General Hospital

In 1980, Gloria Monty along with other General Hospital writers decided to make a couple out of two actors that had amazing chemistry. Genie Francis and Tony Geary who have become the phenomenal Luke and Laura. Luke and Laura made General Hospital the unforgettable soap opera it is, and still today, Luke and Laura's though painful relationship, keeps viewers going through their fascinating characterization and never ending passion between them.

Alan and Monica, played by Leslie Charleson and Stuart Damon, Frisco and Felicia, played by Jack and Kristina Wagner, Robert and Holly, played by Tristan Rogers and Emma Samms, Sonny and Brenda, played by Maurice Bernard and Vanessa Marcil, and Luke and Laura have showed every other soap opera the definition of a "love story". Though never simple, always intense, always unforgettable.

General Hospital has also shown amazing technique in storylines that are not love stories. Such as Monica Quartermaine's heartwrenching breast cancer storyline in 1994, or the amazing storyline of two little girls dying, yet only one miracle came out of it. I could only be talking about Bobbie Spencer's and Tony Jones's daughter BJ giving her heart to Frisco and Felicia's daughter Maxie, in the last moments to save her life. These stories touched many viewers and there are so many more.

Some of the most precious moments on daytime television have occurred on General Hospital, and the highest rated moment on daytime television was Luke and Laura's wedding in 1981. It was said to be the only wedding ever to rival Princess Diana's. General Hospital has created feelings, storylines, and characters that go beyond words. I thank Genie and Tony who play Luke and Laura for bringing out the fantasy we all have about how love should be. Though they are General Hospital's greatest achievement, I don't think General Hospital's done with them yet! And we know that Luke and Laura are not the only life changing storyline they've come up with! Thank you General Hospital!

After Santa Barbara, Guiding Light, Another World, and One Life to Live, the Soap Butcher Jill Farren Phelps has placed her friends in high position often ruining such high quality shows. When I was watching Guiding Light, it was at its peak in 1991. They fired the producer and replaced them with Butcher Phelps. She drove Beverlee McKinsey away by overworking her to death. She killed off beloved Ellen Parker's character Maureen. So Parker won an Emmy but the loss was much worse for the audience. On Another World, she killed off Alice Barrett Mitchell's beloved Mary Frances Frame Winthrop in a ridiculous storyline. On One Life to Live, I could only imagine what she did to that show which took years recover. Now she is ruining General Hospital by driving the great John Ingle away to Days Of Our Lives where he received a contract role. I feel sorry and sympathy for Jed Allan because he has a tough act to follow. The Quartermaines used to be the funnest family on television completely. She drove the great Dame Anna Lee away right before her death. Now Kristina Malandro Wagner refuses to return unless she gets a contract for playing Felicia Jones. Why aren't the veterans of this getting the short end of the stick? I bet Gloria Monty is livid over the show getting Best Drama Emmy under Phelps. I know Monty's heart was always in the right place with this show and her last time around wasn't successful as the Luke & Laura days but still, I know Butcher Phelps track record with soaps. Nobody in the real workplace would allow somebody whose cost so much damage to so many people. I am glad that Robin Strasser is speaking against Phelps' known favoritism for certain actors. I am going to single them out now on General Hospital because it would be unfair. But I know after 25 years of watching soaps, I could do a better job to satisfy both fans and the cast and crew. I am sorry but Phelps is just a Soap Opera Butcher to me. I know Guiding Light was great at the time but she made terrible decisions which cost fans. Now Guiding Light might be up for cancellation! the cast and crew took a pay cut to keep the show afloat. Remember Another World! Phelps was there before she jumped ship to One Life To Live. What goes on behind the scenes must be more fascinating than on screen. Guiding Light and Another World were creations of another daytime diva or queen Irna Phillips who would be turning over in her grave if she knew what this woman has done to her children.

Now Phelps is killing off Alan Quartermaine who has been played faithfully by Stuart Damon for 30 years. I'm concerned that she is going to lose one of the show's best attributes, the Quartermaine Family. She and the network practically drove Anna Lee out over a contract dispute. Even with John Ingle's welcome return, the shadow over the show is still different. I don't blame cast members like Leslie Charleson and others for being so vocal about Damon's departure. It's as shocking as it comes. This is what you get when you have somebody like Phelps at the helm.

Once upon a time there was a "story" that brought the kids home from school just to see it. It was called "DARK SHADOWS", but then later another soap did the same thing, it was called GENERAL HOSPITAL. In the early 80's this show managed to rise above it's soapiness with sharp writing and novel concepts that attracted the younger viewers female AND male. Throughout the 80's and early 90's GH managed to ride on that loyal fan base. But during the last 7-8 years GH has struggled mainly due to LOUSY WRITING. The current scribes seem to think the audience wants to watch heroic crime-lords break the law and beloved characters die horribly. It's a shame that this once cutting edge show has devolved into a show about a mobster, his moll and his cardboard cut-out henchman. ABC should either fire the current writers and producers or PULL THE PLUG on this terminal soap.

I've been a faithful viewer since 1978 when Luke and Laura's storyline took off. GH will lose their footing if they don't shake loose the idiotic storylines presently going on. If the writers are going to kill off anyone else, let me send you all a list.

Who cares who the hook sinks that hook into next? You've made that storyline a joke. I read where the gal who plays Esme signed a three year contract. What's wrong with all of you writers? Bring Genie Francis back.

I see where the older actors are given slim arcs if any. This is heartbreaking. Yes, GH won for best drama this year. I don't see how.

Firing/removing Genie Francis/Laura after almost four decades showed us older viewers how much you value your senior actors and viewers. Who's next?

General Hospital used to be a great show. Back in the late-70's and early 80's..it was THE SOAP to watch.

In the early 90's, when Claire and Matthew Labine took over head writing duties, General Hospital spotlighted so many fantastic, heartwrenching, and honest stories. I mean, what fan of this show will EVER forget Stone and Robin's love story. Stone, dying of AIDS-blind due to it...takes his last glimpse of his love, Robin by a window and hapilly says "I can see you"...then passes away. Or will the forget the Breast Cancer storyline, when Monica cuts her bandages off to see that she has no breast, and she just begins to cry uncontrollably. Or, the revolutionary and GUTSY storyline when young Maxie is dying from a heart condition, and is need of a transplant. At the same time...her cousin Barbara Jean (B.J.) is rendered brain dead in a school bus accident. Tony and Bobbie decide to donate her organs. Meanwhile Felicia (Maxie's mom), gets the news that a donor heart has been found. So she goes to Bobbie happy that they have found a heart for her daughter. Her happiness turns to horror when she finds Bobbie crying. Instantly, Felicia knows...

"Noooo. Not Barbara Jean. Not Barbara Jean's heart."

And she collapses to the floor, crying. I cry now as I think about it, and this was ten years ago. And then the scene where Tony hovers over Maxie, as she recovers from the transplant. And he leans down and places his ear over her chest to hear the beating heart that belonged to his deceased daughter. Oh man...

This was OUTSTANDING TELEVISION!

Sadly, GH has regressed so much under the watch of Bob Guza, Jr. I don't care what anyone says....it's BLASPHEMY to put a Spencer with a Cassadine!!! To me...this show is long gone. With the loss of some of my favorite actors (Johnathan Jackson, Amber Tamblyn, Kimberly McCullough, Sarah Brown), and some truly horiffic writing, storylines and pairings....I can never watch this show with the same enthusiasm as I did ten and twenty years ago. For me though...there are few saving graces for this show. The Quartermaines': John Ingle...whom not only has filled the shoes of David Lewis' "Edward Quartermaine" character...but has greatly improved on the original (and this is saying A LOT, as David Lewis was FANTASTIC as Edward), Leslie Charleson, Stuart Damon, Anna Lee, Jane Eliot (always a good watch when she returns from time to time), and Robin Christopher (GREAT). Maurice Benard as "Sonny" still delivers the goods. And of course, Tony Geary as "Luke Spenser". I just wish the material was better. Sadly, unless the Labines come back, or someone can be the second coming of Gloria Monty...I'll just be a viewer on occasion.