General Hospital: Killing Machine

Thanks to a really awesome Super Bowl Sunday that involved disassembling almost the entirety of my dishwasher and ultimately discovering (and having to remove by hand) an enormous glob of greasy fat of unknown origin and age as the culprit of my filthy "clean" dishes and minor flood, I must apologize that last week's GH Week in Review will get rolled into this one.  But wait!  There is still an opportunity for you to bitch about what ABC Daytime has done to one of your favorite shows! 

In December, in the comments section of the brilliant post Mallory did about Georgie Jones' murder (I was less refined and creative with my outrage) the idea came up to make a list of every character Bob Guza had killed off during his reign of terror tenure.  Well, regular reader Chad and his friend Samantha (whom he describes as "curiously resembling Kelly Monaco, both in looks and penchant for drunkenness," therefore furthering my belief that we all need to hang out ASAP) came to the rescue and shared their compilation of every character killed since Guza became sole writer at the start of 1999.  With this disclaimer from Chad (and an invitation from me to add to or edit this list in the comments -- I'll update the post with new info):

What we came up with probably isn't reliable, since we relied on our own memory and some soap websites, and who is a core family or a legacy character can be subjective

I give you the truly disturbing list, along with Chad and Samantha's helpful tallies:

Veronica Barrett
Katherine Bell
Cesar Faison
Joseph Sorel
Chloe Morgan
Kristina Cassadine
Luis Alcazar
Rick Webber
Summer Halloway
John Jax
Stefan Cassadine
Stavros Cassadine
Mary Bishop
Cameron Lewis
Sage Alcazar
Connor Bishop
A.J. Quartermaine
Faith Roscoe
Zander Smith
Rachel Adair
Reese Marshall
Tony Jones
Courtney Matthews
John Durant
Justus Ward
Manny Ruiz
Diego Alcazar
Alan Quartermaine
Lorenzo Alcazar
Leticia Jaurez
Emily Quartermaine
Georgie Jones
Stan Johnson
Cooper Barrett

edited to add:
Jesse Beaudry
Danny McCall
Ida Warren

Characters From Core Families – 10
Characters Who'd Been On The Show For At Least Ten Years - 6
Characters Who'd Been On The Show For At Least Twenty Years - 4
Characters Who Grew Up On The Show - 3
Total - 34 37

And this, of course, doesn't even take into account the scores of dead bodies (played by extras and day players) that end up scattered about after Jason's "heroic" shoot-outs.  I bet that would add a couple dozen to this list, at least.

And for the sake of comparison to a show that we don't have a daily hate-on/disappointment-fest for, Chad and Samantha also made a list of characters offed from One Life To Live during roughly the same time period:

Ian Armitage
Georgie Phillips
Drew Buchanan
Mel Hayes
Grace Davidson
Colin McIver
Sam Rappaport
Mitch Lawrence
Keri Reynolds
Gabrielle Medina
Al Holden
Ben Davidson
Paul Cramer
Jen Rappaport
Duke Buchanan
Spencer Truman
Asa Buchanan
Marty Saybrooke

edited to add:
Margaret Cochrane
Hugh Hughes

Characters From Core Families – 6
Characters Who'd Been On The Show For At Least Ten Years - 2
Characters Who'd Been On The Show For At Least Twenty Years - 1
Characters Who Grew Up On The Show - 0
Total - 18 20

So fear not, dear readers -- all of our bitching about the excessive violence on GH and the lack of respect for veteran actors and longtime characters is not totally baseless!  I mean, even if it was I would totally still keep doing it, because it's super cathartic and fun, but it is nice to know there's some actual evidence to support our rants, you know?

Comments

[Michaela]

And this doesn't even count the "character assassination" Guza is responsible for over the years -- the death that just keeps on giving.

[Beltane]

Not to be picky (becuase I LOVE these lists) but I had to add one name to the OLTL body count: MadMags, Margaret Cochrane because I want her to remain truly, completely and thoroughly dead.

[Ms Chicklet]

Was Sage's friend Trey also killed by Crazy!Mary?

[Dia]

Off the top of my head, they forgot Danny, Sam's brother who died of the virus.

[screwtape]

Guess that means there's a serial killer on the loose.

[Sarah]

If Maxie ever wants to get out of Carly's heinous boutique at the MC and make some real serious money she should open up a funeral home! Ka ching.

[Chad]

Beltane and Dia,

Good ones. Part of the problem is that we didn't set down who was a major character and who was a minor one. Margaret should have counted since she was on the show for a fairly lengthy period and had a major impact storywise. Danny McCall is more iffy, although if we counted John Jax we should have counted him.

I'm not sure about Trey, though. I think he was only on for a few weeks.

screwtape,

That's what's really funny about the list. OLTL had two serial killer storylines in that period (three if you count Daniel Colson) and still the show has a lower body count.

[Nicole]

Add Hugh Hughes to OLTL list.

I'd also like to point out that a large number on the OLTL list were certified villians or super annoying characters. I can't say the same for GH. They kill off the really interesting people!

[Karen]

And on GH, BJ Jones.

[Titian]

and the body count will continue to rise...

the only name on that list that made me smile was courtney matthews. i hated her.

isn't it a shame that there are more dead quartermaine's than cassadines?

7 on the list are gangster/molls

only 2 can be considered true villains

everyone else was totally redeemable, but i suppose laziness got in the way...

[ghsucks]

On GH, don't forget Ida Warren - we still don't know who killed her!

[Taradise4Sbu]

Didn't McTavish off some of those? I thought she was responsible for Chloe, Stavros and Sorel.

Although not characters, a bunch of potential characters were killed with all of the miscarriages.

[V]

"And this doesn't even count the "character assassination" Guza is responsible for over the years -- the death that just keeps on giving." Michaela

I was thinking the same thing. All in the name of mobster love - lovable characters, or strong characters, have to become unlovable characters or wusses.

Wow, all under Guza's watch? That is... pathetic. Thanks for compiling the list. That... is just... wow... amazingly pathetic for a soap. Who needs love in the afternoon when you can have death in the afternoon?

[Marisa]

What about Lily (Sonny's first wife). Ahem, car bomb...nice work, Bob Guza.

[KLe]

"And on GH, BJ Jones."

They are only counting the death since Bob Guza took the reins as the sole head writer. BJ died during the Labine era. I shudder to think how tacky and offensive one of the best and most memorable storylines in soap history would have been if Guza wrote it.

[Susan]

I think a couple of those deaths were under McTrashit, but really Guza is trigger happy isn't he?

And, in the OLTL list, wouldn't Al Holden be considered a charcter who grew up on the show - I know they SOARSed him but I did watch the child of Max Holden and Gabrielle Medina, be born and as a kid I watched him get into lots of mischief with Sarah and CJ. And remember being just about as pissed off with them killing Al off as I have been about Emily and Georgie, since it was just so the show could get rid of his father Max because they were too dumb to know how to write for him!!! Yeah, I'm still a little bitter about that - lol! See OLTL has had it's problems too!

[Beth R.]

I shudder to think what would have become of BJ's heart in Guza's hand...Jason would have probaby had to do the surgery himself..since he dropped out of med school and all....

You know I almost convinced myself the numbers just weren't that bad...until I saw the OLTL list.....and then I went...DAYUM!

[Kendra W.]

Jesse Beaudry is also missing from the General Hospital list!! This was the one death that pissed me off the most because he was ho and Maxie and Jesse were awesome together!!

Evil, evil Guza to deprive us of such prettiness!! :(

[Kendra W.]

That is supposed to say HOT not ho. Oops!

besides Summer, Mary, Connor, Sage, Rachel, and Reese, none of the others deaths were necessary. they were all good characters (not good, but good...you know what i mean).

the other deaths did not need to happen. what the hell is wrong with Guza? does he possess zero creativity in his body, a supposed head writer?

i'm so glad i'm not watching anymore. GH was still decent even a few years back, but now it is unbearable...absolutely NO characters or couples on the show are rootable...NONE.

[Kazou]

Oh I would definitely remove Sage from the "necessary" deaths column. The only other death that irked me as much was Georgie's. Alcazar had such a great relationship with Sage -- she made him human in some respects. I also loved that it wasn't typical "rebellious teen who does the oppositive of whatever her guardian wants." Instead we had a bratty gal to the world who *desperately* wanted to belong and worked so hard to be what Alcazar wanted, while he was removed and hesitant to care about anyone since his brother's death. They had great uncle/niece chemistry. I was so pissed that delicate relationship was butchered. Ugh.

I'll cut OLTL some slack for one death -- Asa Buchanan -- because Phil Carey is in ill health and could no longer do the role. However, the same can't be said of GH. Even though Brad Maule (Tony Jones) also wanted to leave and thought it was a good idea to kill off the character, it's arguable as to whether he left to pursue other interests or because Guza had already effectively "killed" Tony Jones with character assassination and lack of air time. So really, the GH unnecessary death count should add another one.

[TraveSteve]

There is another, larger reason beside the author's disclaimer that the comparison to OLTL is inherently flawed. The entry notes that the GH list is based on this fact: all of the characters mentioned were offed under Bob Guza's supervision. Not so where OLTL is concerned. Of the characters listed, only Margaret, Hugh, Duke, Spencer and Asa were killed during Dena Higley's tenure as head writer. (And even then, it is unclear whether Asa's death was committed under the auspices of Higley or her successor, Ron Carlivati) Every other character listed was killed by some other regime.

Additionally, the GH list includes recurring roles. OLTL's does not. With the possible exception of Georgie Phillips, the characters listed for OLTL were all on contract.

[Matthew]

Guza also killed off Damian Smith and Lily Corinthos, as HW in 1996.

[Missy]

How about Andy Cappelli. He got a decent amount of air time as much as Sam's brother Danny.

[Missy]

Oh... and Brian Beck (forgive me for almost forgetting daniel!)

[Beth R.]

The OLTL may not cover one regime as GH's does...but I believe they have it covering the same time frame as GH's......for reasons I never pretend to understand...GH's writing team has been disturbingly the same despite the evidence of suckitude...and with the exception of Highley's run...OLTL has managed to maintain their characters throughout that same time frame.

Kazou, Phil Carey is in ill health? I could swear I read somewhere that he left because they wanted to drop him to recurring so that he'd no longer be covered by the union contract, and he said he'd always been a union guy and he wasn't going to let OLTL screw him over like that. He didn't want to leave, he was pushed out. Am I crazy, did anyone else read that?

[Kazou]

I don't think you're crazy, and you may well be right. I too originally heard he'd been forced out by being dropped to "recurring" (although I didn't know how that would impact his insurance status). However, I read an interview with Erika Slezak on her website that seemed to indicate otherwise. Here's the relevant part:

Q. What were your thoughts about Phil Carey and his departure form the show?

Slezak: Oh, I'm very sorry that he didn't want to come back -- and it was his decision. He's a very important, huge presence on the show -- both Phil and Asa. And I was very sorry that he decided to leave, but I understand it as well. He's had health problems in the past. He will be greatly missed. I think the show is dealing with it in a very good way.

Now, take that with a grain of salt. Slezak got quite a reaction to her previous interview wherein she lambasted Dena Higley. She later indicated that she didn't realize a newsletter that originally used to go to a very minimal number of subscribed fans was to be distributed via the web and cause such an uproar. She doesn't outright say she wishes she'd been more discreet but she seems to indicate some sense of regret. I think she's been around long enough to be a political animal and could well be indulging in some CYA for TPTB. And heck, it seems to have paid off because she finally has a storyline. Maybe all it took was a bit of her playing the "good company [wo]man" here. Or maybe her previous outspokeness got her the storyline. ::shrug:: I don't know. I *do* know that other outspoken actreses on ABC are usually summarily dumped (Cady, Genie) but then, I'm a bit of a cynic .

[jordanbaker]

What about Lila?? I realize that the main reason she died on the show was b/c of Anna Lee's death in real life, but a) dead is dead, and b) her son still blames her death (in part) to the fact that her contract was changed (she either went to recurring or was dropped entirely--I can't remember at this point), and in doing so, stripped her of the work that she lived for.

[TraveSteve]

"She later indicated that she didn't realize a newsletter that originally used to go to a very minimal number of subscribed fans was to be distributed via the web and cause such an uproar. She doesn't outright say she wishes she'd been more discreet but she seems to indicate some sense of regret." and "I think she's been around long enough to be a political animal and could well be indulging in some CYA for TPTB. And heck, it seems to have paid off because she finally has a storyline. Maybe all it took was a bit of her playing the "good company [wo]man" here."

Good point, but by the same token: no such "political animal" would be naive enough to be surprised that her comments would reach the online community and the publications that track it. Erika Slezak's previous news and fan club letters had been posted online long before she made her comments about Higley. She may not have made the comments with the intention of torpedoing Higley, but she had to have been aware that they'd draw larger attention. Personally, I think she knew what she was doing - and I don't mind it one bit. Higley was a disaster for OLTL.

On a related note: it drives me crazy when OLTL is lumped in with AMC and GH when people point out what's wrong with ABC Daytime, especially when the talk is about female actors over the age of forty. Erika Slezak's lack of story during Higley's tenure was for all intents and purposes an isolated incident in a career exceeding three decades. Viki has been front and center with story for nearly the entire run if the show. We may disagree as to whether that story has been good or worthy of the actor, but still - she's had story.

And look at all the other women over the age of forty who are consistently featured in high-profile stories: Robin Strasser, Hillary B. Smith, Kassie DePaiva, Catherine Hickland. Even Ilene Kristen gets play. To me, it's not so much evidence of ageism on ABC's part as it is evidence of where priorities lie for each individual head writer.