General Hospital "Sax" Opening, August 2001: HUGE Update (With Chloe Instead Of Helena)

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This was the first version of the "Sax Opening", as I call it, without Kristina Wagner (Felicia Scorpio...or was it back to Jones?) and John York (Mac Scorpio) at the end.
I still remember seeing this version's premiere. In the previous version, Brad Maule (Tony Jones) followed Robin Christopher (Skye Quartermaine) near the beginning. Once it went straight from Christopher/Skye to the hospital action shot, I knew RIGHT away a long-overdue opening update had taken place.
HOW overdue? In the June 2001 update, somebody okayed a sequence of Melissa/Taggert/Amy/
Sonny...egad.
In for the first time: Jaime Ray Newman (Kristina Cassadine) Chad Brannon (Zander Smith) Tamara Braun (Carly Corinthos #2) Angel Boris (Angel Ellis) and Robert Kelker-Kelly (Stavros Cassadine). Jensen Buchanan (Melissa Bedford) receives a new (less flattering) image. Wagner/Felicia's image is slightly modified from the same reel. Genie Francis's (Laura Webber) image is greatly modified from the same reel-she goes from smiling to haunted.
Returning to GH after one year away, Ingo Rademacher (Jasper "Jax" Jacks) even makes it into the update; he had just appeared on-screen for the first time a few days prior.
The image of Amber Tamblyn (Emily Quartermaine), who left GH in July 2001, is removed. Also removed: the shared image of Lynn Herring & Jon Lindstrom (Lucy Coe & Kevin Collins). Both had moved to the GH spinoff Port Charles in mid-1997, with only the rare GH appearance in the years since.
Upon leaving for PC, however, the duo was given a shared image in the GH opening because-reportedly-a clause in their PC contracts guaranteed their return to GH should PC get cancelled.
My understanding is: when Herring and Lindstrom later re-signed with PC without the clause, only then did GH remove their image from the opening. PC was cancelled in 2003, but neither Herring nor Lindstrom ever received new contracts from GH-they turned up for Lila Quartermaine's funeral in July 2004 and then dropped from sight. By 2013, however, both were back on GH-in recurring capacities-and remain there as of 2024.
Maule remains in the opening despite being dropped to recurring status in November 2000. He would remain until December 2002.
No more action clips of Felicia running into Mac's arms and Ned dancing with Alexis-there wasn't any room even if those romances WEREN'T facing complications in the summer of 2001. The clips, which premiered in September 1999, never returned.
This version of the "Sax" opening is taken from Tava Smiley's (Chloe Morgan) final episode. Her image in the opening was soon replaced with Constance Towers (Helena Cassadine), despite Towers being on recurring status with GH. It was probably easier to plug in a new image than to "mirror" the existing images, and Towers was receiving heavy airtime in 2001.
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Featuring:
Rachel Ames - Audrey Hardy
John Ingle & Anna Lee - Edward & Lila Quartermaine
Leslie Charleson & Stuart Damon - Monica & Alan Quartermaine
Billy Warlock - Alan "A.J." Quartermaine Jr.
Robin Christopher - Skye Quartermaine
Shell Kepler - Amy Vining
Jaime Ray Newman - Kristina Cassadine
Wally Kurth - Ned Quartermaine (then Ashton)
Nancy Lee Grahn - Alexis Davis
Chad Brannon - Zander Smith
Tamara Braun - Carly Spencer (then Corinthos)
Maurice Benard - Sonny Corinthos
Angel Boris - Angel Ellis
Ingo Rademacher - Jasper "Jax" Jacks
Jacklyn Zeman - Bobbie Spencer
Brad Maule - Tony Jones
Jensen Buchanan - Melissa Bedford
A Martinez - Roy DiLucca
Kristina Wagner - Felicia Scorpio
John J. York - Mac Scorpio
Real Andrews - Marcus Taggert
Marisa Ramirez - Gia Campbell
Coltin Scott (now Stephen Martines) - Nikolas Cassadine
Tava Smiley - Chloe Morgan
Robert Kelker Kelly - Stavros Cassadine
Stephen Nichols - Stefan Cassadine
Rebecca Herbst - Elizabeth Webber
Jacob Young - Lucky Spencer
Kin Shriner - Scott Baldwin
Genie Francis & Anthony Geary - Laura & Luke Spencer
I'll eventually add more of these, so if you like soap openings from yesteryear, subscribe please.
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