Sunday Surgery: THE MORGUE.
"The story is not in the plot but in the telling"
Ursula K. LeGuin
Ursula K. LeGuin
Welcome to a study in character death. I'm going to begin with core families that have been gutted. Some of the characters were on for decades, others a short time but were pivotal to the story of GH or it's history. They either "died", left or "evaporated" from the canvas. Then we'll move on to the "also rans"--characters that were introduced and some that were added to the fabric of the soap then yanked away. I'm not counting people that moved to Port Charles (ie: Lucy Coe). This is mostly from 1997-present.
Of course, soaps ebb and flow over the years. This list is just stunning in it's length however. By the way, Guza did leave for 2 years between 2000 and 2002. Megan McTavish was head writer then.
Those with the ? are characters that are still supposedly "part" of the show but are rarely, if ever, seen.
Get ready to be stunned.
Quartermaines
Ned
AJ
Alan
Emily
Chloe
Dillon
Justus
Brooke Lyn
Monica ?
Edward?
Lila (Anne Lee was basically let go a few years before her death)
honory Q: Skye
Spencers:
Leslie
Laura
Bobbie ?
Lucas
Hardy/Webber:
Audrey
Sarah
Get ready to be stunned.
Quartermaines
Ned
AJ
Alan
Emily
Chloe
Dillon
Justus
Brooke Lyn
Monica ?
Edward?
Lila (Anne Lee was basically let go a few years before her death)
honory Q: Skye
Spencers:
Leslie
Laura
Bobbie ?
Lucas
Hardy/Webber:
Audrey
Sarah
Rick (ugh...terrible storyline)
Jake
Cassadines:
Helena
Stefan
Kristina
Nikolas (leaving)
Stavros (came/went)
Valentin (Never seen) * counting him because a big storyline was started then dropped.
Scorpio-Jones
Tony
Felicia
Robert
Anna
Georgie
Mac?
Corinthos
Courtney
Rick
Mike
Jake
Cassadines:
Helena
Stefan
Kristina
Nikolas (leaving)
Stavros (came/went)
Valentin (Never seen) * counting him because a big storyline was started then dropped.
Scorpio-Jones
Tony
Felicia
Robert
Anna
Georgie
Mac?
Corinthos
Courtney
Rick
Mike
Baldwins:
Gail, Lee, Scotty
Note: I wasn't going to include them since Gail/Lee were on Port Charles but they were back on GH in 2004, then basically dissolved. Scotty was brought back at least 2x then let go.
Also-Rans that were important to me:Claudia, Taggert, Gia, Noah (Brought back, then disappeared) Kate, Jerry Jacks, Zander, Cameron, Alkazar (x2), Diego, Cat Bell, Faith, Dara, Laine, Reggie, Big Alice?? (Lois left in 1997), btw.
Also-Rans that were important to me:Claudia, Taggert, Gia, Noah (Brought back, then disappeared) Kate, Jerry Jacks, Zander, Cameron, Alkazar (x2), Diego, Cat Bell, Faith, Dara, Laine, Reggie, Big Alice?? (Lois left in 1997), btw.
People introduced at sacrifice of others that evaporated, were killed or left: Logan, Cooper, Nadine, Hannah, Ray, Amelia, Reese, Terrell, Mayor Floyd, Claire, Epiphany ..a host of others. Those characters that came and went with no rhyme or reason that influenced things for a short time, then sputtered out.
From WikiPedia:
Robert Guza Jr.:
- March 1996 - October 1996: with Karen Harris
- December 1997 - December 2000: Solo
- June 13, 2002 - March 10, 2006: with Charles Pratt, Jr. (re-hired by Angela Shapiro)
- March 13, 2006 - January 2007: Solo
- February 2007 - October 2007: with Meg Bennett
- October 2007 - January 3, 2008; March 17, 2008- present
- NOTE: Megan McTavish took over for 2 years from 200-2002
Consulting Producer: May 2004 - January 3, 2008; March 17, 2008– present
Producers
Wendy Riche 1992-2001
Jill Farren Phelps 2001-present
Angela Shapiro 2000-2002 Brian Frons 2002-present
GUZA, PHELPS--FRONS from 2002-present.
** GH has suffered an aproximate 50% drop in ratings since 1997, steadly going from 4.0s to 1.7-2.0 of today
My point is simple. Declining ratings can be correlated to the complete rearranging of a once engaging show. Yes, many things influence people leaving daytime drama, but this surely points out that when you take away the core of a show, people will leave along with it. Just the Quartermaine family alone leaves one speechless. There are NO 'intact' families anymore on GH by a long shot.
Wow. OK, call me stunned even though we pretty much knew this. Just to see a long list like that boggles the mind.
ReplyDeleteThink maybe Jeff Webber (even though he goes way back) belongs on the list too? Where's Liz's parents? CORE family!
Frank, I was trying to keep it to characters that came/went under Guza's reign. Was he on in 1997?? I don't think so??
ReplyDeleteI didn't even get into all the FAILED VILLAINS either! LOL
Jeff goes way back to the 70s but it speaks to the core of what you're saying. Through all this Liz drama I often wondered where the hell her parents are.
ReplyDeleteit is a long list and sad--tom & simone hardy what happened to them. the death of an unknown child i guess isn't all that important--I didn't watch then but I've heard these names mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even begin to include the babies..I think I should put Jake on there though
ReplyDeleteFrons, Guza and Phelps "reign of terror" begin since 2002!
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of Lois, and Hannah(I think she left before 2002),everyone one in this list either died,left or came back to be written terribly since 2002.
Seeing Kristina on the Cass. list confused me for a second, then I remembered Alexis had a sister for a year or so.
ReplyDeleteAs bad as Guza has been, I used to always say, at least he didn't create the horrible, horrible Angel story for Sonny. That was McTavish. That used to be the nadir of GH stories, in my book. I think he's surpassed it this calendar year though, with Jake's death and the (lack of) follow-up.
You obviously did a lot of work on this column. Excellent job!
Was Sarah Webber on during the time of Guza? The horrible storyline of Lucky and her...
ReplyDeleteShouldn't Jake be on the Quartermaine list? Also Monica's dughter Dawn? What about Jimmy Lee Holt?
ReplyDeleteThen again, if you are including Lois as a Q by marriage, I guess you could also claim Lucy as a Q?
Kiesha was related to Justus but was she a Q?
You also forget Ruby and BJ as Spencers.
Holly as a Scorpio.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very long list! :( Thanks Karen for this!!!! :) I actually liked Guza and Pratt working together. They were a good team(In my opinion). The one thing I hated was the creation of Courtney Matthews!! What a waste of a character! I hated her! Then Courtney was killed off and Pratt left! Then Guza wrote alone for awhile! Guza as headwriter UGH!
ReplyDeleteFrisco... I didn't include many of who you mentioned because that was prior to 1997 and really not a Guza-glitch. I didn't put Lois on the Q list, I put her down with the "other characters"
ReplyDeletethis is really about the Guza, Phelps, Frons era, and a bit of Shapiro.
What about Tony Jones? At one time, he was a great character.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget Michael Learned's character who died of cancer. Witty, smart, and very very wise...she was a jewel, and should have been saved. Every show needs someone rooted in reality.
ReplyDeleteYou can't forget TONY! Also I think Lucy and Kevin should be on the list because they were on GH and PC at the same time. I started watching GH in 2000-2001 and they were on and they were on the credits.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot Holly under the Scorpio-Jones section.
ReplyDelete@Frisco
ReplyDeleteThis is nit-picky, and I apologize in advance. I just have to jump in because I loved Tony and Tania. BJ technically isn't a Spencer. Bobbie was her step-mom. BJ was a Jones.