General Hospital News & Gossip

News for the week of 19-Sep-2005

by Carol Banks Weber

Hours before news broke out all over the ‘Net, a buddy of mine in-the-know e-mailed to confirm that Laura Wright (ex-Ally, The City/Loving) did indeed walk away from her GL role as Cassie to take over as GH’s fourth Carly. Weeks ago, she’d traveled to Los Angeles for talks with GH’s PTB and Maurice Benard (Sonny) about the recast. Then, Wright herself posted about it on her Laura Addicts message board September 12, before ABC Daytime had a chance to issue a formal announcement. In doing so, she managed to insult some diehard Carly and Jennifer Bransford (soon-to-be-ex-Carly III) fans by referring to the honor of following in the footsteps of the “past two actresses,” instead of the past three, excluding one of ‘em (three guesses which one). According to Wright’s post, GH’s people asked her to be the next recast. After discussing the matter with her husband, they both agreed a change would be an excellent adventure, so they’ll move from the East to the West Coast, where GH films. Wright’s starting time is exactly one month after Bransford’s October 5th on-air exit.

Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) – one of the cast members in full support of giving Jennifer Bransford (Carly III) a chance – declared the situation a downer. But, Grahn tried to look on the bright side for Bransford. At least now, Grahn reasoned, Bransford can spend more time with her husband and their daughter, as she’d missed them like crazy before; and, there’s always the next, better thing just for her around the bend.

My latest, favorite soap writer-idol, TV Guide Online’s Daniel R. Coleridge scored an exclusive exit interview with Jennifer Bransford (Carly III) in the September 16th update of Soap News. And after reading of her shocked but gracious reaction to the firing, I am even more upset with TPTB for the – IMHO – underhanded, unprofessional, impatient and incompetent manner in which they handled this recast. Bransford could easily have called her GH bosses on the carpet, named names and gone out with a fight. But instead, she chose the high road, while still acknowledging the sting of finding out one thing after being led to believe another. Upon her hire last spring, Bransford was under the impression that TPTB planned to give her enough time to grow into the role—the same as Tamara Braun (ex-Carly) had before her. After only five months, though, TPTB pulled the plug – prematurely, in the minds of many fans who’d come to accept this new and different Carly, again, the same as they had done for Braun. “I knew Tamara went through the same thing [after Sarah Brown's exit], and it was understood that it would take time,” Bransford said. Furthermore, according to Bransford, they informed her that she’d been replaced only a week and a half before her final September 9th day (to air October 5) at work. The classy actress laid out the positives over the negatives in the form of touching good-byes with touched co-stars (“Maurice [Benard/Sonny] was the last person I saw in the parking lot. He said, 'We're gonna see each other again.' We shared an extremely moving experience with Carly's emotional breakdown story”) and with touched fans she’d won over. These incredible fans gifted her with balloons, personal notes, bouquets of roses, cake (she ate the cake!), a banner, posters. Before she left, Bransford wished to issue her gratitude and her awe – to the special co-stars who went over and above to help her feel welcome and give her a taste of “artistic integrity and passion,” like Benard and Steve Burton (Jason). Without a hint of bitterness, this amazing woman who counted herself lucky, said she would’ve repeated the performance, knowing what she knows now, because the experience of tackling such a complex character as Carly and with such outstanding, giving actors and kind, understanding fans… was like no other.

Bransford’s Carly will exit on October 5 when Sonny puts her in the nuthouse. On November 4, Laura Wright’s Carly will emerge. Note that Wright doesn’t have to perform seamlessly in a seamless one-day layover as Bransford did, to her detriment.

How’s this for bad timing? On heels of the Carly recast, ABC Soaps in Depth (September 27, 2005) interviews the trio of Emmy-award-winning leading men – Maurice Benard (Sonny), Rick Hearst (Ric) and Steve Burton (Jason) – who all, each and every one of them, used up almost half of their time praising Jennifer Bransford for her exceptional ability as an accessible, truthful, powerful actress of mind-blowing intensity. Or, as Hearst described in the ultimate compliment: “Jenny is dedicated to bringing truth to the moment, to the point of being scary.” Or, Burton’s impressed take: “Jennifer has it [availability and vulnerability]. I look into her eyes and it’s there.” Benard has had to watch his breakdown story go to this new co-star of about five months. And yet, there’s no resentment on his end; quite the opposite, he’s stunned at how the story’s touched him on a deeper level than perhaps it would’ve had Sonny gone through another dark time. He explained: “The depth of what she is going through is amazing because I see myself in her. That’s never happened.”

The leading men paid each other homage too. Burton and Benard admired Hearst’s commitment to his character, even when Ric started off on shaky ground as an outright psychotic villain. Burton (with Benard in total agreement) added that that commitment enabled Hearst to really shine for the writers—no playing hero outside the script—contributing to the character’s longevity. Hearst wished he could react from his gut the way Benard does, instead of thinking through the material first with the added supplement of his gut. Benard and Hearst said they couldn’t pull off the physical and emotional believability of an enforcer the way Burton can. Well… you get the idea.

Hopefully, for the sake of the GH fans, Laura Wright (ex-Cassie, GL; ex-Ally, Loving/The City) will also be able to tap into that perennial vulnerability of the classic Carly, which Benard spoke of in his SID interview. Every actress who earned the right to call herself Carly – from Sarah Brown to Tamara Braun, to Jennifer Bransford – possessed that vulnerability in abundance, he said, which then allowed him to do his job as an instinctive actor and feed off their vibe with an equally abundant, heroic defense mechanism.

TPTB sought out Wright for the recast role of Carly, but the first time, she said no, she could not imagine moving from her home base in New York (to Los Angeles, where GH is), or from her family at GL, not after eight fulfilling years. She also didn’t want to leave GL high and dry. Then, she reconsidered and gave her notice to GL almost at the last minute, so producers had to hunt down a speedy recast for her character. After careful reconsideration, Wright realized she could not turn down such a chance on such a show as GH. “Honestly, I did it for the opportunity. I love what I do, but I don't know if I was doing the character of Cassie justice anymore. When you start to feel like you want to be challenged in other areas, the light starts to dim a little.” Once she takes up this challenge in a little less than two months, Wright promised to kick butt—a promise she said she could never have made before tackling GL’s Cassie at the tender age of 27. –NY Daily News, “Soap Dish,” Carolyn Hinsey, September 16, 2005

In that NY Daily News “Soap Dish” column, Wright did it again, she left out the third and last Carly—Jennifer Bransford—while heaping praise on her GH predecessors. The only reference to Bransford in Hinsey’s column came from Hinsey. “I've got big shoes to fill. Sarah Brown was awesome. I loved watching her play the role. Tamara Braun brought amazing emotion and sensitivity to the role. I think she really did a great job. She was a little tougher than Sarah, but soft, too. I'm hoping to be somewhere down the middle.” I agree with Wright’s assessment of the first two actresses to play Carly, but it would be nice if the fourth actress would acknowledge the third. Just ‘cause Bransford’s been fired, don’t mean she ceased to exist.

The death of an 11-year-old girl named Hallie (from a car accident) caused untold grief for her surviving family, including mom, Sofia Landon Geier (ex-Diane, GL). But the death also inspired Landon, her family and friends to form the LOVE, HALLIE Foundation, which inspires children to do good works. Amongst the good works is reaching out to AIDS-afflicted children in Sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, daytime television’s brightest and best were recruited and are committed to including mention of the plight of the African children as well as pleas to the audience to contribute too, starting the week of October 3; every week, a soap will dedicate a part of its airtime toward the subject in the “Daytime Unites for Africa” project. AMC does its part the first week of the project, GH for the week of October 31st and OLTL the week of November 14th. On September 24, in Sunnyside, Queens, N.Y., the foundation will host Halliestock, a fundraiser, featuring many of the East Coast soap stars, such as OLTL’s Robin Strasser (Dorian), Kamar de los Reyes (Antonio), Melissa Archer (Natalie); and AMC’s Connie Fletcher (Erin).

Scott Clifton (Dillon), Jacob Young (JR, AMC; ex-Lucky, GH), Kathy Brier (Marcie, OLTL) and Kassie DePaiva (Blair, OLTL) are just some of the many soap stars scheduled to perform in the Soap Jam concert held at Fort Worth, TX’s Longhorn Saloon, on September 30, for the Hurricane Katrina victims. Some of the monies raised from the benefit concert will help the relief effort.

Kelly Monaco (Sam) performed triple duty in the September 9th show of The View. First, she fielded questions about the September 20th Dancing With The Stars rematch, dance rival John O’Hurley’s comments suggesting her win had a lot to do with soap fans tipping the voting process in her favor and her being on an ABC daytime drama (the primetime reality show is also on ABC) than fair and square (he said this?!) and plans to stay put on GH, while possibly doing outside projects. Second, she and her Dancing With The Stars ballroom partner Alec Mazo did a short Latin number, where she almost experienced wardrobe malfunction #2 but with her drawers. Third, she joined her soap star posse on the phones for “Operation: Soap Hope” to fundraising efforts to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina, through Points of Light and/or Red Cross. Important information of note: Initially, Monaco passed on the dancing rematch, figuring that she already did her time and proved her worth. She also did not want to go through more bloody bruises from the rehearsals. But then producers came back at her with the charity angle, and she agreed, provided her winnings – should she reign victorious – go to Hurricane Katrina relief. Her winning trophy, the disco ball, sits in her dining room. She’s contemplating giving it to O’Hurley if he wins the rematch. As for O’Hurley’s contention that she benefited from her soap fan base and even remotely suggesting a win for her is a win for the network airing Dancing With The Stars – Monaco seemed dismayed and surprised, since the two get along, they’re friendly, it’s all hugs and kisses. She brought up his larger contingent of fans through his memorable Seinfeld run and the fact that GH, as a soap, is lucky to come in with three million viewers per ratings period. And, if ABC ever practiced what some critics are suggesting happened to enable her win, Monaco continued, the network would be in big legal trouble. Her graciousness won over, as she summed up with fairness that had she lost, her fans would probably be up in arms too. Her Latin dance with Mazo helped disprove much of the sour-grapes speculation; she’s obviously still at the top of her game, flashed drawers notwithstanding.

Later [as if I don’t talk enough about “Dancing With The Stars”], in Entertainment Weekly, Kelly Monaco (Sam) gave John O’Hurley props because he’s still keeping up with his dancing, on Broadway, and predicted he will “kick my butt” come the Sept. 20th dance rematch. The two will dance together, too.

For the prudes in the audience, the following is from a Howard Stern radio show interview of Monaco, from Monday, September 12. It contains sexual material of an adult nature. If you are easily offended, skip this part, continue, then go to church to pray. If you are under-aged, you shouldn’t even be here, you should be in school and/or at the PBS Kids.org site. (Thanks to San on the boards for the blow by blow):

• She jerks off with a vibrator for her and her boyfriend’s viewing pleasure.
• She probably engages in sex play totally in the nude, because lingerie isn’t her thing.
• She loves her some hot sex, which improves yearly.
• The hairy bush she sported before—in those Playboy centerfolds—has since been trimmed to manageable levels.
• While she enjoys the company of her Playboy Playmates in the hot tub, she would never go down under with any girl.
• Her lucky long-time boyfriend, recently promoted to assistant since the Dancing With The Stars launch, has proposed. She is not inclined to marry in a splashy, lavish ceremony, if she does wed.
• Her parents weren’t big on her Puerto Rican/Bronx, New York boyfriend at first, but he’s proved to be as loyal as she. After they settled down with each other exclusively—in their early dating period, he played around—they are as married as any officially married couple, sharing everything.
• During her Playboy infamy, she got to hang with creator Hugh Hefner. Alas, back then, she found the dude, married at the time, a bit of a yawner.
• She rarely takes time off just to relax. She said she tends to work herself to death. Or, give her house a thorough sprucing, in lieu of hanging out outside her sanctuary.
• Her first impression of professional dancing partner Alec Mazo was that he might be gay. She quickly realized the opposite. He has a professional dancing girlfriend named Edyta Sliwinska (the one who tried to turn boxer Evander Holyfield into Fred Astaire on Dancing With…) who’s hotter than she’ll ever be, she added. Mazo, also in attendance for the Howard Stern interrogation, denied ever finding himself aroused around Monaco. But then, he’s used to dancing around and with beautiful women.
• She also detested the idea of a Dancing With… rip-off story on GH. She even argued with TPTB about leaving it be, to no avail.
• A Howard Stern fan, she has been on his radio show enduring his come-ons and his lust-hungry hanger-ons for quite a while now. Much of the GH cast hangs on Stern’s every word every morning too. Whenever she’s scheduled to do an interview with the R-rated shock jock, they’re on her about every word.
• In return, the Howard Stern posse is in love with anything and everything Kelly Monaco. She has their full support.

Alec Mazo’s win theory meshes with many in Kelly Monaco’s (Sam) Dancing With The Stars camp. In his learned view, the two of them took first place because the expected winners, Charlotte Jorgensen and actor John O’Hurley (Seinfeld), coasted during the final dance routines. “Their routines were safe, there was no exploring in it and you could see that they expected to win,” Mazo told Kelli at SoapTown USA in an exclusive interview updated on September 12. “When somebody gets complacent with their position, thinking about everyone saying they're the favorite, they're the favorite, they think they only have to maintain and that's never true. You always have to push and they didn't push.” Mazo and Monaco—despite an admitted rocky first start, both of them out of their comfort zone—knew to push and push, improving with every week.

Interestingly enough, the Russian-born Mazo only turned pro shortly before producers scoured the country for presentable professional dancers to pair up and teach untrained celebrities for the premiere mid-season dance-off. Mazo and Monaco were the last two chosen, and as such, had much more to catch up on, he explained. “It was a pressure situation because I had never done anything like this, it affected me more than I thought it would to have someone watching me constantly, on my back constantly, while having to entertain and, at the same time, making somebody else feel comfortable and bring the best out in them - in only two weeks. I started pushing Kelly right away when I shouldn't. I should have taken it easy at first, but then again, maybe that's what paid off.”

What seemed to pay off were their dismal first week’s results, deemed the worst pair of dancers there. Mazo realized that either the resoundingly harsh judging would spur them on to victory, or snuff them out in a quick defeat, and more importantly, he wondered whether his celebrity partner would fold or rise to the occasion. He knew he had the determination, he always did—even though he took up dancing at a young age at the behest of his mother (to give him grace and poise) only to attract the babes—but Monaco? “… I didn't know if I was having to carry her and inspire her or if she was going to inspire herself But, she did inspire herself and when she did that, it was easy to go to the next step…. That's when I saw we could make it more difficult, we could push the envelope a little bit. So that's what we did.”

Mazo, of Jewish and Russian descent, first settled into San Antonio, TX at age 12, with his family, then over to San Francisco, CA, a year-plus later, to be around his parents’ pals. There, his former engineer mother started up a dance school, despite possessing zero experience as a dancer besides appreciation. The then-16-year-old agreed to learn dancing at his mother’s school for the chick magnet potential; his mom also thought dance would ease his back problems. The experience also helped him socially. Before, in Russia, he was considered very outgoing and popular. But living in the States, still learning the lingo, proved tough on Mazo. Following the dancing, Mazo studied computer science, then cognitive science at the University of California at Berkeley, hoping to apply the latter major to the business of teaching dance. Genesis Dance Sport (404 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94118; 1-800-745-1642) opened in the Bay Area in 1994, with him as CFO. The school boasts some of the best professional dancers as students, while also welcoming dance hopefuls of all levels in talent. Mazo’s goals are to expand the school to an L.A. location and to spread the word about dance as a sport to the millions of uninitiated, from word of mouth, to a revision in technical books and instructional videos. “If I showed you the pictures in the old school technical book, you would laugh: ballroom dancers with really corny sweaters and girls with really tall hair, 1980s leopard skin leg warmers. It's really weird looking and I don't think that's the right image. Ballroom dancing has evolved into a sport and I think that if people could see what it's really about and how awesome it is to watch, a whole new generation will help develop the sport into something totally different.”

As of September 20, primetime and daytime cross paths in a series of special hosting appearances. GH welcomes Dancing With The Stars’ John O’Hurley and Kelly Monaco (Sam) as hosts. Desperate Housewives’ James Denton and Ricardo Antonio Chavira, and Lost’s Josh Holloway—to name a few—will also be heading to the various ABC Daytime soaps for hosting duties.

As a struggling actor, new to the business, Tyler Christopher (Nikolas/ex-Connor) lived his advice to other struggling actors. He learned firsthand to passionately love performing above all and to avoid letting the stardust get into the ego. He also learned to value the work, take pride in the past work and focus on doing the best with whatever work at present. Otherwise, don’t bother.

During the July GH Fan Club Weekend, much had been made of The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown and Nancy Lee Grahn’s (Alexis) fascination with the controversial, but popular, hardcover thriller. Grahn has pored over the contents cover to cover, recommending the read to any and all, especially young women raised in this society and beyond. The book suggests that Mary Magdalene meant more to Jesus Christ than a mere follower, behind the male disciples, perhaps as His wife and the mother of His children. Such “truths” have Grahn convinced in its worth as a tool to teach about equality in an often unequal religious base, set for centuries upon centuries. “I believe the truth about what has happened in religion is that the balance between the male and the female was taken away in many religions,” explained Grahn, a feminist and liberal-Democrat. “They made the rules to suit them, and didn’t want the balance.” –ABC Soaps in Depth, September 27, 2005

With a free weekend, Natalia Livingston (Emily), pal Cheryl Buchanan and Cynthia Preston (ex-Faith no more) headed off on an impromptu jaunt down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for some fun in the sun, a little night life and synchronized swimming. That was the plan anyway, after Livingston and Buchanan invited Preston along, and hopped a plane down south. However, they arrived 20 minutes from Cabo San Lucas, in Cabo San Jose—which turned out to be a superior, if accidental, locale for the trio. Cabo San Jose featured five-star restaurants and lots of tranquility, with a luxurious resort, Preston explained. If they desired to party at the more renowned Cabo San Lucas, they didn’t have far to travel anyway. By the time they had to return to the States, they missed their destination by miles and miles and miles, forced to rent a $12.95 clunker which practically fell apart, getting them nowhere fast, and then hitch hike. Most people would’ve complained, but not them, they reveled in the adventure.

Visiting far-off lands, experiencing the exotic replenishes Ted King’s (Lorenzo) soul. He’d long been anticipating a trip to Spain, a U2 concert, mingling with the natives and with his buddies. Last month, he indulged, freely. A well-traveled, music producer buddy of his singled out Spain as the favorite getaway of all time.

Michael Saucedo (ex-Juan) ain’t kidding when he calls his wife Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) cooking-challenged. She won’t even shop for groceries, preferring to hand over that chore to Saucedo, who’s really better at it. Her shopping forte lies in that of the retail Wal-Mart variety, diapers, shoes for her two children, bath lotion, patio furniture; she can spend hours and hours poring over the shampoos. The hands-on experience wins over the online for Herbst. Besides, she said, what would she want with computer options?

It’s a shame about Kari Wuhrer (Reese). The official word from her website, as of last week, is that the April 28th-born actress received her walking papers from GH. Days earlier, she appeared in a Soap Opera Digest September 13th interview – “Wuhrer of the Worlds” by Tom Stacy – raving about the surprising benefits of working the steady hours of a soap job. The steadiness, in part, is what attracted her to the idea of soaps in the first place, after coming from the unsteady life of B movies, primetime TV guest spots, magazine spreads and MTV’s Remote Control. With son Enzo, 1½, and another child on the way, Wuhrer extolled the virtues of that steadiness, despite a challenging start. “I think I’ve hit upon something with this daytime thing.” … Once she shakes off this experience, if she wants to, there’s always a return to the mainstream, but perhaps armed with a better appreciation for the fast pace and the voluminous amounts of dialogue found in no other genre.

The forthright Wuhrer allowed reporter Stacy to delve a bit into a painful part of her life, as an aspiring actress, following the realization that her dreams of rock stardom were just that in the face of the reality. Estranged from her parents (she’s since reconciled), she felt she had to get implants and rely on her physical assets to augment her acting hopes. The implants did help, she did 40-plus projects, mostly sci-fi series, forgettable late-night cable fare, … but one of her implants wound up encapsulated. As a result, Wuhrer endured surgery to remove the encapsulated and intact implants. Then, she went on Oprah and in Glamour for 2002 to chronicle the nightmare. “I had defined myself by my body for so long. It was scary to think who I would be without that,” she said. “But we, as women, need to respect our soul. We do our bodies enough physical damage by not loving them as they are, and to go under the knife like that … I’m not saying it’s wrong for everybody, but when you’re young and don’t have a sense of self, it’s not a solution.”

The character and actress assessment given by Kari Wuhrer (Reese) via a recent Soap Opera Weekly article had soap fans (especially those loyal to Nancy Lee Grahn/Alexis) on the boards broiling. Taken out of context—as many of those fans tend to do for sport—the assessment read like a slam against Grahn for improvising and a horn toot for Wuhrer for sticking to the script. Taken at face value, with the entire excerpt, Wuhrer observed that actors—whatever their technique—want to identify with, believe in and present their characters in a human, humane light. You decide: “It's funny how we all, as actors, wholeheartedly defend our character. They become such a part of us that we can't see where they make the mistake sometimes or where they're wrong or how they are not virtuous. The words can be written one way and we will ultimately play them as we feel our character should and with as much virtue as we can. It's funny sometimes to watch Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) rewrite some of her stuff to make her character more sympathetic. Because it's hard to be a liar, a bitch, a manipulator when you feel like your character wouldn't go there. I don't re-write the lines. I just take what it is and I find the truth in it and I go with it. A lot of people see Reese as a villain, when actually I think she's pretty human and pretty grounded.”

Greg Vaughan (Lucky) must be psychic. He began telling the immediate futures of either Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) or Kari Wuhrer (Reese) in the matter of a pregnancy, in a joking manner. Wuhrer finally relented and broke the news of her pregnancy later on.

The BCBG label goes over big with Lindze Letherman (Georgie), who can often be spotted in variations of its hip, original and flexible style. She almost exclusively shops the label and has nothing but raves for their jeans. Usually, the curvy, fit teen has to adjust here and there when buying jeans from labels other than BCBG. The flexibility of the style can be adapted for a lunch out with mom, or partying at night, Letherman added.

When Meg Bennett (ex-Allegra) appeared on GH, she practiced for her scenes back home with her husband, head writer Bob Guza Jr. He’d play the part of Sam, to her Allegra, and did excellently, Bennett reported.

Bennett finds game shows absolutely fascinating. She’s appeared in them too; back in the day, she did the $25,000 Pyramid, doing her best to help win loads of the money for her civilian partners. Today, she’ll tune in at any opportunity to Jeopardy, as well as the Game Show Network, and will often watch herself from the 1980s, complete with the big hair and the shoulder pads.

Had Shall We Dance? been released in theaters concurrently with the successful Dancing With The Stars this past spring, it might’ve been more of a blockbuster, thought Bennett, a fan of both. The movie featuring J.Lo and Richard Gere came out last fall before the mid-season, primetime show for ABC. Both the movie and the show feature similar themes of everyday people discovering themselves through professional ballroom dancing.

Before she goes, Jennifer Bransford (soon-to-be-ex-Carly) let ABC Soaps in Depth (September 27, 2005) readers and GH fans get to know her a little bit better away from the cameras. The doting mother of Alexandra, 2, recently treated herself to an hour’s worth of massage. Would love to treat herself to a snowstormy day, snuggled in front of a warm fire with her clan and her pals around her. Her mother passed on the love of dreaming. When Alexandra gives her that I’m mischievous look, Bransford melts.

When soap stars recall their worst dates, they really don’t mess around. Kari Wuhrer (Reese) knew her hockey star date was just a superficial cad after she showed up without her big boobies – she’d had her implants removed because one of ‘em burst – and the guy barely gave her any notice. Before, he’d been all over her. Ted King (Lorenzo) stays away from a certain kind of date, the blind ones, because what if the lady he’s introduced to doesn’t gel with him – he’ll know right off, too – and he’s got two more hours with her? Torture. Kathy Brier (Marcie, OLTL) dropped this one guy after attending his birthday party and watching him fall all over another girl. “I called him the next day and called him out on it. And he was like, ‘I wasn’t flirting with her.’ I said, ‘I wasn’t born yesterday; I’m not stupid.’” Bree Williamson (Jessica/Tess, OLTL) will never forget the time she attended a film festival with a complete moron. He spent most of the film festival gabbing off somewhere on his cell, then followed that up with an invite to a dinner party from hell, Williamson described. Josh Casaubon (Hugh, OLTL) tried to hook up with an old girlfriend from high school a few years down the line (four to be exact), following a stint in the Army. While she remained gorgeous as ever, she was also about to marry another guy. He wondered why she didn’t bother to tell him what was so obvious from the engagement ring on her finger. Terri Ivens (Simone, AMC) opened her door to a rude awakening. She’d arranged for an interesting fellow actor to meet her at her place for a date after the two hit it off at an audition. Only…he showed up barely dressed in ratty jeans and a camo vest. –ABC Soaps in Depth, September 27, 2005

Mystery solved: talent manager Michael Bruno is not Soap Opera Digest writer Mike Bruno. The two men are completely separate and quite different from each other. Many people, including myself, have had them mixed up. The writer even found his pre-Daytime Emmy banquet seat filled by the other Bruno, and borne the brunt of negative feedback by an angry soap fan who mixed them up.

Kin Shriner (ex-Scotty) and Shell Danielson (ex-Dominique) once shared screen chemistry in a memorable, touching GH love story in the ‘90s. Recently, they shared the screen again in a short film—set for the film festival rounds—filmed on location in Florida and made by a young man who noticed then invited Shriner to star. Shriner remembered Danielson, a recent transplant from California to Florida, and invited her to join him. Fabrized chronicles the violent journey of a college professor (Shriner) after he drinks an acid-tainted liquid inadvertently. The guy massacres an entire family, then harasses his wife (Danielson) in this drug-induced haze. Shriner and Danielson noticed, while filming, that the people enjoying the sun and shores of Florida barely noticed their on-screen shenanigans or the fact that they were doing this for the on-screen. Some of them wondered whether the screaming and the bloody appearance of Shriner warranted a call to the cops (or a closer view if it was a porno), but inevitably they did nothing.

It’s probably the closest Finola Hughes (ex-Anna, GH; ex-Alex/Anna, AMC) will get to GH…when Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) shows up on Hughes’ How Do I Look? October 3rd show. Grahn’s sister Wendy undergoes a beauty and style transformation on the Style Network show.

Ming Lo plays Korean-American Dr. Kim, who’s about to deal with a whacked-out Carly, October 4-5.

Gossip for the week of 19-Sep-2005

by Carol Banks Weber

My theory on why GH’s idiots in charge hired Laura Wright (ex-Cassie, GL; ex-Ally, Loving) to replace Jennifer Bransford as Carly—after just a short five-month trial run? Wright is younger looking, blonde, beautiful, sexy and used to be on the same ABC Daytime soap as Ted King (Lorenzo/ex-Luis; ex-Danny, Loving). Rumor has Wright’s Carly and King’s Lorenzo hooking up for the longer term upon her debut. What better way to capitalize on their pre-existent Loving connection (without taking the time to develop an on-screen relationship in a real-time courtship)? And how much easier it will be for the writers to continue shirking their responsibilities, taking away the actors’ right to earn their acting keep and getting away with one ineffectual move after another. Pity that they and their bosses can’t be let go as easily as the hired help (read: the walking, talking, reciting animes).

Guiding Light, where Wright came from, may soon go off the air. The CBS soap hasn’t been faring well in the ratings, its writers haven’t hit pay dirt with any of the stories and after a recent call from the top down to pare the cast and/or ask the cast to take pay cuts, it’s only a matter of time before the inevitable cancellation.

As for Tamara Braun taking back her recast role as Carly II… forget it, it never even came close to happening, based on one insider source. Other sources conflict with this story, insisting it did come close to happening.

Kari Wuhrer (Reese) will go, following in the footsteps of her friend Jennifer Bransford (Carly III), but she didn’t go very quietly, according to the board buzz.

Despite Kelly Monaco (Sam/ex-Ali) swearing up and down—from The View to The Tony Danza Show, and every other public venue in between—that she plans to do GH as usual and whatever other outside projects come her way, people still suspect she’s covering for a quick exit. To do Desperate Housewives on ABC primetime, as Gabby’s little sis.

Kent Masters-King (Dr. Winters) could see a major story.

Constance Towers (Helena) returns to the GH studios to tape scenes, as rumored online for months since last leaving.

The writers envisioned Sonny and Emily as the next supercouple. But the ABC Daytime president did not, finding the pairing a little unequal age-wise. Now, the writers are starting to see it the daytime president’s way, especially considering the iffy aspect of Natalia Livingston’s (Emily) star quotient compared to the sure thing of Maurice Benard’s (Sonny).

Jax gets ready to dump Port Charles forever. He leaves the house (he’d planned for Elizabeth and Lucky, pre-miscarriage) for Alexis and her two children, but Alexis accepts only on the condition that he room with her. Because of Ric’s turning into a Sonny lackey, Alexis turns on Ric by turning to Jax in a second marriage of convenience. Alexis’s unborn baby could draw a childless yearning Jax closer, instead of a jealous Ric.

Or, how about this scenario? Jax and Courtney close in for a reunion, despite everything they’ve been through.

Hotel fire! Killer on the loose at the Qs! Hurricane! Floods! Car accident! A car accident of biblical proportions will provide the next outside disaster for a massive chain reaction.

Jason continues to suffer from amnesia and to immerse himself in his past to jar his present. He joins the work force, which nearly wrecks everything, reverting him to the ole status quo. (Doctor? Enforcer?)

Loose morals, breaking one of the 10 Commandments – Thou Shalt Not Covet – and a little mattress tag result in romantic and sexual angst for six characters, two couples, two unplanned pregnancies.

Jax reverts to the mid-1990s when he suspects Sonny of wooing unsuspecting Emily. His defense mechanism kicks into full post-Brenda gear.

Durant and Reese, nasty, nasty.

General Hospital News & Gossip, Copyright © 2005 Carol Banks Weber. No part of this page may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily those of SoapZone.com or its advertisers.