Out of 79 options, the characters most readers wanted to see back on the show were the Spencer/Cassadines, Scorpios, or former favorites with long-standing ties to the show’s core families like Lucy Coe who married both Tony Jones and Alan Quartermaine. Coe had a long-standing on-again/off-again relationship with Scotty Baldwin and was the surrogate mother to Scotty and Dominique’s daughter Serena. The top seven were: Lucky Spencer, Laura Spencer, Nikolas Cassadine, Lucy Coe, Robert Scorpio, Kevin Collins, and Morgan Corinthos.

With 50 options from which to choose the characters readers most wanted to see return from the dead, the Quartermaines lead the category with four characters among the top vote getters, including the top two, followed by two Jones’, and two bad boys with hearts of gold. The Quartermaines debuted on GH in the late 1970′s, and the Jones’ appeared on the scene in the 1980′s. The top eight were: Alan Quartermaine, Jake Spencer, Georgie Jones, Lila Quartermaine, Justus Ward, Tony Jones, Duke Lavery, and Zander Smith.

Delores Padilla received the most votes for “Character Who Should be Voted off the Island” and by a considerable margin too. Not surprisingly, her story involving the mystery of her sister’s murder was also one of the stories “Helena Should Push off the Paraphet.” Similarly, Cassandra, aka the Lady in White, took second place in all three of the categories in which she was an option, meaning perhaps she should have died in the fire instead of Robin. According to the results of these polls, Cassandra should leave the show soon and take her storyline and her romance with Ethan with her.

Padilla is a member of the PCPD, Cassandra is a Cassadine, and Steve’s latest story involves a mystery patient from his past and another doctor. None of these characters or stories are connected to or involve the mob, so far, and yet they are amongst the most unpopular elements of GH right now, according to the results of the polls. Instead of Sonny, Jason, Johnny, or Anthony ZaccaDhara leading the list of characters who should be written off the show, newcomers and non-mobsters Padilla, Cassandra, Maggie Wurth, and TJ topped that list. Although the current Jason/Franco skirmish and Sonny’s latest effort at proving what a great father he is were voted second and third in the worst current stories poll. Perhaps instead of introducing a bunch of new characters, Wolf and company should have brought back old favorites or new characters connected to the core families. Instead of Maggie Wurth, maybe a grown up Serena Baldwin or Tommy Hardy Jr. Perhaps another Quartermaine would have been better received than Padilla or Cassandra or maybe an unknown child for Mac. Maybe the solution isn’t so much giving fans the types of stories and new characters they say they want, but is solid writing and refocusing the show on the core elements that made it popular for so many decades past: relationships, generations of families, the hospital, cops as the good guys going up against great villains who were fun to hate, stories that reflected the triumphs and struggles of what it is to be human, and other that reflect the conversations and issues of the day.

Television writing today tends to focus too much on story and plot points, which works when one just wants something on in the back ground that he/she can largely ignore, rather than on character development. Story and plot points are important elements of any show as they’re what move the shows and characters along their arcs, and plot points serve as turning points and provide twists to keep the outcome as unpredictable as possible from a story’s beginning. But without characters the audience likes and with whom they can identify, a show lacks its heart and a good portion of its charm, and the quality of the stories and twists provided by the plot points no longer matter. A handful of law based shows have succeeded in putting story consistently ahead of character, but if Perry Mason and the original Law and Order were on five days per week like daytime soaps, they might not have survived long enough to become the exceptions they were.

The rest of the results were as follows:

Stories Helena Should Push off the Paraphet
Steve and Maggie’s secret
Franco v. Jason
Lady in White mystery
Sonny’s latest attempt to prove himself as a father
Sam’s WTD
The mystery surrounding the death of Delores’ sister

Best Potential Couples
Carly/Johnny
Alexis/Mac
Liz/Ewen

Couples Deserving Less Air Time
Sonny/Kate
Ethan/Cassandra
Jason/Sam

Couples Deserving More Air Time
Lulu/Dante
Steve/Olivia
Robin/Patrick

Characters Who Should be Voted off the Island
Delores
Cassandra
Maggie
TJ
Ewen
Sam
Sonny
Jason
Kate
Matt
Shawn
Spinelli
Max
Michael
Carly
Ethan
Robin
Diane
Liz
Epiphany
Johnny
Luke
Molly
Monica
Patrick

The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn’t see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.

Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.

“Hellooo Mr. Frog!” called the scorpion across the water, “Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?”

“Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?” asked the frog hesitantly.

“Because,” the scorpion replied, “If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!”

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. “What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!”

“This is true,” agreed the scorpion, “But then I wouldn’t be able to get to the other side of the river!”

“Alright then…how do I know you wont just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?” said the frog.

“Ahh…,” crooned the scorpion, “Because you see, once you’ve taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!”

So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog’s back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog’s soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog’s back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

“You fool!” croaked the frog, “Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?”

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drownings frog’s back.

“I could not help myself. It is my nature.”

Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.