My love for soap operas came about in the 70's when I wasn't even in double digits age-wise. I discovered All my Children when my car pool dropped me off at home after swim team practice and my mother was not yet home. No parental supervision meant turning on the television and at noon there wasn't much selection to chose from the four channels we got back then. I found myself caught up in the intrigue and the relationships for a half an hour each day. My mother did not watch soap operas and was extremely horrified when my summer obsession grew with my age.
I was introduced to General Hospital in 1978. I was at my friend Kelly's house and she and her sister spent considerable time explaining the characters and their backgrounds so that I could add this soap, along with One Life to Live, to my must see TV. The storyline that day was the one in which Lesley Webber was taking the rap for a murder her daughter Laura committed. I've been a General Hospital fan ever since.
It was the right time to be a part of General Hospital. The soap had young actors and actresses with story lines teenagers ate up, the VCR was becoming a staple in households that allowed school age kids to stay abreast, and Gloria Monty was just coming aboard as the new producer with her visions that would shake up the soap industry. Monty's introduction of Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, played by actor Anthony Geary, saved the low rated show and set the precedent for the changes to the industry.
Never had there been a character as wild and crazy, yet sensitive and caring as Luke. Originally brought on he show as a temporary character, Geary's portrayal of Luke Spencer wormed his way into households, women's hearts, and eventually a full time contract as he skated the edge of darkness and pursued Laura Webber. The Luke & Laura phenomenon was quick explosive and Monty took the characters out of the hospital and put them in adventures in exotic locations. The viewers ate it up.
I remember where I was the day that Luke and Laura got married, November 17, 1981. General Hospital came on at 2:00 pm. in my home town which was before we got out of school. I was able to get out of my seventh period and my friend Robin and I rushed to my house to watch the episode that is still to this day the highest ranked episode for a soap opera. That episode, watched by 30 million people, and ranked by TV Guide as one of their "100 Most Memorable TV Moments" had us reaching for tissues and then screaming at the very end when Scotty Baldwin returned to catch the bride's bouquet. I was sitting on the ottoman when Baldwin appeared, yelling to Robin who was in the bathroom, to hurry up as the commercial had ended. I can remember banging on the door to alert her to the fact that Baldwin had ruined the big wedding.
I loved reading serial books that kept telling the adventures of the characters and a soap opera was just like that. While I gave up on the other two ABC soaps I stayed true to GH and have watched it off and on over the past 30+ years. I have gotten annoyed during periods and quit watching for months, but as the Internet age evolved I would stay tuned in by reading the episode recaps and or by having my friends fill me in.
This past year soap operas have been cancelled due to low ratings and advertising and the thought that GH wouldn't be around much longer had me tuning back in and jumping on the bandwagon to save it. Changes were made at the helm and the new crew has done a terrific job in celebrating GH's fifty years on the air, bringing back so many favorites from my youth. Now both my children have joined me in watching the show. Despite my mother's horror at that, I would love for GH to continue another fifty years for them to enjoy, make fun of, and remember time spent with their old mother watching the soaps.
Happy 50th General Hospital!
My favorite couple - That would be hard to narrow down as GH was the master with the supercouple. Luke and Laura, of course, are the first and if I had to pick one I would choose them. But after I would say Robert and Anna and Frisco and Felicia.
My favorite heart wrenching storyline - Would have to be hands down the death of Barbara Jean Jones in a bus accident while her cousin is dying and needing a heart transplant in the same hospital. The moment Felicia learns that her daughter's heart is coming from her niece....stunning. When BJ's father Tony hears his daughter's heart beating inside his niece's body....stunning.
My favorite switching of supercouples - Holly and Robert. When Anthony Geary was paired with Emma Samms I was not a fan. Then Geary left the soap for awhile and the writers had Samms' character Holly paired with Roger's Robert. The storyline was believable and the chemistry was fabulous. Then there was the excitement when Luke returned to find that his woman was married and in love with his best friend.
My favorite public service storyline - All the soaps climbed on board with doing stories that were relevant to the day's headlines. The AIDS story with Robin Scorpio and Stone Cates was done so well by the GH writers and showed that the virus wasn't always a death sentence as Robin Scorpio has lived for the past eighteen years with the virus.
My favorite fun scenes - The Nurses Ball were some of the most fun, and I'm thrilled that they have brought it back this year. I also loved Ned Quartermaine as Eddy Maine.
My least favorite supercouple - Anna and Duke. I was never a Duke Lavery fan. Anna belongs with Robert.
My least favorite reason why a character left - I hated the way they made Frisco, and eventually Felicia, leave. Neither character would have ever left their children no matter what.
My idea that would have been better had the writers known about it - I always wanted to have Sonny and Jason working secretly undercover for either the police or the WSB in the mob. Think how poetic it would have been when Sonny and Brenda had their double cross storyline to have it come out that Sonny was actually an agent?
No comments:
Post a Comment