General Hospital
Anthony Geary & Maurice Benard on GH's Stay of Execution, Valentini's Efforts & Llanview Crossovers!
Courtesy/ABC
Who better to let soap fans know their thoughts on all the behind the scenes ups and downs then General Hospital’s most notable and prolific stars, Daytime Emmy Award winners, Anthony Geary (Luke) and Maurice Benard (Sonny). Both men have been through the battles that GH has had to fight over the year to remain on the air, and have seen the show go from number one to a fledgling ship to its recent re-birth in the expert hands of new executive producer, Frank Valentini.
In a new piece out today from TV Guide both Geary and Benard weigh-in on GH’s renewal, Llanview faves crossing over to Port Charles, and the difference on the GH set these days. Here are a few excerpts!
Maurice Benard on GH’s pick-up: “For all we know, we’ve only bought ourselves six months. But that’s not stopping the It’s a beautiful day in Port Charles! “Everyone’s excited and we’re determined to work hard and keep this thing going. Our goal now is to boost our ratings and be the No. 1 soap. Then they can’t cancel us!” Anthony Geary added, “For the last year or two we’ve been living on death row hoping for a reprieve, so this feels great. “We’re all breathing a sigh of relief, although we don’t really know what this all means.”
Courtesy/ABC
Anthony Geary on fans concerns of One Life to Live actors and characters taking over GH: “No one is worried that Port Charles will be usurped by Llanview. There’s just no downside to this. It makes us a much better show.” Maurice Benard added: “Bringing in all this new blood is the smart thing to do. Let’s hope there’s more coming. I’ve been telling people we should do this for years!”
Anthony Geary on how Frank Valentini is working his magic on the soap: “Frank loves this show and is fully prepared to go down with the ship, standing on the bow screaming at the top of his lungs. I can only admire that. It has made me and most of us want to work harder. Some people don’t like it because they got complacent, and I’m not just talking about actors but people throughout the production. Those who don’t want to work harder will not stay.”
So what do you think of Geary and Benard’s comments about fans concerns of the Llanview crossovers, what the renewal means for GH, and signs that the show is on an upswing under Frank Valentini’s watchful eye? Weigh in!
Glad to hear they like it! Hope they all want to work hard and stay on air. I think it is the best soap left… let’s hope they see it!
GH Rocks!!!
I personally think Bring It On though I will be honest I am not feeling the chemistry between Starr & Michael, but they are not why I have started watching again. I also think the new gal that plays Kate/Connie is improving all the time. And it is great to bring on a smart cop like McBain now get him to start interacting with Mac because I beleive John York is really very good when given story. Congrats GH for proving if you write good story viewers will come back.
They know what they’re talking about. If your business seems to be sliding downward, you gotta pick up the slack, get rid of the slackers and get to work even harder! Glad they’re on board with bringining in new blood (i.e. OLTL actors/characters)… it can only get better from here!
I’m really happy to hear that Anthony and Maurice are open to an inflow of actors from other soaps. Something has to change on GH to get it’s ratings up; things can’t stay the same and at the same time just hope the ratings go up.
I think it would be great if the gang from the Buenos Dias cafe from Llanview moved over to Port Charles and took over running the Spencer’s diner. Alot of fun and good interaction happened at that place in Llanview. The diner, when it was Ruby’s in Port Charles, was like that. And maybe that could help Erika Slezak slip into Port Charles and the land of GH.
I think GH is really in need of a strong, dynamic lead female character. Erika did that as Viki on OLTL, Susan Lucci did that as Erika on GH. That really gave the shows alot of good story lines and drama.
I hope it becomes Anna. I think she could do it!
Personally I think the strong dynamic lead female character has already been brought on and signed to a contract (thank goodness!)…..Finola Hughes! She is a GH legacy character and I think the best female character in GH history. Just my opinion…I don’t mind if they bring on characters from other shows as long as it’s well balanced with GH legacy characters.
It’s Tracy and Monica. Monica always has it, they just don’t feature her enough. It should be Monica and Tracy, as it was on OLTL, with Vicky and Dorian. Not Anna. Anna could never be strong like Tracy and Monica has class.
There are rumors floating around that Erika Slezak just might stop for a visit!
I heard that too, Kay.
God I hope so! I miss VIKI!!!!
Good have starr there, so Viki AND Dorian have reason to Visit!
Also did you know that Liz’s Grandfather (Late Great Steve Hardy) had a cross over with Viki and Todd’s sis Merrie in 1969?
Can you tell us more about this crossover ? I would love to know how it went, and would be interested to see if it could be explored more.
In 1969, Merrie had a Blood disease, and Steve Hardy went to Llanview to consult.
Plus another Tie-in, was when Cole’s Uncle, Ian Thornhart was a Dr. at GH, a decade ago. He hooked with Lucy and hasn’t been seen since.
I was trying to figure out who Merrie was… Oh, Meredith. I never heard anyone call her Merrie before. 🙂 Funny, I remember a scene where she and Larry (Wolek) were at the side of the crib and looking down at their baby Danny… that was a while back, huh?
I heard this to at soaptown usa (loose lips) I hope its true ,every time I go there the rumors are always true ,so seeing Erika slezak on general hospital would be so good I cant even say in words how wonderful that would be I miss her.She worked as a waitress in paris texas so she can pick roxy up and they can go to kellys diner for a cup of coffee,see a hiring sign fill out the job application and they both get hired.
I would really like all this “renewal” talk to stop. It is NOT a renewal. ABC owns GH and they have chosen to not cancel it just yet. There has been no official word on any extension. Like Maurice Benard said, it could be SIX months. People, don’t celebrate just yet. We have not won anything.
I do like that there appears to be a lot of articles coming out in soaps defense, but for what good that does remains to be seen. I think ABC just has their own agenda (one that does not include a future with scripted daytime drama) and they are just waiting until they have all their ducks in a row this time before completely pulling the rug out from under us.
well let’s at least celebrate helping to tank the Replacement, I mean the Revulsion, I mean the Revolution! ha! And I think it’s a small victory in the least, that they didn’t cancel both GH and the Revolution – they could have done that, but they didn’t want to deal with the wrath of soap fans so soon after what went down already! So there’s that to celebrate – we were heard – loudly!
Rock and roll, FV and GH! Let’s keep this train rolling, as long as possible! And whenever possible, “Less is more” when it comes to the previous “all mob, all of the time” focus….and “more is more” when it comes to humor, as much as possible…bring on David Vickers, just for a quick visit, to comfort Starr in PC!
We must boycott all of The Revolution’s successor shows so that GH always conquer them.
ABC has already taken two soaps away from us. The least they should do is having the decency to leave us one soap. Besides, Couric said that she wants GH as her lead-in.
As far as the end of ABC Daytime and its other shows….will we ever find out who JR shot in the final scene of AMC? At least there is hope in the long run for Victor to be revealed as alive somehow, someplace via OLTL characters on GH. But AMC really left it all wide open….can you please get to work on that for us, RC and FV?
And why not have have the infamous Erica Kane (and Susan Lucci!) cross paths with Luke, one of these days?
Erica met Sonny and Luke met Viki in the What if series. We know they have chemistry.
I have no real complaints for once. I would really like to see Kassie DePaiva brought aboard on contract. This woman Tweets and is a one woman cheering squad for daytime tv, specifically Soaps. She is one hell of an actress, singer, and from all I can see an all around nice person.
I’ll always be sad GH could not get their act together and treat Genie Francis with the long-earned respect she deserved. I wish her the best at Young and Restless. She shines on the show considering she was thrown in with Melody Thomas Scott who has long been what she was to GH and should still be. Maybe it will change but for now unless they can bring Laura back even half as strong as the character she is now then leave her be, intact with her dignity. I am thrilled on the hiring of Roger Howarth, long a favorite of mine…Apparently fit right in at GH. No surprise to me. Anyway, That’s my take. Thanks for a forum to express our opinions. I really like this site although pretty new at reading it. Very well put together and professional. Not that anyone’s crying over my feelings. Thanks Again Michael. I was on pins and needles over the thought of watching General Hospital sinking for the last time. There is a major sentimental reason I have always loved this show. My mother was killed in the late 60s, but she loved these shows. I distinctly recall the first episode of GH. I was in second grade and had just got home from school. The show was grainy to watch, music was bad, Black and White of course. But I will never forget Jesse Brewer RIP Emily M. Aunt Lucy? Oh my, anyone who ever saw Lucille March, hope that’s right, play this part well it was a treat. Recalling Audrey being a bit of a floozy, now that is OLD GH. I loved it. Skipped work to watch Luke and Laura, Only rich folk had VCRs then so you had to watch at two pm west coast time. Anyway, again, I am glad to see this show once again narrowly missing the chopping block, remember what happened when this happened before? Months later it was completely turned around. I see it starting to happen again. If I had a wish, it would be to see AMC meld with OLTL…All My Lives…lol. Anyway you get my drift. I had a much harder time watching the end of OLTL. There were too many talented actors and the stories were going well. I miss Gigi and Rex. What about Victor Lord showing up on that last show, I laughed and got angry at the same time…cliffhangers with possibly no ending. That was a good one i never saw coming. Thanks for making it though this. Feedback appreciated. Excuse my grammar and spelling, its gotten a bit rusty.
I love Both these two actor’s and I gosh, I would hate not to be able to get my Maurice Bernard fix, daily. The man can act, is gorgeous, sexy and those penetrating eyes! Mauuawah to them both, especially Maurice. <3
The brilliant Erika Slezak should come to Port Charles to help Kate/Connie with her recent DID diangnosis!
No post from Scott yet huh. Oh well, I love the show these past couple of months. I love the faster pace with the scenes. I love the new actors (all of them). Anything new will help now. All we need now is the viewers, calling all viewers, please watch GH everyday. They need you know more than ever.
LOL! Please, MB has been a “talking head” for years and who can take him seriously. It’s because of loathsome Sonny & immediate gang that the show has been going downhill for years – despite fan outrage. Tptb kept pumping them day after day for years and years and years. I’ve lost all respect for Geary. Great actor but if he’s angry at Luke’s association with L&L and wants Luke to become whatever he’s become now (as the list is endless), let him get another job. Stupid man, OK I agree L&L lost their mojo in the real world of growing old and life, but to discredit what was truly a magical phenomenon, rare indeed in literature/media of all types, is ignorant and self-centered beyond belief. GH should have been cancelled long ago.
There was never any doubt that in watching the riveting and emotional scenes on General Hospital which featured Finola Hughes as a PTSD-driven and mentally tortured Anna Devane, that when the climatic moments in Anna’s story aired, that we would not be singing the praises of Hughes. Once again, Finola showcased why she is one of the soap opera genres greatest assets and actresses.
In the key scenes, Anna has had a complete breakdown as she has lured and cornered Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) on Mount Emerson, and even thought through how she would kill her and cover it up, all thanks to hearing the voice and seeing a dead man, Peter August (Wes Ramsey). It’s visions of Peter that keeps egging Anna on to pull the trigger on Britt while in her delusional state.
Before Britt realizes that Anna trapped her in meeting her in Mount Emerson, she is very confused as to why she was all the way out in the boondocks to talk about what happened to her brother, Cassius Faison. However, Britt soon learned that what Anna was about to do is personal, and not professional, as she pulls the gun on her.
Courtesy/ABC
ANNA FIRES HER GUN IN GAME-CHANGING MOMENT
When Jason (Steve Burton) shows up to save the say, he tries to talk Anna off the ledge, begging her to not shoot Britt and make one of the greatest mistakes of his life. When Jason figured out Anna felt she needed to kill anyone related to Cesar Faison, he made her think twice, because that would mean, she also would need to end the lives of two of Maxie’s children, James and Bailey Lu.
Anna can’t stop seeing hallucinations of Peter pushing her to shoot Britt. Suddenly and completely overcome, Anna fires bullets straight in the direction of where she sees Peter as she declares this all must end tonight.
After the shots are fired, Anna realized what she had done and just sobbed and shook. It was a devastating and heartbreaking moment for longtime General Hospital fans to see the beloved Anna Devane, super spy, so lost. Anna explained to Jason, after he was able to disarm her, how she was being pushed to kill Britt by her visions of Peter.
EMMY-WORTHY SCENES FOR 2027
In another hankie-inducing moment, Anna just grabs Jason and breaks down in his arms. If these weren’t Emmy-worthy scenes, we don’t know what is, and it must be remembered by Hughes, General Hospital, and hopefully the voting body of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) when Emmy submissions and voting get underway in 2027 for the 54th annual Daytime Emmys.
From everything we noted above, to the sheer brilliance of her work, Michael Fairman TV names Finola Hughes, this week’s Power Performance of the Week.
Now let us know, do you agree with our pick of Finola? Were you moved to tears during the gut-wrenching scenes? Should Finola include these scenes in an Emmy submission in 2027, should she decide to compete for Lead Actress gold? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
General Hospital
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
The ratings are out for the week of August 24-28 for your favorite broadcast television soaps, and it was ABC’s General Hospital which added the most total viewers and planted itself firmly in third place in its battle with Beyond the Gates in the key demos of women 18-49 and 25-54.
According to Soap Opera Network, all daytime dramas were up year-over-year, and General Hospital was joined by The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful with gains in their total audience viewership, while Beyond the Gates was only slightly off pace for the ratings week.
Let’s take a look at what had viewers tuning-in, starting with General Hospital, who added +79,000 viewers. While still under the 2 million viewers mark (which they can hopefully return in the coming weeks) their overall tally was an average of 1, 935,000 tuning-in, while still up year-to-year +136,000.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
In addition, GH while actually down from the previous week in the 18-49 ratings share, they still out performed Beyond the Gates for third place. However, GH was firmly in third place for the 25-54 ratings share.
The stories that were featured for the week included: Anna’s (Finola Hughes) PTSD and struggle with painful memories tied to Cesar Faison, and her concocting a plan to get rid of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) recording Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna) threatening her, and later running into a severe threat from Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) regarding Kai (Jens Austin Astrup) and Drew’s (Cameron Mathison) shooting, and Drew enlisting Ava (Maura West) to gain leverage over Jack, which resulted in Ava drugging him, while Drew went snooping for the evidence Brennan had against him.
Photo: JPI
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Y&R remained in the top spot amongst all the soaps once again with 3,062,000 tuning in, and up +35,000 for the week, while year-to-year still showing strong gains at +231,000 viewers. However, while Y&R remained #1 for the 25-54 ratings share, it fell to #2 in the 18-49 ratings share behind The Bold and the Beautiful.
In story for the week, Nick’s (Joshua Morrow) sobriety in rehab was a focus, as was Victoria (Amelia Heinle) and Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) hitting the Jabot office couch and having sex for the first time, and Lily (Christel Khalil) and Billy (Jason Thompson) battling over control and ownership of Chancellor Industries.
Photo: JPI
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL
B&B is continuing to be inch closer to Y&R for the top spot, separated by a little more than 300,000 viewers. For the ratings week, the series posted a total audience of 2,719,000 adding +31,000 eyeballs overall, and like Y&R, is up year-to-year in its performance.
The CBS soap now , now in its 40th season is +217,000 from the same time last year. In the key demos, The Bold and the Beautiful was in the top spot for the women 18-49 ratings share and number two for women 25-54.
In story, the major threat to Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Carter (Lawrence Saint-Victor) and Daphne’s (Murielle Hilaire) marriages continued as Steffy and Carter swore they would not tell their spouses that the two had a drunken hook-up. But as viewers know now, Steffy is pregnant!
Photo: CBS
BEYOND THE GATES
Beyond the Gates tallied an average of 1,611,000 total viewers for the week, up +72.000 year-over-year and down slightly in tune-in for the week losing just -36,000 viewers. The CBS soap came in fourth place in the key demos for the week behind General Hospital, with whom they are often trading places for the third spot.
In story, after Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) was released from the hospital, Hayley (Marquita Goings) stuck to her plan, doubling down on poisoning him and even getting caught in a major lie or meeting with Randy (Maurice P. Kerry), as Vernon (Clifton Davis) may be on to her machinations.
The ratings report is generated from Nielsen (Live+Same Day Big Data + Panel) for the week of August 24-28, 2026
So, what did you think of the performance of General Hospital for the ratings period? Which daytime drama has you most likely to tune-in each day? Which has you tuning-out? Let us know what’s working, or not working for you in story, via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
It was just over 13 years ago on General Hospital when Ava Jerome (Maura West) shot and killed Kate Howard/Connie Falconeri (Kelly Sullivan) in an effort to keep her quiet from revealing that Derek Wells was actually Ava’s back-from-the-dead brother, Julian Jerome (William deVry). It’s a crime that somehow Ava never has quite paid for either.
The episode back aired on August 13, 2013 and viewers had to say goodbye to Kelly Sullivan who played Kate and her alter, Connie. In the story, just before she died, Kate/Connie scrawled the letters AJ in her own blood, initially making the PCPD and Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) think that it was AJ Quatermaine (Sean Kanan) who did the deed.
Now, Sullivan recalled sharing scenes with the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning West, during a live conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel. Kelly was the special guest talking about her recent return to the soaps in her new role as The Bold and the Beautiful’s Darcy Dylan.
Photo: JPI
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MAURA WEST
Speaking of her final GH scenes and working with Maura West, Sullivan gave her then GH co-star major props. “If you’re going to be shot by somebody (on the soaps), you want to be shot by Maura West, c’mon!”
Maura West debuted back in May 2013 as Ava, and Sullivan remembered when the As the World Turns favorite began on GH. “I remember when Maura West first arrived at GH. She walked in with this cute little bob (hairdo) and she’s just delicious,” shared Sullivan.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
Kelly revealed more about Maura, adding “I think she’s amazing! I remember right before I left the show, someone suggested, and I would still love to do this with her, if she ever want to, but someone suggested that they wanted to direct the stage play A Streetcar Named Desire with Maura and I, where I would play Stella and she would play Blanche! Wouldn’t that be great?”
Speaking of the Ava/Connie showdown scenes, Sullivan expressed, “On television and on General Hospital specifically, Maura West is able to play a character who does the most horrendous things and you still care about her and that’s the mark of a really great actor. In other words, you’re able to be liked in the midst of the most horrendous things, and as a performer not shying away from that, and to just have the courage to do what’s on the page (in the script).”
Photo: JPI
KELLY SULLIVAN PARTING THOUGHTS AS SHE LEFT GENERAL HOSPITAL
Kelly also shared her sentiments when she walked off the set of General Hospital after her run back in August of 2013. “I really was honored. Every day I would go to work and I would say a little prayer, which is I want to do justice for my character, explained Kelly. “It’s between me and my character. I get to walk this path with her and to leave the show on that note, which is, I left every out there. I just gave it my all and again what an honor it was to play Kate/Connie.”
You can catch the full conversation with Kelly where she talks about her time on General Hospital, The Young and the Restless where she played Sage Warner and now The Bold and the Beautiful below.
So, do you remember the Ava and Connie scenes where Ava shot and killed her? What did you think of Kelly Sullivan’s sentiments about Maura West? Share your thoughts via the comment section. But first, watch the reveal where Ava recalls murdering Connie below!
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Preview: Kyle and Victoria, Stephanie and Nate, Sally and Billy: Do Any Couples Have a Chance at Lasting Happiness?
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom on Working with TV Son Crew Morrow: ‘I’ve Always Wanted to Play an Overprotective, Overbearing Mother’ (Exclusive)
‘General Hospital’s’ Finola Hughes Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
‘General Hospital’ to Rebroadcast Special Episode in Tribute to Anthony Geary
Vivica A. Fox Exits ‘The Young and the Restless’ For Now to Film Netflix’s ‘Women Like Us’
Jess Walton Memoir ‘The Young and the Rest of Us’ Set for Release in 2027
‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back
‘General Hospital’s’ Bluesy Burke Marks 1 Year as Charlotte Cassadine: ‘It’s The Best Gift I’ve Ever Received’
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Preview: Kyle and Victoria, Stephanie and Nate, Sally and Billy: Do Any Couples Have a Chance at Lasting Happiness?
Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Steffy Tells Carter She’s Pregnant, But He Has a Way ‘Out of This Situation For All of Us’
‘Beyond the Gates’ vs. ‘The Young and the Restless’ in a Soap Opera Showdown on ‘Flip Side’ Season 3 Premiere
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom Talks Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and What’s Behind Katie’s Deep-Seated Issues with Dylan (Exclusive)
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General Hospital1 week ago‘General Hospital’ to Rebroadcast Special Episode in Tribute to Anthony Geary
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News1 week agoVivica A. Fox Exits ‘The Young and the Restless’ For Now to Film Netflix’s ‘Women Like Us’
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News2 days agoJess Walton Memoir ‘The Young and the Rest of Us’ Set for Release in 2027
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General Hospital1 week ago‘General Hospital’s’ Braedyn Bruner Reveals Her Daytime Emmy-Nominated Scenes and How Emma is Getting Her ‘Edge’ Back
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