Bob Guza originally worked
as a script writer for GH in the early 80's during GH's heyday (as did Charles
Pratt). For those confused about which regime handled what in recent years,
here is a basic timeline of the goings-on since 1995, amidst several returns and departures by Robert Guza, Jr., Head Writer ...
Be warned: The following timeline is a slightly "editorialized" version, which expresses the opinions of the author and GHH member, Dave Smith, and not necessarily the opinions of this site.
Timeline:
1. January 1996:
The end of the Labine regime.
Jax debut. Jax's
involvement with Lois. Rena Sofer decided to leave, so Jax was shifted to
Brenda.
Jason Morgan
transformation.
Mary Mae Ward passes
away
2. March
1996: Bob Guza joined as Head Writer in December 1995, and his work began
airing in March.
Keesha Ward spiraled into
oblivion, first wanting to be a police officer (anyone remember that?), then an
Outreach worker at GH (with no credentials), and got involved with AJ (a couple
that did nothing).
Carly debut. Carly was
primarily constructed by the excellent Patrick Mulcahey, who credits Sarah Brown
with several of Carly's layers. Mulcahey went public with the info that no one
really knew what direction to go in with Carly, and planned to plop her down in
the middle of town, and see what happens. Talk about no advanced planning...
During this wandering period, Carly slept with Jason, AJ, and Tony, stole Tony
from Bobbie, and began Tony's descent into madness.
Clink-Boom.
Possibly Guza's most famous scenes, one they reportedly planned several months
in advance.Guza was somewhat involved in the scene, but a scene, as
unforgettable as it may be, is one scene within one episode, within one year. I
loved the scene, but IMO, it doesn't redeem him.
Stefan and Nikolas debut.
Never-before-mentioned brother to Stavros, and never-before-mentioned son to
Laura. Guza rewrote Stavros's connection to the Cassadine family as Stavros
being the first son, rather than the brother of Mikkos that he originally was.
Stefan shot Katherine Bell,
a weak attempt at foreplay.
Stefan hooked Lucky on a
computer game called "Timoria" (translated to "Atonement"), and the only
apparent fallout was Lucky's encounter with quicksand.
The catatonic Lesley
Webber was resurrected, then sent off with Laura after they faked their death in
a Rochester mansion explosion.
Stefan and Bobbie married,
and divorced within a year.
Alexis Davis debut. Also,
not quite planned out, as Alexis dallied as an untrustworthy schemer (painting
Katherine to be the sister to Stefan that Alexis herself was), but soon showed a
loving and warm side.
Alexis was instructed by Stefan to defend and ensure Kevin Collins's acquittal for stalking Felicia, so that Kevin could work on mysterious equations. Storyline dropped, but it is somewhat understandable, given Kevin was being spun off to "Port Charles".
Tom Hardy and
Felicia Jones have a sex fest, and then Tom leaves Felicia to return to his work
in Africa.
Justus Ward fell off
the map for a time.
3.
September 1996: Guza walked out to create Sunset Beach in June 1996, which
debuted on NBC in Jan 1997. Richard and Carolyn Culliton came onboard and
claimed the Co-Head Writer posts.
Pierce Dorman appeared
out of the blue, as Monica's boy on the side. The affair was explained as a
repercussion from Monica's surgery from nearly two years prior, and Dorman
suddenly turned into a wacko.
Dorman sued Monica and GH for sexual harrassment, then
became a drug lord, drugging Sonny for no reason, smuggling drugs into Port
Charles in the casts and wheelchairs of travelling "patients".
Sonny and Brenda, once
reunited, faced the triple threat of Harry Silver, who emerged from
approximately a two-year backburnered status to trap Sonny and Brenda in the
catacombs (in the name of the late Lily Rivera Corinthos, with whom he shared
about four scenes), blow up the catacombs, killing only Harry Silver, and
prompting Brenda and Sonny to sleep together and provide Brenda with a pregnancy
scare, "The Tin Man", infamous for his origami gum wrappers, and Hernando
Rivera, back from the dead and a stroke to avenge the death of the daughter he
himself had killed.
Miranda Jameson debut,
December 1996. Sonny brings the the back-from-the-dead wife to Jax's renewal of
vows with Brenda. Hackneyed, even for a soap.
Mysterious connection
between Miranda and Cassadines, never explored.
Dorman also seemed to have a
mysterious connection to Miranda Jameson who claimed not to know him either.
Emily got hooked on drugs.
Taggert debut. Instant
animosity toward Sonny. Probably the most we ever learned of their past at any
given time.
Generally, there was very
little synergy, or intermingling of storylines. Any attempts to tie one story to
another was dropped due to an exiting actor, or negative fan reaction.
Baby Michael saga was
kicked off after Carly's random one-night stand with AJ. Carly drugged AJ in an attempt to make him go
to rehab and encouraged him to not remember their night together.
Ned and Alexis paired.
Keesha Ward seemed
determined to "catch" Carly.
Dara dabbled in singing at
the Outback. Possible dabbling with Mac, never explored.
Felicia spent time away in
Texas.
Alan develops a drug
addiction.
Not only did Emily and Alan
develop drug problems, but Brenda's dependency on pills culminated as well.
Brenda was taking medication for her hip which was injured when she was nearly
run down by a car. Lily's father ordered the hit on Brenda. While trapped in the
catacombs with Sonny, Brenda began detox, and realized she had a problem.
Sarah and Lizzie Webber
show up, and high jinks ensue over Lucky and Nikolas. Stolen test answers
planted on Sarah, Condoms planted on Nikolas, Lucky and Liz start rolling,
Nikolas and Sarah are a bore.
4. December
1997: Guza returns to GH in September of 1997, after exiting his post at
Sunset Beach, and his writings begin airing in early
December.
Shootout at Luke's. Nikolas
shot, and unable to speak.
Brenda loses her mind,
Julia Barrett returns.
Choice "had" to be made between bringing back Robin, or keeping Julia, so
they brought back Robin. Personally, I thought Julia had many possibilities,
with Ned, AJ, Stefan even, but there was apparently no room for both Julia and
Robin as a source of support for Brenda.
Nikolas shifts his focus
from Sarah Webber to Robin Scorpio, and nothing comes of their interactions.
Helena Cassadine debut.
Constance Towers makes the role her own. Uses Alexis as a pawn through
intimidation.
Baby Michael saga
continues, with Carly leaving Tony for Jason, Tony going insane and kidnapping
Michael, and an ailing Robin.
Laura returns to find her
family in shambles.
Liz's rape was primarily
helmed by Michele Val Jean, a rape survivor.
Sarah Webber throws a hissy
fit over Nikolas and Robin, and soon decides to leave town.
Liz's rape prompts Lucky to
discover Luke raped Laura, which begins the snowball that destroys the Spencer
clan.
Jaded Lucky works with
Helena, and steals something to help Alexis in her forced defense of Tony Jones
on his kidnapping charges.
Tony goes free.
Carly shoots Tony. Carly is
committed to Ferncliff.
Keesha Ward leaves to visit
her sick father in Philly, with ONE suitcase, and is never heard from
again.
Maniacal Tess arrives, with
James, a double of Mac, who kidnaps Mac, takes his place, and they were somehow
involved in a plot to kill Jax, for no apparent reason. Felicia and V caught on
to James, and rescued Mac. Felicia and Mac stopped the assassination attempt on
Jax, and Tess and James were written out. The point to all of that was?
Felicia and Mac's fake
relationship developed out of the Tess and James saga, and their pretend
relationship resulted in a very real marriage.
Felicia
decides to become a writer, and rents a room on Cortlandt Street to help with
her suspense novel, and gets involved with Alan's addiction, Tammy the Hooker,
and Felicia was in some sort of danger.
Felicia switches to an
adventure book, planning to use Tammy as the focus. Tammy gets a last name
(Carson), and an ex who split on her (Kirk).
Jerry Jacks debut. Paired with Bobbie. They had frequent sex and sparring sessions. Not much for Jerry to do. Poor planning.
Emily's instant psycho
stalker, Tom the photographer, who made fake nudie pictures of Em, turns out to
be Liz's rapist.
Tony makes a scene at the
Nurses Ball, and Jerry decks him.
Carly returns from
Ferncliff.
Carly/Jason/Robin
triangle at the cottage.
Robin, frustrated with
Jason and Carly's continued involvement, spills Michael's paternity to AJ and
leaves town.
Carly tells Jason to take
Michael away to keep him safe from AJ, then runs over to the Q mansion, claims
Jason kidnapped Michael, and marries AJ (who was happy with Keesha before she
left to visit her sick father).
Katherine Bell is murdered,
in Luke and Alexis's plot to murder Helena, and Stefan stands trial after Luke
frames him to cover his own tracks. Alexis defends Stefan, keeping her part in
the "death" a secret.
Laura takes the stand to
clear Stefan, and Luke learns that Laura and Stefan had a long-ago affair while
Laura was Stavros's prisoner.
Katherine is brought back
to life within four months of her death.
Katherine pursues a
relationship with Nikolas for revenge upon Stefan.
Jason/Carly/AJ's SCALENE
love triangle. No "battle between Cain and Abel" on this show.
Brenda's mother returns
from the dead, INSANE no less, and drives Brenda and herself off a cliff.
Jax mourns, and is arrested
for money laundering. Jax learns the truth about his family's underhanded
dealings through their companies.
Sonny returns, in
manic-depression mode, mourning Brenda months after her death.
Jax and V ship off to Monte
Carlo to pass V off as an heiress to win back Jax's seized fortune.
Robin spills the beans to
AJ that HE, and not Jason, is Michael's father. Robin then splits town.
Ruby passes away.
Lucky and Liz in love.
Alan gets past the
addiction after over a year of bad hair days and dark circles under his
eyes.
Cesar Faison puts on his
lurking shoes as he reenters Port Charles.
Laura and Stefan embark on
a romance.
Agent Hannah Banana debut. Sonny falls for the Brenda double.
Lucky "dies", but is really
held captive by Faison and Helena.
Liz begins her period of mourning, and dabbles with Nikolas and Jason.
Luke sleeps with Tammy, Laura tries reaching out to Luke, but Stefan is more receiving of her.
Felicia again switches the focus of her novel to Lila Quartermaine's mem-wahhhhs. She tracks some love letters down to one of Lila's relatives in Milan.
Chloe Morgan debut. The world-famous fashion designer decides to uproot her high-maintenance life to move to the small hamlet of Port Charles, just to meet Lila.
Instant relationship
between Barbie/Chloe and Ken/Jax.
Mixed marrieds
(Jax/Alexis, Ned/Chloe) farce kicks off because of loopy Aunt Gertrude.
Felicia helps Luke with
Lucky's death, and they embark on a romance.
Simon Prentiss, from Monte
Carlo, whisks V away on a one year world cruise which she is apparently still
enjoying several years later.
Juan Santiago debut.
Instant relationship with
crooning Don Juan and Emily.
Bobbie and Jerry
accidentally make a sex tape that plays at the Nurses Ball.
Sonny and Hannah Banana
crash and burn when Carly and Jason expose Hannah as a Federal Agent.
Hate Sex. Sonny
sleeps with Carly to prove to Jason that Carly's a tramp.
Faison terrorizes
Felicia and Luke.
Roy DiLucca returns from
the dead, and exposes Jerry Jacks for money laundering.
Jerry goes on the run. (Guza ditches a character he created for another character he's recreated.)
Bobbie and Roy have a sex
fest.
Weak Carly/Jason/Liz
triangle.
Jason leaves town.
Lucky returns from the
dead.
Endless Brainwashing
storyline unleashed upon the unsuspecting viewers of GH.
Cesar Faison supposedly
bites the dust again (the same way he did the last time he died).
Chloe is run down by
Helena, who believed Chloe was Alexis. Chloe develops a tumor, and has psychic
dreams through Helena's eyes. No reason is given for the psychic connection
between Chloe and Helena.
Laura and Nikolas believe
that Stefan kidnapped Lucky. Laura dumps Stefan and Nikolas turns his back on
the man who raised him.
The infamous Music Box
plays an inconsequential role in several months worth of storyline between Chloe
and Helena.
Helena "kills" Stefan, but
Stefan really trips on over to Plastic Island for months of eavesdropping,
plotting, and planning.
Jax abandons Chloe in Paris
to chase after a woman who looks like Brenda.
Stefan kidnaps Chloe to
Plastic Island and nothing happens for several months. No one in Port Charles
notices Chloe is missing, either.
Sonny and Carly were a
match made in he!!, and Carly was again impregnated by her one-night stand.
Sonny blackmails AJ into divorcing Carly, and the Sonny & Carly show is
born.
Carly loses her baby after
a scuffle with AJ.
Alexis is dubbed "Eddie's
Angel".
Hannah Banana embarks on a
SCALENE triangle with Taggert and AJ, two devout Sonny-haters.
Zander Smith
debut. Juan Santiago is thrown over for the drug-peddling Rohipnol-crazy
deviant.
Gia Campbell debut. Scooby
Doo Mystery Machine hits the streets of Port Charles to uncover the truth in The
Case of Dead Ted the frozen Copsicle.
Florence Campbell
debuts.
No storyline for Taggert on
either count of Gia or Florence.
5. October
2000: Guza leaves, allegedly frustrated with EP Wendy Riche's
interference.
Elizabeth Korte and Michele Val Jean share Head Writing
duties.
High jinks ensue as Alexis
and Ned plan their wedding.
More filler from
Taggert/Hannah/AJ.
Sonny
and Carly do their thing.
6. December 2000:
Wendy Riche's last stand as Executive Producer.
Alexis abandons Ned at the
altar.
Mistletoe Massacre:
Zander, Emily, Alexis and Sonny are gunned down on the steps of the PCPD
Precinct.
Sonny catches bullets for
Alexis, and has a heavenly experience, seeing Lily and his two dead children
just beyond the pearly gates.
7. January 2001:
Jill Farren Phelps replaces Riche as Executive Producer.
Jensen
Buchanan, FOJ #1, (Friend of Jill) hired while still under contract with ATWT.
Contract disputes and legal trouble for ABC. Emergency temporary
recast.
AJ goes
through alcohol withdrawal as his family looks on at GH.
Michael Saucedo fired as
Juan.
Winterfest is a flop.
Roy is shot, while trying
to stop a crazed druggie who held up the ER of GH. The entire altercation has no
apparent fallout.
Hannah Banana (Lisa
Vultaggio) fired and shipped off to a distant location.
Sonny and Carly tie the
knot in Martinique.
Laura decides to
join the business world and is handed Deception Cosmetics and Carly as a
partner.
Lucky has a miracle eye for
photography.
Liz and Gia do battle for the Face of Deception.
8. March
2001: Megan McTavish joins Head Writing team, and soon after Michele Val Jean
walks out (perhaps forced out). Elizabeth Korte remained on the team. McTavish
seems the primary member of the Head Writing "team", and takes most of the
magazine interviews on storylines.
The Face Of Deception
brings out the worst in Liz, Gia, Carly, and Laura.
Joseph Sorel
emerges as the new mafia rival for Sonny.
After a few
threatening encounters with Sorel, and a bomb or two delivered to Sonny's
penthouse, Carly conspires with Roy to get Sonny arrested by the FBI,
anticipating that Sonny would strike a deal with the Feds, get out of the mob,
and enter the Witness Protection Program with Carly and Michael.
Sarah Brown quits GH,
looking to spread her wings, and Carly is recast with daytime newcomer Tamara
Braun, who's an eventual hit with fans.
Carly's plot is exposed,
and Sonny tries to sever all ties.
Skye Chandler turns up in
Port Charles, claiming Alan Quartermaine to be her father. Alan and Rae Cummings
confirm the truth. Monica is livid, the Quartermaines are shocked to have
ANOTHER illegitimate child come knocking.
Skye shakes the Q
household up. Manipulates Edward, annoys Monica, plays an emotional tug-of-war
with Alan, and finds a friend in half-brother AJ. Skye is the first long-lost
sister of the year 2001. Skye
develops a childish resentment of teenage sister Emily, and plots to get her
away from the family somehow.
Sonny is stabbed at Lily's
gravesite, and stolen away to a Lakehouse on Loon Lake, owned by the
mysteriously white-clad Angel Ellis.
Sonny was supposed to fall
in love with Angel at first sight, but Maurice Benard refused to act out the
horrendous storyline.
Stefan tries to make
amends to Chloe, who holds a grudge for being kidnapped for months.
Scott Baldwin makes a
strong play for Laura.
Luke and Laura are
officially divorced.
Helena has a NEW master
plan deep in the bowels of the earth.
Lucas falls deathly ill,
and Helena bargains with his life to force Tony into a dastardly plot to revive
the cryogenically frozen Stavros Cassadine!
Lucky's brainwashing
resurfaces.
Tony revives Stavros.
Stavros lurks around Port Charles for MONTHS, being seen by no one.
Feeling pressure from
Sorel, Zander and Emily do their best to get out of town. Skye gives the kids
money to hop the first bus outta Port Charles.
The 2001 Nurses Ball is
interrupted by a Bus/Train collision, which renders Emily Quartermaine
paralyzed.
Jax returns to Port
Charles to steal a necklace that belonged to Kristin Bergman, Alexis's mother. a
la Mission Impossible. Skye is instantly smitten with Jax at first sight.
Jax has no news about
Brenda, and he and Chloe can't seem to reconnect.
The mysterious Angel has a
connection to Jax. Lovers after Jax had gone in search of Brenda, Angel was
responsible for bringing Jax together with ANOTHER mystery woman...
Stavros has an eye for the
now single mom Carly, but still carries a torch for Laura.
Luke catches on to the
defrosted devil, and Helena orders the mesmerized Lucky to strike Luke down with
a syringe full of some bizarre toxin that makes Luke see two of himself. Luke
becomes a pig with Felicia, and disappears for a while.
Jax brought a secret to
town. Alexis's long-lost sister, Kristina Carter (second long-lost sister in the
year 2001.) History (and Alexis's age) is rewritten to accommodate the
storyline, and Alexis and Kristina are reunited.
Amber Tamblyn quits GH,
looking to spread her wings, and Emily is shipped off to rehab to get back the
use of her legs.
Sorel takes Carly and
Alexis hostage. Sonny comes out of hiding to save them, with a bomb strapped to
his chest. Sonny detonates the bomb, killing no one, but demolishing much of the
penthouse floor.
Taggert is rendered deaf for nearly five minutes,
the closest he came to a storyline in the year 2001.
Angel Ellis is revealed to
be Sorel's daughter. Angel and Sorel were estranged when Sorel had Angel's
husband murdered. A rather lame excuse is given for why Angel wears white all
the time. ("When my husband Donnie died, I just didn't feel very colorful
anymore"... GAG.)
Sorel is murdered in his
hospital bed, and the suspect list is long. Angel was no angel when she did the
dirty deed, and committed Patricide.
Due to the
audience's general hatred of the Angel character, she was hastily written out,
and Sonny, Carly, and Jax all worked together to help her escape the country to
avoid prosecution for Sorel's murder.
Zander begins working for
Sonny.
Skye puts the moves on
Jax.
Kristina dates Ned, despite
her professions of love and concern for Alexis.
AJ arranges for Emily to
break up with Zander, who's left heartbroken.
Jax finds the toxin to
save Luke, and Luke's double vision is cured.
Chloe catches on that
"Lucien Cain" is really Stavros, so Stavros kills Chloe to cover his tracks. Due
to damning DNA testing, Stefan stood accused of the homicide.
Nikolas fakes being evil to
uncover the secret to freeing Lucky from Helena's control. Nikolas has Helena
"erase" Lucky's love for Elizabeth.
Helena tests Nikolas by
having him first dump Gia, and then ordering him to kill Elizabeth. Liz is
administered a drug by Nikolas that makes her appear dead, while she spends
several months off-screen in Sonny's care.
Lucky failed at all THREE
of his attempts to jump off of the GH roof.
Gia was comforted by "Lucien Cain", an alias used by Stavros.
Elton makes a brief play for Lucien.
Helena and Stavros
initially plotted to release a bio-toxin upon the world, and then hold the
antidote for ransom.
Their plot was scrapped in record time, in
response to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Towers on September 11th.
GH is ordered by ABC to "lighten up", and several drastic changes are made.
AJ makes another run at
Carly for custody of Michael, but Sonny hangs AJ on a meathook until AJ signs
away his rights to Michael.
Skye falls into AJ's
vendetta against Sonny, and Skye finds herself as AJ's only champion.
John J. York dropped to
recurring status as Mac Scorpio.
The Spencer/Cassadine war
is drawn to a slapdash"close" with "Endgame". The Spencers, Cassadines, Gia,
Roy, Scott, and Jax are all kidnapped to Helena's secret underground lab for no
apparent reason, and after a series of Adam West-reminiscent fight sequences,
Stavros fell into a bottomless pit, never to be seen again- except in Luke's
dreams (Robert Kelker-Kelly exits), and Helena was arrested.
Luke decides he
wants Laura back, so Scott gets the shaft. Luke courts Laura, and HUGE issues of
the past are glossed-over for the sake of quieting disgruntled fans with a
rushed and mishandled reunion of Luke and Laura.
Zander finds
comfort with Carly, while Sonny leans on Alexis.
Carly finds backing from
Jax for a new nightclub.
Janine Matthews blows into
town, attempting to swindle Edward out of millions for her daughter's sake. The
secret was, her daughter, Courtney was Janine's by Mike Corbin, making Courtney
Sonny's long-lost sister (third one in the year 2001.)
Liz returned to Port
Charles, no one having noticed she was missing, including Audrey, and reunites
with Lucky, who still secretly can't recall loving Liz.
Nikolas and Gia
become engaged, and Liz pushes for a quickie wedding to Lucky at the Spencer
house. Liz learns the truth about Lucky's feelings, and the wedding is called
off. Family and friends utterly disappointed.
Somewhat ho-hum and sad
Christmas for GH.
Poignant tribute to the victims of Sept. 11th at the end of the year.
Carly/Sonny/Alexis
"triangle" sparks a terrible fan-base war across the American GH audience.
Courtney exposes her
mother's lies to the Quartermaines, and experiences extreme friction with
abrasive Sonny. AJ takes advantage of the opportunity, and manipulates Courtney
into a romance, driving Sonny MAD.
Stefan Cassadine sets sail
for Milan to find a new life for himself apart from the Cassadines.
Lucky begs to start anew
with Liz, who agrees.
Melissa Bedford is suddenly
transformed into a Mercy Killer, and is shipped off to Chicago to face trial.
(Jensen Buchanan FIRED.)
Sarah Webber returns to
town (long-lost sister #4), driving "Lizzie" to distraction and driving Gia to
drink (and drive).
Gia and Liz's car collides
with a furious Courtney's car, and Liz is rushed to GH in need of surgery. To
avoid a traffic violation and possibly several grueling hours of community
service, Gia and Nikolas frame Courtney for the car accident. Courtney goes into
hiding with help from AJ.
Dr. Tony goes MIA, and TPTB
introduce pointless and annoying Dr. Mason Caldwell.
Luke and Laura's trip down
memory lane is interrupted by Jennifer Smith, this time played by the hilarious
Sally Struthers, who kidnaps the duo and tries to force Luke to marry her. Roy
and Felicia save Luke and Laura.
Hints of a Roy/Felicia
pairing.
Monica is MIA for over two
months, with no explanation given for her disappearance. Alan is seen a handful
of episodes more often than Monica.
Carly/Sonny/Alexis AD
NAUSEUM.
Liz recovers from her
injuries, and to ensure Liz's silence, Nikolas and Gia move Liz, Lucky, and
Sarah into Wyndemere. Lucky becomes attracted to the annoying Sarah, who
occasionally likes to run out into the rain, into a barn, and strip down.
Carly's club, Club 101 (of
the UNcreative club names) opens, and is a hit. AJ arrives with Courtney, and
Zander decks AJ. AJ and Courtney run off together, infuriating Sonny and Mike.
Janine whistles a happy tune all the way to the bank (with checks AJ has given
her in order to "rent" her daughter.)
Liz remembers that Gia was
at fault, and this unleashes the "old Liz", who throws herself at shirtless
Luckys, dances on bars, and scowls at people.
Maxie Jones is recast and
aged for no apparent reason by a valley girl. Robyn Richards fans angered. Her
replacement does not last long.
Carly locks Skye
in the Q boathouse, for no apparent reason, and Skye nearly drowns trying to
swim for her life. Jax rescues her and Skye finally beds her White Knight.
The disintegration of
Alexis's integrity continues as her lust for Sonny grows.
No emotional growth for anyone on the canvas for approximately 6-8 months.
9. April 2002: Word breaks of Megan McTavish's firing from and Bob Guza's return to the Head Writing position. Guza was joined by Charles Pratt Jr., who was known for his work on Melrose Place and Sunset Beach. Anthony Geary celebrates.
