November 17th, 1981. Luke & Laura General Hospital premiered on April 1st, 1963 and it's been running more or less daily ever since. By the time the 80's rolled around the show had already been airing for 18 years. Ratings were low, in fact in 1978, it almost got cancelled. That's when ABC executive Jackie Smith decided to hire Gloria Monty as the show's executive producer and Douglas Marland as head writer . They hoped the fresh blood would attract a new youth audience to replace the original fans who were now in their 60's. In a stunning show of brilliance they took one of the lower regarded characters, troubled teenager Laura Spencer, played by troubled 19-year-old Genie Francis, and made her one of the central pivots of the show. Due to Gloria Monty's re-invention, Laura went from appearing a few times a week, to having 50 pages of script, per day, devoted to herself entirely. Early stories included killing her older lover, David Hamilton, for cheating on her with her mother. The ratings soared as teenagers connected to Laura's story and character. Obviously teenagers in the 80's were getting around at an alarming rate... Luke Spencer was brought into the show in 1978, played by Anthony Geary . Luke was first supposed to be killed off after 13 weeks, but teenage girls loved Lukes edgy volatility. After about a years worth of break ups with other characters and a will they or won't they build up between the two, Luke Spencer ultimately rapes Laura to the sounds of Rise by Herb Alpert. That was the idea of new head writer Pat Falken Smith. See, despite Morty's success, they replaced her with Smith in the following season, they also replaced a budding romance with a rape plot that leads to the rape victim falling in love with the rapist. That says a whole lot about gender roles in our culture... Naturally audiences were shocked and angered at first, but Smith had an ace in his pocket. "From that point on, we played regret and his total devastation," Geary said. "That's a story nobody wants to tellthat the rapist's life is as devastated as the person he rapes. His great love and regret and guilt are what caught the audience so off guard." I'd like to just point out that the reason nobody wants to tell that story is because it's kind of bull. The slave master is not as devestaed whipping the slave as the slave is getting whipped, Someone kicking your ass, is not as devastated as the slave, getting your bottom kicked, is a lot more devastating than kicking someone elses', and if you're a rapist and you feel bad after your rape: Congratulations, your still human! But that accolade comes with a clear "go fudge yourself about it!"... In November of 1981, Luke and Laura, amidst magical curses, and jealous ex's, finally tie the knot to the enraptured applause and deafening screams of over 30 million viewers. It is, to this day, the highest rated event in daytime television history (excluding sporting events)... and if that doesn't say something else about gender roles in our society, you're clearly not listening hard enough...
Unpublished author, unproduced screenwriter, un-enacted playwright & director for higher (currently waiting by the phone), Guillaume Parisien sometimes writes puff pieces for the pop-culture indulgent in order to support his vices; of which there are many.
