Connect with us

General Hospital

BREAKING NEWS: It's official Bob Guza OUT & Garin Wolf IN as GH Head Writer!

By Michael Fairman

Published

on

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Well, after months of on again and off again speculation that Bob Guza was on his way out as head writer of General Hospital, finally late today, it became true and official!  Guza has been at the helm of GH for 15 years, and many in the industry and the shows longtime fans were feeling that a change needed to be made sooner than later, especially in these dwindling times of the soap genre.

So today, ABC Daytime President, Brian Frons made it official by naming Garin Wolf as the new head writer to take the reins of all the characters you love in Port Charles effective immediately!  Frons in a statement commented,  “Garin is a talented writer and storyteller who has been a part of the General Hospital family for nearly 15 years. His in-depth knowledge and adoration for the show’s legacy will help make a smooth transition and an immediate impact on story. I’m sure he will succeed in taking General Hospital to new heights as he develops characters and storylines that will engage and thrill our viewers.”

Wolf has won two Daytime Emmys and has been working at GH since 1997 and over the years has held various positions on the writing team: associate head writer, breakdown writer and script writer. He has also written for SOAPnet’s: GH: Night Shift and As the World Turns. In addition, in 2008, the WGA published a list of writers who resigned from the guild during the strike by filing for financial core status which included many soap opera notable veteran writers. Garin Wolf was also on the list.  And as fans may know, this is not the first time a writer who went fi-core has later become a head writer for a soap!

So, are you excited about the prospect of new stories and shake-up at GH?  Let us know!

Click to comment

0 Comments
oldest
newest

I’m excited to see what Wolf comes up with…I loved his writing during the writers’ strike. But I’m also nervous about what it might mean for characters/couples I love! I really want more balance on the show, more interaction between characters, character-driven storylines, and the couples I want to be together -Lucky & Liz, Spinelli & Maxie, Ethan & Kristina. Would also love Sonny & Brenda or Jax & Brenda, Kate & Coleman, Alexis & Mac, & Steve & Olivia! Also some Cassadines & Quartermaines back…

Hope Wolf keeps writing for a long, long time.

And the Soap World Rejoices!
This is Terrific News and Loooooooong over due –
Guza drove GH into the ground with his Sonny & Jason fixation –
Appropriate that the clean up guy for this mob fixated show is Mr. Wolf
Good Luck to him!

Well I don’t know if Garrin Wolf is the new head writer or not, but I have never in my long love of General Hospital seen such discusting writing in my life a Vampire come on, and to get rid of Burton was a big mistake, and Mcbain and Todd Manning is a laugh!! they both stink, and so ugly, I think whoever the head writers are they need FIRED!, you have this soap going in so many different directions and one is worse then the next, I know its a matter of time before this soap will be cancelled, Amen…

Cautiously optimistic. One can’t help but wonder if they brought in a new HW to write GH’s swan song. I’m hoping not, but I’d rather watch and see before joining the parade.

One wonders – if Bob Guza has written GH into the ground with his Sonny /Jason ….
Maybe Garin Wolf is a Frons pet and has been brought in to put the final nails in GH’s coffin……..
We’ll see !!!

I mean t say Sonny/Jason fixation.

Anything a new writer can do to punch up the stories now playing on GH would be greatly appreciated by the fans. It is becoming the same old-same old. Let’s finish the Lisa, Robin fiasco soon, please. And also the Abby, Michael frame up by the Zacarras. Did we have to bring back daddy Zacharra? And when will Lucky learn about his other son? I’m holding out for Lucky to lose his so-called Irish wife whose accent is hard to understand, especially, when she talks fast. Luke is a lost cause until he accepts his drinking problem. He now is aiming at Jason so that Jason will get mad enough to kill him. What a sloppy mess…..

BEST NEWS I HAVE HEARD IN FIFTEEN LONG YEARS!!!!!

i hope its not to late… Now Frons needs to be fired as well… I trust nothing that man does…

Brian Fronz is still at the helm and no doubt Garin Wolf had to share his outline ideas and Brian is now happy that these are different but not in conflict with what Fronz wants. So there will be some change for example maybe more airtime and story for others but I am not expecting anything too drastic, this guy is a very safe choice and has been writing for the show for 15 years!

Co-sign Webbie. I would be ecstatic if this didn’t seem so eerily similar to what happened w/ AMC & OLTL — rumours of a cancellation followed by hiring a new (wrap up) head writer. I truly hope this is not the case.

I stopped watching GH about 15 yrs ago, when it became so mob driven and less about the hospital. May have to tune back in unless OLTL finds a miracle and stays on the air.

I think this is great news….but because of what is going on in the soap world…I question whether there is more to this….why now? I have not liked Guza’s writing for a while now…too mob fixated. Hoping Garin gets back to the GH we all know and love…core characters, love stories, character driven s/l…..I usually never take sides when it comes to couples pairing…but I have to say I started watching youtube during the jake storyline…and I have come to love Liason. Wish they would revisit that couple.

I hope he puts mob central in the background and fills in some glaring holes left by Guza. For instance, Who’s Sam’s father? Could Diane be Spinelli’s mom? Built a storyline using character histories. I’ll watch. Frank and Doris Hursley hadn’t counted on a 24/7 mob show, I want an equal balance of mob and hospital storylines.

I hope the change refreshes Port Charles. The mob storylines have become so dark, depressing and repetitive. Once novel, they bore me now. I want new stories with ties to the past — BRING BACK BOBBIE! GIVE ME MORE MONICA! — and more focus on the hospital. It may be too much to see some more “real life” in the mix… economy, world events, social issues, health care issues… GH is not a disaster by any means and has some great actors but a lighter tone, a revisit with the past, and maybe a new family in a new business could open doors for sme of these characters who seem stagnant to me.

thank god its about time!

can’t wait for wolf as headwriter on gh hopeful we get a scrubs storyline front and center since robin has been a veteran character since a little girl

Hallelujah, He’s done so much damage to this show in his reign of terror. He’s smug, arrogant and didn’t appreciate fans he believes we can be trained.

I’m just thinking its too late the carnage Guza has left that was once a great soap will take years to rebuild and I’m not certain GH has years left rumors are flying Sweeney wants all soaps gone. And Frons only promotes his favorites the rest of the cast he seems to disdain and minimize.. he doesn’t like old people for one

He’s the main culprit and until he goes I just don’t hold much hope.

There have been so many stories I’ve wanted to play out..Elizabeth Webber’s mother for fifteen years we don’t even know her name..I think I remember someone mentioning Andrea Trent thirteen years ago…I would like women written stronger showing character growth, less misogyny in the writing, more hospital less mob write for the characters on the canvas the vets who have been with the show over a decade yet they keep getting thrown under the bus for newbies..

And these babies story lines I’m sick of them Jake being ran over tuned me out; Jason is shown fawning over every kid in town but didn’t want his own while he is talking of another baby…

There is still a lot of good story to tell but with the extreme favoritism that has dominated this show since 2003-2004; I’m hoping Wolf wipes that slate clean. I’d like to see women driving story lines e.g. Alexis, Tracey and where in the hell is Monica? Hopeful this new writer will bring fresh less biased approach to the storytelling.

Darcy, I think you are confusing Guza with Fronz. Fronz is snug, arrogant and has stated that we can be trained.

Fronz needs to go! I was at the Rally this week in NYC and you should have seen Brian Fronz walk by with that condescending smirk on his face!

Guza is in love with Jason/ Sonny/ Carly, or the Holy Trio as they are refered to around the boards but I wonder how much was his doing and how munch Brian Fronz is responsible for.

Garin is supposed to value the legacy of soaps as well as write for woman. He created the friendship between Alexis and Diane and that is something the show really lacked, female friendships! Way to go Garin!

I don’t have a problem with the Jake story . I think it was brilliant but , it should focus more on Liz and Lucky and less on Jason. I think making Luke the driver was so powerful! Love the story coming from the aftermath but I did miss Bobbie being present or even mentioned. HOw about Monica finding out Jake was her grandson (instead of paging her 3 times and making it even MORE noticeable that she was missing). How about Jossyln being sick for more then two minutes. I also hate, hate, hate how Carly keeps going around saying that Jason saved Joss’s life…No honey, that was Lucky and LIz.

I agree with the favoritism and think it is ashame that JE, NLG, LC, VM, JZ aren’t honored more as vets. I am glad that Robin is getting storylines, KMC deserves it more then anyone else on the show. She literally grew up on the show and yet she even gets snubbed for MB, SB, and LW

I’ve always believed it is the combination of Frons/ Guza/Phelps they are all buddies IMO pretty much the same line of thinking Phelps is a show Killah and Frons bragged also about killing one soap on two different networks I just think all three of them are burnt out and their vision is old and newblood is sorely was sorelly needed to revitalize the genre into the new millennium and how long ago was that…LOL I was holding for Wolf who is a Guza protege of 15 years with the same breakdown/script writers. I just think under the guidance Frons for the time GH have left won’t get me that interested again. GH is a couple driven show I’m more into “good stories” I don’t care about couples and hate them shackled together forever its not good soap opera. This ain’t a Harlequin romance.

Well I hope he gets rid of that idea of kristina & ethan, that crap is so so wrong and disgusting. He needs to keep Jax & Carly together, get rid of Sonny, Brenda, Robin & Patrick.

I am happy that GH finally has a new head writer! I love the show, but it has mostly been based on the mob for years now & that isn’t right when you have a whole great cast of actors & characters on the show that deserve to be seen more than once maybe twice a week! Hopefully with Garin Wolf things will change & there will be equal story telling & airtime for all!

As a writer myself I know how difficult it is to pull the reader into the story especially when it is in this genre. However, I would like to see Sonny, Carly and Jason killed off the show in a really exciting and dramatic way and make room for the next generation. These characters are so old and pathetic that I get sick every time they speak. Lets see the kids take over and go on a revenge rampage. That would be much more fun. At least kill Carly and Sonny god it’s so old!

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

Published

on

By

Dominic Zamprogna

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).

On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.

Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC

HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT

Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”

Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”

Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Dom and Liz

Photo: ABC

DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES

In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”

Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”

You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.

Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy  for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.

Continue Reading

General Hospital

GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

Published

on

By

Patrick J. Gibbons

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.

However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.

Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC

FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG

Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!

Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”

MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL

Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).

Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI

PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY

Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”

It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”

A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons

IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS

As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”

He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”

Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.

So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.

Continue Reading

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Admits That He Didn’t Expect the Role of Michael Corinthos to be Recast, and Would Consider Working on Another Soap (Exclusive)

Published

on

By

Chad Duell, the Daytime Emmy-winning actor, who stepped away from the pivotal role of Michael Corinthos on General Hospital, opened up about: his previous decision to leave the series after nearly 15 years, where’s he’s at now after time away from the demands of a daytime soap opera, and took a stroll down memory lane with some of Michael’s most-acclaimed storyline during his run, during a livestream chat on August 19 on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.

Viewers last saw Duell on-screen as Michael in January of 2025, and with his successor in the role, Rory Gibson making his debut at the GH Nurses’ Ball in episodes that aired later in May. It was clear that during the conversation, Chad was a bit surprised that the GH brass decided to recast him when he thought he was just taking some much needed time off.

Burn-out of the daily grind of being on a soap was definitely a part of Chad’s decision to take a break. Duell explained “People know when you’re doing something for so long or your character is kind of in the same place for so long or doing the same stuff over and over again, you do get a a little burnt out, you get a little stiff, stale, a little stiff at times. I didn’t want that to be any sort of lasting impression. I have 15 years of a body of work of I’ve done on that show, which is fantastic.”

Chad Duell

Photo: ABC

WHILE CHAD WAS AWAY GH RECAST MICHAEL CORINTHOS WITH RORY GIBSON

Chad shared, his mindset when leaving GH was, “I’m taking some time away, we’ll see what happens.” Then he added, “Obviously, they decided to go in a different direction with Michael when I was gone. I didn’t think they were going to bring somebody back in my place. But you know, it’s the business. You never know what can happen.”

Duell also shared he has not watched a single episode of General Hospital since he left the series, but now feels he reenergized following the loss of his father and stepping away from the GH, “I’m in a place now mentally, where I’m ready to sink my teeth into it again.”

Courtesy/ABC

Even though he is no longer Michael on GH, Chad was very happy with his final storyline where Michael was set on fire when a bomb exploded at Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) penthouse. “It was fun to put him in a dangerous situation, because I was wanting Michael to be in something scary instead of trying to be a hero character or just things happening around him, but to be the center point of tragedy happening to him. (I always saw) Michael as the heart of the (Corinthos) family.”

When Michael was badly burned the show chose not burn his face, which normally a soap does when they are recasting role and switching actors. Chad weighed-in, “They didn’t burn my face because I told Frank Valentini (EP, GH) I’m willing to come back. It was just a little bit of a break. So, I assumed that if they would have burned my face, they could have brought somebody back looking different than me… if that’s what their plan was.”

Courtesy/ABC

MEMORABLE MICHAEL STORYLINES

One of Chad’s most memorable performances was the in the storyline of Michael’s rape while he was sentenced to prison in 2010 and the confession of it in 2011. “It was so well-written and I was very nervous,” recalled Chad. “When I get really nervous about something, it ends up being really good when I do it, because it just means I care a lot about it”

“I have to put a lot of effort and work into it, and I really want it to be good.  I was working with Dominic  Zamprogna (Dante) and Steve Burton (Jason) a lot during those scenes, and Laura Wright (Carly). It was great working with Steve and Dominic, especially, during that storyline.

A NEW SOAP ROLE FOR CHAD?

As to a future soap opera role, Chad is open to the idea and would love to jump back in to a juicy role, “I know people over at The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless. They know that if they’re interested, I would love to come in for a screen test or something, and they can see what I’m doing.”

Meanwhile, Chad has been busy putting out new music under the moniker Duelly and during the interview he explains how he creates his EDM tracks and much more. You can stream his latest single, Static in the Quiet Room on Spotify, Apple Music and You Tube Music.

You can check out the full conversation with Chad Duell below.

Now let us know: what show would you like to see Chad cast on down the line? BTG, DAYS, B&B, Y&R, or a new role on GH? What did you think of his thoughts on the casting switch while he was away in the role of Michael? What was your favorite Michael storyline during Chad’s 15-year run on the ABC soap opera? Let us know via the comment section.

Continue Reading

Video Du Jour

Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

Recent Comments

Power Performance

Heather Tom

The Bold and the Beautiful

Airdate: 7-24-2026

Popular

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x