5 General Hospital Couples That Never Should Have Happened
"General Hospital" has had many amazing couples over its 60 years on the air, several of whom were considered a "supercouple" because the fan love for the pairing borders on obsession. The supercouple phenomenon began with the legendary Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) and Laura Spencer (Genie Francis), who saved the world from being frozen by the evil Cassadine family in one of the most bizarre plot lines that's still fondly remembered today. Because Luke and Laura's story was part of a new wave of action and adventure in daytime serials — spearheaded by then-executive producer Gloria Monty to save the sudser from cancellation in 1978 — more thrill-seeking supercouples followed.
Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner) was a rock-and-roll singer who married Felicia Cummings (Kristina Wagner). From the hunt for Aztec treasure to dealing with a space alien named Casey, Frisco worked his way up the law-enforcement ladder until he became the head of the World Security Bureau for a time. Former WSB agents Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) and Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) were a beloved action-oriented couple. In later years, mob enforcer Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) and private investigator Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) were fan favorites for years, but his dangerous lifestyle was too much for their relationship to withstand.
However, not all soap pairings can be supercouples, and there are many that should never have happened in the first place.
Alexis Davis and Julian Jerome
The pairing of Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn) and Julian Jerome (William deVry) seemed like it could have worked out given their families and backgrounds. The son of mob boss Victor Jerome (Jack Axelrod), Julian was originally played by Jason Culp from 1988 to 1990, and the character became something of a fan favorite when deVry stepped into the role in 2013. Grahn originated Alexis in 1996, and it was soon revealed that she was part of the evil Cassadine family.
With a crime family and a murderous clan as their respective pedigrees, you'd think they'd have been a match made in Heaven. However, despite the fact that she killed arms dealer Luis Alcazar (Ted King) and her daughter Kristina Davis' abusive boyfriend, Kiefer Bauer (Christian Alexander), she had nothing on Julian, who would just as soon put a bullet in your head as look at you. Their romance was a slow burn with great chemistry at first. Julian futilely attempted to swear off organized crime numerous times, and because he once held a knife to her throat, the couple (and the fans) never really got over that.
The very definition of a toxic relationship, Alexis should have headed for the hills when she learned that the man who sired her daughter, Sam McCall, was really a vindictive mobster who could never attain redemption because of his criminal proclivities.
Carly Spencer and Drew Cain
The match-up of Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) and Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) on "General Hospital" has been a huge misfire from the beginning. Drew was originally played by the late Billy Miller — who initially believed he was Jason Morgan due to a convoluted brain mapping scheme — and became something of a dark character. Once he came to terms with his true identity, he became his own character (but we never forgot that he has Jason's memories).
Jason and Carly were friends from way back, but she ended up with his boss, lovable yet dangerous racketeer Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). She and Jason remained besties – especially because of the numerous times he pulled her impulsive bacon out of the fire. She and Jason almost married to save Sonny's mob organization when they believed he was dead, and then found they had unrequited feelings for each other. But Sonny turned up alive, and Jason was soon believed dead, so she went for the next best thing: his twin brother, Drew.
Now played by Mathison, the two look nice together, but looks alone don't make for a good pairing. It's all kinds of wrong on so many levels, especially if he still has Jason's memories. Drew is drier than unbuttered toast and adds nothing to Carly's spitfire personality, which itself has worn out its welcome. These two don't need a counselor; they need to find different partners.
Carly Spencer and Franco Baldwin
"Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows" is a line from William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and means that sometimes people can find a connection despite not sharing any interests. Bedfellows don't get much stranger than Carly Spencer and Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth). The two certainly had nothing in common, and fans are still bewildered about how they got together at all. Franco was a serial killer who terrorized Carly's bestie, Jason Morgan, and Sam McCall. Heck, he even kidnapped her at one point — although she was rescued by Jason.
Franco was eventually exonerated from his wrongdoings after it was determined that (surprise!) a brain tumor caused him to commit his heinous deeds. Their relationship was doomed from the start, and although the two had enough sparks between them to incinerate a cement building, she always went back to the well of her ex-husband, Sonny Corinthos. Franco was worried that she was cheating on him, and despite her protests to the contrary, she and Sonny danced between the sheets for old time's sake. Just before Franco and Carly walked down the aisle, he publicly exposed her and Sonny's affair and revealed to their son, Michael Corinthos (Chad Duell), that Sonny had killed his biological father, A.J. Quartermaine.
Needless to say, Carly and Franco were kaput, and many fans breathed a sigh of relief.
Elizabeth Webber and Hamilton Finn
When Dr. Hamilton Finn's brother, Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard), was poisoned by the villainous Peter August (Wes Ramsey), he and then-nurse Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) worked together to save him. Some sparks arose between them, and when Finn later confronted Peter on the hospital rooftop, he threw the evildoer down a flight of stairs, seemingly killing him. Liz helped Finn hide the body in the freezer of a sub-basement so they could figure out what to do. After that, they started dating but had no chemistry.
Finn had just been dumped by Anna Devane, and Liz was still reeling from the death of her husband, Franco Baldwin. It seemed as if the writers were forcing the characters together despite the fact that the fans could see they weren't going to work. Then Liz kept secret about the fact that she'd inadvertently killed Finn's wife years earlier, and it seemed like they were over. But they head-scratchingly keep finding their way back to each other. Easton himself stated at a fan event that their brief breakup over this secret stalled the storyline. "I think the odds are kind of stacked against them right now because it has been drawn out, and it's lost a little bit of momentum at times."
Getting back together in October 2023, the couple had sex for the first time, but the whole relationship still seems doomed, and it's high time the show hung up their romance.
Luke Spencer and Anna Devane
On paper, pairing the legendary Luke Spencer with the butt-kicking beauty Anna Devane seemed like the perfect combination. Sadly, that's not what happened. For example, Anna is a good friend of Sonny Corinthos, and while they do have a bit of chemistry between them, they work better as friends and should never be turned into lovers. It's too bad the writers didn't think about that when they put Luke and Anna together.
Their relationship happened organically as Luke was there for Anna when she believed her daughter Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough) had died. He let her stay with him, and sparks started to fly, thrilling fans when they finally kissed. However, as ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu famously wrote in Te-Tao Ching, "The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long." And Anna and Luke's sparks erupted into all too brief fireworks with no substance.
Things got dicey when Luke was accused of killing mobster Anthony Zacchara (Bruce Weitz), but he was cleared and was later kidnapped by the evil Heather Webber (then Robin Mattson). Anna rescued him from a fiery trap Heather set in a cabin, and Luke took a bullet for her. When the real Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) returned, Anna dumped Luke and reunited with her back-from-the-dead ex. It was an intriguing thought to pair these two up, but they worked better as friends.