampen the classic GH spirit!), and hoping to God he was Robert's instead of Julian's.

(IIRC, the show actually WAS going to make Robert Lucas's father, but Tristan supposedly put a stop to it, thinking Robin should be his only child. I have no idea if that's true, though.)

I think Lucas is the only 1989 baby from GH, which is what I am, too, so that's kind of cool. :) 

Anyway, here are Robert, Cheryl, and Robin after the wedding (clearly the reception scenes were a day later, meaning KMc could be there again!).

Edited December 23, 2018 by UYI

[Pete Martell]

[Oracle42]

Look - actual sets!

[Pete Martell]

I've complained about this before, I'm sure, but watching that just makes me say again that it was a mistake to get rid of Crystal Carson. She's such an understated and intelligent actress who also brought a very different vibe to the canvas. 

Kristina Wagner must have had a cold during taping. 

The little girl who played Maxie calling out to Scottie (and Wagner's ad-lib about how much she liked him) made me laugh. Then you have the poor child in the scene with Jon Lindstrom and the mother actress who clearly did not want to be oncamera...

Tiffany is the unsympathetic one in the custody saga, I suppose, but Sharon Wyatt acted the hell out of the storyline. I'm so sorry about what has happened to her in recent years. 

Jon Lindstrom is chillingly good as Ryan. 

I had to laugh that when Mac had to flash back after questions of Felicia's sanity, it was to scenes of them half-naked in the shower. 

[UYI]

14 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

 

Tiffany is the unsympathetic one in the custody saga, I suppose, but Sharon Wyatt acted the hell out of the storyline. I'm so sorry about what has happened to her in recent years. 

 

That story earned her her only Emmy nomination. This is the scene where she confronts Sean about his affair with Jessica Holmes, and then suddenly goes into labor, which leads to her miscarriage (and then her suicide attempt--believe it or not, this happened shortly BEFORE Claire Labine started writing the show). It's so hard to watch, but she's JUST SO GOOD!

[Dr.OO7]

I remember that story and I appreciate her being willing to look like hell during those episodes.

[Pete Martell]

 

The start has a "Soapline" recap as this aired during the neverending hell of the OJ trial.

[Pete Martell]

I couldn't stomach this era of the show but if anyone wants to see it:

[Pete Martell]

Wading through the complete trash pit that was Laura's return (AKA let's show how noble and awesome Lucky and Luke are and why doesn't delusional stupid Laura get that Luke has a big sad over raping her since it's all about him), I'm reminded of why I saw promise in Tyler Christopher back then. That promise has been gone a very, very long time, and I doubt it's coming back, but he really had so much.

[ulkis]

5 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

Wading through the complete trash pit that was Laura's return (AKA let's show how noble and awesome Lucky and Luke are and why doesn't delusional stupid Laura get that Luke has a big sad over raping her since it's all about him)

replying in the history thread.

Edited January 18, 2019 by ulkis

[UYI]

R&B singer James Ingram has passed away. Luke & Holly may not be one of the better regarded GH couples (just a guess, heh), but a certain number one hit song by Ingram and Patti Austin will always be associated with them and this show. And yes, it went to number one BECAUSE of Luke & Holly; it had briefly reached the lower rungs of the Hot 100 for about a week, but when it was chosen as their love theme, fans called/wrote in asking what the song was and it ZOOMED up the charts!

And here's the song on its own if the thought of seeing Luke & Holly getting romantic makes you reach for the brain bleach haha.

Edited January 29, 2019 by UYI

[Pete Martell]

On 1/29/2019 at 6:16 PM, UYI said:

R&B singer James Ingram has passed away. Luke & Holly may not be one of the better regarded GH couples (just a guess, heh), but a certain number one hit song by Ingram and Patti Austin will always be associated with them and this show. And yes, it went to number one BECAUSE of Luke & Holly; it had briefly reached the lower rungs of the Hot 100 for about a week, but when it was chosen as their love theme, fans called/wrote in asking what the song was and it ZOOMED up the charts!

Emma tweeted about his passing and included some photos of when James visited the GH set.

[SlovakPrincess]

I love the Tiffany character - and the actress.  

Color me shocked that someone out there really liked the Cheryl character and was hardcore shipping her and Robert -- I mean, she was a useful character in many ways and drove some good plots, but on her own merits .... am I just misremembering her as kind of unlikeable and prissy?   

If you try to watch clips of the Luke / Holly Oil Scam story ... be prepared to hear "Baby Come to Me" fifty bajillion times.  

 

In other news, I have temporarily stalled out in my 1985 Aztec Treasure viewing.  I need a break from watching Robert pointlessly fuck up his marriage to Holly by continuing to lie to her about who Anna really is.  I'm a rabid Robert / Anna shipper, for crying out loud, and even I'm getting frustrated with this.  

He goes through this whole phase where he snarls at Anna one minute, then goes off to sulk and have flashbacks about her in private.  Which is unintentionally amusing, but you can sort of understand that the guy is struggling -- like, he wants to hate this woman, but he just can't, but he also has no idea what to tell his current wife who he loves.  Then finally, he reaches a point where he can forgive Anna and she's able to accept that the most she can expect from him is friendship (once she, y'know, stops committing crimes with Sean and starts helping the police).  But he's still acting weird and sneaking around.  Which of course makes Holly suspect he might be cheating.    

I mean ... I know it's a soap so things have to be dragged out to infinity ... but the guy is supposed to be smart!   At a certain point, even Anna is like "you should probably stop lying to Holly before you completely blow it with her."    Robert being stupid for plot purposes is very frustrating for me, LOL.  

[cleo]

I've been watching some eps from the 90s. I really really dislike Katherine, the character and the actress. I don't think she's a very good actress, and I just can't stand her self righteous gloating or just her manner when she speaks half the time. Like I just watched when she came back after everyone thought she was dead and gave this speech in the courtroom. 

I also don't understand how she went from being a con artist to this beloved woman by Mac, Stefan, etc. I guess I missed the storyline in the middle. 

Also- the poor child playing Lu Lu. L&L are both blonde, why did they have a child with such dark hair? Also, the little girl is very sweet but what was up with the awful bowl haircut. Just terrible.  I can't find a good clip right now to show it. 

[Melgaypet]

23 minutes ago, cleo said:

Also- the poor child playing Lu Lu. L&L are both blonde, why did they have a child with such dark hair? Also, the little girl is very sweet but what was up with the awful bowl haircut. Just terrible.  I can't find a good clip right now to show it.

I think the twins that played toddler Lulu were hired before they had much hair of any color. Then it grew in dark and so the show continued to hire dark-haired child actresses until Julie Marie Berman for the sake of continuity.

Katherine Bell annoyed the hell out of me. I only ever enjoyed her in her rivalry with Lucy and I rooted for Lucy all the way.

[UYI]

1 hour ago, cleo said:

I've been watching some eps from the 90s. I really really dislike Katherine, the character and the actress. I don't think she's a very good actress, and I just can't stand her self righteous gloating or just her manner when she speaks half the time. Like I just watched when she came back after everyone thought she was dead and gave this speech in the courtroom. 

It's weird, because Katherine Bell was a character on the show from 1993-1999 (maybe minus a year or two because of her first fall off the parapet), but I've seen very few people say they actually liked her (a few, but not many). And this was the era where REALLY hated characters actually got written off fairly fast, so that's fascinating to me.

It should be noted that the actress who played Katherine, Mary Beth Evans, is a soap icon due to playing Kayla Brady on Days Of Our Lives, but even some of her biggest fans from that show didn't like her as Katherine. It could be that MBE's strength is simply in playing a heroine, rather than a bitch (although I think she was MUCH better received as Sierra on As the World Turns, and she wasn't always the nicest character either, from what I understand, so I don't know).

[cleo]

I had no idea she was so disliked, I thought maybe it was a UO. I did know the actress was popular in other soaps.

[UYI]

2 minutes ago, cleo said:

I had no idea she was so disliked, I thought maybe it was a UO. I did know the actress was popular in other soaps.

Oh no, the legion of fans who cheered on her death off the parapet--twice!--is LEGENDARY. 🙂

I'd compare MBE in the role to Sarah Brown, actually--put her in the role of a bad girl/anti-heroine like Carly or Claudia, and she's perfect, put her in a heroine role, and it just doesn't work. MBE is the same, but in reverse. 

[Dr.OO7]

On 3/25/2019 at 12:57 PM, cleo said:

I've been watching some eps from the 90s. I really really dislike Katherine, the character and the actress. I don't think she's a very good actress, and I just can't stand her self righteous gloating or just her manner when she speaks half the time. Like I just watched when she came back after everyone thought she was dead and gave this speech in the courtroom. 

There's a bit where she's roaming around the gatehouse, snooping through Lois' paperwork with this attitude as though she's in charge. I remember finding it absolutely infuriating. Come to think of it, she had that attitude most of the time.

On 3/25/2019 at 5:11 PM, cleo said:

I did know the actress was popular in other soaps.

Soap (and prime time) actors who are able to have multiple iconic characters across multiple shows are truly blessed because often, the opposite is true. I've heard Genie Francis was so legendary as Laura Spencer that she could never come close to that on Days Of Our Lives or All My Children.

I think something similar happened with MBE--she was a very popular heroine on Days, but never caught on on as a "kind of, sort of" villain on GH. And bizarrely, despite she and Steven Nichols having been a super couple on Days, they flopped on GH--aside from clearly trying to capitalize on their previous status, it failed because they were playing different types of people.

[UYI]

10 hours ago, Camille said:

There's a bit where she's roaming around the gatehouse, snooping through Lois' paperwork with this attitude as though she's in charge. I remember finding it absolutely infuriating. Come to think of it, she had that attitude most of the time.

The scene that starts here at 4:26 is SO insufferable. Even knowing that Alan has just found out about Monica's cancer and had that on his mind, it was clear that Katherine could bring down a room on her own just fine.

[GHScorpiosRule]

16 hours ago, Camille said:

Soap (and prime time) actors who are able to have multiple iconic characters across multiple shows are truly blessed because often, the opposite is true. I've heard Genie Francis was so legendary as Laura Spencer that she could never come close to that on Days Of Our Lives or All My Children.

While that may be true, Genie was still able to have a career outside of soaps. Her role in the awesome North and South, playing Jessica Fletcher's niece in a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote; the short-lived but oh so soapy, Bare Essence, plus other guest starring roles in Perry Mason: Case of the Killer Kiss (where she reunited with Sean Kanan); voiced Betty in the '90s animated Incredible Hulk, etc. And there were those Notebook (?) movies on Hallmark? Lifetime?

[paisley]

Recently Days brought back the character of Diana Cooper, originally played by Genie Francis now played by Judith Chapman. In the PreviouslyTV Days forums there was nothing but love for Genie's portrayal. Not legendary but much admired.

[UYI]

1 minute ago, paisley said:

Recently Days brought back the character of Diana Cooper, originally played by Genie Francis now played by Judith Chapman. In the PreviouslyTV Days forums there was nothing but love for Genie's portrayal. Not legendary but much admired.

Diana's last name was Colville, unless it's been changed recently.

Hey, look what I found!

[paisley]

Thanks for the correction UYI.

[ouinason]

Yes, the character's name on DAYS is different now because she's using her dead husband's last name, Collville (or whatever spelling i'm getting wrong) is still her maiden name... and people on the boards do seem to have a great deal of respect and love for GF's portrayal of the character, and the RoJohn/Diana relationship from back in the day.  Her characters on AMC and Y&R do not, however, get that love.  Especially Genevieve.  

[Pete Martell]

[UYI]

I'm surprised the 20th anniversary of this historic GH moment went unremarked upon last week here.

[Pete Martell]

A 1987 episode. The main stories are spy drama with some woman named Greta who was being smuggled around the hospital (and hoping to win Sean's heart), and Lucy scheming to win Tony as Jake and Bobbie wonder what's going on. 

I love the background music of this era (I guess it wasn't around much longer). It feels like a heartbeat. 

[UYI]

I love this scene--except for one thing. I cannot believe Brenda actually poured a glass of alcohol for Skye, telling her "drink up." Brenda may have a history of fighting dirty against her female competitors for a man, but this crosses a line. I love that Skye tossed it out of her hand and told her off for that.

And "Sorry, you just missed your lover--oh, I mean MY HUSBAND!" is heartbreaking and hilarious all at once. Robin NAILED the delivery on that line.

Edited May 24, 2019 by UYI

[Pete Martell]

A little treat for Katherine fans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGSx3cWzGAQ

As this won't embed, I'll add this is a short clip of Edie Lehman. 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Pete Martell

[cleo]

I've been watching the scenes with James Franco for the first time. I don't like GH from about 2001-ish on, so I've never watched much from 2001- 2009, though I know some of the storylines vaguely from reading here and there. 

So random thoughts-

-I would love to know what James Franco thought of SB's acting ability, or lack thereof. Early on in GH, even in the first couple yrs after the accident, SB had some acting ability, but it's really remarkable how much that has disappeared. It's almost funny watching scene after scene and seeing which of Jason's 3 facial expressions is used. Or maybe there's only two- puzzled/thinking and dismayed/upset. And those two are pretty close. I think the third one is just blank.

-Maxie and Spinelli are so annoying. Spinelli with the nicknames- like I just want to smack him, he's not 10. 

-seeing Michael calling Sonny dad is nauseating. I don't care that they vilified AJ, he is AJ's son (right? I think he is) and that whole nonsense with Michael when he was a baby and Carly's bullshit playing who's the daddy and all the fighting over Michael is one of the reasons I don't watch much post 2000. 

-one storyline I have no idea about is how on earth did Carly ever get Jax to marry her. Poor Jax, stuck with another mob adjacent woman who thinks Jason is a hero. After Franco kidnaps her, Jax wants to get the cops involved and Carly goes on and on about what a hero Jason is. Blech. 

-I like the actress playing Lulu, nice to see the real Lucky all growed up, Dante seems ok. I would possibly get sucked into watching more, but I just can't with Sonny and Jason and Carly, and I even like Sonny pre-Carly. But it got too much. 

The Franco storyline itself- it's a little over the top, I guess that's the point, but I will watch all of JF's scenes that I can find. I'm not much interested in his resurrection with RH.

[Melgaypet]

12 minutes ago, cleo said:

one storyline I have no idea about is how on earth did Carly ever get Jax to marry her. Poor Jax, stuck with another mob adjacent woman who thinks Jason is a hero. After Franco kidnaps her, Jax wants to get the cops involved and Carly goes on and on about what a hero Jason is. Blech. 

Jax and Carly got close after Courtney's (Jason's adoring ex-wife!) death, when they were keeping the secret of Baby "John's" (now Spencer Cassadine, son of Nikolas) paternity. Nikolas and Courtney had an affair while she was married to Jax, so there was a WTD story when she got improbably pregnant. (Apologies if I'm telling you something you already know.)

[CanaryFan98]

As much as I liked Brenda she should've stayed in the 90s I notice I don't care for her nearly as much in her recent returns. 

I must've been one of the few that felt bad for Tiffany and was on her side in the Lucas custody trial. I mean her sister died and Lucas is her only link to her sister. Yet everyone seemed to want her to just let Tony/Bobbie have him. Then of course Bobbie had an affair with Damien and that wrecked their marriage etc.

[Harmony233]

1 hour ago, CanaryFan98 said:

As much as I liked Brenda she should've stayed in the 90s I notice I don't care for her nearly as much in her recent returns. 

I must've been one of the few that felt bad for Tiffany and was on her side in the Lucas custody trial. I mean her sister died and Lucas is her only link to her sister. Yet everyone seemed to want her to just let Tony/Bobbie have him. Then of course Bobbie had an affair with Damien and that wrecked their marriage etc.

I was def team tiffany.

[Pete Martell]

A very very brief audio snippet of when Steve had been kidnapped by the father of a patient.

[Hiyo]

Quote

Katherine Bell was a character on the show from 1993-1999 (maybe minus a year or two because of her first fall off the parapet), but I've seen very few people say they actually liked her (a few, but not many).

I guess I count as one of the few, then. And while I also tended to root for Lucy most of the time during the rivalry, I still liked Katherine. Granted, my own "golden era" of the show was probably from 1990/91 until 1998, I'd say.

In other talk...this was a great storyline from back in the day. Does anyone know the name of the theme music that would play for Stone/Robin scenes?

Edited August 21, 2019 by Hiyo

[Melgaypet]

Oh, Katherine Bell. Have I told y'all how much I hated Katherine Bell? (Of course I have. Also, sorry @Hiyo. Btw, are you new around here? Welcome!)

Anyway, Katherine. HATE. I never liked her in the first place, not her pairings with Scott or Damien or Ned or Mac, or her poor-little-me-I-was-the-cook's-bastard-daughter-while-my-sister-got-everything whining entitlement, or her scheming, I only liked her feud with Lucy b/c I could see Lucy kick her ass, but then Nikolas started mooning over her and she took Stefan's Bullet O'Love and just, loathing. I was super into the Spencer-Cassadine deal with the tortured, complicated, messy emotions and maybe Bobbie and Stefan actually falling in love much to their own surprise (which was the first time I really found Bobbie at all interesting) when here's this smirking, smarmy bitch coming in to ass everything up! Ugh, you suck, go away!

So, you know, I have some feelings, heh. It also left me with a deep suspicion of the practice of pushing together two actors who were paired on another show.

Edited August 23, 2019 by Melgaypet

[UYI]

On 8/21/2019 at 2:04 PM, Melgaypet said:

Oh, Katherine Bell. Have I told y'all how much I hated Katherine Bell?(Of course I have. Also, sorry @Hiyo. Btw, are you new around here? Welcome!)

Anyway, Katherine. HATE. I never liked her in the first place, not her pairings with Scott or Damien or Ned or Mac, or her poor-little-me-I-was-the-cook's-bastard-daughter-while-my-sister-got-everything whining entitlement, or her scheming, I only liked her feud with Lucy b/c I could see Lucy kick her ass, but then Nikolas started mooning over her and she took Stefan's Bullet O'Love and just, loathing. I was super into the Spencer-Cassadine deal with the tortured, complicated, messy emotions and maybe Bobbie and Stefan actually falling in love much to their own surprise (which was the first time I really found Bobbie at all interesting) when here's this smirking, smarmy bitch coming in to ass everything up! Ugh, you suck, go away!

So, you know, I have some feelings, heh. It also left me with a deep suspicion of the practice of pushing together two actors who were paired on another show.

Say what now?

Just kidding, I just have always loved Bobbie and the warmth that JZ brings to the role. It makes what happened to her face that much sadder.

[ouinason]

I used to like Bobbie, before she started spending all her time propping Carly and yelling at Julian for no damn reason.  As far as I know, Julian had no damn idea about Lucas before he died/went into WSB witness protection, but Bobbie still treats him like he abandoned him and has no right to give a shit about Lucas at all.  By that logic she should step the hell off Carly's life, but nope, that's not gonna happen.