60 Years of Memorable GH Moments
As the show celebrates 60 years, so do we at the Wubs 7th Floor Nurse's Station. We took 60 years and are picking a few defining moments from each year. Of course, these are subjective so you can comment and let us know if we missed any. Enjoy!
1963 - Original broadcast on April 1st.
1964 - Jessie files for divorce from Dr. Phil Brewer
1965 - Phil Brewer rapes Jessie which results in a pregnancy
1966 - Jessie Brewer's infant daughter Nancy dies of heart complications
1967 - Nurse Jessie Brewer is framed for the murder of Dr. John Prentice
1968 - Audrey is raped by her then husband Tom and leaves town.
1969 Promo-- GH in Color!
1969 - Meg Bentley has a breakdown after a mastectomy (first on daytime TV)
1970 - Lee Baldwin adopts Scotty after Meg Bentley dies
1971 - Audrey returns to Port Charles and tells everyone her baby died (he hadn't)
1972 - Jessie Brewer's niece runs off with her boyfriend, Teddy
1973 - Jessie marries Dr. Peter Taylor
1974 - Dr Phil Brewer is murdered
1975 - Laura Vining comes to stay with her bio-mother, Lesley Williams
1976 - Head Nurse, Lucille March retires to a farm in Upstate NY
1977 - Genie Francis joins the cast as Laura in February
1978 - Show is expanded from experimental 45 min to one hour and Gloria Monty is brought on as EP . Bobbie and Luke plot to break up Scotty and Laura
1979 - Luke Rapes Laura at the Campus Disco
1980 - Diana Taylor's Death ("Anne" in Blood); Tracy Withholds Edward's Heart Medication
1981 - Luke and Laura's Wedding has 30 million viewers
1982 - John Stamos debuts as Blackie Parrish; Demi Moore debuts as Jackie Templeton
1983 - Luke caught in avalanche, meets Holly Sutton; Luke presumed dead, Robert marries Holly; Luke returns, becomes mayor, reunited with Laura
1984 - Felicia, dressed as a boy, meets Frisco
1985 - Pickle-Lila is born
1986 - Burt Ramsey revealed as "Mr. Big"
1987 - Tania, Tony Jones' wife dies after being struck by a car
1988 - Ned and Monica Sleep Together
1989 - Felecia marries Colton then sees Frisco alive on the docks
1990 - Casey the Alien arrives in Port Charles from Lumina
1991 - Tony Geary debuts as Bill Eckert; SS Tracy capsizes in the harbor
1992 - An Earthquake destroys the Brownstone
1993 - Return of Luke and Laura; Lucky Spencer meets Ruby
1994 - BJ's Death; Nurses Ball Debuts; Ward Family Introduced
1995 - Stone's death; Jason loses his Memory due to a car accident; Brenda wears a wire-- this was a BIG year!!
1996 - First prime time airing:"A Twist of Fate" Click-Boom Lily's Death
1997 - Carly reveals herself to be Bobbie's biological daughter
1998 - Elizabeth's Rape; Sean and Tiffany's Wedding; 2nd Prime time special for 35th anniversary
1999 - Faison Returns
2000 - Zander Smith arrives in Port Charles
2001 - "The End Game" storyline pauses and is eventually scrapped in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks
2002 - GH airs it's 10,000 episode on April 17th
2003 - 40 year celebration; "Port Charles" TV Show Debuts
2004 - Sam and Sonny lose their baby Lila when she is stillborn.
2005 - Helena shoots at Emily but hits Lucy instead
2006 - Lulu has an Abortion; Laura wakes up from Coma; Tony dies and sees BJ
2007 - "Night Shift" spinoff aired from July-Oct on Soap Net; Emily Q killed and Alan Quartermaine dies
2008 45th Anniversary Montage
2008 - Robin Returns at Patrick and Sabrina's Wedding
2009 - James Franco comes to GH as the artist/serial killer "Franco" CO77x
2010 - Sonny shoots his own son, Dante Falconeri
2011 - Joss gets her kidney transplant
2012 - John Ingle makes last appearance on GH as Edward Quartermaine
2013 - 50 year celebration; Katie Couric hosts "The Real Soap Dish" as a part of 20/20 in recognition of General Hospital's 50th year; Robin Returns
2014 - Rocco is revealed to be Lulu's stolen embryo baby
2015 - In May, GH aired two live episodes; Audrey Hardy appears for the last time
2016 - Paul Hornsby is the GH Serial Killer
2017 - Kevin and Laura were married on Christmas Eve
2018 - Peter August is Henrik Faison
2019 - Oscar dies of Cancer; Sam kills Shiloh
2020 - GH interrupted production due to COVID-19; Lulu in a Coma
2021 - The "Nixon Falls" adventure begins
2022 - Hook Killer revealed as Heather Webber, Jeff and Carolyn Webber Return
2023 - Mac Scorpio ends Ryan Chamberlain's reign of terror.
Karen's Most Memorable Moment: So hard to pick just one-- I have about 5 spectacular memories that had me running to the TV when GH aired. I think the one I looked the most forward to and waited the most for was Genie's return in 1983. It honestly felt like she'd been gone 5 years!! I had to skip class to make sure I was there when the moment hit. Back in the day no specific dates were given and no VHS for me!! This was magical and I really can't explain the whole "Luke and Laura" thing. You had to be there. No, it wouldn't fly today for sure but then? It was everything. My runner's up: Brenda Wears a Wire and Tracey Withholds Edward's Medication.
I don't remember the year I started watching but think it was around 1977. Laura and Scotty were together. I was a HUGE Luke and Laura fan. To this day, Genie Francis is my all time favorite actress. There sure were a lot of rape stories on this show. Didn't realize how many. I loved the murder mysteries. Loved Luke and Laura's adventures on the road. I remember in the summer I would swim ALL day, but take a break to watch GH at 3 every day. I didn't have a VCR, so I didn't want to ever miss a show. It was SO addicting back then. OMG.
ReplyDeleteI was also a HUGE Brenda and Sonny fan, and Anna and Robert. I also did like Robert and Holly for a bit, and hated Anna at first, and then Finola Hughes and Anna won me over. Loved it so much when Anna did all the "kick boxing" type moves. I wanted to be a spy and do that stuff just like her. lol
I also loved the episode with Lila and Edward climbing those stairs. Lila was such a wonderful character on the show.
Love Diana Taylor's murder mystery. Loved Sean and Tiffany's wedding; so, so funny.
I don't always get to watch every day, so I am so grateful to you Karen and everyone that contributes to this blog. I do read this blog every day, and sometimes multiple times a day. So, thank you Karen!!!!!!!!
There is a complete first episode of GH on Utube. April 1, 1963. Like 20 minutes long.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXgT70ICj1s
DeleteAnna Devane kicking butt.
Great job, summaries and perspectives!
ReplyDeleteI'd have to say among mine would be:
When Monica, Lesley and Gail were trapped in the Q mansion during a snowstorm, Monica gave birth to A.J. and Monica blurted out in hysteria that he was Rick's son while Lesley was delivering him.
When Alan rigged the Q attic to collapse on Rick and Monica during A.J's christening and had a last second thought and tried to get them out of the attic, only to have it collapse on all three of them. To watch clips today, it looks a bit cheesy. But back then before the era of spoilers, it was highly suspenseful and Alan had a murderous, dangerous bent back then.
When Heather spiked Diana's ice tea and P.J. (Steven Lars) spun the Lazy Susan so the drink ended up in front of Heather instead of Diana. Because of the way the scene was shot no one knew who got the bad drink until Heather started hallucinating. That was a huge finale to what had been a story that had been building for years, ever since Heather gave up Steven Lars for adoption on the black market.
When the hitman during the Frank Smith on the run story turned out to be a man dressed like a woman - Sally - a crossdresser. That was shocking!
When it was revealed the Cassadines had kept Lesley captive and in a vegetative state, years after it was believed she was killed in an auto accident.
When Alexandra Quartermaine and Tony Cassadine ended up in the freezer and froze to death by the Ice Princess. That was shocking. The manner of death was scary and you didn't know who would up in that chamber next.
The Lassa Fever storyline and the hospital being under quarantine. So many stories came to a head during that time.
When Roy DiLucca was shot and Laura threw Luke's keys over the cliff at one of the pinnacles of the Frank Smith story.
The highlight would have to be the Diana Taylor mystery. It was shocking because of the setup (writing Anne's name in blood was gruesome) and Diana was a leading character one of the show's four heroines from the 70s (Audrey, Jessie, Lesley and Diana) and her death was kind of Gloria Monty's way of slamming the door on that era. The only thing that softened her departure is that Diana had been recast a few years earlier with the younger Brooke Bundy. Valerie Starrett, who originated the role, was hugely popular and I think if it was her playing the part when she got murdered, that would have had a huge impact.
I think I started watching in 1977 or 1978, right around the time that David Hamilton was worming his way into the Webbers' life and Heather began her plot to get Steven Lars back from the Taylors.
I love all those stories you mentioned. I think we started watching maybe around the same time. I think I remember the David Hamilton story being one of my first too. The Diana Taylor mystery back then was just the best. So suspenseful for those days. Great writing back then.
DeleteSonya Eddy must have been well loved by the crew. Watched an interview with Finola who said Sonya was a hugger.
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