General Hospital News & Gossip
News for the week of 08-Feb-2010
What more to expect from GH’s Feb. Sweeps: Michael catches a girl’s eye (probably an incoming Ward), Luke reexamines his crappy, absentee, sentimental-less parenting skills, Kristina finally goes forward with the culmination of an abuse story when Keifer goes too far, Lisa grows closer to Robin, and Lulu enjoys real love with Dante.
The reason Sonny looks so crappy in the aftermath of his arrest (last week and into this week) is because his portrayer Maurice Benard felt crappy from a cold bug. He felt so crappy he barely remembers his part in those aftermath scenes. Otherwise it’s all good. Benard is loving his storyline and everybody’s part in it. He looks forward to more of the same, as Sonny’s case goes to trial with Alexis defending him. Filming the pivotal confrontation scene with Dominic/Dante’s Dominic Zamprogna had to be the coup in Benard’s career. He sensed from the onset that this could be good. “I remember the day that we did it people really seemed to dig it, the crew and what not. That’s how you can tell. Now that I’ve looked at the clips of it, it looks really cool.” Now, if only Sonny had a special someone to confide in and stick by him—like Jason has with Sam. Benard wants that for his character too, whether it’s Vanessa Marcil (ex-Brenda) or someone new. Hmm. Maybe someone new. –Deep Soap: Maurice Benard On The Shot Heard Round The World by Sara Bibel, February 1, 2010
Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) was on the 2010 Soap Cruise, which departed Miami on January 28th, when he injured an Achilles tendon during a game of hoops. He injured it so severely, he may have to get it operated on. Anderson had spoken with Soap Opera Source’s Lori Wilson several weeks ago about the cruise, working with James Franco (Franco) and maturing his own character in the aftermath of Maxie’s infidelity. Yes, he’ll appear as Spinelli with the injury and will mention it happening offscreen.
Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) learned she was with child (her third with husband Michael Saucedo/ex-Juan) and then asked her bosses if it was possible to include the pregnancy in her storyline. After thinking about it—Elizabeth does have kind of a record of kids who are alive and well for soaps—head writer Bob Guza Jr. went with it, eventually seeing the storyline pay-off. Herbst’s real-life blessing will come into this world a Leo, on August 9.
GH fans have Lisa LoCicero (Olivia) agreeing with them about the questionable argument Sonny and Co. have been propagating lately, in the aftermath of the attempted murder one of an undercover cop. It isn’t about Olivia holding out on Sonny so much as Sonny committing a crime, despite all the life-saving favors Dominic pulled for the mobster. LoCicero told Soap Opera Weekly said she’s there to remind Sonny and everybody else that he should be accountable for his own actions instead of playing a weak blame game.
Scott Reeves (Steven Webber) signed a long-term contract shortly after joining GH in December. He’s been a quiet hit with fans, not making waves, not garnering unwanted attention (like some in the cast). He’s also benefited from his pre-existing friendship with Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) when playing her recast big brother. “I love Rebecca to death. She is one of my favorites. I've known Rebecca for quite a few years. We had immediate chemistry, because we did have a rapport before I came on the show. So it's been really such a great deal of fun to work with a great friend.” As a recast, Reeves could’ve reviewed tapes of the last Steven Webber (Shaun Benson, 2004-2005), but he didn’t. He preferred to jump in fresh and start over. –“Scott Reeves: The Doctor is In!” by Joe Diliberto, Soap Opera Weekly online
Dahlia Salem (ex-Sofia Carlino/AW, CSI: Miami, CSI, ER, The Forgotten) assumes a major, initially recurring position as the new federal prosecutor Claire Walsh for February Sweeps (she started working on January 28). Claire will go after Sonny in court.
Gossip for the week of 08-Feb-2010
The Daytime Emmys telecast just might be a go if all goes according to plan. A key in these recent developments is the active, proud, plentiful participation of the daytime talent. Michael Fairman has the latest.
Stuart Damon (Alan) might join DOOL as a Horton.
Dante jeopardizes his police career to help Michael out. During the trial, Dante balks as a witness, unwilling to turn on his own brother when it counts.
A new federal prosecutor assumes Sonny’s case. She’s dressed to thrill, attracting the attentions of both Sonny and Jax. You can see what happens next. Jax will try to forget Carly with this new, hot lady prosecutor, but Sonny will get her in bed.
TPTB are considering a program switch after Oprah leaves her talk show post on another network. To compete, ABC Daytime’s suits may put its Emmy-award-winning talk show, The Viewup when GH normally airs, and shove GH back in the morning time. If this happens, expect GH ratings to slide even further.
Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) may give up on GH – or vice versa – when her contract ends, and then another actress will take on the recast role. Elizabeth may not carry her baby to term.
Just as Mac and Alexis move forward in their relationship, she will go and ruin it by taking Sonny’s side as his attorney in court. But she does this for the sake of her daughter Kristina, who’s taking Sonny’s criminal element hard. During filming of the court scenes, in progress, Sonny’s Maurice Benard may have farted around on his drawing pad with pictures of big penises and big breasts, garnering laughs from Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), as she tweeted last week.
Last week, I mentioned possible Twitter political conflict having occurred between Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) and her on-screen BFF Carolyn Hennesy (Diane) after Republican Scott Brown took a MA senate seat. A reader clarified what she saw happening: Someone tried to cause trouble by suggesting Grahn was being mean to a follower over disagreement over politics. This got to Hennesy, who tweeted something about celebrities having a responsibility to be kind (ha ha!) to their followers on Twitter, or some such nonsense. Honestly, I forget the details, other than Hennesy is known as having a trigger finger on the block and mock via RT buttons, whereas Grahn has always tried to maintain a respectful relationship with her followers, even when they push her into a corner and try to get a rise out of her.
CBS’s hit primetime thriller, Criminal Minds, is worth watching regularly. The actors on this show are top-notch. The show just may be adding a top-notch GH actor to its roster. Ingo Rademacher (Jax)? Tyler Christopher (Nikolas)? Jason Thompson (Patrick)? We’ll see.
My boyfriend Billy Warlock (sorry, Julie), aka ex-A.J., recently spoke out about the alleged firing from GH when last he worked there. Warlock said no, au contraire, he left on his own, mostly because he knew it was a hopeless cause. Nobody but the mob wins on that show.
General Hospital News & Gossip, Copyright © 2010 Carol Banks Weber. Published by SoapZone.com / Jeff Jungblut. 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 those of the author and may not be representative of SoapZone.com or its advertisers. Don't steal scoops.
