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Charles Shaughnessy Takes Over the Role of GH’s Victor Cassadine

Courtesy/ABC

GH fans were in for a major surprise when on Thursday’s episode a kidnapped Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati) got the shock of her life when her former lover, Victor Cassadine turned out to be alive and well and holding her hostage.

But there was another twist! DAYS favorite, Charles Shaughnessy (Shane), who previously was announced as coming to GH but in a mystery role, revealed himself to be … the new Victor Cassadine!  The former Mr. Sheffield of The Nanny has stepped into the role previously played by DAYS Thaao Penghlis (Tony).

Once the cat was out of the bag, in a tweet, Shaughnessy shared: “So excited to FINALLY be able to reveal details of my latest “gig”. 37 years on, I am back in the halls of @GeneralHospital, playing with the incredible @gatitweets. Having once been a vampire on @DisneyChannel, it’s not surprising I bring #VictorCassadine back from the dead!”

Shaughnessy is referring to the time he previously played Holly Sutton’s cousin, Alistair on the ABC daytime drama series back in 1984.

General Hospital viewers recall that Liesl shot and “killed” Victor back in 2014 then played by Penghlis.  In story, Victor believed he was the bio-dad of her son, Nathan West (Ryan Paevey). But a DNA test said that was not true, yet she shot him.  Leaving viewers wondering who is the dad? Hmmm.

So what did you think of the shocker? Shaughnessy as NuVictor Cassadine? Comment below.

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I enjoyed Charles entering the story. Maybe for the wrong reason as I said in another comment…I smiled and was half waiting for Fran (Nanny) to bring in Liesl’s dinner. Because so far I can’t see him as the baddest of the bad guys.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Charles Shaughnessy. But why couldn’t they bring back Thaao Penghlis as Victor? Wally Kurth airs on both DAYS and GH at the same time so why couldn’t Thaao too? Even though he wasn’t on the show for very long, he made a lasting impression as Victor and it’s hard to see a new actor play him.

Jimmy
You make a good point and Thaao makes a “good impression” whatever he’s on. Chas. Shaughnessy will also be on both shows but maybe Thaao held out for more money. Personally this SL bores me to death already and it’s hardly started. It was bad enough years ago watching that old goat Faisin chasing after Anna and Obrect chasing after him, now this,omg. Thanks for letting me rant Jimmy.

Wally’s a good bit younger than Thaao, and may enjoy the schedule juggling. Also, Shaughnessy is (surprisingly) on contract at GH. His role on the limited web series Beyond Salem was likely negotiated prior to GH, allowing him to do both.

It’s a bit of a jarring switch, but CS is such a fine actor, might just work out fine.

Steve,
This man is remarkable! I didn’t think too much about him when he appeared as Victor, but seeing him again as Shane on Beyond Salem, that silver fox is just looking better and better.

I totally agree,and I was ticked off when Thaao was on GH last time that he didn’t haveany scenes with Constance Towers (Helena).

Well at least maybe now Robert can confront Victor and avenge O’Reilly.

I don’t recall seeing the original Victor Cassadine so no change for me..
I do luv the Cassadines and would like to have all of them back.
Valentin was to be the one that Helena feared.
He was to be the worst of the worst.
He was pussified and turned out to be a teddy bear, shameful.
Hopefully, this Victor guy will bring on the Cassadine dark powers,
Nikolas failed as a true-blooded Cassadine, also.

Ironically, Victor was the LEAST “dark” of the original Cassadines. He thought his older brother Mikkos went way overboard in the whole “let’s try to freeze the world in the middle of August” plan, and in the end, Victor was actually working with Luke & Robert Scorpio to help bring Mikkos down. (a third brother, Tony, had already fallen victim to the deep freeze, along with his girlfriend Alexandra Quartermaine)

Victor was still sentenced to prison for his part in the Cassadine crimes though, so how he suddenly resurfaced in 2014 as the CEO of the World Security Bureau, that’s something they have never explained. Probably since that return was basically a short term plot point, needed to explain how “Jason Morgan” (actually Drew Cain) became a popsicle in his custody, and how he needed Robin Scorpio’s help to thaw out “Jason”, along with his former sister in law Helena & her son Stavros.

And then Victor’s second short return, when he stuck around long enough to find out he was NOT Nathan’s father, despite what Dr. Oooblech had told him. Again, little more than a plot point to set the stage for Faison being Nathan’s daddy, and the entrance of Faison’s other son, Whiny Heiny.

Considering this latest round of Victor Cassadine looks like it will again be a plot point to tie up various loose ends (Drew/Hayden/Heiny/possibly Holly??) maybe Thaoo Penghlis didn’t want round three of being the convenient fall guy?

Satan- you have a mind of steel to remember all of that–
I have zero knowledge of Victor, or if I had seen him, I don’t recall……
The Cassadines were awesome characters. I would like all of them back-exciting….
I have a bad feeling that the writers will also pussyfy Victor……
The writers of days past had the courage to write heavy, therefore, making stories of sitting on the edge of your seat suspense……they created emotions be it hate or love they brought it home……shame they are gone..

Su; Were you watching during the early days, when Nicolas was a teen and came to town with Stefan; lived with him and Alexis? Did you see Constance Towers at her wicked-best as the “evil” Helena when she was younger and was a threat to Laura, Alexis…always trying to get Nicolas to her side, etc. Wasn’t all that before you started watching?

As for Nicolas, I don’t think many fans back in the day, OR now, wanted him to be an evil Cassadine, so he didn’t fail at being one. I don’t think he was ever intended to be evil. The Cassadines were at war with themselves: the “good ones” vs the evil ones, and Nicolas (like Alexis and Sam; they’re Cassadines, too) was never “evil.” Nicolas’s Uncle, Stefan, was criminal at times but I don’t remember as “evil…well, not diabolical like Helena, Stavros, Mikkos. Stefan loved Nicolas like a son. (I LOVED Stefan! Thought he was such a great, intriguing character! He was played by Stephen Nichols who plays Steve/Patch over on Days.)

But back to Nicolas…each time he did anything remotely criminal or not to Laura’s liking (like most recently scaring Nicolas) she feared he’ become like his Cassadine side. That was always ridiculous to me, especially this last time when he scared Spencer; I don’t think scaring his son to teach him a hard lesson was quite Helena cray cray or “evil.” The ONLY time I thought Nicolas was written as evil and therefore out of character was when he first came back and told Ava her daughter was in hell…that was truly cruel and I think the writers really missed their mark (made for a good story but not something I would see Nicolas doing).

The “evil” Cassadines are all dead: Helena, Stavros, Mikkos. I do remember, as you said, that Valentin was “described” as the most evil before they brought the character to the show (I think he was added to the family history, don’t remember ever hearing about him until James appeared in the role) but as we know that never came to fruition… Those old Cassadine days were gold…so fun. who knows what Victor will bring. I think Spencer may know he’s alive; seems coincidental that Spencer would use the name Victor when Trina first met him…

If the show was ever to revive the true evil Cassadine legacy, Spencer would be the most likely candidate. IF this was back in the day and soaps were to go on for decades, it might have been worth the investment to see Spencer evolve to the dark side. At this point, I hope not; I like Spencer too much and hope he goes up against the evil Esme. SHE (and Nelle) would have made good next-generation evil Cassadines, in my opinion….

hi Rebeca 🙂
WHOA!! Thank you for the info-
I never knew all that background,
it was a great read :)————

That was before my time- but
it sounds to have been good storytelling..
Not knowing all that————
I’ve always seen Nikolas as a grey character———–
However- no matter what Nokolas is a Cassadine .. And he is of the bad seed–lol———–
ahhh but Spencer– he seems to have the devil in him, yup..———-
With a soap; the good turn bad the bad turn good.. the redemption factor–makes for longer stories and viewer emotions..
——–
but the writers are in charge of Spenser’s outcome.——
I luv the Cassadine — they are/where the fire!———–
I want all of them back..give me some Helena excitement.
—be well 🙂

Just to clarify, Helena’s daughter IS in Hell. But she has air-conditioning, because she’s not nearly the sinner the rest of her family is. I also don’t invite her & Helena to the same parties… or if I do, I hide all the sharp objects!!

Hast the heat gotten to you? Nicolas told Ava that Kiki’s daughter was in hell…did you mistake that for Helena’s? Had to look up Helen’s daughter because I forgot she even had a daughter…she was on just for that story arc. Remember? She was the woman in white who Nicolas fell for…turned out Helena had locked her away at one point, brainwashed her to kill Lucky? In the end Helena killed her…

Yeah, I read that earlier post too fast, on an uncaffeinated Devil brain. The memory is the first thing to go after a few thousand years.

Kiki has AC too, for all of the same reasons. She and Helena’s daughter have something else in common, and that’s the fact that neither one should have ever been written into existence. The first Kiki was just a legal fiction to rename an annoying little twit who never belonged on GH in the first place. The second version wasn’t so bad in and of herself, but she got stuck in Ava’s bubble, and it could only end badly for her because of that.

Ava started to show some signs of humanity when she was in that Russian hospital, and eventually helped Jason escape from there, not having any idea who he was. Back in Port Charles though, she pretty much reverted to form… at least until the new Nikolas showed up. And she’s been good with Trina too, surprisingly enough.

I’m glad to see that it wasn’t the heat that got to you but other than that, I beg to differ. Ava is/was a fantastic character after we got past that horrific time when she framed AJ. AJ will always be one of my favs so I hated her for that. And I blame Sonny more for killing him. But I digress…

I hated Kiki but for different reasons. It’s BECAUSE I loved/love Ava so much that I couldn’t stomach Kiki. Like the rest of the town who forgives Snarly for everything and turns their backs on their own parents while kissing the arses of Sonny and Carly, Kiki KNEW that Sonny wanted to kill Ava and that Carly hated her guts; they were her mother’s mortal enemies. And while it was true that Ava switched out Morgan’s pills, she wasn’t responsible for, nor did she want, Morgan’s death. She actually was trying to steer Kiki away from Morgan for her own good. She wanted her to date Dillon, who she thought could give her a better life. And Kiki had no leg to stand on; she AND Morgan switched “Mikey’s” pills when he had custody of Avery. My point being…she sided with the Snarlys and helped them keep Avery from Ava. Ava practically had to beg her to let her hold Avery if Kiki was taking her to the park. And later, she took Griffin from Ava within seconds of Ava “breaking up with Griffin.” And why did she break up with Griffin? For the umpteenth time Kiki had found comfort in Griffin’s arms, this time in her bra.

So, Kiki having a room in your basement apartment would be okay by me. But it tortured Ava; and it was way out of character for Nicolas to hurt someone like that.

Satan,
If anyone would know it would be you. Wasn’t Helena’s daughter the girl in white that Holly’s son fell in love with and tried to rescue from Windemere but Helena found her and ultimately shot and killed her?

I’ll tell you what happened to Victor Cassadine, Ron Carlivati happened, yep yep, the same guy who made Alexandria Devane a cartoon villain on GH, when in fact she was a heroine on AMC, one who helped Anna get back on her feet, yet the GH Alex was turn into the stereotypical cartoon characters that Ron was so infamous for at GH.

Ron was dismissed as head writer in 2015. Alex was reintroduced to GH in 2017. Jean & Shelley (and later Chris) were writing at that time.

Not Ron’s biggest fan – but on this one he’s not to blame.

Certainly true of the first Victor return in 2014. And ReRon’s take on Stavros was a complete cartoonish embarrassment.

AMC never really aired in Hell, so I’ll have to take your word on the Alex Devane stuff.

I don’t remember Victor working with Luke and Robert against Mikkos. Robert disliked Victor as I recall because his men killed O’Reilly.

I’ll always remember Charles Shaughnessy as Mr. Sheffield on The Nanny, so when I heard he was being cast as the new Victor Cassadine, I was skeptical. On paper, I don’t see him being a fit for the role. It’s really a shame that Thaao Penghlis couldn’t reprise the role. But I don’t know if he was asked or even available with the new Days project he’s working on.

So we move forward. Charles is a wonderful actor, and if anyone can pull this off, he certainly can. I’ll be interested to see what they have planned.

I just wonder what explanation they have for Victor being alive. The last time we saw him he had been shot in the chest, and was laying on the floor dying as the Crighton Clark facility blew up. I know it’s soaps, and anyone can come back from the dead, and we accept that as part of the deal. But they’re really gonna need to dig into the script bag for an explanation for this one, lol.

How about the explanation of Peter still being alive after BOTH a doctor and a nurse, two highly trained medical professionals who have been in the field for decades, pronounced Peter dead and locked him in a freezer? Soap deaths don’t mean anything anymore.

The show has gone quite a bit overboard with RFD storylines recently:

Peter
Drew
Victor

Could also count Sonny as even though viewers know he’s alive, 99% of Port Charles thinks he’s dead.

Just as long as Morgan remains dead, I can accept all of the above.

Steve,
I could stand that punk Morgan come back than for instance Nell or Peter when TPTB finally decide enough is enough.

We know Morgan isn’t dead, for the same reason we knew Drew wasn’t dead. No body, no death. This also should have applied to Sonny, obviously. Seems ridiculous that everybody jumped to conclusions and wrote him off as “dead” so soon. Or for that matter, that Jax dismissed the fact that he saw Sonny in Tricky Dick Nixon Falls as some sort of “hallucination” – from a minor flesh wound in his shoulder??? (months later, he finally seems to realize that wasn’t a hallucination after all, because of Sonny’s Magic Pasta Sauce making appearances in Port Charles)

Victor was shot and in a burning building, so that looks bad on the surface… but hey, he’s a Cassadine, and they aren’t easy to kill.

Whiny Heiny was dead. He was literally in Hell! I’ll be eternally damned if I know how he escaped.

But back to Morgan…. we’ll definitely see him eventually. But I’m guessing that’s going to be a while down the road. Sonny & Drew’s returns are going to stir up the canvas enough for the immediate future. And yeah, Nelle’s still out there somewhere too. Don’t be surprised if she and Morgan come back together. If Morgan can go BiPolar just like his dad, maybe he can get amnesia just like his dad too? And Nelle might not know who her mom actually is, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t act just like Nina… and manipulate an amnesiac Morgan for her own purposes.

I’d love to see Julian and AJ return from the dead; I wouldn’t care how they explained it. As for the others? Then, too, I usually enjoy it. Part of the soapy genre where anything can happen. There are some characters who are alive who I don’t want to see back; like Hayden. Or others I’d like to see gone, like Phyllis, Stella and Gladys. Sigh…

Julian told me he’s happy in Hell. Why? Because his crazy sisters aren’t here (yet).

Ava? Crazy? Naaaa; 😉 Still love her. Will DeVry is over on Twitter, though, and I think he’d like to see Julian return from the dead. He said he’d never come back to the show, yet he watches it and gives commentary. THAT’s dedication! I have no idea what the writers were smoking when they had the ingenious, not, idea to kill Julian off. But, hey, we got Phyllis and Gladys! How much more must-see TV can it get than that! Sigh.

I miss sexy Will, rebecca1. Huge mistake icing Julian Jerome. And don’t get me started on Gladys! What is the POINT of that character except to stir the pot at every opportunity and be as irritating as sandpaper on a wound? I liked Phyllis at first but now it seems like she just enables selfish behavior from “Mike” and, especially, Nina. And don’t forget the fabulous T. J., “mysterious” Austin, disastrous recasts of Drew and Spencer, evil Esme (Kiki’s twin?), and that ridiculous Novak family. It’s like watching a really bad ripoff of THE GODFATHER.

Well, Victor Cassadine has been heading the WSB for years now (how and why that happened, we still don’t know) so that’s familiar territory for Charles, who was playing ISA superspy Shane Donovan since the early 1980s. And of course, since he knows Thaao Penghlis from working with him on Days all of those years, it’s not much of a stretch to think he might have consulted with him on how to play the role of Victor Cassadine?

As far as explanations….. fugeddabout it….. you should know by now that Cassadines are really hard to kill. A simple gun shot in a burning building?? That’s nothing. Especially when you have much lesser characters who fell down a flight of stairs, broke their neck, were pronounced dead by a doctor and a nurse, locked in a freezer and are somehow up walking around anyway.

I love this actor and am looking forward to seeing him play Victor Cassadine. I hope they make him a grey character like Valentine and not pure evil.

General Hospital

THIS WEEK on GENERAL HOSPITAL: Dex and Josslyn’s Relationship at a Crossroad, Jason Contacts Diane For Help

Previews for the week of March 18-22nd on General Hospital, plus the latest promo for the daytime drama series, share that Jason’s (Steve Burton) return has already affected so many lives, especially given the fact that several key people aka Michael (Chad Duell), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) and Danny (Asher Antonyzn) know his location at this moment.

Eventually, Jason (Steve Burton) will get in touch with Diane (Carolyn Hennesy), from what one can only assume is legal help. However, John (Adam J. Harrington) seems hot on Jason’s trail, but the question remains, if Jason was working for John as seemingly revealed in a flashback to keep out of prison, are the two working together … or are they mortal enemies?

Meanwhile, it looks like its curtain for now in the relationship between Dex (Evan Hofer) and Josslyn (Eden McCoy). After Nina (Cynthia Watros) dropped a bombshell about Cyrus (Jeff Kober), Joss gets an earful of information from Dex, when he admits that he was in Cyrus’s hospital room to kill him on orders from Sonny (Maurice Benard).

Photo: ABC

According to Soap Opera Digest, Eden McCoy shared, ” I think what’s different about this situation, and what pushes her over the edge, is that it wasn’t, like, a self-defense situation. It wasn’t at a shoot-out. He wasn’t protecting Sonny. Cyrus wasn’t doing anything! And I think that really scares her, to see him in the light of voluntarily killing someone in their sleep. That is very different from, like, shooting someone that’s shooting at Sonny. She is just in shock, like she can’t actually believe it.” As told by McCoy, “At that point, Josslyn says.’I can’t do this anymore,’ and makes her exit.”

Take a look below at the rest of the official teasers for the week.

MONDAY, MARCH 18

Dex makes a confession to Josslyn. Tracy shares a moment with Sonny. Diane offers encouragement to Alexis. Kevin explains what might have led to Marshall’s misdiagnosis. Stella has an unlikely encounter. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

Josslyn opens up to Carly. Dex confides in Anna. Sonny offers Natalia some valuable insights. Jason gets a visitor. Brook Lynn lays into John.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

Tracy sees a new side of Cody. Alexis informs Molly about her plans. Natalia has a revelation. Anna makes an admission to John over drinks.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

Drew has a proposition for Nina. A photo shoot at Deception goes wrong. Laura and Heather find some common ground. Willow is worried by her actions.

FRIDAY, MARCH 22

Jason reaches out to Diane for help. Maxie calls Lucy out. Cody and Olivia comfort each other. Sasha makes a huge decision. Chase and Brook Lynn are stunned.

Now below, watch this week’s promo for the action in Port Charles.

What storyline are you looking forward to the most? The least? Let us know in the comment section.

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General Hospital

REPORT: General Hospital Alum, Robyn Bernard, Homeless & Battling Addiction, Before Her Passing at 64

Robyn Bernard passed away earlier this week on March 12th, when her body was found in an empty field, which is allegedly behind a 7/11, and some trailer homes, in San Jacinto, California. The actress and singer, and former General Hospital alum, played Terry Brock from 1984-1990 and was 64-years-old at the time of her death.

New reporting on the life that she led over the past year, and longtime mental health issues and struggles with addiction, paint a picture that may have led to her death. Although it should be noted, the toxicology report is currently not completed or released. However, the sheriff department stated that no foul play is suspected.

Now, according to the Daily Mail, friends of Bernard spoke on how she had become part of their homeless community, and that she she struggled with alcohol addiction, and had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia through the latter part of her life.

Photo: ABC

In their accounts, things went south for Robyn when in 2014 she moved to the community in San Jacinto, which is 84 miles from Los Angeles. At that time, she moved into a trailer park for senior citizens and was beloved for her singing by her neighbors.

The report also notes that in 2015, tragically, Bernard’s trailer park home was burned to the ground taking 7 of her 8 beloved cats and all of her possessions. After that, Robin stayed with many people of the community, but the previous management chased her off of the premises. She then broke up with her boyfriend and eventually stopped communicating with her parents.

Bernard’s final home was in a community called Parkview Estates, facilitated by Riverside County’s Adult Protective Services Department.  According to police records obtained by Daily Mail, through 2017-2019, Bernard faced numerous DUI drugs and alcohol arrests during that period.

Joni Woods, who lives opposite the space where Bernard’s trailer once was said: ‘I used to see her (Robyn) around town all the time pushing her shopping carts. She always had four or five of them, and I always felt so bad for her.” Robyn’s former boyfriend, Dan Berlin, expressed that the last time he had seen the GH alum was two years ago, “She was out there, talking to herself in a nonsense way. She was a schizophrenic.’

The friends of Bernard shared: “She used to say that Hollywood screwed her over,” adding, “They did her dirty and that’s why she ended up living in San Jacinto of all places.”

Share your thoughts on this tragic story of the last part of Robyn’s life, which again, stresses the importance of trying to find the appropriate help for those dealing with mental illness, being homeless, and addiction. 

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General Hospital

While ‘General Hospital’s’ Dante Lays in a Coma; Dominic Zamprogna Has Some Great New Portrait Headshots

On General Hospital, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) has thus far survived two bullets to the chest, and is laying in a coma. Sam (Kelly Monaco), his lady love, is by his side and beside herself after learning her ex Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) is alive and is of the belief that Jason have been the shooter who tried to take out Dante.

Sonny (Maurice Benard) has been wracked with guilt after he wasn’t so kind to his son, before the PCPD cop got shot. Meanwhile, Jason is hiding out at the Quartermaine boat house trying to recover from the gun shot wound he received.

While Dante’s life is still hanging in the balance, it appears that his portrayer, Dominic Zamprogna, took a diverse range of headshot and portrait photos under the eyes of talented photographer Jackson Davis. The photos were posted on Davis’ Instagram account.

Photo: ABC

A few former GH castmates commented on the photos including Marc Anthony Samuel (ex-Felix) who expressed: “Dante, Dante, Dante…,” and Mark Lawson (ex-Dustin) posted, “Dom!!!! Handle yo’ biz.”

Zamprogna joined General Hospital back in 2009 and has been nominated four times for a Daytime Emmy Award throughout his time thus far on the ABC daytime drama series.

So, what do you think will happen to Dante? Will he wake up and be just fine, or will he have another medical condition? What do you think of Dominic’s new headshots? Comment below.

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