Ive tried for years to convince folks there was animosity between TG and GF to no avail. Nice for the truth to finally come out.

in an ideal world, tony wouldn’t be lieaving, genie would be back full time, and who cares who luke ends up with, that should be left for the last episode of the show, wish would be NEVER! , But seriously, ideally luke would end up with laura considering everything they went through. its really hard because Tracy should be happy too, so maybe this is the best ending for now, later down the road maybe we will all learn that luke ended with both and moves to utah…..

I really love tony geary’s Luke but he wouldn’t be one of the most memorable soap stars without laura and Genie. Luke and Laure were the shit and for her to feel like she had to ask is really sort of sad. As much as I love Luke I’m always surprised at how much of tonys demands the show put up with over the years. Laura is a legend who really should have been treated better and that’s not on Tony but I don’t think he helped.

Why Genie Left General Hospital;

General Hospital had divorced them, paired them up with other lovers and even killed them off. Yet it still seemed like Luke and Laura’s honeymoon would never really be over – until now, that is. Earlier this month, after acting opposite Anthony Geary off and on for a quarter of a century, leading lady Genie Francis quit in a bitter dispute with her soap’s brass over what she considers to be their preferential treatment of her co-star. (According to sources, Geary is allowed to take extended vacations, rewrite dialogue and improvise at the drop of a hat; Francis is not.)

TVGO: We’re talking about executive producer Jill Farren Phelps?

Francis: Yes. She basically said she wasn’t sure how much [time] I could have or when I could have it, but I couldn’t have it all at one time and that I was not within my legal right to ask for it. Apparently, they put in my last contract that I had to give 120 days notice to get a six-week vacation. I had completely forgotten that it was there, and that made me really angry because I fought all along to have equality with my partner, Tony, and they don’t impose that on him for his vacations, but they do impose it on me

TVGO: So, this isn’t a permanent farewell?

Francis: I can’t really say a permanent goodbye to [GH], because it’s just too painful. I don’t really know. There would have to be some kind of clarity about equality. There would have to be some resolution for me.

And there would have to be an interesting role to play. There hasn’t been for three years now. They took it out of me with the death of Lucky, and then they really didn’t know what to do with me after that. And I got really bored, and I think the writers got really bored and didn’t know what to do with me. Then [headwriter Bob] Guza – who’s so smart – came up with this great, crazy, screw-loose Laura, which I have to say was… really a great way to end. I ended on a totally up note, and that felt good to me.

Agreed! Plain and simple – without Laura there would not have been a Luke.

As far as I’m concerned AG can find the door and not come back! I watched the Daytime Emmy’s and that was it for me. The way he treated GF was disgusting,,he acted as if he couldn’t stand for her to even be near him. Does he not understand that Luke AND Laura made him who he is today with his career?
So with that being said,,I hope GF stays for a very long time and
TG leaves alone and broken,,, maybe he should watch how he interacts with people. Bye bye Luke,,, don’t come back

i agree. I dont think tony dislikes genie, he has been over l&l for years. I think the fans should get what they want now. Both are class acts but people move on. That said, i dont believe tony would have lasted this long without the l&l history.

I want to put a couple of things out there before I get to the matter at hand – I love me some Genie Francis. Despite me being gay and realizing it at a young age, I had a huge crush on her, and the adventures of Laura – first with Scotty and then Luke, captivated me. It may have been Luke and Laura to the rest of the world at the time, but to me, it was Laura, with co-star Luke.

As for Luke, I was never fond of the character – he was a scoundrel and loud and obnoxious most of the time, but I learned to deal with him because Laura loved him. And the years she was gone and it was just him, I followed his story but ultimately could take or leave him. As for Tony, more power to him for getting it, but I did get frustrated with his numerous vacations and apparent influence over the portrayal of Luke, a portrayal that increasingly moved me from not being fond of Luke to actively disliking the character – all because Tony found a dark Luke more interesting and in the process, wound up with a Luke that had few if any redeeming qualities.

All that being said, I completely understand Tony not wanting Luke and Laura to reunite at this point. I’ve been watching since 1979 ( I was young – very young) and reading the articles and the interviews – and I remember that Genie decided to leave at the height of Luke and Laura’s popularity, and Luke went on to have a couple of romances before she briefly returned to escort Luke off the show. At that point, Luke and Laura reuniting made complete sense.

But Tony came back as Bill and then as Luke when Genie returned (forcibly by ABC) as Laura – and it was still there. The magic. Genie eventually took maternity leave, returned and then was in the middle of a hot story and left again for her second maternity leave. And then didn’t return to the show for well over a year, and if stories at the time are to be believed, was forced to come back by ABC to fulfill her contract obligations. And the whole time she was gone, Tony was clear in interviews that he was there, holding down the fort for the ‘Luke and Laura’.

But when she returned, it was about Luke’s rape of Laura and their growing distance and then Lucky’s death and Luke’s involvement with Felicia and Laura’s involvement with Stefan – and it was drifting. The magic was waning. They clearly had a relationship and a connection but it wasn’t the same. And then Genie left again because of her disputes with Jill – which in all honesty, I didn’t understand. Yes, without Laura, there would be no Luke – but in terms of time with the show, Tony had been there longer overall and of course, he would have more perks than she did at the time based on that alone (that does not change the fact that I still believe that Jill Phelps has always valued her actors over her actresses). I believe he probably had more perks than he should have, but I don’t think it was fair for her to think they should be equal at that point in respect to each of their tenures with the show. (and I should add, it was at this point that Tony really stopped talking about respecting the legacy of Luke and Laura because to do so at that point, would have left Luke stagnant and running in place – the character had to move on to remain viable – although I personally didn’t like the direction he went in).

And of course, over the years without Laura, Luke has simply gotten darker and had serious relationships with other women and Laura’s subsequent returns have mainly dealt with their changing relationship. What we have seen onscreen has been the true dissolution of their romantic relationship – but not their loving relationship as people with a shared, deep history.

So for Laura to come back at this point and the two reunite would be a complete 180 from everything we have seen to this point – the change in both characters, the discussions and realizations they have had – and frankly, had Genie never left and Luke and Laura remained on the show all those years ago – this is probably where we would be anyway. They would have been subjected to the usual ups and downs of every soap couple – cheating, different partners, multiple reconciliations. 50/50 shot that the magic would still be there by this point.

So I do get it when Tony doesn’t want it to be about Luke and Laura reuniting and I don’t think it has to do with being disrespectful to Genie. Whatever the reasons over the years, Luke has been on the show longer by himself without Laura and has moved on as a character from Laura. I haven’t personally liked his direction, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened on screen – and the Luke of today isn’t suited for Laura anymore. He’s a colder, more pessimistic character (and comes off as deader inside) that I just don’t see Laura falling for again. And I”m sure he wants her there because she is an important character to the history of Luke, but it hasn’t really been about Luke and Laura for years now and it would be completely false for it to be about them again out of the blue right before he leaves.

My hope – Laura helps escort Luke off the show – maybe even with his better match in the present day – Tracy – and then Laura can return to Port Charles and maybe have an interesting few years on her own as a character to spread her wings in the same way Luke got to do for such a long time. There was a Laura before Luke – and there can be a Laura after Luke as well.

Realizing that Tony Geary has been so awfully selfish when it comes to Sharing the spotlight with Genie makes me sad to say the least. He had always been ego centric but I never thought even if they are not friends in reality that he would treat her so disrespectful.

I am so glad Luke is leaving for good. I do no think he added anything to the show for a long time. I hope they giveTrace y a. Good story line. She is a great actress.

Please dont get me wrong here. I liked the Luke and Laura story just fine and their wedding is soap history. But that was a couple of decades ago and their fans remain way back there with that coupling. Today is a whole new game and MOST GH fans are happy with Luke and Tracey, tho that might be history now, too. I just want Luke to have his final hoorah and go off the show. Hes had the majority of story for so long and I really believe there is plenty more there for the rest of the cast that includes Laura, not joined at his hip!

I began watching General Hospital when I was a child, and I remember Laura. Lesley finding out that her daughter had not died at birth … finding her daughter who had been adopted by another couple … getting Laura back … and Laura’s transition between the two families.
Laura and Monica are the last of the characters who became my half hour to hour “community.” Laura deserves, for she has the talent, loveliness, and history, to be a matriarch in Port Charles. The writers have so much of her story life to use. Here’s a character who is the daughter of doctors, who has traveled the world, who should speak French fluently given the time she “lived” in the country, who has been married to a lawyer and an adventurer, who has suffered mental illness, who has run a perfume/cosmetics company, and more.
Keep Genie Francis on the show, give Laura a position of power, and Ms. Francis amazing story lines. She is not just a lovely woman. She’s intelligent and knows the people of this soap opera city. She long ago proved that she can handle such work.

Meant to say in my first post that Anthony Geary doesn’t have that rare quality about him when he is not with Genie. He is amazing but there is something special when he is with Genie. I must say I can’t put my finger on it but it absolutely is there when he is with her. He becomes one of the greats of all time. Genie is one of the greats of all time as well. They have to know that. Millions of people were hooked on them.