General Hospital News & Gossip
News for the week of 28-Jul-2008
Besides the meet ‘n greets and autograph sessions, the annual July 10-14th summer GH Fan Club Weekend also netted awards for deserving cast members and website mavens. This summer, the winners – as voted by fans in the fan club – were: Laura Wright (Carly) and Tyler Christopher (Nikolas)—best actress and actor, Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) and Greg Vaughan (Lucky)—best supporting actress and actor, Julie Marie Berman (Lulu) and Dylan Cash (ex-Michael)—best younger actress and actor, Robin and Patrick—best couple, and Spinelli—best character. Winning for a second time was Sheri Evans for her Tyler Christopher official website. More on the July 12th GH Fan Club Luncheon by SoapTown USA’s Dawn, here.
Kirsten Storms (Maxie) joined Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) in his early-morning fan event during the annual summer GH Fan Club Weekend for a lively Q&A, mostly centered around what might happen with this unlikely but engaging soap couple. Storms and Anderson declared right from the start their enthusiasm and commitment to making Maxie and Spinelli work as a romantic couple. They asked fans who agreed to send mail to TPTB accordingly, promising that the feedback would be taken seriously. However, Storms did mention adding a couple more guys in Maxie’s line of vision, just spice things up, as long as Spinelli remained the only guy standing. Losing Lindze Letherman as Georgie was enough of a catalyst to convey their grief during funeral scenes. Storms said she also imagined having to lose her own real-life sister to help the emotions come out. Storms and Anderson spoke fondly of other co-stars currently on the roster, notably acting rock star Sarah Brown (Claudia; ex-Carly) and goofball Brandon Barash (Johnny). With Brown, Storms and Anderson said they just sit back and watch her act, thanking their lucky stars to be around and learn from her, she’s so awesome. Barash is the polar opposite of his intense, bad-boy character, Storms and Anderson attested. He’s so goofy and funny, but he can also mimic other characters such as the equally goofy Sebastian Roche (Jerry). Anderson fielded questions about performing Spinelli with such an overload of vocabulary to learn. At first, he admitted that it was a daunting task, but now, he need only look at who Spinelli’s conversing with to pick out their nicknames and such. –SoapTown USA, read July 20, 2008
Greg Vaughan (Lucky) had the lovely and lively Kelly Monaco (Sam) by his side during most of his fan event, also during the GH Fan Club Weekend. The two provided much behind-the-scenes info and fomented their fans’ support of them as a super soap couple. Going down to Mexico on an adventure for fugitive Luke provided the actors with an unexpected but welcome Mexican break. Given soaps’ budget constraints, they were incredulous that TPTB’s at GH allowed them to really go down to Mexico for a proper, week-long, on-location shoot, including a few days during that time to relax for themselves. Pairing up as a couple suits Vaughan and Monaco just fine. They were hopeful that their story involving the placebo drug ring would continue, while critically assessing GH’s need to spread out other stories instead of focusing just on the mob. Now that Sam’s out of the mob and out of Jason’s love life, Monaco would like nothing better than to assert some more independence, gumption and strength. She said Sam had been such a boring, weak-willed crybaby before around the mob. Maybe giving Sam another story where it’s revealed that her biological father was none other than Jon Lindstrom’s Kevin might hit the spot too. (Lindstrom – who attended an event full of former cast members – was informed of this wish of Monaco’s, which touched him deeply.) Monaco also took a little time to refute rumors of her pregnancy, which recent TMZ.com buzzwould seem to confirm.
When Sarah Brown’s (Claudia) GH contract expires come January, she indicated interest in delving into behind-the-scenes editing gigs, as well as producing music videos, emphasizing that she is no singer. She also revealed that her dark hair may be long, but they’re not as long and done up as her soap alter-ego’s. Those are c/o extensions. Brown’s fan event during GH’s Fan Club Weekend drew a devoted, raucous crowd. At times, their loud enthusiasm may have interfered with other events being held at the time, like, say, Megan Ward’s (Kate) upstairs. SoapTown USA columnist Dawn described the mayhem.
Kiko Ellsworth (ex-Stan; ex-Jamal, PC) showed up at a GH Fan Club Weekend event with the last Leticia, Christine Carlo, as his fiancée. He was seeing her for seven years before popping the question. SoapTown USA’s Dawn covered the much-attended, much-talked-about past cast event. See who else she saw.
Dawn was a busy woman. She covered quite a number of events for GH’s Fan Club Weekend, including brothers Derk (Max) and Drew (Milo) Cheetwood’s, with special guest star, cousin Tyler Christopher (Nikolas). Most of the interesting stuff was about their childhood and the good-natured ribbing typical of close-knit families. Derk remembered scaring the hell out of younger brother Drew one day, by pulling a Children Of The Corn prank. They lived near a corn field, and Derk would hide there calling out Drew’s name. Another time, much older than 10, Christopher loaned Derk his clunker of a car, known for pulling a hard left. He loaned Derk the car without mentioning any of it. So there’s Derk trying to drive it around and winding up spinning 360 degrees, freaking out. The brothers Cheetwood had no idea that they would grow up to become actors on the same soap opera, which thrills them. When writers decided to throw Max a bone in the form of a romp with wise-cracking attorney Diane, portrayer Carolyn Hennesy had a field day. She did up her lips with cinnamon lip gloss, passed by and quipped to a jittery, unsure Derk, “So, we’re making out today, huh Big Boy?” and just getting totally into it. Meanwhile, Derk – a Liason fan – was wondering how to handle himself in the sex scenes, if it would be appropriate to use his tongue or not, maybe he could make a run for it before this happened…
Ever since O.J. Simpson was caught speeding on the freeway back in the mid-1990s, soaps haven’t been the same. They’ve suffered dwindling ratings, profits and ad revenue overall (DOOL is really bad off). In an effort to revamp ABC Daytime’s soap fare and make it more relevant to the prized youth demographic, corporate and marketing executives have banded together with a new promotional effort involving non-soap celebrities encouraging viewers to tune in to soaps. (Major déjà vu.) Some of them include Spice Girls Mel B, The Sopranos’ Vincent Pastore and Showgirls’ Elizabeth Berkley. Promotional spots will air on ABC, on cable-including SOAPnet, and in entertainment magazines, on websites using these mainstream celebrities and a slicked-up re-vision of the soap perspective as more than your grandmother’s daily habit. In a July 21st Advertising Age piece by Brian Steinberg, “ABC Campaign Gives Washed-Up Soaps New Image | Glams Up Daytime Dramas in Effort to Replenish Longtime Audience,” it was reported that the promotions “will portray the shows as having more of the glitz, dalliances and delightful tension viewers expect in prime-time dramas.” For example, fashion designer Randolph Duke will rave about the fashion sensibilities of AMC characters, actress Berkley will talk about the strong women featured on OLTL and country-music singer Billy Currington will bring out GH’s romantic side.
ABC Daytime president Brian Frons said they can’t afford to rest on the laurels of past soap-viewing habits—the kind that passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. Current research, Frons elaborated, points in another direction, toward grabbing today’s youth and keeping them, so that they can start the soap habit and stay on the soap habit. Walgreen Co. manager-media strategy and services, Christine Kubisztal, said the company will “shift some of our assets” to Disney towards that end.
The brief return of Genie Francis (Laura) had some major GH players excited and let down. Of course, Julie Marie Berman (Lulu) is excited, because Francis will be in scenes primarily with her. Berman also looked forward to delving deeper into Lulu’s darker side; she has indicated in the past of an interest in having Lulu go a little cuckoo, grappling with emotional and mental collapse. Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) is a bit let down, because he, too, plays one of Laura’s children, and knowing that she may not interact with him at all this go-around is kind of a bummer.
Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) decided to get creative in his Into The Woods play audition nine years ago. Instead of performing “I Met A Girl” straight as Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk, Anderson revised the tune from girl to cow, and tanked the audition. You think that’s ugh-worthy? How about when Tony Geary (Luke) went in to talk with director Oliver Stone about a role on his movie-bio-pic, The Doors, as an agent. He thought dressing up in a suit with a briefcase as an agent might help his chances. It didn’t. He realized later, after a 30-second let-down, that Stone just wanted to rap and get to know the actor, “and I’ve never been comfortable showing people who I am.” Megan Ward (Kate) tried out for MTV’s Punk’d, awhile ago, borrowing a bit from her time with the improvisational comedy group, the Groundlings and Jennifer Coolidge. She did the bit about scratching at “her lady flower” in an elevator, “and they looked at me like, ‘She’s crazy.’ So in a sense, I got PUNK’D!” –Soap Opera Digest, “ROUNDUP,” July 29, 2008
Finola Hughes (Anna) would love to bring her character back into police authority mode, to show that the mob isn’t the only brain in town. As it stands, the mob rules all authority, and she will get to cross over to the other dimension known as GH: NS, with Tristan Rogers (Robert). At least.
Stuart Damon (Alan) had his heart shattered when bosses informed him that his long-time GH character would die of a, well, heart attack. Before one of the last scenes as an alive Alan, Damon sat near the Quartermaine set feeling absolutely miserable and bereft. But then, he was brought back to play Tracy’s guilty conscience, which opened up a whole new world of acting for Damon. He explained that to perpetuate the other-worldly atmosphere of Alan’s presence, they had to make it known in scenes that a certain sofa chair was the character’s favorite while he was alive. The sofa chair just happened to have a natural indentation from the many years of actors sitting on it anyway. Singling out that sofa chair enabled Alan to maintain his spirituality, for the directors, “…that’s the only way they can keep me out of all the other shots where you could see me.” –Soap Opera Digest, “Ghost Stories” by Naomi Rabinowitz, July 29, 2008
John J. York (Mac) received a joker’s welcome when he first started on GH. At the time, Kin Shriner (Scott) and some of the crew put on a show with a stripper—right during a court scene with York in it. They’d hired her to perform for York a happy birthday bit. That was when he knew he was a part of the gang.
Graham Shiels (Cody) will make a commanding impression on GH, for about two more shows, August 6 and 11. He’s also gonna be on Nip/Tuck and Saving Grace, as well as HBO’s new True Blood series and the Jim Carrey Yes Man flick (December release).
Florian Klein joins GH as a mob guy.
Robert Newman (ex-Prescott Harrell; Josh, GL) will star in Shenandoah, a musical adapted from the original James Lee Barrett screenplay about a Virginia farm family during the divisive Civil War period. Newman will take on the leading role of Charlie Anderson, a father and farmer in Virginia. Shenandoahdebuts on August 5th at 8:30 p.m., and continues on until August 17th (Tuesday-Friday 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday 5 p.m.) at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, MI. It’s been about 10 years since Newman last performed in the Barn Theatre. He started off doing apprentice work (My Fair Lady, Damn Yankees) in 1981. Call (269) 731-4121 more information about the play and the $29 tickets.
Gossip for the week of 28-Jul-2008
I forgot to mention what Kelly Monaco (Sam) was overheard saying to some fans about why Sam and Jason broke up…at the GH Fan Club Weekend (held from July 10-14 in L.A.). Several GH board posters who attended reported that she said Steve Burton (Jason) gets bored and got bored, so the writers moved him on to another story. Burton’s story with Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth) was put on pause until the Russian mob plot angle of the mob story played itself out. Btw, it is uncertain as to whether future GH Fan Club Weekends will continue to be held at the Studio City, L.A. Sportsman’s Lodge. It had been undergoing remodeling at the time of this past one, and some fans were under the impression that, as part of the remodel, some parts of the lodge might become part of a shopping mall.
Sam finagles her way on board one of Karpov’s ships, working undercover to discover the secret drug ring. Jerry, who is doing business with Karpov (and may have been doing business with the Russian kingpin for ages), notices Sam undercover, but keeps quiet about it to Karpov. Sam, meanwhile, notices Jerry around and tattles on him to her mom Alexis.
Be on the look-out for a new and improved GH opening of credits featuring the usual cast, as well as the additions of Brandon Barash (Johnny), Sarah Brown (Claudia), Sonya Eddy (Epiphany), Nazanin Boniadi (Leyla), Claire Coffee (Nadine), and Jason Cook (Dr. Matt).
It’s anyone’s guess as to whether Maurice Benard (Sonny) will renew his GH contract. One day he’s up, the next day he’s down. For him, it’s mostly about the material and balance. The material has been improving in his eyes, and so have his chances for staying put. He reportedly said he just doesn’t want to re-sign based on promises of good, substantive material, then re-sign only to see different.
Rick Hearst (Ric) may return from his two-week vacation wondering WTF am I still doing here with little to no story other than arguing with Trevor, Sonny, and Alexis over mob business?! For him, too, it’s about the material and doing more than “reinvent the wheel. [Soap Opera Digest, August 5, 2008]”
Steve Burton’s (Jason) contract is up for renewal in October, and maybe this guy’s rolling in so much Monavie dough ($400,000 in a few months) he won’t need GH. In any event, he’s not elaborating other than providing the contract expiration date.
I have a feeling if head writer Bob Guza writes Kelly Monaco’s Sam into another mob corner – which I see coming – and takes away her balls, the actress is out the door. I would be out the door too. The biggest mistake she ever made, IMHO, is giving her loyalty to ABC Daytime. Time and time again I have come across fans who actually met Monaco in person, and they always say that she’s so much more than Sam in every way, bawdy, outspoken, hilarious, engaging, more than a centerfold.
TPTB of another West Coast-based soap have inquired as to the availability of outgoing Josh Duhon (Logan).
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.
