General Hospital News & Gossip
News for the week of 21-Apr-2008
Things don’t look great for GH fans yearning for a way out of the mob and the Sonny/Carly/Jason trinity. Head writer Bob Guza wrapped up upcoming May Sweeps as being almost all about these three and the mob. Mob-related: Nobody’s dealing directly with Michael’s coma. Jax and Kate may turn to one another, Carly to Jason and/or Sonny. Jason refuses to put Jake in the line of fire like Michael was put in, so he extricates himself from Elizabeth, which only sends her straight back to Lucky as the safe choice. But Lucky digs Sam now, not Elizabeth. Lucky and Sam don’t agree about keeping Jake from Jason. Ian turns into a sort of temptation and escape for Sam. With Elizabeth out of the picture, Jason finds himself running into Claudia more, and maybe connecting with her as people, not mob extensions. Ric messes with the Zacchara mob family through Anthony. While falling for Alexis more and more genuinely, Jerry still morphs back into the more evil Mr. Craig to deal with the Ian fall-out, nearly annihilating the woman he loves. Logan messes with Lulu and Johnny, while messing with the Zacchara mob for Ric. Luke’s Haunted Star seems the perfect setting for the mob conflagration, which scares Tracy and draws in Scott. Tracy’s gonna fight a losing battle. Non-mob-related: Anna takes up with Luke, to lose herself in adventure and what-not with her grandma status looming high and imposing. Robin and Patrick deal with the pregnancy as real parents-to-be. Nikolas gets over Emily and starts looking sideways at the very different Nadine. He’s also said to be done with his tumor problem. Spinelli seeks to win Maxie’s heart and appear sexier to her.
In her latest interview with Soap Opera Weekly/Carolyn’s Corner columnist Carolyn Hinsey, actress Finola Hughes (Anna) admitted to knowing very little about her return story, and not even bothering to find out. She said TPTB contact her for a return, she checks her schedule, says yes, and that’s it. “Honestly, I am such a terrible actress. They call and say, ‘Will you come back?’ and I’m like, ‘Sure!’ I never say, ‘What am I doing? Who will I be with? What happened to me?’ I love [head writer] Bob [Guza] and I’m very happy to do whatever he wants.” She’s not so out of touch that Sarah Brown’s return as Claudia has escaped her notice, however. The chance to mix it up with Claudia whets Hughes’ whistle. “I would love for [Anna] to find out about this mob boss, Sarah Brown. Investigate this girl that’s come to town. I love her. I think she’s great. I was watching the other day and I was like, ‘Wait! Why is Carly pulling a gun on Sonny?’ then, of course, I realized it wasn’t actually Carly.”
It’s not been easy for co-workers like Steve Burton (Jason) to have to let go of Dylan Cash (Michael) as one of their own. Burton said he and Cash had a lot in common, like video games, and he’ll miss the kid. Still, Burton added, Cash is a talented actor who will go far and continue to pull in good work elsewhere, of that he has no doubt.
For the 45th anniversary, quite a few GH actors cited Luke and Laura as the reason they enjoyed the soap. Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) remembered being mesmerized as an eight-to-nine-year-old, along with his GH fan mom, because of this supercouple legend. Minae Noji (Kelly) remembered doing the same when she prepared breakfast and tuned in. Megan Ward (Kate) didn’t have Luke and Laura to draw from, but she does have Luke and Tracy. Learning more about how these two got to be where they are enhanced Ward’s viewing pleasure of their story. Kent King (Lainey) acknowledged the supremacy of Luke and Laura, but for her, Sonny and Brenda did it. And, of course there were those who singled out their own stories as memorable favorites. Leslie Charleson (Monica) will never forget the fulfillment of an actor’s dream in her character’s breast cancer story. John Ingle (Edward) went with the back story of his character and Mary Mae, which produced Justus Ward. It may not have been a big story in terms of Luke and Laura, but it held much impact for Ingle. Sarah Brown (Claudia) saw “great drama” in her Carly and Jason romance, while Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) saw satisfaction in the beginning of Sonny and Alexis’s. -Soap Opera Digest, April 22, 2008
Reading Sebastian Roche’s (Jerry) profile in Soap Opera Digest’s “You Sexy Thing” April 22nd special feature probably made every GH fan swoon. Roche’s answers reflect a very sexy attitude. He said he feels most sexy after having “mad, passionate” sex or after taking a 10-mile jog through Topanga Canyon (can you see the sweat on his chest, his tousled hair?), claiming he has no physical drawback, drawing attention to his sexy bedroom eyes, and admitting caviar can be, to him, a sexy aphrodisiac. However much Roche swoons to perfume on a woman (he’s into her eyes, smile, humor, hair and personality), he hates the scent of Patchouli, “it’s like Superman with Kryptonite. Patchouli, to me, is the most appalling smell ever. I will literally run in the other direction.” Roche was among several male soap actors handpicked by SOD editors as most sexiest.
Everybody suffers from insomnia, even soap celebrities. Ingo Rademacher (Jax) has been known to play video games, like Playstation 2 MotoGP, to deal with it, while Laura Wright (Carly) tries to read or watch the boob tube.
Jason Thompson (Patrick) has to go off-screen for about four episodes (personal reason). His temporary replacement is Ethan Erickson as of April 23rd this week. Thompson takes back his role May 2. Please be nice to Erickson, he’s not trying to take Thompson’s gig.
Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) will wed fiancée Brienne Pedigo on September 27 in California somewhere. Might I suggest a Hawaiian honeymoon?
Former girlfriend Natalia Livingston (Emily) will see her last of GH after May 1.
Finola Hughes (Anna) agreed to a few GH shows, but may be talked into staying a bit longer, working around her hectic schedule.
Josh Duhon (Logan) fancies Sam for his character’s next hook-up. It’s not the first time he’s mentioned the foxy and fine Kelly Monaco as the epitome of feminine fortitude.
Plug time! Daytimetv.net took a break but it’s back and starting to fill up with events, spoilers, news, gossip, interviews and commentary again. In the commentary realm, I’m blogging about GH over there in Channeling Coggie. I may veer toward other soaps, or even primetime and cable from time to time, we’ll see. Check in weekly for updates, I’m pretty regular at venting my spleen. My debut blog (on April 13th) vented about Sonny’s tendency to out-scream everybody else in the room, and how that tended to distract me from paying attention to the actual story in progress.
Gossip for the week of 21-Apr-2008
Head writer Bob Guza is, IMHO, the wrong GH expert to ask about rumors of fan favorite returns. In the April 29th issue of Soap Opera Digest, the most he would say is, maybe, later on, who knows, for a little while… about everybody from Vanessa Marcil (ex-Brenda), Genie Francis (ex-Laura), and Rick Springfield (ex-Noah), to Kristina Wagner (ex-Felicia) and Tristan Rogers (ex-Robert).
It occurred to me the other week while watching GH that veteran fan faves will never command their own stories (Luke and Sonny are exceptions). Those days are over. So are the days where actors rule over beautiful, untested, younger actor wannabes.
Vanessa Marcil (ex-Brenda) may not even be free from NBC (and Las Vegas) yet to take on the GH role again. She’s supposedly still got a contract with the network to fulfill, either for a two-hour primetime movie finale or something else.
Trevor is unveiled as Johnny’s biological dad, drawing him together with Ric and Anthony. Claudia might very well be Trevor’s too. And Jax crashes at Kate’s place.
Greg Vaughan (Lucky) has to bag on an upcoming Chicago public appearance with Kelly Monaco (Sam), because his mother-in-law passed away. Jason and Elizabeth throw caution to the wind for love, and marriage, but they try to do this on the downlow. A bad guy learns that Jason has a child with Elizabeth, and before he can pounce, Claudia puts herself on the line. -SoapDish, April 17, 2008
Laura Wright (Carly) issued a refutation of the rumor that she conceived. She added that she’s done procreating. She might’ve even taken this rumor as a bit of a slam on her appearance.
Some of you must be wondering how much of the constant bickering and picking fights characteristic of Scrubs is dictated by the writers and how much seem true to life. I know I do. In Soap Opera Digest’s April 22nd issue, “Baby Love,” Kimberly McCullough (Robin) and Jason Thompson (Patrick) are just supposed to deliver spoiler descriptions. But McCullough can’t help but nitpick and lightly criticize (in a joking manner) Thompson’s take on last week’s scene of the couple getting together and getting naked.
>> “‘They’re both laying there?’” interjects McCullough with a laugh. “Is that what he just said? ‘Yeah and before you know it, they’re topless!’ Whatever! What really happens is he takes advantage of poor, defenseless Robin in her vulnerable state.” “That’s so not true,” shoots back Thompson. Quips McCullough, “She’s so sad, like ‘No other man will want me because I’m pregnant, so I might as well be with this guy [laughs].’ I’m just kidding. It’s actually very sweet.” >>
Personally, it’s annoying to read, and she does it all the time to the point where I wanna say, lay off. I see the same dynamic in their fictional GH relationship.
Take this SoapDish fwiw. An anonymous source there claimed to know the top 25 lucrative soap actors. A handful of self-appointed soap-fan experts on the boards called BS on the list. Here it is (note that Tyler Christopher/Nikolas is listed twice, lol):
- Maurice Benard (Sonny)
- Susan Lucci (Erica, AMC)
- Anthony Geary (Luke)
- Steve Burton (Jason)
- David Canary (Adam, AMC)
- Michael Easton (John, OLTL)
- Thorsten Kaye (Zach, AMC)
- Erika Slezak (Viki, OLTL)
- Kassie DePaiva (Blair, OLTL)
- Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis)
- Kelly Monaco (Sam)
- Laura Wright (Carly)
- Rebecca Budig (Greenlee, AMC)
- Sarah Joy Brown (Claudia)
- Cameron Mathison (Ryan, AMC)
- Ingo Rademacher (Jax)
- Michael E. Knight (Tad, AMC)
- Alicia Minshew (Kendall, AMC)
- Tyler Christopher (Nikolas)
- Robert S. Woods (Bo, OLTL)
- Melissa Archer (Natalie, OLTL)
- Trevor St. John (Todd, OLTL)
- Tyler Christopher (Nikolas)
- Kimberly McCullough (Robin)
- Bobbie Eakes (Krystal, AMC)
General Hospital News & Gossip, Copyright © 2008 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.
