General Hospital News & Gossip
News for the week of 25-Aug-2008
Julie Marie Berman (Lulu) became Mrs. Michael Grady August 15th in a Roman Catholic ceremony at Loyola Marymount University’s Sacred Heart Chapel with her family, friends and several GH colleagues (Kirsten Storms/Maxie, Greg Vaughan/Lucky, Jane Elliot/Tracy, Rebecca Herbst/Elizabeth) present. The actress rocked a Monique Lhuillier wedding gown and her commercial real estate broker groom rocked a Hugo Boss suit in chocolate-brown. The reception was held in a private Pacific Palisades home. Their honeymoon, set for September, will take place in Hawaii. While they’re in Hawaii, however, fans won’t miss a moment of Lulu; TPTB made sure of that. Berman said she married her soul mate and would one day (in the distant future) like to expand their family of two with lots of children.
Genie Francis (Laura) used her character’s history (born to one mom, taken away and mothered by another) and subsequent internal motivation – fear of abandonment – to relate better to upcoming scenes of bonding with on-screen daughter Lulu. Francis surmised that part of Lulu’s draw to Laura is that of a daughter longing for her mom again; going insane, kind of draws them together in a common bond. She made sure, though, to differentiate Laura’s issues from Lulu’s. Laura tends to conveniently check out from her terrible memories, while Lulu is burdened by no such compulsion, according to Francis. Francis said she’s on GH for October too, and hoped to interact with Tony Geary (Luke) somehow. He’s due to return soon.
Ever since starting the Medifast diet in 2007, Francis has dropped an astonishing 36.5 pounds—enough to now keep her steady on a maintenance program. She still makes sure to eat small meals every three hours, making breakfast a priority, and keep up with her exercise, a regimen of calisthenics, jogging/walking and weightlifting. She only wished she had the presence of mind to take care of her body long ago. Going on Medifast and becoming its spokesperson have been a godsend to Francis. She especially took to the immediate gratification part, seeing results instantly and weekly.
GH writer Karen Harris’s new soap-within-a-soap web series on Strike.TV also stars Lindze Letherman (ex-Georgie), John Ingle (Edward) and Scott Clifton (ex-Dillon). Life In General is about a soap opera, Greenville General, as well as about the running of that soap opera, from the perspective of head writer Winnie, as played by DOOL’s winsome Arianne Zucker (Nicole). Daytime Confidential’s Luke and Jamey interviewed Harris August 18th for more information about the web-based series and her regular gig at GH (she digs Scrubs).
Throughout the years, much has changed for Sarah Joy Brown (Claudia; ex-Carly). When she first started out, she was a single, young, carefree woman who would never have had plastic surgery and made a dismissive comment about it for other women who have. Now, she’s a little older and wiser, and more accepting. She found her quote of 1997 – “I’m not one of those actresses who’s into starving myself or into fake boobs and things. Please … I have a life” – to be “so arrogant” rereading it now, and chalked it up to youth. A lot’s different, she has a young daughter named Jordan, she didn’t have a textbook ideal pregnancy due to undiagnosed, latent celiac disease, and well, she knows firsthand how the body just isn’t the same after giving birth. She said she not about judging other women or begrudging them any choice to improve their bodies. “I think what I was speaking to,” she corrected, “was Pam Anderson, who was really big at the time, and she was really big at the time [laughs].” –Soap Opera Digest, August 26, 2008
Wally Kurth (ex-Ned; Sam, ATWT) and Heather Tom (ex-Kelly, OLTL; Katie, B&B) will also compete in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon September 14, joining the likes of Alec Musser (ex-Del 2, AMC) and Winsor Harmon (ex-Del, AMC; Thorne, B&B) for the swim/bike/jog along L.A.’s Zuma Beach. For the second year, the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and its Pediatric Cancer Research Program will benefit from proceeds raised from the Triathlon. Other celebrities participating in this Triathlon include Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives, Transamerica), husband William H. Macy (Wild Hogs, Fargo), Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men, Pretty In Pink), Monique Coleman (High School Musical) and Anna Kournikova, tennis star.
Julie Marie Berman (Lulu) and Brandon Barash (Johnny) host their own respective fan events at the Marriott Boston Tremont Hotel, October 5. Barash starts off first at 9 a.m. (till noon), with Berman after him 1 p.m.-4 p.m. It costs $65 to attend each event. Info: debbyoconnor@aol.com, www.yournumberonefan.com
When Claudia hunts Ric down in New York, she finds him cozied up with his former flame, Claire – played by Darlene Vogel (ex-Melanie, OLTL) – August 26th.
Finola Hughes (Anna) crosses over to GH:NS, to be there for Robert and Robin, as of September 30—about three shows worth.
Out of the closet actor Chad Allen (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) becomes part of the GH:NS cast, if only for a short while. He’ll capture the interest of resident Kyle, as Eric Whitlow, a patient requiring a liver transplant, as of September 23. Their story will play out for three episodes.
Check out SOAPnet’s GH:NS companion videos featuring interns/roomies Kyle and Carrie. While there, do also check out Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) in his 6th installment of Camera Ready, where he shares some home videos provided by his mom of when he was younger and already into directing and starring on the stage.
Gossip for the week of 25-Aug-2008
Soap Opera DigestEditorial Director Lynn Leahey told a soap columnist August 18th that she will take over the helm at Soap Opera Weekly. She made this revelation about a week after news of editor Carolyn Hinsey’s firing spread online. There aren’t any plans to replace Hinsey, Leahey said, adding that Stephanie Sloane’s job as SOD’s editor remains assured. (I guess this means Sloane is in charge of SOD now.) Rumors of both Leahey and Sloane’s inevitable ouster persist, however. There’s even talk of merging SOD and SPW, which I wholeheartedly agree with.
Vanessa Marcil as Brenda may be coaxed back for a short-term for GH’s November Sweeps, by attending Patrick and Robin’s nuptials.
This could either be a legitimate spoiler for this week or a spumor for the next week, I don’t know, but… Lucky and Nikolas disagree about the proper treatment for their sister Lulu. Lucky holds out for Lulu to be Johnny-free, while Nikolas (and Sam) think otherwise. Nikolas also petitions the court to take on guardianship of Lulu.
Elizabeth proposes to Jason that they should strike up a lovey-dovey affair again, but he takes a pass—for her and her children’s protection.
Dr. Matt Hunter unveils himself to be a relation of the Scorpio family. Robin encounters trouble on her pregnancy journey.
Sonny and Jason take their conflict to the next, physical level, requiring Kate to summon the authorities. The Zachara mob joins forces with either the Karpov syndicate or the Morgan syndicate in a battle for territory supremacy—for November Sweeps.
Nikolas takes Nadine to bed, but then gives her the cold shoulder.
Is it me or is Kate suddenly an unbearable, suffocating snob? Seems like she has her nose literally and figuratively stuck up in the air, wherever she goes. If the spumors are correct, she’s gonna get what’s coming to her, the worst karmic payback a snob like her can suffer: utter, public humiliation and scorn, Jax putting her in her place, back from Bensonhurst. I’m no fan of Carly’s, but Kate’s making Carly look like a saint in comparison. Spumors indicate that the idiot Kate is gonna find out about S&C’s limo sex and go running to Jax with it. Jax will disbelieve Kate and ream her over the coals. Knock her down to size!
I’m no fan of Alexis’s either, but damn yo, she’s really become repulsive to behold, going to any port in a storm, casually tossing aside her supposed ironclad ethics and morals, because it’s convenient to protect her precious daughters at any cost whatsoever. I found her harassment of Johnny last week to be just this shy of cold, calculating, opportunistic, manipulative and grotesque. Forcing him to look at pictures of her little darlings to squeeze out some sympathy, any sympathy. I know I’m supposed to side with her because she’s a mother desperately, fiercely defending her kids, but … I just am not. She plays this tune way too often; it’s like she doesn’t give a damn about anybody else’s kids, just her own. Here’s praying that the November Sweeps spumor of Alexis’s health being in jeopardy due to counterfeit drugs comes true, and it’s fatal.
The reviews are in, and GH:NS2 is a veritable hit—far surpassing its debut. During the fifth episode (Aug. 19) of the second season, “Family Values,” I actually found myself tearing up… Robert having a heart-to-heart with a softer, kinder nurse Epiphany about how lucky he was, despite learning he has colon cancer, because he still has a daughter to cuss him out; Kyle thanking his hardass brother Leo for defending him against a homophobic father of a braindead, lesbian patient. TV columnist Ed Martin had mostly raves in his August 19th column (re-posted on friend Marlena De Lacroix’s blog, Aug. 21), “General Hospital Night Shift is a Sexy Summer Surprise,” for the same reason—the characters and the stories touch the heart. Truer words were never written: “The stories of these characters may not be ground-breaking, but they are totally engaging, some in a fun and relaxed way, others on a level of surprising emotional connection. The same holds for the many different patients who move through the hospital in every episode, often touching the lives of the doctors and nurses with whom they interact. For example, tonight’s episode further explores the difficult relationship between brothers Leo and Kyle when they become caught up in a conflict between a young woman seeking to honor the wishes of her dying partner and the partner’s homophobic parents.”
GH might want to take the focus off the unrelatable thugs, mobsters, mob molls, sluts and wannabes, and take a tip from its SOAPnet offshoot. We don’t care about territory, hits gone wrong or the sacrifices of cardboard cut-out villains and heroes. We care about people and what people care about, love, hate, disease, death, anger, redemption. For example, this past week suddenly Sonny became interesting again when he showed up out of nowhere to check in on Lulu and wound up defending her against Scott, for his absent pal Luke.
I was reading EYE ON SOAPS/Katrina Rasbold’s recap of the past GH cast event (posted Aug. 20) back at the July GH Fan Club Weekend when it occurred to me that Chad Brannon (ex-Zander) and Brian Gaskill (ex-Rafe, PC) would make terrific brothers on a soap, real Hamlet meets Paradise Loststuff.
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.
