Port Charles

When Port Charles debuted in the summer of 1997, the show had potential and hope. Put seven interns in a hospital and Lucy Coe in her own element and you have the perfect material for a half-hour show. After The Cullingtons left the series, I really felt like the show lost it's identity: doctors in a hospital. Their workplace, what they do, how they function, what are their emotions if they lose a patient, what are their consequences if they act out of poor judgement.

Then, came Courtney Kanelos, Rachel Locke, General Homicide and DV(four things I cringe at when I think about the show) and you have a big trainwreck. Storylines that once focused on the characters, now centered on the plot.

I didn't really care if DV was Scott's dad or that Rachel came to town with a chip on shoulder. That is, until after Executive Producer Wendy Riche left PC, some bright genius decided to replace Riche with Julie Carruthers. Upon her arrival, Ms. Carruthers let the weak link Scott Hamner go and replaced him with Karen Harris. She put the hospital and the drama BACK into PC, where it belonged. And thank goodness, someone had the sense to turn Rachel into the town pariah rather than a Sheila-copycat!

PC became a community under this format, storyline developed, moved at a fast pace and ended, but there was always a new chapter for the character.

I liked the storylines under Carruthers/Harris: All American Guy who could contract HIV? Pill Popping Doctor revisiting her sleazy past? Rich bubbleheaded hospital voluneer seeks gangster with a heart of gold? Down-to-earth careerwoman competing for a board seat against a slimy therapist?

It was good TV folks. If you hadn't seen PC during the past three years it was on the air, then was the time to tune in.

But, some nutcase at ABC decided that Guiding Light's resident hacks, Jim Brown and Barbara Esenten, could perform emergency surgery on PC, a show that didn't need saving. Now, everything is plot, plot plot. "Screw character development. The audience is too stupid for that." I suppose they concluded.

The book format is so dumb, words can't describe it. Isn't the purpose of watching a soap to see DIFFERENT characters? Ian, Kevin, Eve and Lucy are front burner constantly while leaving talented actors who deserve a shot at a good storyline(Nolan North, Marie Wilson, etc.) out in Storyline Siberia.

For all this was worth, ABC should have kept The City. The plots seemed interesting on that show and they were actually beginning to gel until ABC decided to cancel it for this drivel.

Once can only hope when someone at ABC will decide to pull the plug.

I watched this show from Day One, and it took a little while to get going, but once it hit its stride, it was a marvelously smooth machine. I hate one-hour soaps, more filler than plot, and hadn't watched a soap regularly since Ryan's Hope went off the air). Once we got to murder and business intrigue and mismatched couples, the show took off. Unfortunately, the ratings did not, and the producers took the low road and decided to scrap all credibility and introduce supernatural storylines. Well! I thought the time travel arc was @ least well-written enough that it had a modicum of credibility (for all its fantasy elements, the storyline was fueled by Frank searching for his "lost" love). After that, it was all downhill. The vampire saga was sub-retarded, and it lasted for not one arc but TWO. I suffered through the angels, but stopped watching completely once Eve was killed. I even stuck w/ it a couple more weeks just to make sure she didn't come back as a zombie--which could have happened on this ridiculous potboiler. The core cast has always shown extreme poise under the conditions in which they are expected to perform, and I would gladly return to a show with problems that involved real human beings. If you're going to rip off another soap, at least have enough couth not to steal from the worst of the worst "Passions"! Good heavens, do these people know nothing?! If this is being a soap producer, then where do I sign? I could pretend to be as dumb as the people who drove my beloved little soap into the ground. There: tirade over!

This show rules! I know that it's a soap opera and most people probably think that all soap operas are dumb, and I wouldn't know because this is the only soap opera I watch! My sister got me hooked on it a couple of years ago, and I've watched it as much as possible ever since. It seems like most soap operas are always just talking about stuff like their long lost twins, or who's the father and such, but this show is more exciting than that. They've had kidnaps, going back in time, vampires, angels, magic candles, a cute angel who found his way back to his true love and a evil spirit called the Avatar! The story themes change every 13 weeks. This Friday just ended a book entitled Torn. And Monday it's going to start the next book called Naked Eyes. Before that they've been called Fate, Time in a bottle, Tainted Love, Tempted, Miracles Happen, Secrets, Superstition, Torn, and now Naked Eyes! This show is seriously under rated and you should really check it out! It's on at 12:30 pm eastern time on ABC. Once you start and understand who everyone is, you won't be able to stop! Check it out, it's really great! ~~**Amanda**~~

When this GENERAL HOSPITAL spin off first hit the airwaves in the summer 1997, it had originally centered around a new group of young interns living, loving, and working at General Hospital. To inspire GH viewers to watch this show, longtime GH characters Scotty Baldwin, Lucy Coe and Kevin Collins crossed over to PC. About four years later, the format switched to story arcs, and vampires, angels, demons, and werewolves abounded. Lucy Coe, one of the long-running characters on GH became a vampire slayer on this show. One of the characters on this show was Livvie Locke, who was the long-lost daughter of Kevin Collins. Alison Barrington, granddaughter of Port Charles' society maven Amanda Barrington was also a presence here. Unfortunately, this show was cancelled way before its time.

I turned into PC during the end of Tainted Love. I love the story arc idea, at least each series has an ending. It's not as overpowering as Dark Shadows and it has interesting twists. The actors are colorful and the supernatural story lines are intriguing while keeping to the typical "love triangle" of ancient soaps. Brian Gaskill and Erin Hershey shine as the Super Couple. Lynn Herring is great, "Livvie" is the typical "soap bad girl, and "Caleb" speaks for himself. The show definitely needs more air time. I would love to see it go to one hour!