General Hospital's top fifty moments

I have to hand it to ABC, they’ve pulled out all the stops to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of ‘General Hospital.’

We’ve had more returns than I think any of us could have legitimately hoped for. We’ve had nonstop nods to GH history. Oh, and as always, we’ve even had some visits from the Cassidines.

When I got to thinking about what I wanted to write for GH’s 50^th Anniversary, I thought about doing the top ten stories. The truth is, though, most everyone agrees on what belongs up there, and I did a similar list a year ago.

Side note: For those that love lists, and I'm one of them, I did the worst stories in GH history awhile ago, too. Both those lists are available by clicking on the links above.

Instead, I decided to do fifty moments. Not the fifty best moments, but the fifty moments that meant the most to me. I also want to hear from other viewers about which moments meant the most to them. We are a community of soap lovers, after all.

I want to point out, these are not all dramatic moments. Some are funny. Some are silly. Some probably don’t mean anything to anyone but me. These are the reasons I love GH, though.

I also want to apologize for the lack of any moments before 1980. I’m sorry, I just wasn’t old enough to watch (or alive, for that matter).

So, my fifty favorite GH moments are (in no particular order):

1.      Jason carries Robin off the stage at the Nurse’s Ball: I have always loved Robin, and that’s the

moment I realized I was sold on that relationship. When Robin pointed to herself and said “This is the face of HIV,” I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house – and that was when Jason was a character that still had feelings and wasn’t a robot.

2.      Lucky introduces himself to Ruby: Everyone loved young Jonathan Jackson from the start. You couldn’t have cast a better actor to play Luke and Laura’s kid. When Ruby realizes who is in front of her, and demands Lucky come to her so she can hug him, that’s when I knew Jackson was going to be something special.

3.      Brenda finds out Robin is HIV positive: I will always be a Sonny and Brenda fan. Even though they were broken up in that moment, that scene gave fans hope.

4.      Sean marries Elsie Mae Crumholtz: The scene where the suave Tiffany’s name was revealed was both hilarious and heartwarming.

5.      Dominique dies in Scotty’s arms: This one is self-explanatory.

6.      Lucy ends up naked at the Nurse’s Ball: Pick a ball. Every time it happened was hilarious. 

7.      Emily and Lucky run away together: I don’t like encouraging kids to run away, but the juxtaposition of the Quartermaine freak outs with Luke and Laura’s pride at their offspring’s ingenuity was comedy at its best. 

8.      Brenda takes a bath and lets her imagination run wild: This is a shallow one. It was a hot fantasy sequence with a bunch of hot (and mostly shirtless) guys. What’s not to love? 

9.      Felicia finds out Maxie is getting B.J.’s heart: This one is a gimme. I don’t know anyone that didn’t bawl like a baby when Felicia and Bobbie sank to the ground together. “Not Barbara Jean’s heart.” 

10.  Clink/Boom: This is another gimme. The emotional outcome of what the car explosion meant -- and the concurrent marriage -- shook fans to the core. 

11.  Robert’s “ghost” visits Robin when she finds out she’s HIV positive: There are a lot of moments from the AIDS storyline that I could use. When Robert’s ghost says “And what do you want for Christmas little girl” – and Robin turns to see her beloved father (who was dead at the time) – I felt my heart break right along with Robin’s. 

12.  Alan and Monica have sex after her breast cancer: I always loved Alan and Monica. I loved it when they fought, actually. In this moment, though, it was all about the love the couple shared. 

13.  Luke tries to get to Nikolas after Emily is killed: Luke was unkind to Nikolas for a lot of his life, but the scenes where Luke tries to get to a grieving Nikolas – even though he just suffered a heart attack – are priceless. That whole murder mystery at Spoon Island was a travesty, though. 

14.  Robin and Mac go to Anna and Robert’s funeral: Much like young Robin, I didn’t want to believe that Robert and Anna were dead (we both got proven right on that). Seeing the duo give in – essentially admitting that Robert and Anna were gone – was message to fans, and we took it to heart (which is why it ultimately hurt so much). 

15.  Luke, Sonny and Lucky save Foster from being put to sleep: I loved Lucky’s relationship with that dog (skillet head!). When Foster was going to be put to sleep for some transgression I can’t quite remember, and Lucky and Sonny donned fake accents to get the dog out, and Lucky was pretending to mourn the dog’s death, but the dog kept thumping its tail on the table, I could not stop laughing. 

16.  Sonny leaves Brenda in the rain: I was not happy whenever Sonny and Brenda were broken up. The beauty of their relationship, though, and the heartbreak of her being left standing in the rain, was not lost on any fans of that relationship. 

17.  Laura’s bag falls from the tree: Laura’s big bag of memories was a running gag when Luke and Laura returned in 1993. I loved it when she was demanding that she and Luke find the bag when it dropped from a tree a few feet away. “I always knew you could do anything.” 

18.  Robert meets Robin: The minute these two met, I was sold on the relationship. Kimberly McCullough was one of the best child actors on a soap ever. 

19.  Frisco takes Felicia to the catacombs: I was a huge Frisco and Felicia fan, so when Frisco turned up alive and revealed himself to Felicia in the catacombs, I was already back on their bandwagon. I always hated Colton anyway. 

20.  Luke sees Laura from the balcony: Laura’s death crushed fans everywhere. When Luke finally saw her from that balcony, I got actual chills. There’s a reason they’re a super couple. 

21.  Lois jumps out of the cake: I don’t remember liking Ned before Lois, so when she revealed herself to Katherine I remember being really excited. Lois was the exact thing that Ned needed – plus I loved her girl power with Brenda. 

22.  Scotty catches the bouquet at Luke and Laura’s wedding: It’s a cliché, but that is a total soap moment. It’s just fun. 

23.  Sigmund the duck: A lot of people think that Lucy’s pet duck was lame, but I liked him. He was the perfect pet for a character as high maintenance as Lucy. 

24.  Lucky finds Liz crawling out of the bushes: Before the rape, I didn’t really care about Elizabeth that much. The writers did such a good job crafting that story, though, Elizabeth became a favorite of mine after that. 

25.  Laura rails on Luke about teaching their son to trust mobsters: The iconic moment of Lucky’s “death” was Elizabeth’s reaction. The truest moment, though, came from Lucky’s distraught mother when she blamed Luke for letting him believe that mobsters were good people. We all should have listened to Laura back then. 

26.  Sonny and Brenda’s “uncomfortable” plane ride: This is another funny moment. It showed the two characters talking on the plane. While they were saying one thing, type on the screen showed what they were really thinking. It was hilarious. 

27.  Jason rides his motorcycle into the Quartermaine living room: In the end, I believe that Jason Morgan became a character I didn’t care about. In the beginning, though, the story was riveting. Watching golden child Jason shake up the Quartermaines was a hoot. 

28.  Laura reveals Nikolas is her son: This was a gamble. Still, Nikolas was a charismatic and great leading man. Luke and Laura’s marriage never really recovered from this reveal – even though they reconciled. That’s great storytelling in itself. 

29.  Tracy refuses to give Edward his heart medication: I admit, I watched this one on YouTube. It is as chilling – and ultimately funny – as everyone says it is. 

30.  Jason and Brenda get married: I wish this story had been given a chance to play out. I think Brenda could have saved the Jason character. These two have an unbelievable chemistry. The elevator scenes alone are worth the price of admission. 

31.  Edward is discovered alive in Bermuda: This is just soapy fun. The necessities of Edward’s first “death” were tied up with David Lewis’ health. Still, Edward’s return to the family fold was just all kinds of fun. 

32.  Tiffany says goodbye to Robin before leaving town: I think this is one of those obscure ones that only I remember. Sean has been shot and can’t be around anyone sick. Robin has the “flu” and can’t get close to Sean. As Sean and Tiffany are getting on the elevator, Tiffany suddenly sees Robin and rushes back to her to say goodbye. Every time someone abandoned Robin I felt terrible for her. 

33.  Lucy marries Alan in the red dress: This one is pretty self-explanatory. Just tons of cheesy soap fun. 

34.  Anna ties Robert up and leaves him: I was more invested in Robert and Anna than I was in Anna and Duke and Robert and Holly. This was a lot of fun – and the chemistry between Tristan Rogers and Finola Hughes was off the charts. 

35.  Luke and Laura talk to Lucky about sex: I had forgotten this one until I saw it on the SOAPnet marathon last night. The minute Lucky asks his parents how this happened I busted out laughing. He was too cute for words. 

36.  Sonny and Brenda get it on when they think they’re going to die: I was always a fan of Sonny and Brenda – and I knew they wouldn’t die – so when they finally gave into temptation after the explosion that practically buried them alive, I was so excited I could barely stand it. 

37.  Robin sees Robert for the first time after his “death”: The virus storyline was another Guza gimmick that failed. It did bring Robert back, though, and his reunion with his daughter was something I had been waiting for. 

38.  Sonny sees Brenda emerge from the church after her “death”: This was well done. The music. The ambiance. The chemistry between Maurice Benard and Vanessa Marcil. There was nothing to dislike about this. Too bad most of the story after that was fumbled. 
 
39.  Drunk Lulu flirts with Dante: There’s not a lot from the last few years that is going to make this list, but drunk Lulu calling undercover Dante “officer” was hilarious and cute. 

40.  Frisco sings Lady of My Heart to Felicia: I still have that song on my iPod. Yes, I’m that much of a geek. 

41.  Robin races into Anna’s arms after she’s been kidnapped: I wasn’t much older than Robin, but I remember being so relieved when she was reunited with her mother after the kidnapping. It’s one of those titular soap moments that will live on forever. 

42.  Lucky finds out Luke raped Laura: They glossed over the rape for years, changing it to a seduction. When the truth came out, though, the scenes were so powerful that viewers were left with chills. 

43.  Dawn dies: I actually wasn’t a huge fan of Dawn – although I felt bad for Monica when she died. I was a huge fan of Decker and his sloppy hair, though. I was a teenage girl and he was hot. Sue me. 

44.  Jagger and Karen ride off on his motorcycle: This is the way soap couples should be written off. Karen has since been recast, divorced and killed – but that first ending for this tortured duo was pretty perfect. 

45.  The Cassidines try to freeze the world: Luke was kind of painted as a super human hero – but this is when GH managed to transcend the genre. This is another storyline I had to watch on YouTube – but it was definitely worth it. 

46.  Nikolas is left on the hotel roof to die: I wasn’t a big fan of Natalia Livingston’s Emily, but the scenes where Nikolas is left behind were both beautifully filmed and heartbreaking. He survived, of course, but he’s currently been shot again. That poor guy can’t catch a break. 

47.  Mac meets Robin: I knew John J. York from the television show Wolf (I think it only lasted one season), so he wasn’t a stranger to me. Still, I was as excited as Robin to meet her Uncle Mac. Theirs is one of the reunions I desperately need to see before GH goes off the air. 

48.  Luke and Laura reunite with Bobbie at GH: Luke and Laura’s return in 1993 was all kinds of fun. Between the car, the costumes and Lucky’s antics – the whole story was practically perfect. The minute Luke and Bobbie caught sight of each other, though, that’s when I knew Luke and Laura were really back in Port Charles. 

49.  Jax tells Robin and Jason that Brenda has died: We all know she didn’t die (who does on a soap?) but Jax’s heartbreak, coupled with Robin’s sadness and Jason’s guilt especially, was a powerful scene that bonded all three of them together. 

50.  Tony Jones dies: He hadn’t been a regular for years. That didn’t stop Tony’s death – or the fact that he saw B.J. right before he went – from being one of the most powerful scenes in GH’s more recent history. 

What do you think? What are your favorite moments?