General Hospital
ABC Entertainment President, Craig Erwich Offers Update on ‘Pine Valley’ and is Open to Additional ‘General Hospital’ Iterations
During today’s ABC TCA virtual Winter Press Tour, Craig Erwich, president of ABC Entertainment and Hulu originals, addressed entertainment reporters during a press conference on some potential developments and upcoming new shows, existing shows, and specials scheduled on the network
According to TV Line, Erwich shared he has no further updates at this time on the All My Children reboot “Pine Valley’ that has been in development for over a year from Kelly Ripa (Ex-Hayley, AMC) and Mark Consuelos (Ex-Mateo, AMC) and company.
However, the ABC boss did say that due to the recent success of Days of our Lives streaming limited-series and its holiday movie on Peacock, that he would be intrigued for ways to bolster the General Hospital franchise, adding that he is “always open to additional iterations or explorations” in regards to the network’s sole daytime drama.
So, what do you think is happening with “Pine Valley”? Would you like to see ABC and its streaming platform partners develop something original for General Hospital ala DAYS? Comment below.
At this point, no news is probably good news on the Pine Valley front. It’s probably still percolating, going through concept and character adjustments.
You’re right. I wonder if Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa will reprise their roles periodically. I know a lot of LGBTQ and they hope ABC and Pine Valley won’t shy away from adding Gay Characters. Not Sure if Bianca will return.
The concept line of Pine Valley never made sense to me….The “feud” between the Kane and Santos families. Other than Erica stealing Maria’s baby and the fallout from that 25 years ago, there was never a feud. To try to change history, and use that as the framework for a “darker, edgier show” to create some epic, legendary feud sounds like a big rewrite and I’m not really interested in that.
General Hospital has been a pioneer in different programming concepts and spin offs, both traditional network shows (Port Charles), and limited, non-narrative pieces (Night Shift). If this is the wave of the future, then they better get on it. Maybe it could help to relieve some of the bloat in their cast.
Just a suggestion….although I doubt ABC is that motivated or ambitious…why not take all the shows that they own rights to….find writers and research people who would put in the work…and mesh it all together into one soap??
Do you know how thrilled viewers would be? They could incorporate characters from AMC and OLTL, but also longer deceased serials like Ryan’s Hope, Loving, The City, and even wayback shows like Dark Shadows and other shows from way before my time (I am in my 40’s).
It would be a Herculean effort to track continuity, characters backstory and their ages, and all the details, but I think as long as it was well written, viewers would be VERY forgiving and appreciative.
The show would have a built in wow factor and curiosity would be through the roof! The cameos and crossovers would be a hoot! Who knows who could be passing through town on any given day?
I know this is a pipe dream, but there is life in the dramatic serial form! People crave it, watch it, and binge it. But, the traditional daytime soap format (5 days a week, expensive production model, network only, daytime) is a dinosaur and basically dead.
ABC owns the rights to SO many great old beloved shows, and nowadays, when EVERYTHING is a reboot, it would be a shame not to tap into that rich history and guaranteed historic fan base!
Maybe the feud happened after All My Children went off the air! We’re to tune in to find out why.
GH makes the point of going to Corinth (where Loving was set) and they do nothing. Not even a mention of the murders, the Alden mansion…. nothing… I have said for years that Faison (who cross-over on Loving) was hiding in the Alden mansion with Trisha hostage. I don’t get why they do nothing with all the history they have.
I hope ABC still considers some sort of One Life To Live v3 or limited series
I always thought that a spin-off series about the WSB would be intriguing. Maybe Jack Wagner could pop up occasionally as Frisco (isn’t he in charge these days?) and Finola and Tristan could guest now and then, but you could focus on new agents, perhaps as a weekly serial action adventure.
Now that would be great. Would love to see Jack W interact.
Bill I like your idea, I’m all for more wsb agents in an out of PC. Dark edgy, and on HULU since Disney owns it .
In other words forget it. GH Nightshift was a good iteration of the show and they flat out dropped it so he’s full of it. If he’s that interested Frank Valentini would be gone. Earwig (Erwich) is just talking to talk. End of.
I think there is something to it. Streaming has changed the game. You need lots of content and soaps are cheaper to produce compared to a network show and you have a loyal fan base. In terms of scale you have a smaller audience but a more loyal one and to make money with streaming you need very loyal fans.
Sure. I only watch the Days with Sonny and Will. And I pray that ABC picks up Pine Valley. I watched The Edge of Night before it cancelled, All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital with my Mom. I even remember the Ice Princess Storyline in the early 1980’s.
Sorry about the Pine Valley reboot but thrilled he is looking at the Days limited streaming series and Christmas movies and would consider something involving GH down the line. ABC actually owns their soaps and can easily make it happen.
Now if only CBS could negotiate something with Proctor and Gamble so we can see our old CBS soaps this would be heaven. It would be wonderful to see GL and As the World Turns soaps in a movie or limited series. The stars aren’t getting any younger and neither am I. It’s got to be cheaper than developing these series from scratch.
We need a scary soap like Dark Shadows. Can we do a reboot with Caleb the vampire on a new spinoff. That last scene on GH indicated he was not dead. ME could do both shows. I wish they would put Dark Shadows on daytime again and have Michael Easton as Barnabas Collins.
It seems like the Actors involved in “PINE VALLEY” are all insisting that this show will happen, even though it doesn’t really sound like much is occurring at the moment. If they are going to do it, they really need to get a move on. Susan Lucci commented that the pandemic has slowed down progress and that’s probably true to some degree. Personally, I would like to see ALL MY CHILDREN re-launched closer to it’s original inception. However, I would happily watch the New PINE VALLEY with an open mind.
It’s a bit strange that Kelly and Mark Consuelos haven’t said much about the New project since it was first announced two years ago. I don’t want to add a negative vibe to it, but I wish it sounded more encouraging than it seems to sound here. Understandably, the Pandemic has slowed down progress of New shows, but I wish there were a way to know for certain if this production is still happening….has it just been a very slow process – what’s the latest word?
The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.
Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”
Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.
In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.
She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’”
Photo: ABC
THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH
Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’
The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.”
The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.
As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”
So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.
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General Hospital3 days ago‘General Hospital’ Casts Ayla Bullington as the New Avery Jerome-Corinthos
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