General Hospital News & Gossip
News for the week of 02-Oct-2006
For the jaded down in Hollywood, holing up in a small Maine town must seem inordinately boring and a loser’s game of cop-out. Genie Francis (Laura) doesn’t share that notion; she and her family are as happy, content and at peace as they ever were in phony-baloney L.A. To hear her describe The Cherished Home, her business and her idyllic, bucolic lifestyle, it’s heaven on earth. “We know everybody by name here and they know us. And they don't care who we are.” That, my friends, is a far and welcome cry from Francis’s teenaged soap heyday, where fans would go berserk at the very sight of her, say, in an Atlantic City event. You could practically see Francis shudder at the recollection.
It’s hard to beat where Francis is now. The natural views of the sea, the rocky cliffs are unmatched. The anonymity yet familiarity of neighbors helping neighbors provides the kind of solace Francis had rarely known during her celebrity. Then, there is the success of her housewares shop on East Belfast’s Route 1. The shop used to be Hall Hardware & Trading Co. and isn’t typical storefront mall stuff; it’s in a real Victorian house not far from Penobscot Bay, with rooms decorated accordingly in the latest, available products for sale. Her customers are there to gather inspiration for their own homes, they’re not there to steal any celebrity.
Mary Brett of Stockton Springs is a typical, regular customer. While cognizant of the store owner’s celebrity pedigree, it’s the person that’s uppermost in Brett’s – in pharmaceutical sales – focus. “Genie's a breath of fresh air. I know she's an actress on a soap opera, but to me she's the one with really good taste.” –Boston.com, The Boston Globe, “A home-furnishings store is Maine event for Genie Francis” by Mark Shanahan, September 28, 2006
My lasting regret is missing Eddie Matos (Peter; ex-Ricky, PC) on the short-lived, new ABC series, InJustice, where he played a convict wrongly accused. But thanks to GH and former PC casting director Mark Teschner, Matos is back on daytime and in a bigger, better, longer-lasting role as a sharp, sarcastic but sexy college professor who gives Lulu a hard time and a run for her money. His September 26th debut proved an instant hit with online fans, some of whom have taken to building a shrine in Pete and Lulu’s honor, aptly titled, “Blindsided.”
For a while there, since PC’s cancellation and in between guest spots on primetime, Matos faced a discouraging dry spell, as actors often do. Through a new sport – surfing – and a new discovery – hey, L.A. is like where he came from in Puerto Rico, with the ocean nearby! – the actor and musician survived the dry spells, just fine. It helps that he’s always open for adventure, to try his hand at anything—a trait his parents are all-too familiar with. “They'll be the first to tell you that I've gone through every fad,” Matos told Soap Opera Digest’s Tom Stacy in an online Q&A from last week. “Whatever is new and hot, I've got to try it, whether it's snowboarding, playing the drums, riding motorcycles, whatever. If I love it, I love it. If I don't, I can say that I tried it.”
He tried music, and loved it enough to stick with a band with two buddies called 23 Link Chain (he’s since forgotten the origins of the unusual name, but will get back to us shortly with the Scooby after conferring with another band member). Although, they did agree to a year-long hiatus before re-forming, kicking out a demo, and feeling for gigs.
Everybody seems to have a page on MySpace. Eddie Matos’ (Peter) isn’t just a promo in disguise (although there is some of that going on—he’s featured in an upcoming, page 5 Soap Opera Digest blurb). He regularly feeds the blog with firsthand glimpses of working on GH, running into the great, venerable Maurice Benard (Sonny), getting his second wind on a faster-paced set without much rehearsal time, and feeling good about his performances and those of his co-stars (he had some really nice things to say about Julie Marie Berman/Lulu). Here’s the bit about Berman: “I think what I like the most about her is that she doesn't do any take the same way. She switches her delivery a lot and that keeps me on my toes. It's not everyday that you find someone so young and yet so seasoned in this business.”
Coming back to daytime provides an actor with the perks of steady employment, instant fame and more importantly, the off chance of walking toward the commissary next to Grey’s Anatomy’s Ellen Pompeo. No, I mean, the chance of catching up again with former PC cast mates, as Eddie Matos (Pete; ex-Ricky, PC) recently did, with Kelly Monaco (Sam; ex-Livvie/Tess, PC) and Kent Masters King (Lainey; ex-Imani), as well as 3/4ths of PC’s crew. Away from GH, Matos has kept up with much of the rest of the PC gang, he’s at the home of Brian Presley (ex-Jack, PC) and his wife Erin Hershey (ex-Alison, PC) a lot, he runs into Kiko Ellsworth (ex-Jamal, PC) often at auditions, Marie Wilson (ex-Karen, PC; Meg, ATWT), Thorsten Kaye (Zach, AMC; ex-Ian, PC) and Michael Easton (John, OLTL; ex-Caleb, PC).
Tristan Rogers (Robert) reassured fans in his September 23rd guestbook entry that his character will show up on-screen soon, to deal with family matters. He acknowledged Robert’s sudden MIA status resignedly: “There are some people wondering, and with good reason, whether I'm still on the show. Granted, Robert sightings are right up there with Elvis when it comes to their frequency. But I am still there.”
Fans outraged and incensed beyond measure that TPTB have treated the Enduro condoms scare so cavalierly might be reassured (or not) to know that head writer Bob Guza hasn’t dropped the subject quite yet. The Quartermaines, he previewed, will still have to deal with the fallout, with serious, continuing repercussions.
Natalia Livingston (Emily) was a fan of S&Em (known in critics’ circles as, Soily). So was S’s Maurice Benard (Sonny). But because TPTB felt the pairing was too unorthodox, maybe taboo, and wouldn’t, didn’t garner enough fan interest, they cut the lifeline prematurely. Now that the pairing’s over and done with, now these fans come out of the woodwork to protest the cut. Fans have written their love to both Livingston and Benard, in history-making abundance. Livingston wished they’d been around to offer their vocal support during the love story’s progress, and seriously doubts any last-minute resurrection. “But maybe when Emily's older and had been through a few marriages and Sonny has been through a few marriages, they can get back together.” –Soap Opera Weekly
The story behind the scenes of Jackie Zeman’s (Bobbie) 1984 GH wedding to Brock continues on. Once the scenes wrapped and a vomitous Zeman was free to go, she had to prepare for an evening out with Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous’s Robin Leach, whom she’d met while doing a segment for his popular TV show. There was no way in hell Zeman would miss that dinner out, Leach’s treat, even with food poisoning. “I did everything I could to calm myself down. We went out, and became very good friends. But I didn’t eat a whole lot at dinner [laughs].” –Soap Opera Digest, October 3, 2006
Kimberly McCullough (Robin) discovered HBO’s Big Love, her must-record TV show series about a man with several wives and their children. She joked that it’d be neat if her character could marry Nikolas, Patrick and Lucky. Jackie Zeman (Bobbie) only recently discovered the Law & Order franchises on NBC, through her daughters. She’s especially keen on the one starring Mariska Hargitay, …Special Victims Unit.
Gossip for the week of 02-Oct-2006
If the latest rumored spoilers from anonymous sources at SoapDish are on track—and they have yet to let me down—it’s time to deprogram GH from the DVR or TiVo, people.
Here is a sampling, sob!:
Sam panting after Jason, Jason pining for Sam, but taking a deeper interest in Elizabeth, Elizabeth falling for Jason again … will remain a huge focus for the interminable future. The paternity test points to Jason as the biological father of Elizabeth’s unborn. Elizabeth may be concerned about what Sam will do next, and she should be. Sam may suggest that she and Jason take the baby off Elizabeth’s hands.
Alexis gets fed up with Sam (stand in line, lady) and her two-faced deceit in panting after Jason behind her back. Alexis lets Sam, and Ric, have both barrels of her long, pent-up rage over the betrayal of their one-night nookie. Then, Alexis basically excises Ric and Sam from her life. She will fight for sole custody of Molly, with Sonny as a major ally.
The split with Alexis pushes Ric completely over the edge, reverting to evil archetype. Watch him be the anvil dropper on Sonny and Jason, then ultimately implode. (Either he or Lorenzo will go down for the count, when the smoke clears.)
Sonny will try to break up Carly and Jax, but will ultimately give up the ghost. February Sweeps brings Sonny someone new to seduce, though. They’re saying it’s not a revisit with Alexis.
They, as in the SoapDish spoiler gods, are not certain whether TPTB plan to make Robin and Patrick parents just yet. If they do, it’ll also be for February Sweeps, where Patrick breathes a sigh of relief to hear he’s clean.
Emily and Nikolas will reunite with each other, after they deal with Colleen summarily. Colleen will make it look like Helena caused a lot of the trouble for the threatened couple. But the couple will go into limbo if Nikolas’s portrayer goes away for his primetime deal. And then Emily will creep on into Lucky’s life, maybe.
Maxie really did get knocked up by Lucky. This unplanned pregnancy will knock some sense and a whole lotta heart back into Maxie. She will go to the ends of the earth (Texas?) to deliver a healthy baby, even at risk to her own heart.
Dillon sacrifices everything to become the perfect little worker bee Q, leaving Georgie far behind. While Lulu’s stories will continue going on strong, Georgie and Maxie may suffer a backburning, duration indeterminate. Georgie could go by the end of 2006.
Skye returns this week, and has her and Lorenzo’s baby… girl. She’ll use the Qs as her force field.
The action-adventure story originally tapped for the teens goes nowhere.
When Laura returns, she’ll blow everybody away with the news that she gave birth to two children, as in twins.
ABC Daytime president Brian Scott Frons ticked off a great many long-time soap fans with his BS about the veterans taking on supporting roles to the younger stars. But a SoapDish source claimed the executive is all yap yap yap, little impact on stories that air.
Greg Vaughan (Lucky #3) tried to beg off his GH contract for an earlier release, according to a SoapDish source, but his bosses put him on hold until they at least tried to secure the original, Jonathan Jackson, for a triumphant comeback. They – meaning Frons and EP JFP – couldn’t provide Jackson with enough money in the world, or guarantee a shorter term, so the deal flew out the window. JFP is loathe to hit the recast circuit yet again, too. In any event, Vaughan wants out. If what follows next is true, I don’t blame the guy. He’s always deserved better.
A regular SZ GH board poster named Gigi, fairly accurate with her information, dropped an uncharacteristically controversial bomb, via her “very reliable source,” on September 24, which had the entire soap community talking: “About JJ: They really wanted him back and [Tony Geary/Luke] even tried to talk him into it. Not enough money and they wanted him to sign for too long, I think. He didn't really want to go back either; he's done with the GH stuff.”
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