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For Father's Day: Is GH's Patrick Drake The Best Soap Dad Ever?

Courtesy/ABC

Courtesy/ABC

Father’s Day is Sunday and as children get prepared to shower their dads with phone calls, emails, cards and presents, soap opera father’s are also very integral to storylines with their offspring!

Some soap dads actually bring a tear to our eye, or a smile to our face as they help teach their young children life lessons, help them persevere through challenging times, guide them, and love them.

On General Hospital, no father has become more endearing a single parent raising his child then Dr. Patrick Drake played by Jason Thompson.   Patrick’s scenes with his daughter Emma Drake played by Brooklyn Rae Silzer have continued to be audience crowd-pleasers.

ABC.com posted a few special Patrick and Emma moments to illustrate just what kind of great dad the good doc truly is!  You can watch a few selection after the jump as well!  After that let us know, is Patrick the best soap dad ever? Or, would you nominate another dad from another show? Let us know!

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Tom Horton in history

Tom Horton played by the late great McDonald Carey will always be the number one most loving, loyal and dedicated father and faithful husband in soap opera history!!!

Yes! I think he’s been an exceptional Dad considering everything he’s been through the last few years. Jason and Brooklyn have great chemistry and work really well together as a father and daughter duo. I always love their conversations. And Patrick actually takes the time to teach her things. I hope we’re able to see Emma grow up on the show like Kimberly did.

He is the best daytime father ever.

I like Nikolas and Spencer .. 🙂

Nikolas and Spencer are a joke . The kid runs the household/relationship, he’s very spoiled. Patrick is o’k but he’s more involved w/his love life. My favorite soap dad is Abe Carver on Days.

That is Prince Spencer ..
He is perfect for being of wealth and a prince..
Nik and Spencer 🙂

Emma is a phony, she is like a robot, a PSA from Leave it to Beaver era lol ..

In all honesty Patrick spends the most time with his child on GH. I think Nikolas would come in a close second with Spencer. The show doesn’t seem to have the time to really show the parent/child relationships much right now and it shows since thinking on it it’s been a bit of time since any father interacted with their young child.

GH does father relationships pretty well, I think. Patrick and Nicolas are great dads to their kids. Even Scotty had a tough time resisting being a dad to Franco.

I love GH and all, but I think One Life portrayed father relationships better. Beau Buchanan was a great dad. Asa, well, he was a bit misguided but he loved his boys.

Still miss that show!

Seriously? Mac is by far the BEST father in the history of GH.

Yes, I totally agree with you. Mac is the best. Nicholas, ya gotta be kidding me!

You are so correct! How could i forget Mac scorpio!! He devoted his life to Maxie and Goergie… I am getting teared eyed just thinking of some of their special moments.

Well, you have a good point. Mac is fabulous.

Mac is the man [dad]

The best soap father was Roman Brady when Drake Hogestyn was playing him. His relationship with Carrie is by far my favorite father/daughter relationshp of all time.

Fathers on soaps are only as good as the writer who pens their relationships with their kids. I find most soap writers aren’t interested in the parent child relationship unless there is some conflict involved or as needed, whether in be mothers or fathers. Out of the remaining four soaps I find the better written fathers for soaps at least are Patrick from GH- Billy Abbott on Y&R, Daniel on Days and sorry B&B- there isn’t one father on this show written that passes muster. Every father from Bill, Eric, Ridge to Deacon, are all written self absorb egomaniacs and I pity any one in real life who has a father remotely like them.
In all of soap history, well I agree Tom Horton was most likely the best written dad. I used to like how they wrote Jake McKinnion’s relationship with his stepchildren on Another World. And the Hughes family patriarch on ATWT, his name escapes me I want to say Bob, was it Bob or Tom? Him too, I thought he was written well as a dad.
Well to all the real fathers out there I wish all of you a Happy Father’s Day.

I like Patrick, Mac, and Nik, even though he should be driving Spencer to school, and setting some limits on the “littlest prince.” But then Nik probably didn’t have many hugs like he at least gives to Spencer. And even Michael. I think he’s doing a great job “parenting” AJ/Avery.

I forgot, but did MF have the same kind of best GH mom on Mother’s Day? Because the Dad’s storylines seem to spend more quality time with their kids than the moms. Carly comes to mind, sometimes Maxi…not always her fault because of the Spinelli arrangement. I guess the writers don’t want to show the mothering side of Sam or Elizabeth that much, but even when they do it doesn’t seem as involved as the dads I mentioned. And even though Alexis made questionable mating choices, she tries to be involved in her girls lives.

Best father ever is Dr. Joe Martin @ AMC

Worst father is Victor Lord @ OLTL

General Hospital

Is FBI Agent John “Jagger” Cates on the Level? GH’s Finola Hughes, Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson Weigh-in

When John “Jagger” Cates resurfaced on General Hospital in recent months in the form of Adam J. Harrington taking over the role originally played Antonio Sabato Jr,. know one knew quite sure just what side of the law is Cates really on? And, is he back in Port Charles to settle old scores with Sonny and Jason?

What viewers have learned is that when Jason (Steve Burron) was taken captive two and half years ago, back in November of 2021, he was taken to Quantico, where Agent Cates had multiple RICO violations on Jason and was going to send him to prison for years, unless he worked for Cates and his team, in which Jason has been an informant working on the inside on the Pikeman arms deal case, or so it appears.

Now on the latest episode of Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson’s Daily Drama podcast, Finola Hughes (Anna) stopped by to chat with her GH co-stars and all three weighed-in on just what they think maybe going on with John Cates.

Photo: ABC

Bradford Anderson, brought up that maybe Agent Cates isn’t working on the level. Hughes responded, “I don’t know, I’m not sure.” Burton added, “Yeah, we’re not sure. There’s some unknowns coming,, so we’ll figure that out. But, it’s been a fun story to play for sure. I really like it. A lot of layers to it. I’s been excellent stuff to be back with for sure.”

Finola added, “I think we’re gonna be going through finding out who certain people are that are coming on canvas, like John Cates and Brennan and where do they all fit in?”

Courtesy/ABC

Steve added, “You’ve got Pikeman and what their real motives are. “Jagger” obviously. And then . Pikeman is not facing on screen. Is that true or no?  The question of is Pikeman a person also got brought by Anderson, to which his co-stars added, it’s a company.

Courtesy/ABC

Explaining more about Brennan and what he was up to, was answered by Hughes, That’s a sort of throwback, perhaps back in the day at WSB. He just came on the canvas briefly. Nobody knows if he’s goo (or bad).  I (Anna) got him put in prison, so he’s off, and out of the way right now.”

You can check out the latest edition of the Daily Drama podcast below.

Now let us know, who do you think John “Jagger” Cates is working for? FBI, Pikeman, himself, or some other unknown entity or enemy? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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General Hospital

Nancy Lee Grahn’s Star-Studded ALS Fundraiser Reveals “I’ll Be There” Video Featuring Soap Opera Notables

Talk about your impressive line-up! It’s a soap fans dream and for a great cause. General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) is prepping her one-night only ALS fundraiser which will feature many of her friends and co-stars.

The benefit is set for May 4th in Glendale, California. Slated to participate are Genie Francis, Jane Elliot, Peter Bergman, Maurice Benard, Eileen Davidson, Thorsten Kaye, Michelle Stafford, Stephen Nichols, Rena Sofer, Jason Thompson, Kelly Monaco, Melissa Claire Egan, Maura West, Kristina Wagner, Gregory Harrison, Trevor St. John, Kate Mansi, Kirsten Storms, Cynthia Watros, and many others.

On Wednesday, Grahn took to her social media and released an “I’ll be there” video shout-out featuring, Monaco, Elliot, Bergman, Bernard, West, Harrison, St. John and more. In a touching and important moment in the new video, Michelle Strogny, who is battling ALS, is featured.

Photo: ABC

Previously, in speaking with Soap Opera Digest on the impetus of the event, Grahn recalled, “I was actually doing Zoom events during Covid and I met this woman that I just fell in love with, Michelle Strojny. At the time, Michelle had been living with ALS for four years. Now, it’s five years. She is a mom of a teenage son, she has the most wonderful husband, and she has been dealing with this [disease] for quite a while. And obviously, there isn’t a cure yet. It’s not survivable yet. But as she says, it’s not incurable. Nothing is; it’s underfunded. But anyway, I just really dug this woman. She is so grounded and filled with grace, and she spends all of her time working to raise money for the cause. We did a fundraiser for her last year and then I thought, ‘You know what? The soaps don’t ever get together to do something for charity.’ Collectively, we have this amazing community and we don’t collectively use it for a good cause, and I think it’s such an easy thing for us to do and we could potentially really make a difference.”

As GH viewers know, Gregory Harrison is playing the character of Gregory Chase, who is also battling ALS in a touching storyline that is currently playing out shedding a light on this disease.

For information on Nancy’s event, including the stars who are s scheduled to participate click here. To purchase tickets to the event click here.

Check out the video featuring Nancy’s friends and co-stars below.  Now let us know, your thought son the line-up for the benefit and helping raise awareness and funds for ALS research via the comment section.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Writer Shannon Peace Let Go, and Shares on Sprina: “One of My Only Regrets is to Not Have the Opportunity to Develop That ‘Ship’ Further”

As General Hospital’s new head writing team of Elizabeth Korte and Patrick Mulcahy gets off the ground and running, there are still changes a foot on the writing team.

Now comes word via breakdown writer Shannon Peace that she is no longer on contract with the long-running ABC soap heading into its 61st season. Peace shared a heartfelt message on her Instagram, thanking the fans, and the show for the opportunity and the importance of diversity in the writers room.

Peace began, “After almost 3 years on staff and 106 episodes penned, I am no longer on contract with General Hospital. Writing for this country’s longest running television serial drama has been an education of epic proportions; I will forever be grateful that I earned my WGA card on a daytime fixture that holds memories for so many.” (Peace pictured below with GH EP Frank Valentini and script writer, Charlotte Gibson from about ten months ago).

Photo: SPeaceIG

Shannon added “Even more importantly, as the sole Black breakdown writer (and only POC in the writers room) during my tenure, I pushed for vital interactions and discussions that prioritized inclusion, visibility, and representation”

The writer pointed to the example of vital interaction when in story, “Stella and Portia’s frank July 2022 conversation about the role race played in Esme’s framing of Trina is just one example of the impact I’m gratified to have had.”

Acknowledging former GH co-head writers was also part of Peace’s farewell expressing, “Appreciation to my former bosses, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor – not only taking a chance on me, but for valuing my opinion and championing my voice.”

Courtesy/ABC

Many GH fans know that Peace was key to the development of the love story between Trina Robinson and Spencer Cassadine as played by Tabyana Ali and Nicholas Chavez. Shannon gave a special shout-out to ‘Sprina’ fans, “I also want to thank fans who were supportive of my work, especially the recognition of my love for ‘Sprina’. One of my only regrets is not having to develop that ‘ship’ further.”

She concludes her statement with,”In the aftermath of a historic writer’s strike that shed new light on the troubling ways writers are regarded in daytime, my sincere hope is that General Hospital recommits to valuing staff writer efforts and input, with a more intentional focus on diverse viewpoints — and thrives for another 60 years.”

Accompanying her post, Shannon added, “Thank you all for the love and support these last few years. I hope GH fans get all they hope for and more!”

So, what do you think about GH not renewing Shannon’s contract? Will there be more continued changes afoot? What do you think is the future of ‘Sprina’ anyway at this point as viewers wait to see if Nicholas Chavez officially returns to the show?  Comment below.

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