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General Hospital Is Diving Lips-First Into a *Super* Messy New Love Triangle
Monday, July 8th, 2024
We’re not sure who was more surprised by what transpired during the July 8 episode of General Hospital (recapped here): viewers or Willow and Drew, who shared a kiss we never in a million years saw coming.
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Granted, Michael’s wife and Nina’s occasional hookup have long been close. But not in, ya know, a desirous way. If the show is going to go down this road, whether it altogether makes sense, there is a lot of potential for explosive drama as well as a lot of precedent in soapdom.
Back in the 1980s, you’ll recall that Ryan’s Hope (which just celebrated its anniversary) struck storyline gold with a plot in which upwardly mobile Michael Pavel was sleeping with both young married Kimberly Harris and her mother — his boss, Rae Woodard. (It didn’t end well for Michael, mind you; he wound up being shot.)
A few years later, All My Children played a similar storyline in which “Tad the Cad” Martin was falling for Liza Colby even as he was humming “Here’s to You, Mrs. Robinson” on his way to shag her mom, Marian. Ironically, decades afterward, the soap trotted out the scenario in reverse, putting Liza in bed with daughter Colby’s love interest — wait for it — Tad’s son, Damon Miller!
The examples go on and on. Young & Restless’ Jack Abbott had a fling with dad John’s wife, Jill Foster. The same show’s Summer Newman seduced mom Phyllis Summers’ then-boyfriend, Billy Abbott. And mother/daughter duo Nikki and Victoria Newman both wrote steamy chapters in the life story of author Cole Howard.
Meanwhile, Bold & Beautiful made Dylan Shaw the lust interest of both Jessica Forrester and her mom, Maggie. And Days Our Lives built a memorable triangle around Doug Williams, true love Julie Olson and her equally enamored mom, Addie.
Will General Hospital be able to set off the same kind of fireworks with Willow, Drew and Nina? TBD. It’s not as if Nina is madly in love with Drew. Although Michael, who can be every bit as volatile as Sonny, is likely to hit the roof. And Nina and Willow being drawn to the same man is sure to undo all of the progress that they’ve made since discovering that they are mother and daughter.
Review some more of soaps’ most memorable triangles in the below photo gallery.
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Image: Stephen J. Cannell Productions/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1/32
<p>In this case, the pictures kinda say it all (that is, if you delete the expletives). While aspiring politician Frank was all like, “Whoa, two babes fighting over me? This is <em>awesome</em>!” his true love and the puppetmaster who desperately wanted him to give <em>her</em> that title spent the late 1970s doing their damnedest not to claw one another’s eyes out.</p>
Image: ABC/Getty Images, ABC
2/32
<p>“May I cut in?” are words that were never uttered by the Llanview mantrap who so firmly believed that she was meant to be the sometime police commissioner’s dance partner that she wasn’t afraid to step on the toes of his true love. Come to think of it, the more Lindsay got to step on Nora’s toes, the better she liked it!</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (3)
3/32
<p>Augusta really had to think twice before inviting her husband into their Circle of Truth and asking him to whom his heart really belonged. Depending on the year, she might not have liked the answer that she received. His attraction to neighbor C.C.’s wife was too great to be diminished by even a row of extra-tall hedges!</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Craig Sjodin/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
4/32
<p>This early-1990s triangle found buff boxer Jagger (then Antonio Sabáto Jr.) going nine rounds with indecision. He was drawn on one gloved hand to good girl Karen, who pushed him away to attract a crowd as the headliner at Sonny’s strip club; on the other, to bad girl Brenda, who’d eventually turn out to be the future don’s main attraction (clothed or un-).</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (2), NBC screenshot
5/32
<p>This conniving playboy wasn’t afraid to commit, that was for sure. He married both Wendy and Suzi — and toyed with their emotions so mercilessly that by the time he was killed off in 1985, Suzi seemed like a whole different person (Terri Eoff instead of Cynthia Gibb). In fact, she seemed like the kinda individual who might use the rat bastard for target practice!</p>
Image: Aaron Montgomery/JPI
6/32
<p>Yes, yes, we know that NBC’s supernatural soap was as silly as it was outlandish (if those aren’t technically the same thing!). But there’s still no discounting the lopsided love triangle that carried it through its early days — not to mention, Energizer Bunny-like, survived the recasts of two of its players to just keep going and going…</p>
Image: ABC/Getty Images, ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
7/32
<p>After the original Mean Girl spent years tormenting that nice Jenny in the 1980s, she probably had it coming. But we still couldn’t help but feel for Liza when she found out that her boyfriend’s favorite song was “Here’s to You, Mrs. Robinson” because he was getting hot and heavy behind her back with an older woman: her own mother!</p>
Image: Aaron Montgonery/JPI
8/32
<p>Speaking of mother/daughter triangles, the one that formed around caddish Deacon might have been the most shocking. After Bridget (then Jennifer Finnigan) lost her virginity to the scoundrel — while he broadcast the “event” on speakerphone to her family! — he not only seduced her mother but sired her half sister, Hope.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
9/32
<p>When the Forrester family’s patriarch started failing to achieve, er, <em>liftoff</em>, his latest wife began getting her needs met in the bed of his musclebound COO. Eric even gave the trysts his blessing. But once Carter and Quinn caught feelings, it was only a matter of time before Eric started cheating with ex-wife Donna. Wait, <em>what</em>?!?</p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
10/32
<p>The rooting value was obvious when it came to this trio: Steve was good but tortured, Craig bad… and only too <em>willing</em> to torture. Yet it was really fans of the CBS soap who suffered as the ingenue — played by soon-to-be movie star Meg Ryan — fell for her predatory pursuer’s BS to the point where she said “I do” to the remorseless scoundrel!</p>
Image: EJ Carr/NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
11/32
<p>Cut from the same cloth as the guys in the previous triangle, the Harrison brothers presented the object of their affections with roses… Wait, no. That’s not it at all, despite appearances. What they presented her with was a delightful dilemma: Should the complicated minx choose the sibling to whom her heart belonged… or the one to whom she believed that her wagon might be most lucratively hitched?</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
12/32
<p>Credit where it’s due: Fans were majorly #TeamTravis when the ABC soap kicked off this triangle in 1987, yet they eventually warmed — then overheated! — to the idea of her being paired with his brother. Ultimately, time told the tale of the victor: Long after Travis had passed away, Jackson’s feelings for Erica, and vice versa, remained alive and kicking. Heck, they were still squabbling in the show’s 2011 sendoff in a way that suggested that they were anything <em>but</em> over! </p>
Image: Arthur L. Cohen/CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (2)
13/32
<p>Julia seemed perfect for Jack at first — operative words: “at first.” After his tumultuous involvement with Carly, he needed someone simple, solid and trustworthy. But it turned out that his bride was none of those things; she was as mad as a hatter and as formidable a foe as Carly would ever face in getting back to her true north.</p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (3)
14/32
<p>“Twisted” doesn’t even <em>begin</em> to describe the triangle that erupted between Dru and the Winters brothers. Though she was devoted to husband Neil, Malcolm was so intent on having her that he waited until she was loopy from cold medicine to make his move — and inadvertently leave her pregnant with daughter Lily.</p>
Image: Gary Null/NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Chris Haston/NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
15/32
<p>Scheme queen Sami apparently didn’t get the memo that boyfriends aren’t one of the things that sisters are supposed to share. So she moved <span style="text-decoration: line-through">heaven</span> hell and earth to steal her sibling rival’s sweetheart, bringing to bear a single-minded dedication that at times even left <em>us</em> wondering whether or not she and Austin were really endgame.</p>
Image: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (2)
16/32
<p>When Josh’s late wife came back from the great beyond, we totally understood why his subsequent missus would be pissed. “If you’re gonna die,” we could imagine her hollering, “commit already!” What we <em>didn’t</em> understand was why Annie would shortly thereafter go over the edge. (Turned out she had been closer to it than we imagined!) In no time, she’d taken “crazy in love” to a whole other level in hopes of rendering Reva if not dead again, at least dead to Josh.</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
17/32
<p>Scandalous, right? This wasn’t a traditional love triangle by any means. However, you can’t say that Mac’s conniving daughter didn’t throw up as many obstacles to his relationship with would-be stepmother Rachel as a competitive romantic interest would’ve. (Fun fact: Frontburner mainstay Rachel is one of only two characters to appear in this countdown twice.)</p>
Image: J. Graylock/JPI, George De Sota/JPI
18/32
<p>Had ABC not pulled the plug on the resurgent soap, we have no doubt that this triangle would have been revisited over and over. Why not? In he mid-2000s, viewers were as conflicted as stoic John about his feelings for feisty Natalie and her rival, Evangeline (played, as if you didn’t know, by Tony-winning <em>Hamilton</em> powerhouse Renee Elise Goldsberry).</p>
Image: Timothy White/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
19/32
<p>The choice for Brenda was clear: She could stand by her made man, inviting in a life of danger as well as passion… or pledge herself to the Aussie who was as cuddly as a koala bear. In other words, the choice was completely and totally <em>unclear</em>, and should she return to <em>General Hospital</em>, we suspect she’d have to make the same impossible decision all over again!</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
20/32
<p>One years-long tussle wasn’t enough for this trio. When Jack’s babymama rose from the grave in 2022, she made it her mission in (her latest) life to relight her old flame. “Let me help!” her rival all but said, fighting so maniacally to keep the exes apart that she blew her own second chance with her favorite former husband. Well, <em>one</em> of ’em.</p>
Image: Gary Null/NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
21/32
<p>When Hope and Bo fell for one another in the 1980s, we were sure that that was it; we were sold. Then again, we also thought back then that Peter Reckell was the only actor we’d ever accept as the hero for whom we were holding out. So color us surprised — and pleasantly so — when in the early ’90s, Robert Kelker-Kelly emerged as <a href="https://soaps.sheknows.com/soaps/news/572630/soaps-best-recasts-all-time-ranked/" target="_blank">a sensational Reckell recast</a>, and Lisa Rinna’s Billie, a tempting alternative to Hope.</p>
Image: Sean Smith/JPI
22/32
<p>In the late 2010s, postpartum depression made Katie think that it was a “Brill” idea to push her husband toward her older sister. Only after the new mom had regained her mental equilibrium did she realize that she’d borrowed trouble and given herself a romantic rival for years to come. And worse, one that she’d have to invite to every Thanksgiving!</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, NBC screenshot
23/32
<p>Cruz and Eden were supposed to be untouchable. Sacrosanct. But when the late Roscoe Born was introduced to the mix in 1989 as a forgotten old flame of hers, it was as if we all took a big honkin’ bite of forbidden fruit. We felt guilty as hell about it, but we were more torn between the heroine’s two lovers than it made any sense to be. <em>That</em>, folks, is the hallmark of a great love triangle!</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
24/32
<p>Bro, <em>no</em>. Even in this picture with Hope (originally Kim Matula), Liam can’t keep his eyes off of Steffy. And that’s pretty much the way that it’s gone since he was introduced to the stepsiblings’ social circle in 2010. If he’s with one, he wants the other; if he’s with the other, then the other is obviously The One!</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection, Curt Gunther/TV Guide/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
25/32
<p>Look at the couple on the left. The honeymooners can’t <em>believe</em> that the couple on the right could possibly be a threat to their hard-won marriage. And yet… ! Fans don’t often think of Luke and Laura as having had any relationship spoilers, but in the late 1970s, <em>Luke</em> was actually a spoiler — and a wildly successful one — to the romance of Laura and Scotty, the supercouple that saved the show from cancellation.</p>
Image: Paul Skipper/JPI
26/32
<p>Fans felt understandably treacherous, falling in line behind John and his Doc. But what could they do? He’d been introduced in 1985 as Roman. (Well, he <em>coulda</em> been!) So when the real McCoy came back from the dead, our allegiances had shifted. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t comfortable, but holy crap, was it ever a great triangle!</p>
Image: ABC
27/32
<p>What happened in Nixon Falls in 2021 didn’t stay in Nixon Falls. The late Nelle’s mother was so ticked at her archenemy for keeping their relation a secret that she repaid the favor by withholding the information that her husband wasn’t dead, he was just suffering from amnesia. Oh, and he was also her new boyfriend and future ex-spouse. So <em>there</em>!</p>
Image: Brian Lowe/JPI, Aaron Montgomery/JPI
28/32
<p>The 2005 death of the Newmans’ daughter Cassie brought to life one of the soap’s most polarizing triangles. In his grief, Nick turned away from his wife and toward Phyllis. Pretty much ever since, whenever any of them are at loose ends, romantically speaking, tension mounts as their torrid history threatens to repeat itself.</p>
Image: John Paschal/JPI
29/32
<p>Lather, rinse, repeat — that’s the cycle that these three have followed for 30-plus years. And although with Taylor off the canvas following yet another ride on the marry-go-round, it would seem that their triangle has been deconstructed, we wouldn’t count out a resurgence any more than we’d eliminate the possibility of Stephanie rising from the dead to bitch-slap Sheila!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI (2)
30/32
<p>Compared to others on this list, this triangle hardly got any play. Despite that, fans remain passionately divided as to which of the hitman’s great loves — earthy Liz or action figure Sam — was actually the greater. And yes, we can just hear Carly now chiming in to say, “Argue all you want, but everybody knows <em>I’m</em> really Jason’s favorite.”</p>
Image: NBC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (2)
31/32
<p>“What the what?” you say. Oh, don’t you <em>dare</em> poo-poo the impact that this triangle had on the NBC soap. Modern viewers may not remember the show, much less the characters, but the push-pull that Steve felt to good girl Alice and bad girl Rachel powered the show through the late 1960s and took it to the top of the ratings in the decade that followed.</p>
Image: Bernard Boudreau/TV Guide/CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
32/32
