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80's Soap Opera Drama in Development From John Stamos and Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron!

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

80’s soap opera is making a comeback on cable TV with none other than former GH star John Stamos (Ex-Blackie Parrish).

Deadline is reporting that Stamos has partnered with producer Craig Zadan and Neil Meron for a cable drama series chronicling the fame and excess of daytime soaps in the 1980s.

The untitled drama, now in early stages of development, will be inspired by the experiences of Stamos, whose acting career was launched in 1982 when, at the age of 18, he landed the role of Blackie Parrish on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital.

Described as “Boogie Nights in the soap world,” the drama will explore the colorful and often dark world of soaps as it follows the journey of a young man thrust into soap stardom, during a decade defined by Reaganomics, greed, excess, indulgence and materialism. As a newly minted teen idol, he will struggle to balance his family life, working at his fathers restaurant and maintain his humble upbringing while navigating the temptations of sex, drugs and fame.

Stamos will executive produce alongside Zadan and Meron through the duo’s Storyline Entertainment. This is the latest collaboration for Stamos, Zadan & Maron who previously teamed to produce the Emmy-nominated miniseries Beach Boys: An American Family and the TV movie, Martin and Lewis.

Zadan and Meron are prepping their next NBC musical, Hairspray Live! and are working with Aaron Sorkin for NBC’s first live drama, a 2017 broadcast of A Few Good Men.

The news of this 80’s soap opera themed concept is not the first of its kind.  GH’s Kimberly McCullough has also been hard at work at her “Hey Day” project which is about a young actress trying to make it in the soaps during this decadent decade.

What do you think of the 80’s soap build around the life and times of  a young man influenced by Stamos’ early soap career?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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it sounds like must see tv to me, this is a great idea, and if its on cable then it can be more racy, a behind the scene of a soap, w/ a hot young new comer, drugs, excess, fame, if done right it could be juic;y.!

love it , good writing, acting and creativeness is better then these stupid reality shows.

Really? This is basically the idea Kimberly McCullough had years ago. Come on now…

What would be truly wonderful is if they could get some actual soap stars to be in this soap. What are Kim Zimmer or Erika Slezak or Susan Lucci doing??? How about Robert Newman or Matthew Ashford??? Hey a soap fan can dream can’t he???

Zimmer and Newman are doing off broadway now. Lucci just finished Devious Maids (she would be PERFECT.) Ashford is on The Bay now on Amazon but actors these days can pull double duty.

I love John…and I love this news. What I don’t love is his Julius Caesar hair cut/do. All he needs is a circlet of laurel leaves.

Too funny, CeeCee!!!! Speaking of coiffures, what did you think of Scotty and Julian’s dueling examples of bad hair days on Thursday’s GH episode? As they stood side-by-side in the jailhouse, it was all I could do to stifle my laughter at these overgrown boys with the juvenile-looking top thatches!

HaHa, Shay. I think Scotty’s hair ‘swings’ that way naturally. On him, it looks cute in a boyish -kind-of -way…it suits him.
Julian’s? So not natural !!

Cee, John is so handsome he could have a mohawk and the chicks would still be dialing his digits!

SMH…I don’t get it..I truly don’t.

This show sounds almost identical to the show that Kimberly McCullough has been promoting. Coincidence? Hmm.

I was thinking the exact same thing as you.

Where was he when GH needed some support for their 50th anniversary show.

Suddenly Blackie Parrish is important to him. I did not know who John Stamos was before he was Blackie Parrish.

I will support Kimberly 100% but not Stamos, I will not be watching.

Um, remember a movie called Soapdish? Same concept.

No one will be watching. Because no one cares about daytime soap operas any more.

Yup, Stamos ripped off McCullough.

Yelp!!!! A total rip-off. Why did his project get approval and not Kimberly MCcullough?

It would be great if the series was broadcast in daytime instead of prime time. Late afternoon would be preferable.

just shows the inequality in the entertainment business when JS can hook up with producers and get a concept similar to what KMc has been working on without a struggle while Kimberly has to first make a pilot and then sell it on her own with no backing

I’d like to check this out. Soaps were so great in the 80’s and early 90’s, this sounds fun.

I hope it works out for John. I would tune in. I hope it catches on and he sticks it to Valentini for not including Blackie on the 50th anniversary program!.

Hi, my Timmmy.
Why was John called Blackie? Was there a story behind that name? I must look him up. I don’t like doing it, though.
Was he ‘attached’ to a core family? I just know him as “Uncle Jesse”….. Love that show; even as an adult.
Later, Timmmy.

I understand that they call him Blackie because of his jet black hair.

@Sly.
Hey, Sly,
Thank you. Smiles!!

Dealing with the hurt and of Laura missing, Leslie and Rick Webber adopted Blackie Parrish. I dont ever know that anyone questioned why he was called Blackie? You think the Webbers would have asked when he was adopted what his real name is? I dont know. Its like Valerie Spenser. She is half black but not ONE character has asked her why she has color? DUMB!

I forget what program I was watching, but John Stamos himself said that he was invited for the 50th, but scheduling conflicts prevented him from going back to GH. He said he wanted to do it.

Thats cool to hear. One gold star for Mr. Valentini.

I’d much rather see current soaps return to 80’s style storytelling.

If I remember correctly, Stamos’s previous series ‘Grandfathered’ (FOX) was cancelled after just one season. Y-e-p.

Sexism in tv world. Kimberly and John had both same ideas. Kimberly had it first and gets shot down. A male John has same idea and gets a pilot .

General Hospital

General Hospital’s Adam J. Harrington Weighs-in On John and Carly, and How it’s ‘Starting to Get Very Complicated”

On recent episodes of General Hospital, Carly (Laura Wright) came to John “Jagger” Cates (Adam Harrington) rescue as he was beaten down in an assault. Carly put on her “nurses cap,” sort of speak, and got John to his hotel room and watched over to him, to make sure he didn’t lose consciousness.

GH fans also got their first glimpse of what may be a new romance for Carly, if she and John continue to bond.  If John and Carly were to have a relationship, it would certainly have a ripple effect with Jason (Steve Burton) and Sonny (Maurice Benard).

Adam J. Harrington shared his view on the scenes and what might be next between the two. Speaking to Soap Opera Digest, Harrington shared, “I thought it was written in a way where there’s an understanding and a respect between them both. I don’t think there was any moment where she was not aware that he’s an FBI agent, and there was no moment that he wasn’t aware of her history and relationship to other people in the town. I really liked it. I was really looking forward to shooting it with Laura and we had a really nice time shooting it.”

Photo: ABC

When Carly and John part ways, it seems there were some romantic sparks, as Harrington puts it, “Isn’t that interesting that sometimes with people, the one moment they actually show how they feel is when they know there’s an escape hatch. They know they’re about to walk away. So, it’s almost safe in that moment to do it. I thought that was really special about how (the writers) handled John and Carly. Even the music in that scene was beautifully done.”

Where is this all heading? Conflict! Internally and professionally, and as Adam explains, “Who Carly was to John on paper as just a tool to be used as bait is starting to get very complicated.”

What would you think of a John and Carly pairing? Would you prefer him with Anna, or neither of them? Let us know via the comment section and take our poll below.

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General Hospital

General Hospital’s Steve Burton Reveals the Emotional Scene He Almost Could Not Get Through

On a recent episode of General Hospital, Jason received a message from his mother, Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson) via a note. The effect it had on Jason’s portrayer, Steve Burton turned out to be quite visceral.

As GH fans know, although Jason’s bio-mom was Susan Moore, he was raised and adopted by Monica. Speaking on his Daily Drama podcast with his co-host and GH co-star, Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), Steve shared some insight on the difficulties he had getting through that scene.

Burton shared that in the key moment, “Brooklyn (played by Amanda Setton) came in and that’s where she gave me (Jason) the letter from Monica. That was a very hard scene for me to do. That was a tough one. That was the one time I was almost going to call ‘cut!’  It read ‘Jason, I believe in you.’ I was literally going to walk off the set.”

Photo: JPI

To clarify and in the story, Monica was saying “I believe in you” and that she knows Jason didn’t shoot Dante (Dominic Zamprogna). Steve added, “It was tough, man. Emotionally, it was a tough scene. It was overwhelming in the moment.”

Steve went on to detail to Anderson, “She (Brook Lynn) pushed it to me and I read it and she was walking out and I had to stop her, but I was so emotional I couldn’t even get it out.  And at that point, I’m like, ‘Do I just keep going … or do I just walk off the set right now?’ But, I knew just to stay, because it’s so hard to get back there, once you shut it down. I knew, the next take wasn’t going to be the same.”

Photo: JPI

It’s clear that Leslie Charleson is so missed on-screen as Monica by all of her castmates, and that Jason and Monica had a very special mother/son relationship throughout the decades on GH.

What did you think of the moment when Jason got a note from Monica that said, “I believe in you?” Were you touched as well? Let us know in the comment section. You can check out the latest episode of Steve and Bradford’s podcast below.

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General Hospital

George Russo to Appear on General Hospital as Carmine Cerullo

Coming up, it looks like Brook Lynn’s (Amanda Setton) grandfather, Carmine Cerullo is headed to Port Charles.

According to casting news from the ABC soap opera, George Russo will take on the role. Russo will tape his episode next week on April 15th and will appear on the May 15th episode of the long-running daytime drama series.

If George looks familiar he has been in numerous primetime television shows and motion pictures including: The Offer. Winning Time, Grand Crew and Shameless.

Photo: ABC

Longtime GH viewers will recall that Lois’ (Rena Sofer) dad, Carmine, was previously showed up in Port Charles on and off from 1994 to 1996 and was played by John Capudice.

Clearly, it seems that Carmine will be a part of Chase (Josh Swickard) and Brook Lynn’s wedding.  Will it go off without a hitch? Are you looking forward to it? Stay tuned.

Who else would you like to see attend the nuptials? Gloria Cerullo (Ellen Travolta), any other blasts from the pasts who should be present? Let us know in the comment section.

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