General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Helena, Jennifer Smith & The Ice Princess: What Did You Think of Luke Spencer’s Memorial?

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It was nice seeing so many veterans all in one place. Bonus points for the locale of the Haunted Star, the performances of Genie Francis and Jane Eliot, the handsome picture of Geary, the urn, and the windswept ashes into Scottie’s face (although, for the record, I was always Team Scottie!) I could do without 60-something, grown men getting into a fistfight. (I can always do without Sonny, who was at his default setting of menacing and abusive. — Wow! What an awful character to base your show around!) But I digress… It might have been more appropriate to have… Read more »
As usual, James, you’re kinder than I. I don’t care about Jennifer Smith (now if Roseanne were back, that’d be different) or that silly rock and the sight of Helena just makes me recoil. I don’t find evil and sadism entertaining unless they can weave in some humanity or, at least, some humor. She no longer has either. Regarding Sonny: James, how many storylines does this egomaniac require at the same time? Right now, there’s: 1. Getting Carly back 2. Dealing with feelings for Nina 3. Missing Jason 4. Going off his medication. Why? 5. Reclaiming his empire 6. Making… Read more »
First, Soaphound, thank you for your reply, although I’m not sure how “kind” my own character is here today. 🙂 Second, I love how you replied to my unnumbered list with an entertaining numbered list! Seeing in black and white (or is it black and grey?) all the various storylines given to this loathsome, tiresome character, as you have methodically summarized, is appalling. “Enough already!” Indeed! And third, my memory is a bit hazy about Jennifer Smith and the Ice Princess, but I remember four different actresses playing the role (including Roseanne — hey, isn’t she available?!?!). And the Ice… Read more »
Perhaps the producers were not successful in persuading Jonathan Jackson to come back for a short time. Or maybe, the producers did not talk to Jonathan Jackson.
It would have been nice move to get Jackson there. The fans would have appreciated it. Thanks for your reply, Anne.
Elizabeth should have been there, if not for herself then for Aiden who is his grandson. What about Kevin? Other than the time Luke’s cousin pretended to be him and tried to kill Sonny, Spencer got along with Luke. Was this scene thrown in to prop Ava who had no business being there. Hell, Epiphany would have better reasons to be there. And how can you not have Bobbie speak!!!
John, I totally agree with you on all your points, particularly that Elizabeth should have been there. She could even had said that Lucky reached out to her and asked her to be there for him… Further, Bobbie should have spoken, given she knew Luke longer than anyone, if nothing else…
We can’t forget about Covid maybe it’s not as easy to get people to guest star on the soaps like it use to be. Also maybe they just weren’t available at the time
Good points, Pat!
It is Stupid—-
There is no sane reason to, out of the blue, to kill Luke off..
What would be a logical purpose to kill off Luke= none.
I do not believe Luke is dead–
To bring Luke into a story, after all these many years,
is asinine..
Luke’s death is a fake-out– A stupid one.
Ok, I have a lot to unload here but I won’t Because I just can’t put my thoughts together, but I do have a question, who in the hell is playing Jennifer Smith?
Damned if I know, but she’s probably too young for the part. Jennifer was roughly the same age as Luke. She was de-sorased in that ridiculous “exit story” ReRon wrote for Luke in 2015. As was her father Frank who should have been left dead, and would have been at least in his late 90s(as both actors who portrayed the historical Frank Smith had died of old age related causes by then)… but showed up in that dumb story looking about the same age as Luke himself. The 90s stunt casting versions of Jennifer Smith – portrayed by Roseanne Barr… Read more »
Holly Gagnier, is playing Jennifer now (and her previous visit in 2015).
She played Cassie Callison on OLTL and more recently has been an acting teacher/coach. Her clients include Nicholas Chavez (Spencer).
I think some of these criticisms are a bit harsh. Budget cuts make it difficult to have scenes with upwards of 25 people at a time these days, and I can’t fault the writers or the show if the actors who played lucky or Ethan were perhaps not available to shoot. I think sometimes we need to be a lot more understanding about the genre we all love. It’s not perfect but year in and year out for decades it continues to entertain us. It’s not perfect and the writers are not in control over actors’ schedules when they are… Read more »
I agree, and also there are restrictions due to the pandemic that is still prominent and they are trying to keep everyone safe while being able to still provide drama on a weekly/daily basis. I know that GH temporarily shut down production during Omicron, so obviously they are trying to keep people safe while driving story. I’m very much looking forward to some mystery and intrigue and hopefully it does not result in a mass number of deaths.
That’s an important point. Hairy certain the number of performers in any particular scene is limited to a maximum of 12.
Bravo! I agree, I rarely find anything so bad that it deserves condemnation with regards to GH. It’s a soap, doing the best it can within whatever restrictions it faces. I do hope Luke is not dead & yes, fake deaths are over used, but we’re often delighted when dead characters return, so it’s easy to overlook a fake funeral or two.
Spot on ! 100%
It was a piss poor job! Why not show clips of Luke and the characters that he acted with for so many years? I’m not talking about a rehash of the whole L&L saga. Clips with him and Genie in other stories. Clips with Sonny. What about his kids? Jackson wouldnt or couldnt come back but that doesnt mean they cannot show clips of him and Luke. Tracy was lost in this episode. Why not have someone there to support her? Monica? And no Skye Quartermaine. I know, they only have so much money and time but it was very… Read more »
They would’ve had to pay Geary his last going day rate if they used any clips. If those scenes featured performers not on Friday’s episode, they would’ve had too been paid their day rate as well.
Since Geary is still living (and quite likely, so is Luke) it was not a tribute episode like they did for John Reilly (Sean Donely) last year.
Those day rates for Geary and others would have taken a serious amount away from GH’s daily budget. So I think it was a choice of either showing clips of Geary with Genie Francis etc or having Jacklyn Zeman and others physically on the set.
As usual, Timmm, you speak truth. I’ve always felt that tribute shows should be JUST THAT… appreciation of past episodes and performances. No need to dredge up false sentiment and imagine phony reactions. Jennifer Smith…REALLY?? I feel the same about those Kennedy Center Honors specials. Rather than see an artist’s work desecrated by a generation of performers that don’t understand and/or are incapable of interpreting the work adequately, JUST SHOW US the original work. Did you see that “tribute” to Bette Midler last month? Disgraceful!
Luke is alive.’Hate him, or enjoy him, like or love him, he is alive. The older sexxxi man himself, bad to the core at times VICTOR showed it, his smirks, to him saying, right in the camera, “The citizens of Port Charles, are in for a big surprise.”[Or said something to this affect.] No way, he is dead. I hope 1 day mid 70’s, yes old now, senior citizen he is, but i hope just 1 day, even 1/2 of epie or a few epie’s, a short 3 month contract, the great LUKE SPENCER (Anthony Geary) return soon. No way… Read more »
Agree no way is he dead! I can’t wait until this story progresses and the great luke Spenser comes back to save the day!
Loved it!! Seeing all the vets together was wonderful. Yes, it obviously would’ve been great to have all of Luke’s kids back but they pulled off surprises and humor and touching moments all in one episode. Well done!
I didn’t shed a tear which says it was a very poorly written memorial service. I’ve watched GH since it started and expected so much more. Where were the flashbacks of some iconic scenes.
Didn’t Tracy just get through telling Laura at Liv and Neds vow renewal that she had a piece of the Ice Princess that she was going to use to finance her future endeavors? I was not watching back when all that stuff was going on, so who does the jewel really belong to?
I agree that Luke’s death came out of nowhere and certainly will serve other story; otherwise, there’d be no reason to bring it up. If he really is dead, the memorial service itself was really disappointing for the arguably the most well known character on daytime. Also, I couldn’t believe that Scorpio was wasting all that time with Scotty and did not have once scene with Laura reminiscing about Luke. Curtis had more interaction with her. And also why haven’t they talked about Victor too!
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