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

[dubbel zout]

If they had kept Sonny as a bad guy, or at least more gray, instead of the most upstanding citizen of Port Charles, I think he could still work. But we're supposed to cheer for this infant man child who's the head of the Eastern Seaboard mob.

[Cara]

On 2/12/2022 at 5:13 PM, UYI said:

There were actually four actresses who played Dawn--Sharon Case was the second Dawn. The fourth actress, Jennifer Guthrie, actually started to take off as Dawn, both as a character and paired with Michael Watson's Decker Moss (Lucy's cousin), but the character was killed off in early 1991, shortly after Gloria Monty returned to the show.

-

I don’t remember a lot about Dawn except they seemed to recast her about every 2 weeks. I remember reading Leslie Charleson joking about them being concerned with continuity in a scene because she had gotten a haircut. They were worried the audience would be bothered that her hair had changed mid-scene but weren’t even going to notice her daughter had changed into a completely different person!🙄

[Hiyo]

So this was happening 29 years ago in Port Charles...

 

[SlovakPrincess]

I've never been a Lucy fan, but I did really, really like her (and Scott, and the recast Dominique who turned a cheesy, nothing character into something great) in this 1993 storyline.  

Ned has always annoyed the ever-loving crap out of me.  I enjoy when Tracy is mean to him.

I am skipping right through the clips of whatever idiocy was happening with Bill and Holly at that time period -- I remember it sucking very, very, very much, and I will not rewatch any of it.  

Oh, and frickin' Jenny LOLOLOL.  I also enjoyed when Tracy was mean to her.  

[Hiyo]

I felt bad for Emma Samms. They brought back Holly and then rather quickly dumped Robert and Anna, which left Holly without a storyline. Them trying to pair her with TG, even as a different character, didn't work this time as well.

[Hiyo]

Quote

I've never been a Lucy fan, but I did really, really like her (and Scott, and the recast Dominique who turned a cheesy, nothing character into something great) in this 1993 storyline.  

I always liked Lucy, and was kind of pissed that they didn't bring her back once Port Charles was canceled (though at least they brought her back, even if a decade later).

[SlovakPrincess]

6 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I felt bad for Emma Samms. They brought back Holly and then rather quickly dumped Robert and Anna, which left Holly without a storyline. Them trying to pair her with TG, even as a different character, didn't work this time as well.

Were they hoping to get TR to stay longer (even though he was ready to move on around the same time as FH), and then stick Robert and Holly back together after Anna was written out?   Although that's kinda weird  ... "here's your in-real-life ex-girlfriend, please stay longer in a job you got tired of already!"  

I think they just wanted to put the two biggest name actors on the show together, and that was TG and ES at the time.  It soooo didn't work, because the storyline was crap.  

Didn't Port Charles turn into a vampire show at the end?  I wonder if that made it hard to reintegrate Lucy back into GH at the time.  

Edited May 5, 2022 by SlovakPrincess

[Hiyo]

I think they were hoping to keep TR on longer and for FH to come back after a break. However, as neither did, it kind of made Holly's return a bust, given that it would make more sense for her to interact with Robert and Anna. Otherwise they should have just had Holly return after both Robert and Anna were written off the show, but oh well.

I do feel had Robert and Anna stayed, Holly may have had some interactions with Bill, but mostly her storyline would have been more focused on Robert, Anna, Tiffany, etc.

Quote

Didn't Port Charles turn into a vampire show at the end?  I wonder if that made it hard to reintegrate Lucy back into GH at the time.  

Yes it did, but they had no problem bringing Scott back to GH once PC was canceled.

[cleo]

I'm watching Luke come back in 1983 after everyone thought he was dead and man what an asshole. I'm not sure I can stomach watching everyone drool over him.

Someone on YT wrote something about how Luke is extremely harsh and unforgiving if he thinks anyone slighted him, but meanwhile he thinks everyone should just accept whatever bullshit he decides to dish out.

Also I just realized- like I've watched the Cassadine story in the 90s when Nikolas came on the scene and how Luke treated Laura like a piece of garbage over it. 

And so I just realized when they (Cassadines) showed Laura a newspaper saying Luke was dead- I guess it was like supposed to be a newspaper from after this avalanche? So just like with Holly part of it is his fault.

Anyway Robert is a million  times the man Luke is.

I actually thought in some scenes Luke was more jealous of Holly being with Robert than the reverse. Like that he wanted Robert for himself.

Edited May 20, 2022 by cleo

[ouinason]

Yes, while many agree that Luke was a piece of shit in his later years on the show, truth is, he was always like that.

[Grinaldi]

I think the rape messed with Geary's head even more than it did with Luke's. He could not reconcile the Luke he was playing in that scene with the hero he was written as later, so he insisted the guy be an asshole.

I respect it to a certain degree. He was a committed actor in that campus disco, as was Francis. It's a lot to reconcile when he's literally saving the world months later.

But it soured the character and brought out the worst in some head writers.

That avalanche story was also what first broke my suspension of disbelief as a kid. I was so upset about him possibly dying that my mom (and Cindi Rhinehart) had to explain that the actor was simply taking a vacation.

[racked]

On 5/20/2022 at 6:58 PM, ouinason said:

Yes, while many agree that Luke was a piece of shit in his later years on the show, truth is, he was always like that.

I’m rewatching the Cassadine/Spencer saga of the 90s on YouTube and he truly was awful. Irrational and abusive to Laura and Nikolas. He also kept Carly’s identity a secret from Bobbie for so long because he gets to decide what knowledge people have of things that directly effect them but heavens forbid anyone keep any secrets from him (maybe Carly inherited this trait from him) Even as a tween in those years I hated Luke, and in part it was why I so loved Lucky’s absolute disgust with him when he found out about the rape. Not trying to relitigate whether Lucky’s behavior was right or wrong in that storyline, I just enjoyed seeing him turn on Luke. Of course this was the beginning of Luke being an open asshole and we were then stuck with the POS for another two decades. 

I will say though, this storyline and the introduction of Nikolas and all the complexities that came along with it was wonderful. It holds up so well and JJ and Tyler were fantastic young actors. 

[Swartz]

On 2/12/2022 at 6:13 PM, UYI said:

There were actually four actresses who played Dawn--Sharon Case was the second Dawn. The fourth actress, Jennifer Guthrie, actually started to take off as Dawn, both as a character and paired with Michael Watson's Decker Moss (Lucy's cousin), but the character was killed off in early 1991, shortly after Gloria Monty returned to the show.

Dawn's memorial service, in fact, marked the final time original cast member Emily McLaughlin (Nurse Jessie Brewer) appeared on the show; she died shortly after that, and Jessie just...stopped showing up. John Beradino announced EMcL's passing at the end of an episode soon after, but Jessie was never given a formal send off, dead or otherwise, because pissing on GH's vets apparently goes further back than many realize, SMH. -_-

I was a huge Dawn and Decker fan.  I hated Gloria Monty for firing all the actors and the cruel way she killed off Dawn with Decker feeling guilty and leaving town.  It was awfully cruel

[UYI]

2 hours ago, racked said:

He also kept Carly’s identity a secret from Bobbie for so long because he gets to decide what knowledge people have of things that directly effect them but heavens forbid anyone keep any secrets from him (maybe Carly inherited this trait from him).

For what it's worth, he did that because he had just caught Carly in bed with Tony, and didn't have the heart to tell his sister that her husband had cheated on her with her own daughter. He shouldn't have told her that her daughter was dead, either, but still--as misguided as it was--I get where he was coming from. 

[racked]

6 minutes ago, UYI said:

For what it's worth, he did that because he had just caught Carly in bed with Tony, and didn't have the heart to tell his sister that her husband had cheated on her with her own daughter. He shouldn't have told her that her daughter was dead, either, but still--as misguided as it was--I get where he was coming from. 

I understood it that night, but he kept that secret for a long long time. I actually haven’t reached the point where Bobbie finds out Carly is her daughter in my rewatch, and I am many months past when the affair came out. 

Unrelated but I also forgot Laura faked her death again in late 1996, and Nikolas had to mourn her. She really didn’t mind screwing him over. 

Edited May 29, 2022 by racked

[statsgirl]

14 minutes ago, racked said:

Unrelated but I also forgot Laura faked her death again in late 1996, and Nikolas had to mourn her. She really didn’t mind screwing him over. 

Like mother, like son?

[Melgaypet]

On 5/28/2022 at 9:41 PM, statsgirl said:

Like mother, like son?

Right!? Nikolas was very deeply hurt by Laura faking her own death and this was when he barely knew her. You'd think he'd remember that.

[SlovakPrincess]

On 5/20/2022 at 6:30 PM, cleo said:

I'm watching Luke come back in 1983 after everyone thought he was dead and man what an asshole. I'm not sure I can stomach watching everyone drool over him.

Someone on YT wrote something about how Luke is extremely harsh and unforgiving if he thinks anyone slighted him, but meanwhile he thinks everyone should just accept whatever bullshit he decides to dish out.

[....]

I actually thought in some scenes Luke was more jealous of Holly being with Robert than the reverse. Like that he wanted Robert for himself.

Part of what I liked about the 1983 story was that the show gave everyone a perspective, and didn't do its usual ridiculous fawning over Luke.   Robert and Holly got to be understandably angry at Luke.  Robert wasn't written as a jerk suddenly to minimize Luke's bad decisions.  The only one (besides Luke himself) who was obnoxiously Team Luke in the story was Bobbie.  

Luke really was unreasonable, and the only explanation I could come up with is that he knew deep down he'd messed up.  

And probably there was an element of being resentful that Robert (who basically spent the year after the WSB fired him goofing off and being Luke's drinking buddy/sidekick), was living a completely different life when Luke returned (married police commissioner living in a nice house).  

[SlovakPrincess]

On 5/28/2022 at 11:25 PM, racked said:

I understood it that night, but he kept that secret for a long long time. I actually haven’t reached the point where Bobbie finds out Carly is her daughter in my rewatch, and I am many months past when the affair came out. 

Unrelated but I also forgot Laura faked her death again in late 1996, and Nikolas had to mourn her. She really didn’t mind screwing him over. 

Yeah, at a certain point Luke is not just keeping the secret out of some disingenuous plan to spare Bobbie's feelings (about the fact that her daughter is awful and now sleeping with Bobbie's husband) ... at one point he basically uses the secret to blackmail Carly into getting info for him on Stefan.  He's ridiculous.  

[cleo]

@SlovakPrincess yes it was a good story, Im really enjoying it, at least the Robert and Holly parts.

Everyone else in the town just accepts his return though. I think John Stamos is annoyed for about 5 minutes.

Also upon watching this show from the late 70s now on 83 I'm surprised how much I dislike Bobby. That is partly related to her attacking Laura and then Holly. 

I never would have guessed bc I did like her in the 90s- I was definitely team Bobby when Carly came on the scene.

[SlovakPrincess]

I’ve seen the actress interviewed and she always seemed lovely.  But Bobbie the character is hit or miss for me … she’s pretty awful to Laura, ridiculous with Noah, and a complete pill to Robert and Holly in this storyline.  By about 1984 she gets better, and I liked her for the most part in the 90s.  

[Dr.OO7]

On 5/28/2022 at 8:42 PM, racked said:

I’m rewatching the Cassadine/Spencer saga of the 90s on YouTube and he truly was awful. Irrational and abusive to Laura and Nikolas

I remember a woman commenting that if her husband had reacted like that when the child she gave up for adoption (but never told him about) had contacted her, it would have broken her heart.

On 5/28/2022 at 11:25 PM, racked said:

Unrelated but I also forgot Laura faked her death again in late 1996, and Nikolas had to mourn her. She really didn’t mind screwing him over. 

She was pretty terrible to him. I mostly liked Laura, but she really worked that Designated Heroine trope.

On 5/30/2022 at 11:34 PM, SlovakPrincess said:

Yeah, at a certain point Luke is not just keeping the secret out of some disingenuous plan to spare Bobbie's feelings (about the fact that her daughter is awful and now sleeping with Bobbie's husband) ... at one point he basically uses the secret to blackmail Carly into getting info for him on Stefan.  He's ridiculous

He could really be a jerk.

[Jan Spears]

On 12/6/2020 at 6:09 PM, cleo said:

Watching the last month before Laura is gone in 1982. 

I can't believe the writers were so stupid they thought they could stick in another blonde named Laura and the audience would be fine with it. They really didn't  think too much of Genie Francis.

I think ABC's attitude at the time was that the Luke and Laura phenomenon was all Tony Geary - they could pair him with anyone and have ratings gold. (A similar attitude prevailed on another ABC show, Three's Company, with the producers thinking they could pair John Ritter with anyone and have magic on their hands.)

In General Hospital's case they split the Laura Spencer character in two after Genie Francis departed in early 1982 by creating the Templeton sisters, Laura and Jackie. Laura Templeton resembled Laura Spencer physically while Jackie had elements of Laura Spencer's personality.

But what the show found out was that it wasn't so easy to replicate the Genie Francis-Tony Geary magic. From an 11.2 household rating for the 1981-82 season, the show dropped to a 9.8 rating in the 1982-83 season. It was still the number #1 soap across all networks but it would never again enjoy that glorious ratings peak it enjoyed from 1980-1982.

[Jan Spears]

I've been rewatching the Ice Princess island episodes. (The island part of the story began on August 7th, 1981, with Laura, Luke and Robert jumping into the surf from the Cassadine yacht and swimming to the island. The first full week of island episodes began the following Monday.)

As entertaining as the island drama is (particularly John Calicos as Mikkos), I had forgotten how much was happening that week back in Port Charles. An assassination attempt on Hutch (in his short shorts) ends up blinding Bobbie and blowing a hole in the 7th floor of the hospital where Hutch's room was. And then there's the back-and-forth between Heather and her mother, Alice, which, if you know how the Diana Taylor murder story ends, really sheds a whole new light on the character of Alice.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Jan Spears

[Cheyanne11]

16 hours ago, Jan Spears said:

And then there's the back-and-forth between Heather and her mother, Alice, which, if you know how the Diana Taylor murder story ends, really sheds a whole new light on the character of Alice.

I LOVED the Diana Taylor murder story--LOVED it.

[ByaNose]

Years as #1 series

General Hospital ratings history

Year(s)Household Rating

1979–1980 9.9

1980–1981 11.4

1981–1982 11.2

1982–1983 9.8

1983–1984 10.0

1984–1985 9.1

1985–1986 9.2

1986–1987 8.3

1987–1988 8.1 (Tied with The Young and the Restless)

[Jan Spears]

On 7/17/2022 at 10:27 AM, Cheyanne11 said:

I LOVED the Diana Taylor murder story--LOVED it.

I've always wondered if the Diana Taylor murder mystery was meant to last as long as it did or to end the way that it did. Part of me suspects that the show's writers changed course with the storyline once they realized who and what they had in Robin Mattson's Heather. Certainly, the reveal of who killed Diana Taylor was a great soap opera twist.

[JMO]

Just recently rediscovered 80s GH and am greatly enjoying the characters, the storylines and the settings.  Some of the long term characters (eg Laura, Scott, Bobbie, Anna, Robert) hadn’t been through quite as many crazy things back then so they were more believable. Settings were also believable (human activity, ringing phones and overhead pages at GH—-it’s so sterile and dead inside now that it looks like it’s about to close—-are extras really that prohibitively expensive?). People interacted via natural employment situations and living arrangements (the Brownstone idea was genius). And, most importantly, there was deep character development that allowed even minor plot devices to be inserted into the storyline, with each character reacting naturally to the situation, rather than completely plot-driven stories.  That’s what kept it interesting even when it was about the process of becoming a nurse, or a doctor, or a cop.  Or a spy. (Although the spy adventures marked the beginning of an end for me.  I found both Anna and Robert far more interesting in their police roles.). The characters came from different social and economic backgrounds, seemed to like each other, and were able to have clashes and disagreements that could be reconciled, without requiring malice or revenge. Many managed to be honorable without being boring, sometimes with a fatal flaw, but both of those aspects served to make them relatable.  
 

And it’s kind of interesting to be reminded of when we were all so much less available to one another, when a landline could be ‘busy’, when you had to search out a pay phone in an emergency.  And when certain things could only be researched on ‘Robert’s computer’, hidden in his secret computer room.  How far we have come. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by JMO

[cleo]

I'm.enjoying the Prometheus Disk story, even though I guess the plot is silly. But I'm.enjoying it more for the various tensions it causes bw Holly, Robert, and Luke.

DL Brock seems like an ass from the get go. Yes I am spoiled about some of what happens.

Robert is dumb not to trust Holly, bc she would have figured it out with Celia in no time.

That is what is irritating, I suppose they're setting it up so St Luke is the hero.

[Jan Spears]

I arrived at the September 15th, 1981 episode of the Ice Princess storyline tonight.

Luke and Laura travel down an air vent into Cassadine Island to rescue Robert and end up in Mikkos' factory for making carbonic snow. They don the special protective suits that Mikkos' minions wear. In trying to escape detection, Luke and Laura inadvertently open the door to the carbonic snow room where they find Alexandria & Tony and Max & Noel frozen to death!

It was a shocking twist in 1981. The audience knew all four characters were dead but we never dreamed that the show would depict the doomed quartet in their frozen state.

The September 15th episode is the first episode where Tony Geary and John Colicos have scenes together, and Geary's acting improves immeasurably once he's playing opposite Colicos.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Jan Spears

[Hiyo]

I'm surprised the show didn't try to expand Alexandria's side of the family, by at least bringing on a sibling or two onto the show.

[JMO]

Have just rewatched some of the iconic scenes from the 90s----BJ's death, Robin telling Mac about her diagnosis, Stone's death.  Those scenes are nearly 30 years old, and still people know exactly what you mean when you reference them. 

Do you think, thirty years hence, there will be people remembering "that time when Sonny took out his rival" or "when Jason (or Franco or Drew or whoever) realized he had someone else's memories" or "when Carly sabotaged ______ (insert name)"?

Back in the 80s and 90s, GH was more cutting edge than most highly touted adult programs are now---and more effective, because the stories evolved over time, with characters we felt we knew, and cared about.  They were brave enough to allow a character to die and remain dead, thus bringing true emotional impact.  

I have been only loosely attached to GH (heavy on the FF button) for a long time now, because there is nothing to hold me.  Can't even imagine how a new viewer would even become engaged.  The attempts to remain societally current are usually heavy-handed, and presented as exposition (eg, 'we're having a fundraiser to support thus and such') instead of actually exploring the issues in question by having the characters directly affected by them.  Instead, we get scene after scene of privileged characters interacting around a rooftop pool in a high end hotel.  Sheesh. 

[Cheyanne11]

1 minute ago, JMO said:

Have just rewatched some of the iconic scenes from the 90s----BJ's death, Robin telling Mac about her diagnosis, Stone's death.  Those scenes are nearly 30 years old, and still people know exactly what you mean when you reference them. 

The BJ death scenes were just gut-wrenching.  I'm actually getting teary just thinking about them.  

"Not Barbara Jean.  Not Barbara Jean's heart" and Felicia collapsing.

Tony listening to BJ's heart beating in Maxie's chest.

Ugh.

The week prior to Stone dying was emotionally exhausting with fantastic acting and writing all the way around.  My mom, who wasn't watching at the time, watched YT clips a couple years ago and it packed the same punch with her 25 years later as it had back when it first aired.

[jsbt]

On 8/15/2022 at 11:21 PM, Hiyo said:

I'm surprised the show didn't try to expand Alexandria's side of the family, by at least bringing on a sibling or two onto the show.

It's an obvious choice even now. I've watched a lot of GH '78-'81 in the pandemic, and Alex is a lot of fun.

[JMO]

So, I came back to 80s GH because there was a post on a GH message board that asked which pairings we'd always wanted to happen---and I remembered there was someone I'd always wanted to see interact more with Anna, albeit probably not in a romance.  Couldn't remember anything about the character but the shape of his face, but IMDB helped with that.  It was Jake Meyer, who played a lawyer and was married to Bobbie (her most realistic pairing, in my opinion).  Jake was a great character--fun, compassionate, a heroic defender of the underdog, possessor of great integrity (minus a completely inexplicable event with Lucy Coe), co-owner (and originator of the idea) of the Brownstone.  He worked both with and against Robert, Anna, and Frisco and there was much mutual affection among them, and with Felicia, Tony and Tania.  He also helped Bobbie deliver BJ. 

The actor, Sam Behrens is still with us, still acting and still looks like Jake.  I would love to see him back to work with Finola Hughes as Anna.  If it's only as friends, fine.  If something were to develop?---well, maybe it's time she actually had a good guy again.  #BringBackJake  

[Jan Spears]

The Ice Princess storyline is rapidly coming to an end with the high-gear September 18th, 1981 episode. It has two great things in it:

• Luke and Mikkos fight to the death in Mikkos' control room. The fight scenes are very well-staged even though the stunt double for John Colicos looks nothing like him. (This isn't the worst stunt doubling I've seen in an ABC show from this era. Charlie's Angels would win that award going away.) The ending to the fight is great: Mikkos becomes trapped in his own carbonic snow room and all Luke can do is watch as Mikkos screams in the snow room's door window. It's all the more effective because we don't actually hear Mikkos screaming. All we the viewers experience is Mikkos' face contorted in agony.
• There's a beautiful little scene between Alan and Edward where Alan breaks down at the thought of AJ (who has just come out of surgery) might die. For once, Edward is actually fatherly toward Alan and gives him some comfort. In light of later show history, though, it is ironic to hear Edward tell Alan that AJ will grow up to be the best of them all.

Edited August 28, 2022 by Jan Spears

[SlovakPrincess]

@JMO -- yeah, I really liked the Jake character.  He was very handsome, but also very realistic without being boring.  Also, one of the few Jewish characters they've had on the show (and one of the few to ever thoughtfully discuss their views on religion).  

And I definitely agree that in the '80s and '90s, there was far more variety in character interactions, social classes, relationships, family dynamics, and storylines (I do have to note racial diversity in the cast was, to put it mildly, extremely disappointing for most of that period ... though I'm not sure it's ever gotten much better).   Old school Port Charles seemed like a place that could actually exist ... and when something dangerous happened in this normal-looking mid-sized city with believable well-rounded characters, it was actually more thrilling and suspenseful.  

@Jan Spears -- Heather and her mother Alice had a very interesting and dysfunctional relationship.  I enjoyed their arguments, which sometimes made you wonder how and why Heather turned out that way.  Alice was another believable "normal" character who could really surprise the audience at times.

As for Ice Princess ... I loved, loved, loved Alex Q in all her snobby, scheming glory.  Her shocking death was a great twist and appropriate end for her story.   And I know they felt they had to make Luke (as opposed to the actual secret agent, Robert) save the day ... but I really appreciated that they found a character-appropriate and reasonable way to do it (Luke won Mikkos' trust by sharing stories about the Spencers' poverty and pretending to agree that Mikkos would be a wonderfully benevolent dictator who cared for the poor).  

@cleo -- Prometheus Disc is definitely all about the (very well done) tensions between the characters and their relationships ... because the plot is laughable.   I died laughing whenever the scientists or WSB agents would discuss how the disc was volatile and liable to spontaneously combust ... and then the next scene would be Luke hiding the thing in his shoe or shoving it in his pocket.  

[Jan Spears]

On 9/6/2022 at 8:59 PM, SlovakPrincess said:

Heather and her mother Alice had a very interesting and dysfunctional relationship.  I enjoyed their arguments, which sometimes made you wonder how and why Heather turned out that way.  Alice was another believable "normal" character who could really surprise the audience at times.

What makes the Heather-Alice relationship hold up after four decades is that the truth of the relationship is elusive. Alice blamed Heather for all of her unhappiness and, certainly, Heather gave Alice plenty of ammunition regarding Alice's opinion of Heather as this bad seed daughter. But Heather brought up memories of when she was a child and how Alice was the one who caused so much unhappiness in their home. Which one was right? Or were they both right? It was precisely this elusiveness which the brought the ending to the Diana Taylor murder mystery to such a compelling conclusion.

[Guest]

Hi, I have been lurking on Primetimer but never post on this board because haven't watched GH for a long while. I tried to post on SON but its registration process is complicated and not user-friendly. So I thought why not post it on old GH thread here. 

Recently I was digging up classic GH episodes, of which has been a very interesting experience because this time I have more sympathy or objectivity towards some hated interloper, Camellia Mckay. I begin to re-watch the L' Orleans stuff and thought Ian Buchanan and Liz Keifer had great chemistry in those flashbacks and earlier interactions when Cameilla was this vigorous and energetic and carefree grown woman, not some childish, self-destructive and obsessive person in the midst of storyline. 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Guest

[JMO]

Anna, Robert, Felicia, Scott, Lucy and now Holly are all currently back on the canvas, and there have even been a couple of recent Bobbie sightings.  With Anna now in trouble, wouldn't it be good to add to the 80s revisit by bringing back the attorney who got her off the last time?  Well, technically, Robert solved the crime, but Jake gave him the time.  #BringBackJake

[cleo]

Ok so I'm done the Prometheus storyline and at the part where everyone is treating Grant like shit. So I know this story goes on and the real Grant Putnum comes back as a psycho but is the story any good?

Like I find Grant and Celia boring now that it isn't about Luke and Holly and Robert. 

Also- everyone hates Grant but Luke and Holly would be dead if it weren't for him. Would be nice if Luke coukd use his influence and goodwill in the town to at least help him get a job.

Cassadines on the scene (which I have watched before, it was the rest of early GH I missed)- 

So I'm not a Luke fan, but probably not supposed to be watching Stavros and comparing him to Luke and thinking eh, not that much worse than  Luke.

Actually I did find it interesting the writers had Stavros emphasize more than once that he waited for Laura to consent (I mean how could she truly consent when she was captive) - but nevertheless Stavros mentioning it twice really stood out in light of Laura's past with Luke. 

So I figure the writers didnt want to go there again with another direct rape, which as a viewer- I wouldn't have wanted to watch that again. (ETA although I just remembered Stavros did end up threatening that again I think....)

I did watch when the story continued in the 90s but I can't remember how her relationship with Stavros was described then.

Edited January 7, 2023 by cleo

[GHScorpiosRule]

Fake Grant is redeemed. And yes, the storyline with real Grant is good; tragic, on edge of your seat nail biting events. Finola and Kimberly were EXCELLENT, if memory serves.

[IDFfm0870]

On 5/5/2022 at 11:56 PM, Hiyo said:

Didn't Port Charles turn into a vampire show at the end?  I wonder if that made it hard to reintegrate Lucy back into GH at the time.

Yes it did, but they had no problem bringing Scott back to GH once PC was canceled.

Actually Kin Shriner had left PC and returned to GH full time before the supernatural storylines on PC started, so maybe it was easier to reintegrate him on GH.

But anyhow, not having Lucy and Kevin back for almost a decade was a terrible decision by tptb.

[Melgaypet]

6 hours ago, IDFfm0870 said:

But anyhow, not having Lucy and Kevin back for almost a decade was a terrible decision by tptb.

I loved Lucy/Kevin. Remember that old lighthouse they used to live in? With the spiral staircase? I mean, I wouldn't personally want a spiral staircase in my home - I'd break my neck within a week - but this show used to have such interesting sets. Sets with personality.

[cleo]

I'm on Jan 1984. Holly and Robert are cute and charming to watch but I'm really curious about Anna and Robert. But a ways to go before I get to that I guess. 

I wish the actor playing Grant was better. He could manage Grant, but 2 characters and one a psycho- I dunno he seems like a mediocre actor to get so much screen time.

[Steph J]

I've been watching the start of Claire Labine's run, which is also when Luke and Laura return, and man was the show ever good then. I haven't seen most this material since it originally aired and I'd forgotten how much I liked Luke back then. I know that Geary detested Labine's take on Luke, but for the life of me I can't understand why - she gave him so many different layers to play with and the character is so much more multifaceted than he would be later on.

The whole show is really clicking together, although I do find it strange how abrupt the exits are for departing characters, especially Scott.

One thing I'm hoping someone who was watching in the '80s can clarify for me: Luke and Laura's return story is built on the idea that they've been on the run from Frank Smith since they left town, but that's not how it actually went down in real time, is it? Because after Frank went to prison, Luke and Laura (then Luke alone for a while) were still in Port Charles for a few years.

[SlovakPrincess]

On 2/27/2023 at 12:03 AM, Steph J said:

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One thing I'm hoping someone who was watching in the '80s can clarify for me: Luke and Laura's return story is built on the idea that they've been on the run from Frank Smith since they left town, but that's not how it actually went down in real time, is it? Because after Frank went to prison, Luke and Laura (then Luke alone for a while) were still in Port Charles for a few years.

🤓  you are correct - the “we’ve been hiding from Frank Smith for years” thing was a retcon of sorts for L and L’s 90s return.  Their exit in ‘83 was after Laura escaped from being held captive by the Cassadines, Laura returned to Port Charles to friends and family thrilled she wasn’t dead as they’d believed, Luke killed Stavros Cassadine and the Cassadines (at that time) called a truce.  L and L left town simply because Luke realized he hated being mayor and he wanted to quit and travel the world with Laura.  They pop back up briefly in ‘84 on an adventure with Robert in Mexico, but it’s still fun travel times for them.  Smith hadn’t been an issue for them since he went to prison in ‘80.  
 

It’s not completely nonsensical because you could argue Smith had been wanting revenge for years and when he got out of prison finally started looking for them.  But it’s a retcon to have them be “on the run” for years and it’s unclear how or by whom they would’ve learned Smith was out and ready to enact revenge— presumably someone in Port Charles, but everyone was surprised by their return so 🤷🏻‍♀️

ETA: they realize he’s after them when he blows up the diner, obviously, but immediately knowing it’s Smith out to kill them (as opposed to the Cassadines, for instance) only makes sense with the retcon they’ve been hiding from him all this time 

Edited February 28, 2023 by SlovakPrincess

[slayer2]

Did Zander end up being Frank's long lost son making Cam his grandson or is that incorrect?

On another note I made the mistake a few days ago of watching a few scenes from the return of Jagger and Karen when Stone tells Jagger he has A.I.D.S. I'm not sure why I thought I could just watch that and go to sleep. That was a very sad evening.

[WendyCR72]

1 hour ago, slayer2 said:

Did Zander end up being Frank's long lost son making Cam his grandson or is that incorrect?

On another note I made the mistake a few days ago of watching a few scenes from the return of Jagger and Karen when Stone tells Jagger he has A.I.D.S. I'm not sure why I thought I could just watch that and go to sleep. That was a very sad evening.

Dr. Cameron Lewis (played by Lane Davies back in the day) was Zander's father, hence Cam being named for him (also likely a way for Liz to honor Zander and his father since both are dead! Zander was shot by cops after going "bad" [steamrolled for Nik/Emily] and Cam, Sr. died in the Port Charles Hotel fire, where the Metro Court now stands!). Smith was just an alias Zander had used when he left home.

Cam, Sr. was involved with Alexis for a nanosecond. Hope this helps.

[Mirabelle]

Didn't Zander's family have money? I hope Cam gets a letter from a lawyer saying now that he's reached 20 he's coming into a trust fund and there's enough money for him to pay for college and quit Kelly's. Yes, that business will likely close because Cam is seemingly the only employee but whatever.