Classic General Hospital

Why did I choose the end of GH’s golden era as the year 2002?

That is the year I believe the show decided to disregard its past, the history and characters and fans from so long before. That is not a good move for a soap opera that exists on building from the past and moving forward, with characters becoming the family and friends of the fans.

In 2002, Genie Francis announced she was leaving the show. The writers and producers of the show crafted an exit for Laura that they thought would make sense. Why would Laura suddenly leave her family? Only if she was incapacitated. So, they decided to bring back Chris Robinson as Rick Webber, Laura’s adoptive father and do a little rewrite of history.

Except their “little rewrite” was a BIG rewrite, and basically a slap in the face to not only Chris Robinson and the character of Rick Webber, but to all the long-time fans who actually remembered that era of the past.

Yes, Rick had an affair with Monica way back then. But the show horned in a story about Rick carrying on an affair with a General Hospital nurse in the 70s. Laura found about it and, in the attic space over the family garage, confronted Rick and his mistress. The nurse ended up dead, Rick injected Laura with a drug to cause her to forget it all happened and, with the help of Scotty(!), disposed of the nurse and pretended like it never happened.

Flash forward to the then-present, 2002. Laura invites Rick to town to walk her down the aisle at her remarriage to Luke. Suddenly, she is remembering the attic events from almost 30 years ago. Rick and Scott are acting weird, as well. Then, all hell breaks loose when Laura and Rick are again in the attic and she remembers and he decides to inject her, again! Rick winds up dead, Laura winds up loosing her mind and Luke and Scott go bananas over it. To top all this off, Lucky and Nikolas run around with Rick’s body, ala Weekend at Bernie’s, to make it seem like he died drunk driving.

Ugh… Do I need to point out all that is wrong there?

Hell, why not? First off, I do thank the writers for the one scene between Rick and Lesley. There should have been a scene between them back when she was first found to be alive. I mean, there were in love and married at one time, had a family together, would have been nice to see Rick’s reaction to Lesley “resurrection”. But, when a show can’t honor its past, you get used to things like this being forgotten or ignored. So, I do appreciate the one small scene of them meeting again.

But, all this for Laura’s departure? Really? A car accident that landed her in a coma or in a catatonic state would have sufficed just as well and not tromped all over history and past characters.

For the times Rick wasn’t a pillar of the community, which was mainly due to his love for Monica, he was never this… creepy. Having a secret mistress is one thing, but drugging Laura? No. Just not something Rick would not have done. And Scott was his accomplice? Why wouldn’t Scott have used this info back then to get Rick to force Laura to stay with him instead of Luke? Scott was not always the good guy, so he wouldn’t have been opposed to using any and all leverage to win Laura.

ALL of it makes no sense. No one missed this nurse from GH when she up and vanished? Wouldn’t the cops have come snooping around? Bert Ramsey? UGH.

This was all done just to get Laura into her catatonic state and in the sanitarium for years. And it just hurt too much. The writers and producers seemed angry, at Genie maybe, or at the fans always wanting some nods to history. So, in one storyline, they managed to hurt us all. They lost our respect and, in turn, our devotion to the show. The GH I had known and loved died with Rick Webber.

Things have gotten even bleaker since then. The show took actress Anna Lee off contract and not long after she died. You can’t blame the show for this, but you do have to wonder if this affected the actress in some way. But, when she died, they lost the character of Lila, writing in her death. Sad, but that’s life. But wait… they also fired Stuart Damon, killing off Alan. Then AJ died. And then Emily was killed off. WHY kill off three more members of the same family, a family loved by the fans? Maybe because they weren’t mobsters. Ah, a story for a different day.

The show is now facing a very uncertain future. All My Children and One Life to Live are gone, there is a new show in the wings for Katie Couric and General Hospital seems like it is on its last legs. I truly hope this is not the case. New writers and producers are on board, and characters from OLTL and from GH’s own past are coming on. I hope this is a resurrection for the show, a return to what GH is all about. Look at Days of Our Lives. They did a reboot-type maneuver in September and the show is better than ever, remembering its past while moving forward.

General Hospital needs to do the same. Let’s just hope it’s not too late.