General Hospital101GENERAL HOSPITAL: Valentin’s Passport Goes By the Name ‘Will Cortlandt’; Do You Appreciate the Wink-Wink to ‘All My Children’ or Not So Much?
General Hospital101GENERAL HOSPITAL: Valentin’s Passport Goes By the Name ‘Will Cortlandt’; Do You Appreciate the Wink-Wink to ‘All My Children’ or Not So Much?
Courtesy/ABC
Since the rights to All My Children and One Life to Live reverted back to ABC several years ago (following the dispute with Prospect Park), General Hospital has often taken liberties and incorporated the canceled and beloved soaps in naming conventions of new characters, or several nods to the audience within a particular story, or mentions of towns that the Port Charles characters need to go visit (Llanview, Pine Valley, even Loving’s Corinth).
For instance, many viewers know that Michael E. Knight’s GH character of Martin Grey, was named after the fact that Knight is most soap-famous for his run as Tad Martin on All My Children. In addition, we have seen the likes of Llanviews’s Nora Buchanan from One Life to Live come to Port Charles on a legal case as played by Hillary B. Smith.
Now, on yesterday’s March 17th episode of GH, as Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) went to his old house now inhabited by Sonny (Maurice Benard), he started to look for important documents (in the chimney) including his passport, and came upon it using the name, “Will Cortlandt.”
Photo: JPStuartFacebook
Longtime ABC daytime viewers know that James Patrick Stuart first soap role was that of bad guy Will Cortlandt who was the brother to Dixie Cooney (Cady McClain) on All My Children. James played the role from 1989-1992 and then again in 1994. Eventually, Will met his maker at the hands of Janet “from another planet” Greene (Kate Collins) when she hit him over the head with a crowbar.
On Monday’s GH, the writers seem to have some fun with the inside joke and “wink-wink” to its faithful audience who would get the inference in Valentin’s fake passport. In fact, not only did Valentin have a different name on the passport, so too, of course did his daughter, Charlotte (Scarlett Fernandez), who had the name “Melanie Cortlandt” on hers. If you know your AMC lore, Melanie or “Lanie” was played by Paige Turco and was the sister of Will and Dixie. She eventually was written off the canvas when she headed to France.
Courtesy/ABC
At the end of yesterday’s GH, Sonny comes upon Valentin and pulls out a gun and asks, “Forget something?” How will Valentin get out of the situation he finds himself in now? Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, as savvy soap fans; do you enjoy when GH (the only remaining ABC soap opera) injects some AMC or OLTL into its story with little Easter eggs or nuggets that are brought in as a nudge-nudge to you, or do you think they should not to it at all as it breaks the “reality” of the current story and wish they didn’t do such things? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
