History of General Hospital
[3] "They had this concept of the show that it was like a big wagon wheel – the spokes would be the characters and the hub would be the hospital", John Beradino (Steve Hardy) later reflected to Entertainment Weekly in 1994.
In one fast-paced plot in 1971, Audrey is accused of murdering her son's babysitter and General Hospital was briefly elevated to the number one position, beating longtime ratings giant As the World Turns.
Time magazine panned General Hospital in 1976, stating, "If malpractice is this dull, it is worth insuring against", noting the serial's saving grace was Dr. Lesley Williams (Denise Alexander).
[7] Reportedly not agreeing with the increased pace and also not wanting to relocate to Los Angeles, California where GH was produced, Marland left the series and was replaced by Pat Falken Smith.
A few of these plots were considered preposterous, such as the 1981 storyline in which Luke, Laura and Robert saved the town of Port Charles from being placed under a deep freeze by maniacal Mikkos Cassadine's Ice Princess weather machine.
[7] "In 1981, the wedding of Luke and Laura, both shady characters, attracted an audience of nearly 30 million people – in prime time, the equivalent might be a combination of a Super Bowl and the "Who shot J.R.?"
[9] Rumors circulated that the wedding was not planned until Taylor asked for them to be married as part of her appearance, confirmed by head writer Pat Falken Smith as she left the series.
Pat Falken Smith was also upset over the work done during her three-month absence during the writer's strike earlier in the year, claiming the Ice Princess storyline written while she was gone was, "the most convoluted, insipid, insane ... crappy idea in the world".
But fans continue to bemoan the fact that others like Frank Maxwell, Todd Davis and Bianca Ferguson would not return after their late 80's exits, having contributed greatly to the show's supporting cast during its heyday.
The introduction of Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) brought on several new mobsters including the mysterious "Mr. Big", who turned out to be none other than police chief Bert Ramsey, as well as the Jerome family.
[17] Marla Hart of the Chicago Tribune described Monty's second stint: "She abandoned the soap's most endearing stories, inelegantly dismissed actors and introduced characters from out of the blue, until GH became one long non sequitur.
[26] They were later involved in multiple love triangles, first with Sonny's eventual first wife Lily Rivera and teen heartthrob Miguel Morez starting in 1995, and later with corporate raider Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher) after he joined the show in 1996.
Riche also agreed with the network to some extent, in that she wanted the impact to stay focused on responsible sex and not sidetracked with homosexuality concerns: The intention was not to make them gay, but the implication might have stirred up a lot.
In 1998, the series revisited Luke's long ago rape of his now-wife Laura, something associate head writer Michele Val Jean had been thinking of since joining the show in 1991.
"[36] The story brought up the subject by using Luke and Laura's son, Lucky (Jonathan Jackson), and his soon-to-be love interest Elizabeth Webber, played by Rebecca Herbst.
"[46] However, ratings remained stable after Francis's departure and climbed when Vanessa Marcil returned as Brenda Barrett in a five-month stint which lasted into the early months of 2003.
The producers soon rescinded their decision and asked him to stay on a recurring status, but Ingle had accepted the role of Mickey Horton on Days of Our Lives, and Edward was recast with Jed Allan.
During the ordeal, Edward suffers a heart attack, Courtney rescues a lady who later rewards her with large sums of money, and Scott Baldwin is presumed dead.
The confrontation ends with Nikolas shooting Mary, who later dies in the hospital when her medications are switched by Lorenzo Alcazar, seeking revenge for the death of his niece Sage.
The show worked closely with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy to make the dialogue realistic, and the storyline saw ratings rise in female teenagers.
By early 2012, both other ABC Daytime soap operas had been cancelled, All My Children ending in September 2011, and One Life to Live's scheduled final air date on January 13, 2012.
Prior to joining GH, Valentini and Carlivati helped wrap up OLTL after its cancellation and subsequent transition to Prospect Park's online venture failed to happen.
Robin dies in a lab explosion, and Valentini received praise for bringing high-profile legacy characters back in the fallout, such as Anna Devane (Finola Hughes), Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms).
The aftermath brings Starr's mother Blair Cramer (Kassie DePaiva) and father Todd Manning (Roger Howarth) to town, and the latter promptly sets roots by buying the local newspaper and television station.
[66] Meanwhile, Maxie Jones, reeling from guilt over thinking she caused the lab explosion that killed her cousin Robin, falsely confesses to the murder of Lisa Niles and goes to jail.
New story lines kicked off to integrate the characters including the resurrection of the infamous Jerome crime family, Franco's brain tumor and Silas and Sam's new relationship.
Dr. Obrecht took Ben to Cassadine Island in Greece, and left him with Robin Scorpio-Drake, Patrick's presumed-dead wife who was actually being held captive by Sonny's long time enemy Jerry Jacks because that was after Franco was revealed to be alive.
Britt later tells Nikolas that she conceived Ben via a sperm donor, but soon learns that her lies are beginning to unravel when Dante and Lulu discover that their remaining embryos are missing from the hospital lab.
Shawn warned Jordan to stay away from the Jerome's and when she refused, he threatened to tell T.J. that the reason he had been sent to Port Charles in the first place was because she was serving a two-year prison sentence for dealing drugs.
Levi Dunkleman first appears out of the shower at Nathan West (Ryan Paevey)'s apartment as Maxie Jones' (Kirsten Storms) boyfriend because Maxie was gone finding herself and found Levi in Australia in Oceania and decided to come home to Port Charles and tells Nathan to confront Madeline Reeves (Donna Mills) one more time for putting Nina Clay in a coma and killing her unborn grandchild.
