General Hospital

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.

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?

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'm so tired of people saying that General Hospital is just a stale old soap opera. GH has been a staple of ABC's daytime lineup for 39 years. It's 3rd in the ratings and I think that ain't half bad considering it's age. The Alexis, Sonny, Carly triangle is a masterpiece destined to go down in GH's extremly long history. The actors and actresses who portray the characters on the show are fantastic and so are the writers. I get very upset when people say that it's a stale soap. So when GH tries to do something exciting and fun people say that it is not true soap storytelling. Just like the revival of the Cassidines (Helena, Stavros). I thought that that was a great storyline. In closing I would just like to say that General Hospital is on the track to taking back the ratings crown from The Young and the Restless. Your the greatest GH!!!!

I have watched this show for as long as I can remember. I was born in 77 and watched as a little kid. My parents were fans and I got into it (they both watched all ABC soaps). I was also a fan of AMC/OLTL/Loving/Port Charles. I knew people felt it was weird for a guy to like soaps but I didn't care... I was hooked. I remember VCR days and taping every show so I could watch after school and rushing home to catch GH in time LOL! I have fond memories of characters staring out on the show that are still on today. Luke and Laura, Frisco and Felicia, Robert and Anna, The Q's and all the bickering and backstabbing, Robin being there since she was a kid... etc. The show has changed a lot over the years but I would like to think I am as much a an today as I was back in the day.