Tuesday’s Will Trent served as a tribute to General Hospital, complete with a title sequence that introduced our protagonist and his beloved canine companion to the ABC drama’s opening credits.
But these weren’t just any credits! Since they appeared in a flashback circa 2004, viewers were treated to a true GH throwback—the beloved “Faces of the Heart” opener, complete with Dave Koz’s soothing saxophone.
In addition to “Will” and “Betty,” the reworked credits included “Monica” (played by the late Leslie Charleson, who died in January) and “Carly” (played by Tamara Braun at the time).
The episode, aptly titled “A Funeral Fit for a Quartermaine,” bid farewell to GH’s most beloved fan, Miss Pearl (previously played by TV legend Marla Gibbs).
An early flashback reveals the day 18-year-old Will (Andres Velez, who doubles for Ramón Rodríguez) went to live with future crime boss Rafael Wexford (Yannick Haynes, who doubles for Antwayn Hopper) and his grandmother (Roxzane T. Mims) after he aged out of the foster care system.
Miss Pearl agreed to let Will rent her spare room, then invited him to sit down and watch General Hospital with her. So, what inspired the GH tribute? Was it simply a case of network collaboration, or was there a deeper meaning behind it?
“I watched General Hospital with my grandmother,” Will Trent’s co-showrunner Liz Heldens told TVLine. “I’d spend the summer in San Diego, and we’d watch [the ABC series] All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital, and we’d eat avocado noodles and drink Diet Dr. Pepper.”
Ahead of this week’s GH “crossover,” Will Trent in Season 3 paid homage to another ABC classic—the Jennifer Garner spy drama Alias—a deeply thoughtful hour of television that delved into a complex case involving espionage, betrayal, and mistaken identity in coffee cream.
