Brian Frons, Bob Guza, and others did their best to not only reinvent the show, which I have no problem with, but to dismantle its history. Rick Webber became a criminal, Holly Sutton an amoral villain, and Laura Spencer was carted off to the loony bin because TPTB was so focused on a new era that they couldn't figure out how to honor what was right in front on them. These were not just a few mis-steps but full-scale hack jobs on classic characters. I could go on--Robert Scorpio as a deadbeat dad, Felicia as an MIA mother, Steven Lars as a corrupt doctor.
I've welcomed the attempts to correct some of these gaffs, but I can't sit back and say GH deserves #1. I realize this is completely subjective and understand that others, like you, have a different read on all this.