General Hospital News

Jim Romanovich, president of Worldwide Media & Entertainment, ATI, and who produced this film and this year's Daytime Emmy Awards, commented, “We’re delighted that ABC stations have embraced this show. We believe this program is a perfect fit for the Thanksgiving season as we look at the magnitude of what some people endure and what we can do to change lives.”

Above is a segment of the film which was shot last year during the Daytime Gives Back trip.

Chad Duell Reveals more on how he became the new "Michael"
A few tidbits from a recent interview
between Chad and Michael Fairman:

[Chad was in the running for the role of Sonny's oldest son when the part of Michael was originally cast, but the show chose Drew Garrett at that time over Chad.]

"...But this time…it’s pretty cool how it came around full circle and I got the part.  The second time I came in to audition for a different role...It was pretty crazy.  It was a role they put on the shelves and decided to scrap, and they decided to make me “Michael” instead. That role was for Kristina’s love interest which was pretty funny because now I play her brother!"

Chad describes his version of "Michael"

"The last thing I want to do is emulate someone else, and Drew Garrett is a fantastic actor. I am just saying, the worst thing for me is to come in and do the same thing.  I see Michael as a disturbed individual.  He has brain trauma, and if people saw what I, as Michael, almost did to Warren Bauer on last week’s episode, which was almost kill him, you know that.  He snaps, but it builds up.  Michael bottles it up.  He tries not to show people his anger.  If he were to show people his anger, maybe what happened to him in prison would be more revealed to everyone.  I am trying to show the heart, soul, and sensitivity of Michael and the struggle that he is going through, more so than him being kind of an ‘in your face attacking’ kind of a person."

How about a love interest?

"I will be reading with her [Zoe], or the girls up for the role, soon...I am sure there will be drama in any relationship Michael has with a girl, because Michael still will have a struggle.  With a girlfriend, it will be difficult perhaps for him to be physical with a girl, or even be affectionate with a woman. That is going to be a constant struggle after struggle as an actor, and for Michael."

Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo Talks with TV Guide.  (Excerpts)
Why GH, Why Now, and more...

Regarding her recent marriage to CSI star Carmine Giovinazzo:
"Carmine and I have known each other forever. We were first engaged 11 years ago and I've loved him and his family ever since."

Why she is returning to GH now:
"A lot's been going on. We found out that my older sister, Sherry, has breast cancer. We've bought a farm in upstate New York and she and I went up there to spend a week together before she had to start her chemo, and it got me thinking about how grateful I am to GH for giving me pretty much everything I have. [Head writer] Bob Guza and I got back in touch again during that time. I told him I wanted to settle down for a while so that I could be available to my sister and my family, and that maybe during that time I could come in and out at GH for a couple of days a week. "

"I called [ABC Daytime chief] Brian Frons and asked him if he would have me back, and he was gracious enough to say yes. I just couldn't feel any more grateful that I'm still allowed to visit such a great place. I love that Julianne Moore went back to As the World Turns to honor where she came from. It's important to do that. I left GH for a few different reasons, but it was never because I wasn't madly in love with the show and the character and with daytime..."

"...We came close to a deal a few times before this. Very close. It was always a matter of when, not if - and I said that in every conversation I had with Bob Guza. But, for me, there could never be a return where Brenda wasn't incredibly involved with the characters who are basically her family. She doesn't have any blood family. She has no parents. I'd tell Bob, 'You know my list - Sonny, Jason, Robin, Jax. These are the characters I want to work with every day. If you can promise me that's going to happen, we can work this out.'"

"He called me one time and said, 'Listen, James Franco's coming on the show and we'd love for you to walk in with him.' But I didn't want to do that. He's a great movie star and an incredible actor and it's an honor to have him on GH. But what does he have to do with Brenda? It was important that Brenda's return be about her people, her family."

 [There will be a connection between Brenda and Franco], "Yes. And I want to work with him, don't get me wrong! I just want to make sure that we are respecting the characters and respecting the fans."

How will she avoid not coming off like a diva, back to save the show:
"Oh, please, I am so not the star around there! It's like when you go home and you're around your parents and brothers and sisters and you automatically revert to being the 10-year-old no matter what you've done with your adult life. At my mom's house, I'm just Vanessa and everybody tells me to shut up and go do the breakfast dishes. I have no doubt that Maurice Benard will be like, "Why are you doing the scene that way? Why are you saying your lines like that? It's horrible!" [Laughs] It'll be business as usual."

Regarding the pressure to pull up the ratings:
"I don't think about ratings, or awards. I act for the satisfaction I feel at the end of the day, that feeling of having done really good work and learning and growing and becoming a better actor, and really accomplishing something, maybe creating a great moment that wasn't planned. That's what I'm really all about. In my household, we don't read magazines or go on the Internet, we don't listen to the radio or watch TV. And not in a snotty way. We're just a little isolated from the world and we like it that way. I want my son to read more, to listen to music, to learn to love museums. I treasure my one-on-one time with him. So I go to work, I do my scenes, and I ignore the rest of it. I just shut it all out."

Why Las Vegas was a better fit for her for a time than GH:
"I had recently given birth to Kassius and couldn't help but feel that all the intense emotional trauma I put myself through as Brenda was affecting him. You can't go on a set and open up your chest all day and then just shake it off. Well, I can't anyway. And I was really worried about the effect it might have on my son."

"As an actor, you try to stay in that emotional space between scenes, and there I was in my dressing room holding him in my lap and feeding him - he was only one at the time - and I didn't want him soaking up all that physical and mental turmoil. Those first few years are what sets a child for life - how he feels about himself, how he connects with others, how safe he feels in the world."

"So during one especially brutal day at GH, I sat down and tried to visualize a better scenario for us both, one where I was appearing in an ensemble show - something fun and light - where I could come to work just a couple of days a week and the focus wasn't on me. Suddenly Las Vegas appeared, and it was perfect!..."

"I no longer had to prepare for a scene by torturing myself and thinking about my dog dying when I was a kid, and all that dark stuff. I got to walk onto a bright, fun, glamorous set, deliver a couple of lines, hand an envelope to James Caan - I was acting with James Caan! - and then spend the rest of the day with my baby. That's all changed now. I'm still cutting my chest open as an actor. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do it any other way. But Kassius is his own little man now. He's in school. He has his friends. His whole life used to revolve around me but now it's, 'Mom, you're so annoying!'."

Has she been keeping up with GH?
"Not one single moment since I've been gone. It would have made me sad, because I've missed being on the show so much. I've had many other experiences that were important to me as an actor but nothing has been better than GH. Nothing has even come close. Playing Brenda is such a personal and intense experience that — at the risk of sounding silly and melodramatic — I think I was born to play her. I'm certainly living my dream when I do!"

For the complete interview between Vanessa and Michael Logan, go HERE.

TV Guide Canada recently sat down with Bob Guza, GH's headwriter for an interview.  What follows are some excerpts:

Regarding using the ensemble cast of GH: "You gotta do that. We have an amazing cast on our show. I’m not doing my job if I’m not giving any of those people their own beats to play. You really have to. And frankly, when you talk about the economic realities today, and trying to trim down cast and so forth, we can’t do that on our show because our actors are so valuable. When you have an A-team like we do, you have to let them show their stuff in their venue."

In terms of a better balance: "It’s because of the stories. I fixated on the idea of the Dante story that became the umbrella story for what you’re seeing now. The trick was not to make it Sonny’s story but Jason’s, Carly’s and so forth.  I think that’s what our turning point was and what you’re seeing. Dante’s story has allowed us to tell these umbrella stories that we have to tell with this cast."

Regarding Dante and Lucky bringing a new moral compass to the show: "...When you have all these mob guys or anti-heroes on a show, what tends to happen is your authority figures all become clowns. We decided to reinforce the police department right away with the best people we could find, one would be Dante and the other was Lucky. We’re going to make them honorable, good guys but we’re also going to make them really good at what they do." 

Speaking of Lucky, while Luke is gone...: "I’m dying to get Luke back involved in some stuff with Lucky again. In the interim, we’re going try to Luke-ify Lucky. It’ll be cool. I think you’ll like it. We’re not removing Lucky’s moral compass, because that’s who he is, but we’re going to focus on the fact that Lucky is part Luke and part Laura. And that’s the real attraction with Lucky. It’s going to be a fun ride. When Luke returns, I hope we’ll be firing on all cylinders with Lucky."

Regarding ratings: "You look at them in the sense that you’re trying to reach as many people as possible.... yes, I look at them, but I’m not worried about GH going off the air or losing my job or anything. But I really do want to reach as many people as possible. And all soaps are. I’m not trying to pat ourselves on the back but we’re really responsive to fans. We do focus groups and a lot of research. We monitor the emails and phone calls. If the numbers are down, and we can explain it, then we can react. And that’s the tricky part because sometimes you can’t explain the ratings. Like you said, sometimes the show is doing really well creatively but the numbers are down. If we can’t explain it, well, it’s very frustrating. That’s happening more and more lately where we can’t quite figure out why the numbers are just OK and not great. Especially when the focus groups are saying the show is great."

Regarding focus groups: "What you do is you look for trends, you look for patterns... After a while, you know. You have dedicated fans who come up to you and talk to you. You look for patterns [to emerge] from a bunch of different venues. Take Dominic, for example. We knew very quickly that he was going to take. I believe, and you’ll have to check, but our research department said he’s one of the fastest rising popular characters in the history of daytime. And we knew that because we
could see people responding so passionately, saying, “Who is this guy?!” And then when we made him Sonny’s son, well, that shot him through the stratosphere. Had New York-phile Tom Pelphrey said yes to the role, we may not have ever seen Dominic. Now, we’re all like, “Tom who?” Once we got to know Dominic, we tailored the role to his strengths like the vulnerability that he brings to the role. Had Tom played the role, Dante may have turned out differently. I don’t know ..."

On the identity of GH today:  "...It’s almost like love amongst the ruins. Love against the backdrop of violence, despair, and death. The one thing we’ve always had, and let’s not forget the mob has been a part of the show’s history since Luke was a runner for Frank Smith’s mob, what it gives us is high-stakes drama. You and I could have dinner at some little Italian restaurant in New York but it’s just not dinner because at any moment someone could run in and kill us because our families hate each other. Once you find the romance in that backdrop, the story is automatically amplified given the circumstances these people are living in. I’ve always found that fascinating."

Regarding the recent stories involving the hospital, short-term characters and story arcs that impact the larger canvas:
"...we’re going to keep doing them. I love them. Obviously we have Adrienne Barbeau coming in. I love this idea of star casting and letting their circumstances dictate what happens to our principals. Any other name actors or actresses interested in doing relatively short, three-to-six month stints, call us. Michael Learned told me on her last day, 'I understand I can come back as Shirley’s evil twin!'.  I said, “Michael, any time. We’ll do it.”

Other ideas Guza would like to pursue: "Instead of us preempting our regular shows with a best-of show, let us do a special
out-of-time episode...one of our projected shows — what would have happened had Michael grown up a Quartermaine. It’s a good idea. I think I may do more of those. We tend to let those ideas slide because we’re so focused on driving current story that we often forget these whimsical ideas sure are a lot of fun. Actually, one of the other things I want to do, and I’m going to do it one day, is I’m going to age all the kids. I want to do GH 20 years from now."

"It would be a makeup nightmare. We’d get a makeup Emmy award/nomination for it because we’d want to make it [realistic]. But I think it would be fun to see Morgan, Michael, Josslyn and little Emma in their 20s and their parents are in the 60s or 70s! Sort of what they do at the end of movies sometimes where they explain what happened to the characters in the future. It would be fascinating to write and watch, I think."

Regarding Franco’s homoerotic tendencies/ undertones concerning Jason: "We were deliberately trying to create a character whose sexual orientation was extremely ambiguous. Arguably, Franco is in love with Jason — not Maxie and not the other people he’s dealing with. We wanted to keep [his sexuality] as a strong undercurrent. Having said that, James’s performance has added to what’s been on the page, for sure."

Was Michael raped in prison? It seems the answer is yes.: "Now the dilemma for all these characters — Jason, Michael, and Dante, who starts to figure out what happened — is how you handle Michael. How does Michael handle it? Do you wait for Michael to come clean about it? Will he unravel before he tells the truth? This story is not remotely over...it will be a very prominent storyline. Our challenge is to keep it that way. We’re going to deal with the repercussions. Not only for Michael but also for Jason, Dante, and later Carly and Sonny."

Regarding Spinelli: "...Spinelli’s next resurrection, well, let’s say, you have not seen Spinelli put someone on a pedestal until you have seen Spinelli worship Brenda Barrett!"

Regarding Spinelli and Maxie’s non- wedding:  "I have to give credit to my associate Elizabeth Korte — it was her idea. We got a lot of mileage out of them calling each other non-husband and non-wife. It was a great idea. They were good together."

How far do they write ahead? "Listen, sometimes I can literally tell you what will happen a year from now. In six months, I
can tell you what will happen in detail. In three months, I can tell you scene by scene. There are varying degrees. You work from long-term story arcs, which are more vague in definition to much more specific stuff in the scripts... We work from a perfectly precise template. We have all these dry-erase boards where we put long-term story on one board, a week on another board, and individual days on one board...I need to know where I’m going to know where we are. That’s they way I have to work."

"...In particular with our [writing] team, we’ve worked together so long, that we know each other so well — and they know the characters and history of the show very well. I’m very confident to give them stuff to run with [on their own]. We also have spectacular outline writers, who work from notes that I work up with Elizabeth Korte. It’s that kind of process where every step of the way the writing gets refined and reworked. Ultimately, what you see on the air is a team effort in every sense of the word."

Regarding Vanessa's return:  "It really couldn’t be a better time. Vanessa and I have been talking ever since she left. We talked every six months. A couple of times it seemed close but she had other [irons in the fire]. But this time, it all fell into place. She really wanted to do it and we really needed her. She just got married. And she’s in town. I was thanking every lucky star out there when she agreed to return...There is this perception out there that she’s coming on for a short run like six months. She’s on here for at least a year. I’m not sure with contract outs and all that, but more than likely she’s here for quite a bit longer. She did sign a contract. This isn’t a short-term deal. Not at all."

Regarding the future of soap operas in general:  "I’m optimistic, I have to say. I don’t believe daytime is going away in the next five years. And maybe even longer. What we ultimately have to find, and this is for all of TV, is that we have to deal with the whole notion that TV is no longer appointment TV. And deal with what that means. And that could mean cable. But going back to cavemen sitting around a fire, I don’t think we’re going away. Even if you look at what’s happening in primetime, you’re still seeing serialized storytelling in a lot of them. And that’s a good thing." 

For the complete interview go to http://tvguide.ca/

Brief peek at Vanessa prepping for her first scenes back on GH.

The man you see with her is Brad Rowe (ex-Ty, WASTELAND) in the role of Murphy Sinclair, an internationally famous movie star who is involved with supermodel Brenda and children's charity causes (ala Brad and Jolie) in Italy. Rowe first airs on August 13.

James Franco on GMA.

Includes scenes from MOCA.

It's not just their viewing audience, it's advertisers too, who prefer soap operas to the game and talk shows that are replacing them. Though the alternatives are cheaper and easier for networks to produce, media buyers say that soaps are still one of the most cost-effective buys on broadcast television.

In an article that appeared in TheWrap, one ad buyer was quoted as saying soap operas, "are more efficient than much of daytime cable programming.  I would be disappointed if all of the soap operas disappeared."  He is not alone.

This September, the Big Three broadcast networks will be down to six daily daytime soaps.That's two less than two years ago, four less than in 2000 -- and 11 less than in the heyday of soaps during the 1969-70 season.  Also, in a cost saving measure, ABC Daytime sought a waiver from the Writers Guild of America that allows it to trim up to 20 original episodes from each of its three soaps and replace them with repeats.
  
Broadcast network executives say that changing viewer tastes and escalating costs are conspiring against the genre.

When CBS took "Guiding Light" off last fall, "Let's Make a Deal" replaced it. "Guiding Light" was averaging 1.7 million viewers in the hour, while two half-hours of "Deal" has averaged about 200,000 viewers more. Clearly, it's cheaper for the network to produce the game show, but that additional 200,000 viewers is not bringing in a ton more money from advertising.

And media buyers aren't enthralled with game shows as replacements. Media buyers say that if networks must replace a soap opera, a talk show like 'The View' or some other type of genre would be better than a game show.

Losing viewers or not, from the advertisers' point of view, the six soaps combined still reach 14.6 million viewers per day, and that's a sizable number that they can still buy at reasonable rates. And "Young and the Restless" reaches 1.1 million women 18-49 each day, the largest number of women in that demo of any of the soaps. "General Hospital" serves up the second largest number within that demographic.

But soaps are still losing viewers. Of the six remaining soaps, the highest-rated is CBS' "Young and the Restless" with a 3.6 for live and same-day, which includes DVR-recorded viewing within the first 24 hours.

If you take away DVR viewing, that rating falls to a 3.2, and that would rank it only 8th among the 10 soaps that were on the networks in 2000, when DVRs were not included in ratings measurement.

"Young and the Restless" had a household rating of 5.8 during the 2000-2001 season. But you don't have to go back 10 years for comparisons to show how steadily soap viewing continues to drop.

Of the six soap operas that will remain when "As the World Turns" leaves in September, the number of viewers lost over the past three seasons has cumulatively been 2.5 million, or 15 percent, of their total viewership, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

While CBS' two surviving soaps "Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful" are safe for now, the latter has lost 400,000 viewers since 2008, similar to "As the World Turns" did before it was canceled.

NBC only has one soap left, "Days of Our Lives," but it has been one of the most stable, averaging the same live, plus same-day number of viewers, 2.3 million, for the past three seasons, Nielsen data shows. But "Days" has also aged up significantly over the past three seasons, going from a median age of 50.5 to 56.7.

ABC's "General Hospital" has the youngest median age viewer at 52.3, which makes it still very attractive to media buyers, while CBS' "The Bold and the Beautiful" has the oldest at 59.5.

If you are surprised at the older median age for soaps, consider that "Let's Make a Deal," CBS' replacement for "Guiding Light," has a median age viewer of 58 -- more than a year older than the median age "Guiding Light" viewer.

And the median age viewer of CBS' "Price is Right," which airs at 11 and 11:30 a.m. among the soaps, has a median age of 63. ABC's popular late morning talk show, "The View," has a median age of about 60.

CBS has not yet announced what it will replace "As the World Turns" with this fall*, but it has greenlit pilots for a cooking competition show hosted by Emeril Lagasse, a talk show hosted by Rove McManus and Valerie Bertinelli, along with a couple of game shows.  Whatever the network selects will clearly target female audiences. How it prices the replacement show will determine to what level advertisers buy in.

*UPDATE: It looks like a daily panel talk show hosted by Sara Gilbert, Julie Chen, Holly Robinson Peete, Sharon Osbourne and Leah Remini that focuses on topical events through the eyes of moms will replace ATWT.

With the loss of soap operas, media buyers will have to remain focused on planning around alternatives in daytime to reach women in the desirable age demographics.  Within that environment, "General Hospital" is in a pretty good position, for the time being.

It is clear, however, that the folks behind ABC and "General Hospital" are acutely aware of changing times and are seeking creative solutions to cure whatever is ailing the soap genre, and media buyers are no doubt appreciative of their efforts.

Adrienne Barbeau to Play Suzanne Stanwyck

Adrrienne's character runs a charity agency for children in Italy. According to TV Guide, Suzanne will be closely involved with Brenda. We will first see the women working together in Rome on August 12th, one day after we get our first glimpse of Brenda. Eventually, together, they will make their way to Port Charles.

Guza explains that, "Despite her hard edge, Suzanne has a lot of love for others, including Brenda — she's her confidante, so to speak. As we get to know Suzanne better, she'll have a surprising feminine side."

 
Barbeau will be around for several
weeks at least, maybe longer. 

Franco and Linzy were shooting documentary footage for a larger project that they're staying pretty secretive about, involving Franco's recurring role on GH where Linzy will soon join him as a new performance artist character. Franco's "General Hospital" storyline will bring his fictitious soap alter ego "Franco" to MOCA at The Pacific Design Center, where the soap will shoot Franco and Linzy's scenes on-location later this month. For the next few weeks MOCA will be projecting an outdoor video installation of Franco backstage at GH onto its walls, some of which can be seen at the end of this video.  Since Linzy's video work is often described as parodying soap opera storylines, his addition to the GH cast is yet another example of life imitating art imitating life, all of which seems to be part of Franco and Linzy's mysterious artistic master plan.  

James Franco and Kalup Linzy discuss their work on General Hospital and Performance Art in a impromptu interview during the Gay Pride parade on June 12th.

Another Rumorville item Confirmed 

Betsy Franco will begin a short-term role on Friday, July 2, when Spinelli tracks down the eccentric, murder-obsessed artist's mom.

Brenda Barrett's return to Port Charles comes at a time when the three most important men in her life - Sonny, Jax and Jason - are all in crisis. Brenda's in trouble herself - when is she not? - possessing an explosive secret. Only she doesn't even realize it's something devoutly to be kept secret. Brenda has no idea the havoc this little indiscretion will wreak or that she'll send the lives of loved ones hurling into chaos.  (Source: ABC Media)

Rumors are that her return is for a year.

The Rumor Finally Comes True!

Brian Frons, president, daytime, Disney/ABC Television Group, announced today that Emmy Award-winning actress Vanessa Marcil will return to GH as fan favorite Brenda Barrett, the role she created in 1992 and in which she won a Daytime Emmy in 2003 for Outstanding Supporting Actress. Marcil's first airdate is Wednesday, August 11.

"Fans can now rejoice, Vanessa is returning to General Hospital. True to form, Brenda arrives in Port Charles with a secret that will impact Sonny, Jax and Jason," said Frons. "'GH has always been dedicated to the strong history of our characters. Fans and viewers alike will be thrilled with her storyline and will agree that her return was worth waiting for."

"We are so thrilled to welcome Vanessa Marcil home to GH. Vanessa is a wonderful, talented actress and her portrayal of Brenda makes her a force of nature in Port Charles," says executive producer Jill Farren Phelps.

"I feel so lucky to continue to be allowed to visit GH and honor where I came from," says Marcil. "I am humbled by these great people and a character that I truly love."



 

Bruce Davison is joining the storyline involving James Franco’s upcoming return to General Hospital as the psychotic artist Franco. The Academy Award-nominated actor will do a three-episode cameo as Franco’s eurotrashy art dealer Wilhelm Van Schlagel. An ABC representative was quoted in TV Guide stating that the Franco character,  will “return to town to wreak havoc on Jason and Michael and everyone else in Port Charles. His grand finale will be yet another art exhibition that’s more wild and crazy than his last one.”

Davison earned his Oscar nod for the 1990 AIDS drama Longtime Companion and plays Senator Robert Kelly in the X-Men movies. Credit GH’s Emmy-winning casting director Mark Teschner with the cool coup.   Teschner says, “Bruce is one of my favorite actors—I met him in a restaurant a few years back and told him so.  I wanted a very special, unique actor to be in scenes with Franco, and he was the first idea to pop into my head.” 

Rosa Blasi  (Strong Medicine, Make it or Break it) has announced that she has been offered a recurring role on General Hospital.  No word yet on the character she will be playing, although she did comment, "Any excuse for tranny makeup n fake eyelashes and I'm in!". 

Update:  Rosa will be playing the very short-term role of Alcazar's financial manager.

Bradford Anderson  spoke with Sacramento morning show anchor Dan Elliott about his recent Daytime Emmy nomination for supporting actor, and his new wife, who happens to be from Sacramento. Anderson also took time out to answer questions submitted by News10 Facebook fans.

Brief Alternate Reality Soap Pairings on the Web

Ever wonder what Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Bernard) and Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) would have to say to each other?  Well, ABC will give you a chance to find out with a series of 10 webisodes, each
4 minutes in duration, showing well-known characters from All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital interacting with one another. They’ll be taped this month but will air on the web (and in even shorter form on TV's ABC and SOAPnet) beginning in July.

 Adam Rockmore, SVP Marketing ABC Daytime and SOAPnet says that, “These webisodes are a fun way to answer a long-standing fan question about what would happen in a soap-mash-up.”

William C Michell will play Warden Powell, beginning May 24th. 

Lee Reherman plays the role of head guard in lock up.  He first airs on May 14th.

Tyler Cast in Film

According to the President of his fan club, Tyler Christopher has been cast in the Korinna Sehringer film, "Shouting Secrets", which will be shot during the month of May in Arizona. Tyler plays a Native American named, Tushka, brother to a successful writer in L.A. (played by Chaske Spencer) who returns home for the first time in ten years to see his ill mother.

The movie role will not affect his status with GH, which will work around him. 

Helena has got herself a new boytoy slash henchman. Branton Box first airs in the role on April 28th. 

Watch Jane and Tony answer fan questions!

Jonathan Jackson and wife Lisa Vultaggio (ex-Hannah, GH) are expecting their third child in October, Baby-to-be will join their daughter, Adora, 4 ½, and son, Caleb, 6 ½.

NUMorgan

According to SOD, a scheduling conflict with an upcoming pilot has led to the replacement of Aaron Refvem with Aaron Sanders in the role of Morgan, the son of Carly and Sonny.  Just last night, (3/29), Refvem, who had been on recurring status with GH, tweeted he believed he would be staying and that GH would work around him.  Apparently, scheduling around his new project was a bigger problem than anticipated.

Check out this brief video excerpt of Tony Geary "confessing" to an affair with an infamous actor who once appeared on General Hospital.
 

Nancy Lee Grahn and Lexi Ainsworth discuss the abuse storyline and share their own feelings and insights on this important issue.. 

 
Has Sonny's judgement day arrived?
Dakin Matthews plays Judge Carroll on February 24th.

Bradley Cole (most recently of Guiding Light), begins airing as Kiefer's father,
Warren Bauer. at the end of March for a temporary stint.

Lisa Waltz will portray the role of
Melissa Bauer, Kiefer's mother.