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Anthony Geary understood the assignment.

Big facts 💯

It truly has. I watched GH since 1969, nearly a decade before Geary showed up. But i can honestly say after watching 15 soaps over the course of my lifetime his character was one of a kind-a true legend.

Same.

the show has lasted 60 years -- kudos to the show -- but there will never be another luke and laura nor will 30 million ever tune into one episode -- that was episode of all daytime tv with there wedding and her return when she left to do bare essence and came back for the stravos storyline -- when luke was mayor

Same. No Luke & Laura, no General Hospital for me.

Agree

Same

Soaps were so much better then…the way they could write for them, the longer segments, less corporate interference, more story driven etc etc. Those days are gone. GH and Luke & Laura era will remain Soap royalty forever. (I pretend Tracy never happened.) But GH today, is unrecognizable. A phenomenon at 60 yrs, for sure…but a shell of itself. L&L forever.❤

I love GH and Luke and Laura sad to see Luke go

💯

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Actually that is not true. People believe it but the facts are that GH was saved from cancellation even before the Luke and Laura story began. GH was off the cancellation block by 1978. Gloria Money was hired in 1977 to repair the show but her innovative ideas shot GH up to number 2 in the ratings by 1978. Luke and Laura made GH legend but it was Denise Alexander and Genie Francis's stories before Geary even arrived that saved the show from cancellation. And they all owe it to the late Gloria Monty. She was one of a kind and she changed in entire industry forever.

d g Yes

True. And Gloria Monty left and came back.

I've been saying that to an audience of deaf ears for years lol. Im glad Im not alone!

Lukejunkie I agree. I think he felt so trapped by the golden handcuffs of Luke Spencer, that he rejected the idea of a happy ending with Laura. I also get the sense that he and Genie Francis are not close off camera. Just my spidey sense.

I did observe a certain "frostiness" in their body language during an interview. I guess their onscreen chemistry didn't translate to real like. Pretty convincing by them both back in the day.

Viewers always have unrealistic expectations. The age difference between Tony and Genie was much more glaring in their final years together on the show. Genie is about to cross over into her 60s and Tony is sliding down toward his 80s. I cant say that I blame Tony for wanting to be paired with someone closer to his age group. Though the Luke and Tracy pairing always left me cold. I wouldve just preferred that Luke remain single and go off on his own adventure to end his story. In the 90s Claire Lebine and Wendy Riche wrote brilliant story as Laura tried to domesticate Luke but Sonny drew him back into the mob life. So no matter how much viewers wanted it, Luke and Laura riding off into the sunset together or sitting on a porch on Royal Street in rocking chairs also doesnt work. What bothered me was the way Tony and the show treated Genie Francis. Geary was very rude to Genie in his latter years practically forgetting the fact that his pairing with her is what made his career take off. Also the network and the producers underrated Genie in favor of Luke calling him the star of the show. Nevermind the fact that Genie has been carrying huge story on the show since she first started at age 14! Personally I am glad that Geary left when he did. Ron Carlavati did a hatchet job on his character and it was a good time for him to take his final bow. And this gives Genie Francis the chance to reinvent her character and hopefully have some spotlight again for herself ( though the writing regimes have never known quite what to do with her character on her own).

@@pam0626 Me too. Sad. I always felt that about “more to it behind the scenes.” And always felt TG “got what he wanted” in them breaking up. For that I’ll never forgive him. Still loved him as “old Luke” and always will. But, whatever the reason…sorry…he was dead wrong…they actually ruined Luke’s character. He was much more interesting before TG started to try to make him more interesting. #actorsandtheiregos 🙄

@@ambsat 💯 💯

Sweetheart he needs to do what he wants. He has played the same character for nearly 40 years. And he is nearly 80 years old. He has given the better part of his life to this one role. Im sure he wants to do something different with the time he has left. As mature adults and fans we should allow him do live his own life and follows his own heart. SMH

Epiphany Johnson's actress (not on the show yet at the time) said she even skipped her college classes to watch the wedding! I could only imagine how much of a popular event it must've been for 30 million and some viewers to see it on TV. I was born only ten years after the fact and plus I'm only a decade-long viewer.

You're right. Tracy wouldn't typically be Luke's "type". But I don't think "type"/lust/passion is what drew them together. Luke, the bad boy, the poor boy, was always attracted to the good girl. The girl who seemed unattainable. Women who on some level would eventually expect Luke to be better. Luke got too old to be a believable "tameable bad boy" and too old to keep pursuing the unattainable. Tracy has always been a lot like Luke - a seemingly (sometimes) tameable bad girl. I can see how they've both reached an age where they stopped feeling a need to apologize for being less than perfect people. And they are two people who know how to accept each other as they are.

Gaelin Wade wasn’t Laura who he loved?

@@IWantToMature85 - Not sure I understand the question. People can love multiple people over the course of a lifetime.

Gaelin Wade I don’t watch GH, but I’m watching a soap documentary that was on abc and they talked about how Luke and Laura were America’s couple so I’m shocked that he didn’t end up with her.

@@IWantToMature85 - Ah. After the typical soap opera complications, they broke up in the late 90s-early 2000s after 20 or so years together. (typical fluctuating soap opera timelines). Tony Geary had been tired of playing Luke for decades (TPTB let him be another character in the late 80s - Luke's lookalike cousin). Genie Francis wanted a juicier storyline. That storyline (she had a Cassadine baby) ultimately led to their breakup.

This is so rediculous!! They ruined a cultural phenomenon. They were on the cover of Time, WTF!!

Yea, never got the Tracy/ Luke thing. I am from the generation of Luke and Laura...PERIOD. If the 'rape thingy' was a big deal...how come their wedding was the highest rated wedding in soap history? We looked at life differently back then. Right or wrong....it was what it was.

truth be told he did no want to distance himself....the truth of the matter is he was not fired but he was forced out...I am not sure of the timeline btwn when the hints started and he finally deciding to call it quits but i do knw what started the hint...geary (who at the time was making $1.7m per year) was asked to take a pay cut(been so long u dnt recall the percent of the paycut...but i believe it was 50% but that cld be wrng)....he balked at taking a cut n it kind of snowballed frm there....soaps are no longer profitable as they were in the past because the numbers have dwindled to the point that ad revenue no longer supports the overall production once yo factor in actors,behind the scenes crew....own picked up AMC & OLTL but it did not last more than a few weeks because it just was not profitable......leslie charleson (monica quatermain) put GH on blast sometime ago because they were trying to force her and stuart damon(alan Q) out...he finally gave up n left....that is also why jane elliot left....geary had a great run n was granted mny perks..(he did not work during the summer mnths n they wld have to write his character out).....i can not blame him for not wanting to take a pay cut...his salary was directly related to his years of service....just because he wld still be making great money does not mean he shld grant the request...mean while the ceo of abc is not being asked to take a pay cut..

I like Luke and Tracy together they made a good couple its kind of like Brenda she made a good pairing with Both Sonny and Jax Luke makes a good pairing with Laura and Tracy Also Tony made the right decision not to ride off into the sunset with Laura fans need to understand all good things come to an end and Luke and Laura are old news yes they were a good supercouple but that doesn't mean they need to end up together in the end

@@joseficesrogers1845 God it‘s so refreshing to read a comment like yours without the usual TG bashing! And you are absolutely right, one can like L&L (as I do) and nonetheless find the storylines with Tracy entertaining. What most „fans“ don‘t get is that an actor doesn‘t owe anything to the audience. I also would have liked a happy ending but that doesn‘t mean that I‘m entiteld to have one. But enough said. Earlier today I commented on a 50 Years of 'General Hospital' video with TG and I‘m by now just fed up with all those small-minded and self-righteous comments. What some people here call cynicism or ingratitude is in reality intellectual independence and artistic integrity. From time to time I watch some videos with him although I know them all by now, but I just like his style. I really hope he is doing well and that he doesn‘t regret too much.

happy Ann lol

happy Ann no he's not coming back this is for good and he's been sick for a long time and he had to have surgery and he can't walk the way he used too

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fa98fcmDm8XZXXU.html Look up aspoonfulofpaolo "Athony Geary opens up about leaving GH." I think he explains his departure truthfully. !!/:)

@Chesapeake Bay 70? WoW. Luke can't age lol. I remember back when GH was the show to watch after school lol. The Ice Princess. I'm not ashamed to say I watched it and enjoyed it.

Plus he lives in Amsterdam most of the time

So you know Tony personally. That's cool. Ive always wondered what he would be like in real life though he seems very open and real. Not at all affected by his success.

I kinda think that GF pissed him off by leaving in 82. They had a really good thing going. Don't think he ever got all the way over it. JMO.

Me too. Watching it all over again. Phenomenal actor. It holds up surprisingly well.

Those days are done. He and Tristan Rogers both look like grandpas now. They would look completely ridiculous jumping on board ships or fighting with bad guys like batman and Robin again. They would both probably sprain a disk or something and end up in wheel chairs lol. It cracks me up how soap viewers get stuck in time. Its 2020 now. Geary and Rogers are deep into their 70s and they look every year of it. They arent Sly Stallone or Arnold Schwartzenager. I would love to see them act together again. But all the swash buckling stuff wouldnt work anymore.

He's happily living in Amsterdam with his long time partner. I think he can relax and be himself in Amsterdam without judgement. It must have been hard to be half of a romantic super couple when you feel you need to keep your private life very private.

Wow. Cool.

@@lisascorp yea but now that I’m 56 years old I ask myself did I really name my own son after a soap opera character lol 🙈

@Utube03 it's a good name either way. My Mom named me after a soap villaness Lisa (BTW I am 57) I named my youngest Son Trevor which I heard the name for 1st time on All My Children Trevor character. I started w AMC and was partial to it but have to admit there was no beating GH during L and L glory days. I began watching right b4 rape scene when I was 13 and those 1st few years w Robert Scorpio etc were insanely good. I was fascinated by Luke.

@@lisascorp yea I agree it was a good soap. My school friend and I would skip school at times just to stay home and watch it smh lol