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‘General Hospital’s’ Controversial Luke and Laura Rape Episode: Writer Sheri Anderson Reveals Behind the Scenes Decisions and Admits ‘I Was Wrong’ to Defend It (Exclusive)

By Michael Fairman

Published

3 months ago

on

Photo: ABC

It’s one of the most controversial storylines in soap opera history, when Luke (the late Anthony Geary) raped Laura (Genie Francis) back in an episode that aired in 1979. In the story, one fateful night while believing his latest assignment for the mob would get him killed, Luke drank heavily, and confessed his love to Laura. She had been working at the disco at the time and tried to comfort him.

Luke said, “I’m not going to die without holding you in my arms just one time. Dance with me.” As Herb Alpert’s “Rise,” played in the background, Laura tried to leave as she was getting fearful of Luke. The camera panned away as Luke forced himself on her and Laura screamed, “No!” The aftermath also became a huge problem for the series years later. GH tried to pass it off as a seduction, while viewer outcry, and as the world evolved over the decades called it then and now what it was, “rape.”

The script writer for that episode was prolific soap opera writer and three-time Emmy winner, Sheri Anderson. The popular scribe is best-known for her work on Days of Our Lives and also her tenure as its co-head writer, but she also spent a few years at General Hospital smack dab in the late 70s and early 80s, under then legendary executive producer, Gloria Monty.

Photo: JPI

During her visit last week to the Michael Fairman Channel, where Anderson opened up about a specific moments throughout her storied writing career, as well as the state of the soaps now in our culture, she recalled the events that transpired before and after that led to her scripting the infamous rape episode on GH.

ABC NETWORK EXEC DECIDES LUKE SHOULD RAPE LAURA

Sheri began, “What happened was Pat Falken Smith (then head writer, GH) came in from a meeting and she was stoned-faced, and we said, ‘What’s going on?’ She said Jackie Smith, who was head of the network, wants Luke to rape Laura and we were like, ‘What? We can’t do that!” She said that’s what we were going to so, because we were exploring ‘date rape’ at the time.”

“So, on General Hospital, or any show that I’ve been involved with, we would get as much research as we could on the subject, especially when I was writing,” explained Anderson. “I would always send the script to a therapist and say, ‘is this accurate? Is this emotionally correct?'”

Anderson shared from the writers viewpoint what the story was about at that time: “Luke was from the wrong side of the tracks. He was trying to prove himself to the mob and they said to prove it, you have to go kill a senator Mitch Williams. Luke couldn’t go through with it, which meant he was a dead man. He went back to the Campus Disco which he owned and Laura was there. She was waiting for her husband (Scotty Baldwin). So, when Laura was trying to comfort Luke, things started to get out of control.”

THE COINED “SEDUCTION”

“The script which I wrote was 110 pages, which was typical at the time. Gloria Monty, who was a brilliant executive producer and director who changed daytime, was the director of that episode,” explained Anderson on the writing for the soap back in the late 70s. “They probably cut 30 pages of material, because she was so intent on the rape and making it as brutal as she could. So, we were just going forward and thinking, ‘Oh, my God! That was really awful.'”

Over decades, the moment was called as aforementioned, “a seduction,” a “date rape,” and then as GH viewers recalled, it was in 1998 that Luke admitted to his son Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) that he actually raped his mother, Laura.

Photo: ABC

ANDERSON COULD NO LONGER DEFEND THE STORY POINT

It is not lost on Anderson, how GH at the time, tried to pass off the on-screen incident, “In retrospect, and I believe Michelle Val Jean (creator, head-writer, executive producer of Beyond the Gates) once said that it upset her, that we would say it was really a ‘seduction’ and all of those things, because it was not. It was rape, and (back then) I would try to, in a sense, defend it, and frankly, I was wrong,” revealed Sheri.

“I wrote the rape episode and I actually wrote the episode after it and we had Emily McLaughlin who played nurse Jessie Brewer who came to me later and said, ‘thank you.’ Because she said, ‘I wrote the aftermath of it so poignantly for her and Genie,’ recalled Sheri. “Then, we had Irene Kassorla, the real-life therapist come in, and on the show do group therapy sessions. So, it was really fascinating for me  I thought that we were doing it extremely well, and I still think we did it extremely well. But, yes, it was rape, and it was wrong.”

Photo: ABC

GLORIA MONTY SWORE SHE WOULD NEVER MARRY LUKE AND LAURA

In an ironic twist, when Pat Falken Smith and Sheri left General Hospital to return to Days of Our Lives, suddenly Luke and Laura were getting married, after Gloria Monty swore she would never let them tie the knot. As soap fans know, the wedding remains the most-watched episode in soap opera in history with over 30 million people tuning-in on November 16 and 17 of 1981.

“People talk about that story thinking Luke raped Laura, and then they got married. No! Luke raped Laura, but it destroyed their lives with the secrets that they carried. Laura would not tell anybody that Luke was the one who raped her, and their lives were altered in so many ways. It took a long time to bring them back as a couple because they had such chemistry personally, so it was just the obvious way to go,” explained Anderson of the writers mindset at the time. “Gloria Monty said to us, ‘We’ll never marry them.’ Then, when as a writing team we left and went to Days of Our Lives, she married them two months later.”

You can catch our full informative chat with Sheri Anderson below.

So, what did you think about what really went on behind the scenes at General Hospital when the decision came down to have Luke rape Laura in the controversial scenes? Did you appreciate the insight provided by Sheri? Is it still one of the more troubling plot points in the storied history of Luke and Laura to you? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

 

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Laura and Luke should have never been a love story, ever. Rape is not love. And I’m glad Sheri is no longer apologising for it, either. Good on her and good on Genie Francis, as well.

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If Genue Francis was under age 18 at the time, her father should have spoken up and not allowed that storyline to happen, but I don’t know how contracts worked back then. Why would ABC even do that with an underage actress?They would never allow that storyline today , and I personally think it was a bad decision and I agree with gloria monty , they should have never married them.

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Genie has spoken up in recent years about how it all came to be. Actually, Gloria Monty took Genie’s dad, veteran character actor Ivor Francis, out to dinner to discuss her plans for Genie and Tony. She had to. Genie was only 17 (Tony was in his early 30s.). Gloria had been charged with saving GH (Which had been flailing in the ratings) and ABC gave her 13 weeks to do it. I was never a fan of this pairing and the love story made me sick. Offstage Tony tried to be as protective of Genie as he could be in light of the situation, but it was hard on her. She had to boast the party line…how it was a seduction; and they passed that off for years! Tony received 8 emmys for his work, but Genie bore the brunt of the audience reaction, and didn’t receive her sole emmy for her work as Laura til almost 20 years afterward. In recent years she’s spoken up. All the people who demanded this story are long gone. She doesn’t have to toe the line anymore.

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Do not blame TG he was very upset over this storyline it bothered him for a long time and he loved Genie but he hated the story ! TG struggled to keep his personal life secret and I for one supported him 100 percent now why don’t we get past this and move on. I was a teenager when he and YR came and did a fan club people yelling rape me Luke ! He was very upset I was in the audience he hated it

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General Hospital shamefully allowed and did not protect either Genie or Tony from the effects of this horrid storyline. They had already allowed Genie to be placed in a relationship with David Hamilton, one adult male that ended with his murder, so why not continue to put her in other sexualized situations. Genie stated in her Lifetime interview, that GH “strongly encouraged ” her to drop out of high school so that she would not be bound be the hour restrictions for acting minors. She stated by the time she was 16, she was working full time, supporting her family, dropped out of high school and by 17 in her own apartment and in an off camera dating relationship with Kin Shriner. When Tony and Genie were put together she was 17 and he was 27. The writers and producers misused Tony and Genie to carry the blame, audience/public perception, shame without any consideration of how this one scene would effect their careers as actors, themselves as actors and as humans forever. They allowed Tony to be tortured so badly that he chose to relocate to Amsterdam decades ago for peace of mine and mental security. Genie chose to relocate with her husband and children as far way from LA as you could go and in an interview angrily commented that she refused to answer any more questions about that storyline in the future. GH should be ashamed of how they treated Genie and Tony.

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I remember the poignant scenes between Emily McLaughlin who played Nurse Jessie Brewer and Genie Francis’ Laura. Laura was in a GH hospital room after she was raped, crying and telling the Nurse she would never be clean again. Nurse Brewer told Laura that was nonsense, because she’d never been dirty. Nurse Brewer gently cleaned her up and was very calming to Laura. These scenes are what I remember from that period, not the stuff in the disco.

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You are correct. The whole storyline is on YouTube, in chronological order. It starts out as a responsibly-written date rape story. It was actually before it was called date rape. The phrase they kept using in those counselling sessions was acquaintance rape. Then they spend well over a year unfolding it as a redemption story for Luke. The “let’s lie to ourselves and say it was a seduction” starts to happen when they are coming back to each other after their break-up after the left handed boy story. There’s literally a scene where they’re at the Floating Rib and Luke says something about the night at the disco “where we made love.”. And Laura says “You mean the night you raped me.”. And Luke brushes her off with “Oh Laura.”. It was ridiculous. The big problem was Laura was already in love with and fascinated with Luke before he ever raped her. Due to her young age and her David Hamilton trauma, it really wasn’t love. But when your LnL audience is mostly impressionable teenagers and they’re saving your show from cancellation, the show runners ran with it. It put Genie, Tony and GH on the map. But sadly, it was a double edged sword for Genie and Tony.

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There were 2 scenes where they called it “making love.” Luke said it on the sailboat and Laura responded, just as you describe above. A year later (1981) after Luke and Laura had broken up but were starting to talk again, they were in the restaurant and Laura was the one who said it was “making love,” and Luke looks kind of horrified by the statement.

I’ve read too that Tony said the scene was more violent originally and he suggested that when he told her to dance with him he just put out his hand. He also took Genie aside ahead of time to make sure she wouldn’t be traumatized by the experience.

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I missed those scenes. Would love to find them. Will never forget how much I enjoyed watching Emily and John Beradino. I started watching in the late 70s, but immediately respected the legacy that they represented.

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I am so glad that soaps are no longer displaying rape as seduction or having the two people fall in love. DAYS did this with EJ and Sami. She believed him to be her friend, and then revealed his true self by demanding sex or he wouldn’t help her save Lucas, who was injured. There was no misunderstanding what that was and later they had them fall madly in love, become soul mates and eventually marry. Totally sending the wrong message.

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Oh please. Every one in the aftermath of me too wants to rewrite the past. At the time this storyline was written rape like the casting couch was not taken as seriously as it is today. Girls grew up reading bodice rippers as teenagers in books where rape fantasies commonly played out. Soaps mirrored the trend. Days had a story where rape victim Susan Martin fell in love with and married her rapist. Bill Horton raped his sister in law, impregnated her and later married her. Rapist Roger Thorpe was an anti hero. Even my gold standard soap of the 1970’s Ryan Hope had a scene where married Frank Ryan raped wife Delia in their bed because she was nagging him and he was fed up. There were dozens of other instances on soaps that played out that I can’t remember. General Hospital is egregious because it had used a sexualized minor teen Laura in the David Hamilton story that caused the soap to rise in the ratings. That forgotten storyline is equally egregious as it involved a child rape and is usually only viewed as a murder mystery instead of the rape of a minor child. The show was near the top of the ratings before Luke and Laura’s rape. They used the Luke and Laura rape scenario to cement the ratings lead. They played that Luke and Laura rape scene with the music theme Rise hundreds of time and knew exactly what they were doing. That music was so popular it became known as the theme from Laura’s rape. The people who objected like John Bernardino were blackballed. 40 years later it all looks different now. I’d have a lot more respect for everyone if they would tell the truth, acknowledge the culture of the time, admit that they having been educated view the world much differently now and express remorse about promoting a storyline that taught millions of young girls there is such a thing as good rape.

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Preach! Yes, they most certainly flashbacked to the rape scene daily. Herb Alpert’s Rise feels like the soundtrack of my youth it was played so much. Along with the fog horns and the ship bells during every docks scene. But I digress.

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All I know is that 47 years ago, I adored Luke & Laura and was glued to my TV at 3 pm Monday-Friday from approximately 1978-1982. (My college years)
I refuse to apologize or feel guilty about it.

Reply

General Hospital

Kearran Giovanni Debuts on ‘General Hospital’ as Anna Devane’s New Therapist

Published

9 hours ago

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September 10, 2026

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Kearran Giovanni

If Anna Devane’s (Finola Hughes) new therapist on General Hospital looks familiar to you, it’s because actress Kearran Giovanni, who plays Dr. Nichols, previously played a doctor on One Life to Live!.

Viewers tuning-in to the Thursday, September 10 episode of GH got their first look at Dr. Nichols who has been brought in to help Anna recover from her PTSD and trauma following the reveal that she has been suffering from a break in reality since before being put in mental health facility in France, after being gaslighted by Cullum and company earlier in the year.

One Life to Live fans will recall that Kearran Giovanni played Dr. Vivian Wright in 2009, and it was then she first worked with current General Hospital EP, Frank Valentini, who at the time was at the helm in Llanview.

Photo: JPI

WHERE ELSE HAVE YOU SEEN KEARRAN GIOVANNI?

Giovanni appeared on OLTL in the recurring role through 2012 and in the final ABC episode of the beloved series was the the ob/gyn who delivered Destiny Evans (Shenell Edmonds) and Matthew Buchanan’s (Eddie Alderson) baby into the world, whom they named Drew Buchanan II after Bo Buchanan’s (Robert S, Woods) late son. In addition, Vivian has been dating Shaun Evans (Sean Ringgold).

In addition to One Life to Love, Giovanni has very impressive credits having appeared in numerous TV series and motion pictures including starring in the TNT drama Major Crimes from 2012-18, ABC’s Designated Survivor 2017-19, the CW’s Black Lightning from 2019-20. Most recently, Giovanni appeared on the Fox series, The Resident and has a recurring role on the CW’s crime series, Walker from 202-2024.

HEALING ANNA

On today’s General Hospital, after Anna’s harrowing meltdown where she almost shot and killed Dr. Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) after seeing visions of “Peter August” (Wes Ramsey), Jason (Steve Burton) saved the day and talked Anna down from committing murder. Now, Dr. Nichols was introduced as a valuable staff member at the hospital.  Although, this marked the first time in the history of the show we have heard of her character.

So, do you remember seeing Kearran Giovanni on One Life to Live? Happy to see that Anna may have a qualified therapist in charge of her healing, unless the doctor turns out to be not on the up and up? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Anna Breaks Down in Front of Jason and Britt After Shots Are Fired

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1 day ago

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September 9, 2026

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Finola Hughes

The Wednesday, September 9 episode of General Hospital featured top-notch performances by Finola Hughes and Steve Burton, as Anna holds Jason and Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) at gunpoint on Mount Emerson.

Anna is not in her right mind as hallucinations of Peter (Wes Ramsey) overtake her, egging her on to shoot and kill Britt. Jason begs Anna to put down the gun, but it’s clear Anna is speaking to someone who is not there, but in a direction that is just past Britt.

Suddenly, Anna screams at Britt, “You’re just like your father!” Anna also tells Britt that she knew Britt was aware that she was locked up on Spoon Island and did nothing to save her. Britt turns to Jason and tells him she had no idea Anna was on the Island, “until Cullum showed up in Port Charles.” That declaration gave Jason pause.

Courtesy/ABC

“PETER” TAKES A BULLET

Next, Anna is overcome with angst, filled with tears and screams out, “I won’t let you beat me!” She fires the gun where the imaginary Peter was standing, as Britt screams and Jason dove to cover her. Now completely shaken, Jason took the weapon from Anna and ordered Britt to leave the scene as Anna collapsed in Jason’s arms.

Jason was so concerned for Anna. She reveals she’s been seeing visions of Peter August since France. Jason shared his theory with Anna that she was manifesting her worst fears about Faison. However he knows deep down Anna would never have shot Britt. Jason promises to come back and clean up the area, but would take Anna home first.

Jason

Courtesy/ABC

ANNA ADMITS TO EMMA SHE TRIED TO KILL BRITT

At Anna’s, Jason brings her in the front door as Emma is there. Jason tells Emma (Braedyn Bruner) he would like to return and spend the night. A confused and worried Emma get the full story from her grandmother.

Anna explains she tried to kill Britt and she is not as well as she was pretending to be in France. Cut to: Jason cleaning up the site of Anna’s plot against Britt on Mount Emerson. He moves over and finds bullet casings on the ground and examines one of them.

The story climax also signaled the end of the run for Wes Ramsey, who has been showing up on episodes over the last several months as Anna’s dark side conscience. Now that Anna was able to break the psychological hold visions of “Peter” had on her, it ends this latest return of Ramsey’s.

So, what did you think about the scenes between Anna and Jason? Do you think Jason and Britt’s relationship will come to an end now that seemingly Britt revealed she knew Anna was held captive after Cullum came to town? Glad to know Anna won’t be haunted by visions of Peter August anymore? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Did Brook Lynn Deserve Chase Walking Out on Her?

Published

2 days ago

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September 9, 2026

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Brook Lynn

The marriage of Brook Lynn Quartermaine (Amanda Setton) and Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard) may have come to an end by the conclusion of the Tuesday, September 8 episode of General Hospital.

In story, confronted by Trina (Tabyana Ali), and in front of a room full of Quartermaines, Brook Lynn copped to being the other driver involved in the crash that scarred Jordan’s (Tanisha Harper) face and ultimately sent Curtis (Donnell Turner) to prison.

Chase, who thinks at this point Brook Lynn was covering up her involvement by protecting someone else in the family is shocked to learn it’s Brook Lynn who actually was the driver. Brook Lynn explains she never saw any evidence of a crash when she ran into Jordan’s car, so she didn’t stop to check on anyone. Trina and Jordan are outraged as is Chase.

Chase

Courtesy/ABC

CHASE PUTS BROOK LYNN ON BLAST

Soon, it comes out that Tracy (Jane Elliot) was involved in the cover-up, and tries to point out that Brook Lynn wasn’t responsible for causing the accident or Curtis punching Isaiah, but Trina says that Brook Lynn tore her family apart, and her father is in prison without the ability to see his newborn son. Trina storms out with Kai (Jen Austin Astrup).

Next, Chase goes on blast on Brook Lynn in front of her entire family. Chase starts to walk out the front door as Brook Lynn tries to stop him. At this point, Chase is all about being lied to, and he goes in on his wife, that they promised there would be no more secrets between them.

Brook Lynn digs a deeper hole for herself when she explained that she’d had a glass of wine before getting in the car to see Gio (Giovanni Mazza) and Trina perform at Charlie’s. She admits to being terrified that she’d lose any chance of adopting baby Phoebe, if she called the police.

TO THE GATEHOUSE HE GOES

Chase is furious that Brook Lynn framed Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) for what she caused and did. With that, Chase leaves Brook Lynn in the dust and heads straight to the gatehouse door to see Willow!

Cut to: Brook Lynn devastated on the staircase of the Q mansion and her dad, Ned Ashton (Wally Kurth) sitting with his daughter to try to comfort her when she decrees her marriage is over.

Now in the pick-up, take a look at the General Hospital teaser video for today’s Wednesday, September 9, episode below.

So, what did you think of how Brook Lynn’s life just blew up in front of her? Does she deserve to have Chase walk out on her for what she did? Do you want Brook Lynn and Chase to work things out, or are you betting by the end of this week Chase and Willow will have hit the sheets? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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