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NBC and Days of Our Lives Just Gave ABC and General Hospital a Cavernously Wide Opening to Once Again Dominate Daytime — Here’s How
Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022
If the peacock network wants to throw away an hour to which soap fans have flocked for decades, we know exactly the countermove that the alphabet network should make.
Apparently, NBC hasn’t heard that everything runs in cycles. So rather than stand by Days of Our Lives until daytime makes such a dramatic comeback that it’s forced to bring back Another World or introduce a new soap, it’s moving the Salem-set sudser to its streaming service, Peacock, and giving that hour every day to another news show.
This just in: We get enough news, thank you. More than enough.
This is pretty much us watching the news, never mind extra news.
Credit: NBC screenshot
Nevertheless, maybe this will work out swell for the powers that be. Maybe it will make Peacock full-enough buckets of money that Days of Our Lives will continue on for another 57 years. Regardless, an opportunity has just been presented to ABC and General Hospital that they would be crazy not to seize!
Time for General Hospital to Flex Its Muscle
If NBC is abandoning the audience that so devotedly tuned in to Days of Our Lives, ABC and General Hospital should pick up those disenfranchised viewers by putting in that time slot another soap, whether a spinoff, a reboot of One Life to Live (we have our own idea about that!) or an altogether new daytime drama. (We’d suggest an All My Children remix, but a primetime version is said to be in the works already.)
Why would such an idea work?
General Hospital viewers, who so often (understandably) complain that their favorite storylines get dropped for weeks at a time, could actually watch a whole show dedicated to them. Call it Port Charles like the 1997-2003 offshoot that focused on Scotty, Lucy, Kevin and, ultimately, vampires.
ABC never should have snuffed out Port Charles and Caleb (Michael Easton, Finn).
Credit: Disney/Getty Images
More: The Days announcement Peacock needs to make immediately
Then separate the cast of General Hospital into the two shows. We could still have crossovers and visits and all that. But we’d never have to see the characters that we like best warm the bench. They’d just be doing their thing on General Hospital 2!
Learn From Your Mistakes
Somewhere in the halls of ABC, someone has to still rue the day that the network cancelled All My Children and One Life to Live, legacy dramas with a viewership more passionate than the audiences of any show that has ever taken their place. This is the network’s opportunity to right that wrong and return to the glory days of Love in the Afternoon. (Recall just how glorious it was here.)
Sure, we’re only talking about two soaps now instead of an entire day’s worth. But can you even begin to fathom the amount of excitement and goodwill that would be generated by ABC recommitting to the daytime-drama genre? Through. The. Roof.
“Don’t cry, Susan. Lemme just get my shirt off. It’ll all be fine.”
Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI
More: The ABC soap that could rival Law & Order
And would any veteran fan not tune in to see what the show was like? Of course, we’d be there in droves — dragging the next generation with us. Just put it on the air, make it freaking fantastic, and let the audience say thanks with an enthusiasm that would be all but unrivaled.
Here, we’ll even give ABC some inspiration. Look through the below photo gallery of General Hospital over the years and remember just how shiny daytime’s Golden Age really was.
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
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<p>Just have a seat and fill out these forms, the doctors will be right with you. Also the mobsters, strumpets, cult leaders, martyrs and madmen.</p>
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<p>General Hospital’s first patient was Angie Costello (Jana Taylor), a young woman who wound up worse for wear after a joyless ride with boyfriend Eddie Weeks (Craig Curtis).</p>
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<p>Angie was treated by Dr. Steve Hardy (John Beradino) — that is, when he wasn’t being distracted by the likes of Nurse Jessie Brewster (Emily McLaughin), fiancée Peggy Mercer (K.T. Stevens), Priscilla Longsworth (Allison Hayes of <em>Attack of the 50 Foot Woman</em> fame) and… <em>Angie</em>?!? What the heck are <em>you</em> doing in there?</p>
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<p>We can only assume that this is a photo of Steve and buddy Lee Baldwin (Peter Hansen) looking at that last picture and going, “Dude! You had it goin’ <em>on</em>!”</p>
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<p>Of course, Steve was destined to fall in love with flight attendant-turned-nurse Audrey March (Rachel Ames), who first had to brush off infatuated patient Randy Washburn (Mark Miller).</p>
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<p>Giving Audrey advice every step of the way — on everything from gentlemen callers to how to open an envelope — was her no-nonsense sister, fellow nurse Lucille (Lucille Wall, who joined the cast in episode No. 14).</p>
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<p>Throughout the 1960s and beyond, Steve’s right-hand woman was Jessie, who had her hands full with philandering husband Phil Brewer (Roy Thinnes). In hindsight, his wandering eye would’ve been easier to spot if they hadn’t all been looking in the same dang direction.</p>
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<p>Jessie knew better than to buy into Phil’s BS. But then he’d look at her like this, and the words “Take a hike, bub!” would get stuck in her throat.</p>
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<p>After what doesn’t look at <em>all</em> like it was the world’s awkwardest job interview — hello, HR! — Steve added to the hospital’s staff Dr. Lesley Williams (Denise Alexander), who’d end up providing as much drama as she did medical care.</p>
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<p>Did we mention that Steve and Audrey got married? Because they did — three times, as a matter of fact. Apparently, the on-again/off-again Hardys were advised that the third time really <em>was</em> the charm.</p>
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<p>Once the Hardys got it right, buildings were tested against their solidity. If Steve and Audrey couldn’t withstand it, then neither, inspectors wagered, could skyscrapers.</p>
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<p>The Hardys epitomized #relationshipgoals right up until his death in 1996. Though Audrey still had a lotta life left in her, she never remarried.</p>
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<p>In the early 1970s, future Luke Skywalker Mark Hamill was a <em>General Hospital</em> regular as Kent Murray, who moved in with aunt Jessie along with sister Carol (Anne Wyndham).</p>
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<p>Occupying the front burner in 1978 were Craig Huebing as shrink Peter Taylor, Alexander as Lesley, Michael Gregory as her love interest Dr. Rick Webber, newcomer Genie Francis as her long-lost daughter Laura and, naturally, Beradino as Steve.</p>
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<p><em>General Hospital</em> was in danger of cancellation when it struck pay dirt in 1978 with the pairing of Francis’ Laura and Kin Shriner’s Scotty Baldwin. After that, the show was only at risk of being… well, too <em>popular</em>!</p>
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<p>Is a supercouple really super if it doesn’t have a spoiler? Probably not, right? So Laura and Scotty’s title was secured — and then ripped away — by a jealous Bobbie Spencer (Jacklyn Zeman), who sought to break them up with the help of big brother Luke (Anthony Geary, pre-perm).</p>
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<p>That umbrella might’ve shielded newlyweds Laura and Scotty from the sun, but nothing could protect them from the runaway train that was the bride’s forbidden attraction to Mob flunky Luke.</p>
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<p>Luke’s rape of Laura should have put the kibosh on any chance that they might have had as a couple. Somehow, it did not. All it did was ruin Herb Alpert’s “Rise” for the rest of us.</p>
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<p>Laura thought long and hard about her feelings for Luke. And then she cast aside all of those sensible thoughts to go with her gut.</p>
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<p>No matter the obstacles that life put between her and Luke, Laura surmounted them. Yep, even an understandably vengeful Scotty.</p>
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<p>Mind you, Luke didn’t make it easy for Laura to choose him. He was as determined to have her as she was at first unsure that it was a good idea to be, well, had.</p>
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<p>Executive producer Gloria Monty took a hands-on approach with Francis as she studied her lines.</p>
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<p>Yup. Francis made Laura the hottest thing since sliced bread. And who doesn’t love sliced bread?</p>
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<p>While all of that was going on, Rick (by then Chris Robinson) showed an interest in auditioning for <em>Deliverance</em>. Cue the banjos!</p>
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<p>When not sucking face, Laura and Luke sought to thwart the villainous Cassadines’ attempt to turn the world into a popsicle with a formula for carbonic snow hidden in the base of a supremely ugly statuette called the Ice Princess.</p>
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<p>The daring endeavor called for the couple to hurl themselves into one scenario after another that <em>had</em> to have been lifted from a James Bond movie.</p>
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<p>In the end, Laura and Luke were so successful in their endeavor to stop climate change before anyone even knew that climate change was a thing that Port Charles insisted they have the biggest, best wedding ever.</p>
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<p>During this period, the sweethearts were so beloved that their portrayers took part in photo shoots that we’d never even <em>seen</em> before putting together this gallery — and we’d have sworn that we’d eyeballed every picture of them that had ever been taken!</p>
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<p>An unexpected — <em>and</em> unwanted — guest at Luke and Laura’s wedding was Helena Cassadine (Elizabeth Taylor), who blamed the bride and groom for the demise of her husband, Mikkos.</p>
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<p>At least Luke’s pal, Robert (Tristan Rogers), appeared to be able to hold Helena’s interest as much as the notion of retribution.</p>
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<p>Then again, the she-devil might have just been plotting to poison him. She’s always been like that, you know.</p>
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<p>How was Laura — or <em>any</em> bride — supposed to compete with a diva in an outfit like this? The curse that Helena placed on the Spencers was almost superfluous!</p>
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<p><em>Aaanyway</em>… Laura and Luke’s nuptials wound up being a simple affair… attended by some 30 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode of a soap opera in TV history.</p>
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<p>The newlyweds saw a bright future ahead of them. They just didn’t realize how short it would be, at least at first.</p>
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<p>To this day, the Spencers’ lavish wedding remains the standard against which all other soap ceremonies are measured.</p>
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<p>In other plots — and yes, there were some — once Monica Webber (Leslie Charleson) had for the most part stopped ping-ponging between Rick and his brother, Jeff, she focused her attentions on… well, as you can see, <em>General Hospital</em>’s newest doctor, filthy-rich Alan Quartermaine (Stuart Damon).</p>
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<p>Alan’s parents, Edward (David Lewis) and Lila (Anna Lee), knew better than to involve themselves in his squabbles with Monica. This, of course, did nothing to stop them from involving themselves in the Bickersons’ quarrels.</p>
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<p>Here, Edward sits idly by waiting to see if Monica is going to remind his son of the time he almost dropped a roof on her and loverboy Rick. (Hey, we only said that she was done ping-ponging between the Webber boys, not that she was done ping-ponging.)</p>
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<p>Mind you, Alan was not without his own peccadilloes. In addition to his fling with Susan Moore, he up and <em>married</em> gold digger Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring), a move that could’ve put his family in the same color as her plus-sized hat and gown.</p>
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<p>At least Alan’s affair with Susan brought into the fold golden boy Jason (Steve Burton), the saintly antithesis of his ne’er-do-well older half sibling, A.J. (Sean Kanan).</p>
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<p>Jason and A.J.’s early-1990s peers included scheming Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil), muscle-bound Jagger Cates (Antonio Sabato Jr.), secret stripper Karen Wexler (Cari Shayne) and Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), the daughter of superspies Robert and Anna. More on them in a bit…</p>
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<p>Neither Monica nor brother-in-law Paul Hornsby (Paul Satterfield) were really interested in hearing how justified Alan had been in contemplating dropping a roof on her and Rick. Let it go, buddy. Let. It. Go.</p>
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<p>A car wreck with a drunk A.J. transformed Jason from a promising future doctor into a Mob flunky who, if he was going to wear any shirt at all, was going to wear a tight black T. No exceptions.</p>
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<p>But we’re getting <em>way</em> ahead of ourselves. Let’s rewind to the 1980s once more, shall we?</p>
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<p>In its Golden Age, <em>General Hospital</em> attracted a Who’s Who of famous folks, among them Sammy Davis Jr., who passed through Port Charles as Eddie Phillips for a fraught family reunion with estranged son Bryan (Todd Davis) and daughter-in-law Claudia (Bianca Ferguson).</p>
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<p>Legendary funnyman Milton Berle briefly played Mickey Miller, the talent agent responsible for the career of B-movie starlet Tiffany Hill (Sharon Wyatt).</p>
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<p>Mickey was also the mover and shaker that turned Luke’s bride into a supermodel who vanished in the fog on Port Charles’ docks. That is, Mickey made Laura Miss Star Eyes; as far as we know, he had nothing to do with the weather that fateful night.</p>
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<p>After Laura’s disappearance, Luke teamed up with reporter Jackie Templeton (then Demi Moore) in hopes of finding not only his wife but her sister.</p>
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<p>Jackie’s younger sibling, Laura (Janine Turner), did turn up. But Luke’s Laura? No such luck.</p>
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<p>Viewers didn’t buy Laura 2.0 as a new love interest for Luke. And they soon discovered that they preferred Jackie with Luke’s BFF Robert than with Luke.</p>
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<p>In the 1980s, it was tough for Robert to go anywhere without running into someone with whom he’d been involved. Tiffany? Check. Jackie? Check. Yeah, his little black book really wasn’t little at all.</p>
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<p>“Widower” Luke’s romance with impish con artist Holly Sutton (Emma Samms) was just heating up when he was “fatally” snowed in by an avalanche. (On <em>General Hospital</em>, matters of life and death have pretty much always belonged in air quotes.)</p>
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<p>To save Holly from deportation in 1983, Robert (Tristan Rogers) stepped up and made his “late” buddy’s pregnant girlfriend his wife. As you can see, she wasn’t the <em>least</em> bit nervous.</p>
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<p>Really, it <em>was</em> convenient for the Scorpios to be hitched once they realized that they’d fallen for one another. Naturally, that was when Luke thawed out enough to return to Port Charles alive and well… ticked.</p>
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<p>Losing Holly to Robert turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Luke, who’d have had a lot of explaining to do once Laura emerged from the fog with a wild story about having been held prisoner for years by Stavros Cassadine.</p>
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<p>Monica’s ex, Jeff (future <em>MacGyver</em> star Richard Dean Anderson), tried in vain to get virginal Nurse Anne Logan (Susan Pratt) to play doctor with him.</p>
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<p>Noah Drake (Rick Springfield) also attempted to get Anne to sample his bedside manner. And Noah scored with, like, <em>everybody</em>! But Audrey’s niece managed to leave Port Charles with her virginity intact.</p>
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<p>We don’t have to tell you that while Springfield was making the rounds as Noah, his music career was taking off, do we? Yeah, he wouldn’t be a “working-class dog” for long.</p>
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<p>Edward’s illegitimate son, Jimmy Lee Holt (Steve Bond), and Celia Quartermaine (Sherilyn Wolter) became kissing cousins… once removed, at least.</p> <p> </p>
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<p>Among Jimmy Lee’s Port Charles pals were Lou Swenson (Danielle Von Zerneck) and her boyfriend, Blackie Parrish (<em>the</em> John Stamos), a baby-faced hooligan-turned-baby-faced pop star taken in by Rick and Lesley.</p>
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<p>Even stylish Tiffany had to admit that Blackie cleaned up pretty nicely. If he was a street kid, that street must’ve been Fifth Avenue.</p>
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<p>By 1983, Blackie and his band, the Riff Raff, were on the fast track to fame and fortune, thanks to manager Steffi Brand (Elissa Leeds). But the drummer cracked under the pressure to produce a hit.</p>
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<p>Blackie wound up stealing a song from bellhop Josh Clayton (Jimmy “Brother of Kristy” McNichol), a crime that indirectly led to Lou’s death and a new gig… headlining at the state penitentiary!</p>
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<p>Sorry, Lou. We did <em>not</em> want you to have to find out this way.</p>
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<p>Once Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner) saw through the boy drag donned by Felicia Cummings (Wagner’s future wife, Kristina Malandro), he only had eyes for the lady of his heart.</p>
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<p>If something exciting went down in Port Charles in the 1980s, Felicia and Frisco were guaranteed to turn up.</p>
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<p>By the time the couple tied the knot, Frisco had already given up on becoming the next Michael Damian to begin a career in law enforcement.</p>
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<p>After a while, it was hardly even awkward anymore that Frisco’s doctor brother, Tony (Brad Maule), married his sibling’s ex-girlfriend, Tania Roskov (Hillary Edson). As long as Frisco didn’t hum “All I Need,” anyway.</p>
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<p>After Tania’s untimely demise, Tony wound up slipping a ring on the finger of his confidante, Bobbie.</p>
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<p>Tony was definitely the one of Bobbie’s four husbands with whom she made the best match. <em>And</em> their marriage outlasted all the rest, including her union with lawyer Jake Meyer (Sam Behrens).</p>
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<p>Having lost his moral compass when he had Laura, Scotty hooked up with scheme queen Heather Webber (Robin Mattson), with whom we’d find out decades later he had a son: Franco.</p>
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<p>Scotty found a kindred spirit in fellow conniver Lucy, who arrived on the scene in the least convincing disguise since Felicia passed herself off as a guy. Lucy Coe a mousy librarian? Don’t make us LOL.</p>
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<p>Lucy and Scotty were so popular that they — along with Kevin Collins, the third leg of a long-running love triangle — were spun off into their own soap, <em>Port Charles. </em>They eventually took a back seat to angels and vampires and so on, but that’s another story for another day.</p>
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<p>If you wanted to know who was doing what to or with whom in Port Charles, Laura’s sister, Nurse Amy Vining (Shell Kepler), was your go-to. She couldn’t have kept herself from spilling the tea if it had come in a sippy cup.</p>
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<p>… pretend you’re not paying any attention whatsoever to what Jessie and Bobbie are saying. There’s no high quite like eavesdropping in plain sight.</p>
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<p>Simone Ravelle (Laura Carrington — yes, the blind sculptress in Lionel Richie’s “Hello” music video) was torn between Harrison Davis (Kevin Best) and… wait for it…</p>
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<p>By the time Stephanie Williams started playing Simone, she was married to Steve’s son, fellow doctor Tom Hardy (David Wallace).</p>
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<p>Later, Tom (by then Matthew Ashford, better known as Jack on <em>Days of Our Lives</em>) had a short-lived relationship with Felicia and a thing for colorful African jewelry.</p>
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<p>That might as well have been the motto of Monica’s illegitimate daughter, Dawn Winthrop (Jennifer Guthrie). After being torn for a couple of years between Mom’s onetime boy toy — nephew Ned Ashton — and Decker Moss (Michael Watson), she met her maker decades before their scheduled appointment.</p>
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<p>More than the ivories got tinkled when Robert made it his mission to protect from harm pianist Katherine Delafield (Edie Lehmann).</p>
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<p>It turned out that it was Katherine’s cousin/fiancé from whom she needed protecting; he’d arranged for “accidents” to befall her entire family, and she was next on his hit list.</p>
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<p>The reunion of once-married secret agents Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) and Robert shed light on a lot of unfinished business between them — <em>and</em> revealed that she’d given birth to his daughter, Robin. Surprises all around, then!</p>
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<p>Following Holly’s “death,” Robert and Anna gravitated toward one another anew. And, according to this picture, they did so by candlelight.</p>
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<p>Robert and Anna not only dealt with that pesky business about her once having been a double agent, they burned this hat. Or so we can hope!</p>
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<p>In the early 1990s, Robert was also reunited with estranged sibling Mac Scorpio (John J. York). As you know, they ultimately made peace. But at first, things were so tense between them that Robert accused Mac of trying to have him rubbed out!</p>
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<p>Though Robert and Anna remarried, her heart was earmarked for another man, one she’d yet to meet…</p>
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<p>So many sparks flew between Anna and Scottish mobster Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) that they were regarded around town as a fire hazard.</p>
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<p>Duke didn’t so much sweep Anna off her feet as he pointed her toes in the direction of the dance floor.</p>
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<p>So handsome a fellow was Duke, who cheated both death and, at one point, on Anna, we barely noticed the elaborate painting behind him. <em>That’s</em> handsome.</p>
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<p>Brainwashing victim Dusty Walker (grownup teen idol Shaun Cassidy) was no better at forging a lasting relationship with Terry Brock (Robyn Bernard) than he was at sightseeing. Again, Mount Rushmore is <em>behind</em> you, kids. <em>Behind</em> you.</p>
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<p>Though Edward was “killed” in a 1989 plane crash <em>and</em> Lila spoke with his ghost, by 1991, the Quartermaines’ patriarch (now played by David Lewis) was available again to appear in family portraits. “That’s just the way it goes in Port Charles,” said Monica’s unfazed expression.</p>
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<p>Whenever her in-laws became too much, Monica reminded them who owned the roof over their heads and threatened to put out the unwelcome mat.</p>
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<p>In 1991, Geary returned to <em>General Hospital</em> — but not as Luke, as his lookalike cousin, Bill Eckert.</p>
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<p>For some reason, it was a big deal that Bill’s sister, Jenny (Cheryl Richardson), wasn’t a virgin when she married man-ho Ned. Double standard, anyone?</p>
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<p>Jenny eventually blackmailed Tracy Quartermaine into freeing husband Paul (Paul Satterfield) to be with her. This was, of course, decades before Dillon’s dad became a serial killer. That probably would’ve been a deal-breaker for Cheryl.</p>
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<p>Like his cousin, Bill found it hard — make that impossible — to resist Holly’s charms.</p>
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<p>Bill also romanced Brenda’s older sister, Julia (Crystal Carson). Obviously, neither of these relationships was quite as successful as, say, Luke and Laura’s.</p>
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<p>In 1993, <em>General Hospital</em> killed off Bill and returned Geary to his original role and his original leading lady.</p>
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<p>The actors’ comebacks were a resounding success. Geary added seven (!) more Daytime Emmys to his trophy case, and in 2007, Francis finally won her long-overdue first.</p>
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<p>While away from Port Charles, the Spencers had been running a diner with son Lucky (Jonathan Jackson). What? Everybody needs a break from high-stakes adventures once in a while.</p>
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<p>If the Spencers thought that their return to Port Charles was going to be smooth sailing, they were in for a rude awakening. But first… about that nap…</p>
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<p>An insta-hit with the soap’s viewers, Jackson went on to score five Emmys and, recasts notwithstanding, basically <em>own</em> the role of Luke and Laura’s firstborn.</p>
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<p>It was while helping Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) recover from a sexual assault that Lucky realized that he was in love with Audrey’s granddaughter.</p>
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<p>Lucky was understandably horrified to learn that back in the day, Dad had forced himself on Mom — and still, they’d forged a life together.</p>
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<p>During Jackson’s breaks from <em>General Hospital</em>, Lucky was recast with two other Emmy winners — Jacob Young (best known as Rick Forrester on <em>The Bold and the Beautiful</em>) and Greg Vaughan (later Eric Brady on <em>Days of Our Lives</em>). If we have to tell you which of them is pictured here, um, this is your first time visiting Soaps.com, yes?</p>
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<p>Ha. As if. But if there was one normal thing that could be pulled off by the Spencers — with Julie Marie Berman as Lulu and Vaughan here as Lucky — it was taking a gorgeous portrait.</p>
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<p>Monica and Alan couldn’t have guessed when they adopted her ill-fated fellow cancer patient’s daughter, Emily Bowen (Amber Tamblyn), just how well the youngster would fit in with her new relatives: The kid was a born trouble magnet!</p>
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<p>Another branch was added to the Quartermaines’ family tree by Edward’s grandson, Justus Ward (played first by <em>Cosby Show</em> alum Joseph C. Phillips).</p>
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<p>That twinkle in the eye of Robert’s old WSB boss, Sean Donely (John Reilly), suggested that wherever he went, mischief was sure to follow. Side note: Mischief did, in fact, always follow.</p>
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<p>Sean met his match in Tiffany, who became kinda the Lesley Stahl of Port Charles.</p>
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<p>… Sean would’ve been in big trouble. But smoke coming out of Tiffany’s ears was tantamount to foreplay for the Donelys.</p>
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<p>While Ned was moonlighting as rocker Eddie Maine, he took on Bensonhurst babe Lois Cerullo (Rena Sofer, now Quinn Forrester on <em>The Bold and the Beautiful</em>) as not only his manager but his wife. One small problem…</p>
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<p>Ned already <em>had</em> a so-called better half. Not that he loved Katherine Bell (Mary Beth Evans, during a break from her stints as <em>Days of Our Lives</em>’ Kayla Brady). But still, it was a big — as in bigamy — deal.</p>
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<p>Needless to say, true love won out, and Ned ultimately remarried Lois — perhaps foreshadowing his eventual union with yet another Brooklyn-born beauty, Olivia Falconeri.</p>
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<p>The romance of Jagger’s kid brother, Stone (Michael Sutton), and Robin (Kimberly McCullough) was serious business. Instead of worry about promwear and finals, they were forced to deal with his HIV-positive status.</p>
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<p>As Stone’s condition deteriorated, he wished a kinder fate upon Robin, to whom he had given the disease.</p>
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<p>Steve would have given anything to have cured Stone. But the drugs available now to treat AIDS patients weren’t on the market then. His death to this day remains one of <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/soaps/news/576654/soap-opera-characters-most-heartbreaking-deaths-photos/" target="_blank">soapdom’s most heartbreaking ever</a>.</p>
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<p>In the mid-1990s, L&B Records sensation Miguel Morez (Menudo alum Ricky Martin, years from “Livin’ La Vida Loca”) reunited with lost love Lily Rivera (Lilly Melgar) when they weren’t busy being spoilers in supercouple’s relationships.</p>
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<p>Knowing that mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) had turned her high-school classmate into a drug-addicted pole dancer, Brenda meant to steer clear. But he just kept flashing those dimples at her.</p>
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<p>An attractive alternative was presented to Brenda in the form of Aussie businessman Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher). She couldn’t even use the name Jasper as an excuse not to fall for him — as you well know, he went and still goes by Jax.</p>
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<p>On the rebound from Sonny, Brenda impetuously became Jax’s bride… just as the infamous “clink-boom” scene removed from the mafioso’s life pregnant wife Lily.</p>
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<p>Brenda had about as easy a time choosing between Sonny and Jax as we do between fries and hash browns. And unlike us, she couldn’t just say, “Screw it, I’m having both.”</p>
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<p>In the end — or at least what was the end for the moment — Brenda decided to recommit herself to Jax.</p>
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<p>Instead of buy Brenda something off her bridal registry, Sonny showed up at her and Jax’s remarriage ceremony with the groom’s “late” wife, Miranda (Leslie Horan).</p>
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<p>As you can see, Brenda did not take it well.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, Port Charles newcomer Carly Benson (then Sarah Brown) busied herself seducing Tony — to get even with his wife, her long-lost mother, Bobbie.</p>
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<p>When Luke and Laura’s daughter, Lulu, needed a bone-marrow transplant, the tot’s mother was forced to reach out to Stefan Cassadine (Stephen Nichols), the only man who’d ever been as obsessed with her as Stavros. And Luke. OK, a lotta guys had fixed on Laura.</p>
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<p>Stefan brought to Port Charles nephew Nikolas (Tyler Christopher), the product of Laura’s “marriage” to Stavros. The teenager saved Lulu’s life, but the revelation of his existence damn near killed his mother’s marriage to Luke.</p>
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<p>Further complicating matters — was that a thing that was lacking? — was Nikolas’ yearning for Elizabeth, which in 2009 led to them taking… er… let’s call it a gamble?</p>
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<p>After Carly blew up her mom’s marriage, Bobbie got mixed up with one bad guy (Jerry Jacks) after another (Stefan) before reverting to form and crushing anew on old flame Scotty.</p>
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<p>A combination of hate sex and circumstance — so much circumstance — led to Carly (eventually Tamara Braun) and Sonny becoming mobster and wife. Mind you, along the way, they fell so deeply in love that they couldn’t have climbed back out if you’d thrown them a rope.</p>
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<p>Betrayal has never sat well with Sonny. So he hit the roof and kept right on going when Carly did the unthinkable and tried to help find him a way out of the Mob.</p>
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<p>Eventually, Carly (now Laura Wright) came to accept that dodging bullets was just going to be part and parcel of being Mrs. Sonny Corinthos.</p>
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<p>Sonny was surprised to learn that he and long-ago lover Olivia’s trysting had resulted in the birth of a son — a cop, no less — Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna), who fell for Lulu and never looked back.</p>
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<p>As a matter of fact, Sonny didn’t learn that he and Dante were related until after he’d shot the undercover cop who was trying to bust him. (New in town, Dante didn’t yet know that busting Sonny just isn’t in the realm of possibility.)</p>
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<p>The combination of Sonny’s short fuse and ready access to firearms has always been a recipe for disaster. Just ask Johnny Zacchara (Brandon Barash, now <em>Days of Our Lives</em>‘ Jake Lambert), who once replaced him in Olivia’s arms.</p>
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<p>Through it all, Sonny has had at his side loyal-as-a-Labrador henchman Jason. Thank goodness Stone Cold got that brain damage that erased so much of his memory that he decided to become a Mob enforcer instead of a doctor!</p>
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<p>After Jason’s relationship with Robin went belly up, she fell in hate with Noah’s son, Patrick (Jason Thompson, now <em>The Young and the Restless</em>’ Billy Abbott). Soon, the doctors had lost all track of the thin line that was supposed to separate the emotion that they <em>thought</em> they felt for one another… and love.</p>
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<p>After withstanding the nightmares that were Lisa Niles and Robin’s “death,” the Drakes made what may have been the most sensible move any <em>General Hospital</em> characters ever have: They took daughter Emma and got the hell outta town!</p>
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<p>“Didn’t We Almost Have It All?” could’ve been Jason and Elizabeth’s theme song. “Liason” never could get it together long-term — and, according to Burton, <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/general-hospital/news/580254/general-hospital-steve-burton-says-no-reunion-for-jason-elizabeth/" target="_blank">it’s doubtful that they ever will</a>.</p>
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<p>Jason found lasting love with Sonny’s former squeeze, Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco). Then he found it with her again after he was “killed.” Then it turned out that <em>that</em> “he” was his heretofore-unknown twin brother, Drew Cain (Billy Miller). So the real Jason and Sam had to find it yet again after Patient Six was unwrapped and Drew given his own identity.</p>
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<p>Starting over was never a problem for Jason and Sam. They did it a <em>lot</em> — and you know what they say about practice. (Makes perfect.)</p>
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<p>After losing Kiki Jerome, Sonny’s son, Morgan (Bryan Craig) comforted himself by… why, of <em>course</em>! Hooking up with her mother, Ava Jerome (Maura West), who ultimately wound up giving birth to his half sister, Avery.</p>
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<p>If Carly disliked Morgan’s choice of lover — and did she ever — she <em>really</em> despised the gal with whom his half brother Michael (Chad Duell) hooked up: human wrecking ball Nelle Benson (Chloe Lanier).</p>
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<p>Following the cancellation of <em>One Life to Live</em>, Todd Manning (Roger Howarth) and daughter Starr (Kristen Alderson) crossed over to <em>General Hospital</em>. Then, when legal issues put the kibosh on their move, the actors were given new roles — Kiki Jerome and Franco, aka the madman previously played by movie star James Franco.</p>
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<p>Following the death of Frisco and Felicia’s daughter, Georgie, sister Maxie (Kirsten Storms) became besties with the ill-fated young woman’s crush, computer whiz Damian Spinelli (Bradford Anderson).</p>
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<p>Though “Spixie” fell in love and went so far as to throw a wedding, they hesitated to exchange vows and instead said, in the sweetest way imaginable, “I don’t.”</p>
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<p>Luke and Laura might have gotten all the hoopla, but his Mrs. Right was actually fellow opportunist Tracy (Jane Elliot). How do we know they were perfect for each other? She even let him get away with calling her Spanky Buns — <em>that’s</em> love.</p>
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<p>Mikkos’ illegitimate daughter, Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), keenly aware of her predilection for anti-heroes, knew that if she looked directly at the pecs of mobster Julian Jerome (William deVry), her resolve would weaken to the point that it didn’t exist.</p>
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<p>In Nathan West (Ryan Paevey), Maxie had finally found a man truly worthy of her love. Little did they know that their relationship was behind the eight ball from the start.</p>
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<p>When not playing dress-up, Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen) broke the heart of beau Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard) by marrying his bestie, Michael, in order to win custody of the baby she’d long believed was hers. Got all that?</p>
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<p>Hamilton Finn (Michael Easton in his umpteenth <em>General Hospital</em> role) had finally formed a brotherly relationship with Chase when stepmother Jackie showed up in town.</p>
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<p>So determined was Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) to bring a smile to the face of Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros) that he manufactured a daughter for her. Hope he saved the receipt.</p>
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<p>The deck was stacked against the Ashfords, Curtis (Donnell Turner) and Jordan (then Briana Nicole Henry), what with their being former in-laws with a tumultuous past. But they couldn’t fight the chemistry between them, not forever, so in the end, he made his late brother’s wife his own.</p>
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<p>John Hughes would’ve <em>killed</em> to have had youngsters to work with that are as appealing as the ones that play <em>General Hospital</em> teenagers Trina Robinson (Sydney Mikayla), Dev Cerci (Ashton Arbab), Cameron Webber (William Lipton) and Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy). Not that Molly Ringwald wasn’t cool, too.</p>
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<p>When puberty hit Spencer Cassadine, it hit him with a pretty stick, turning him into Nicholas Alexander Chavez and thrusting him into an infuriating love triangle with sweet Trina Robinson and sour Esme Prince.</p>
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<p>When Drew rose from the grave, he did so looking a lot like <em>All My Children</em>’s shirtless wonder Ryan Lavery (aka Cameron Mathison) and asking one singular question: Would no one kiss his boo-boo? No one?</p>
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<p>It was sad rather than glad tidings that Tracy brought back to Port Charles with her in early 2022: Luke had died. Or <em>had</em> he?</p>
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<p>After a reign of terror that lasted longer than, gee, <em>anyone</em> wanted, Peter August (Wes Ramsey) was finally put on ice by his babymama’s mama, Felicia. Maybe it makes us cold that we didn’t cry along with his own almost mama Anna. And maybe we’re OK with that.</p>
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<p>A case of amnesia resulting from a Julian-killing mishap propelled Sonny into a new life as “Mike” — <em>and</em> a new love with Nina, who for ages (!) kept secret the fact that Carly’s husband was alive and well in Nixon Falls.</p>
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<p>Michael and Willow were well on their way toward becoming the cutest couple in the history of couples when… yikes. She turned out to be the daughter of the only woman that he hated more than Alexa when she wouldn’t obey his commands: Nina.</p>
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<p>Even before Spencer Cassadine (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Trina (now Tabyana Ali) locked lips, they already had set tongues wagging as the next-gen supercouple about which the audience was most stoked. That is, unless that distinction went to the twosome who’d made such a splash at the Metro Court’s pool in the summer of 2022.</p>
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<p>No disrespect to Cameron, but by the time double agent Dex Heller (Evan Hoder) and Joss had made even dumpster-diving sexy, we were all in. And we don’t mean in the dumpster, either. Ew!</p>
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<p>Possibly what comes after the bone, too. The marrow? Any way you sliced it, Esme Prince (Avery Kristen Pohl) was doomed. Besides having — surprise! — psycho killers Ryan Chamberlain and Heather for parents, she wound up bearing the offspring of beau Spencer’s Daddy Dearest, Nikolas.</p>
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<p>The Hook killer’s reign of terror made us altogether reevaluate Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) — to the point that we actually felt for the redeemed villainess once known as The Britch when mom Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati) was forced to bid her adieu in 2023.</p>
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<p>… consider it exploded. Nina only learned that Willow was the twin of ill-fated daughter Nelle when it looked like she might join her twisted sister in the hereafter.</p>
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<p>… did <em>not</em> keep the wedding of Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr) and Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) from going <em>all</em> the way off the rails. Nothing could have saved the nuptials, considering that the bride was keeping a whopper of a potential paternity secret from her groom.</p>
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