General Hospital
Donna Mills Reflects On Knots Landing’s Abby, Winning an Emmy for General Hospital & Being an In-Demand Actress in Her 80s
There will be two very special guests introducing tonight’s ABC primetime special, General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling.
Be on the lookout for Donna Mills (ex-Madeline Reeves, GH and ex-Abby Ewing Knots Landing) along with soap vet, Morgan Fairchild, who has been appearing as Haven de Havilland on the ABC daytime drama series, to help kick-off the GH special.
This past year saw Mills becoming one in-demand actress appearing in multiple projects from Lifetime’s V.C. Andrews’ Dawn to Ladies of the ’80s: A Diva’s Christmas, and more. In addition, Mills shows no signs of slowing down her acting career; even after just celebrating her 83rd birthday a few weeks ago.
Photo: ABC/DMillsIG
Recently, Michael Fairman TV caught up with Donna during the Daytime Emmy week celebrations to get her thoughts on: her enduring career and recent roles, winning a Daytime Emmy for her role as GH’s devious Madeline, and if there might ever be a Knots Landing tour featuring Donna and her co-stars from the cul-de-sac, Michele Lee (ex-Karen) and Joan Van Ark (ex-Val).
First, Donna shared on the making of her recent holiday film, Ladies of the ’80s: a Divas’s Christmas, which also starred, Morgan Fairchild, Loni Anderson, Linda Gray, and Nicollette Sheridan that, “It was so much fun with those ladies.”
Photo: JPI
Mills noted, she had known or worked with almost all of her ‘Ladies of the 80’s’ co-stars in some fashion, previously. “I did know Linda Gray,” Mills explained. “She was on Dallas and I was Knots Landing, and so we worked on the same lot, forever. Morgan Fairchild and I did a Bob Hope Special together, where I played Joan Collins and she played Linda Evans. It was really funny and you can catch it on You Tube (see below). Loni Anderson (ex-WKRP in Cincinnati) and I had never worked with each other before, and she was lovely! Nicolette Sheridan (ex-Paige, Knots Landing), of course, I know!”
Donna has returned to acting full force in her later years, sharing it’s something she aimed to do after she raised her daughter, “I did want to act more, because for all of those years I wasn’t trying. I was raising my daughter, Chloe, and just being a mom, I wasn’t that interested. You know? Then, when I started to get interested again, then you realize you have to work at it. You have to get a manager, you have to get a publicist. You have to go to red carpets.” When asked if she likes the hustle and bustle of red carpets, Mills replied, “It’s always fun to be adored. Really, how bad can that be?” (Laughs).
Photo: JPI
There had been rumblings that the Knots Landing trio of Donna, Michele Lee, and Joan Van Ark might take to the road together for a tour to reminisce about ‘Knots’ and their enduring friendship. Mills explained, “We did go on the road before. We did two nights in separate years in Palm Springs at Oscars, where they interviewed us together on-stage. They are actually trying to set up a whole tour. It was so much fun to do with Joan and Michele. We are like old buds.”
Photo: ABC
General Hospital fans recall that Mills appeared on the soap opera as the vindictive and cunning Madeline Reeves; the mother to Nina and estranged sister to Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati). Donna’s first run on the show lasted from 2014-2015. She later returned in 2018.
In 2015, Mills took home the Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Guest Performer Category in a historic three-way tie for her work on GH. Reflecting on the win, Donna expressed, “I felt like the Daytime Emmy that I received was for my time on Knots Landing, too. It wasn’t just for the little bit I played on General Hospital.”
Photo: JPI
Weighing in on if she had wished she had received an Emmy nomination for her work on “Knots”, Mills shared, “Yes, I had hoped. But the Emmys voters didn’t vote for the show. Also, with a character like mine, everybody thought that was easy. They may have been thinking, ‘You just flip your hair off the top of your head. That’s not acting.'” As Knots Landing die-hards know, that while Abby was a tough-as-nails schemer, she did have a motherly side to her, especially with her kids, Olivia and Brian. Donna explained, “Abby had feelings. She wouldn’t show them to anyone, but she had them. It was a wonderful character.”
Photo: JPI
If you thought GH’s Madeline or Knots’ Abby were mean girls, they were nothing compared to the role Mills played in the V.C. Andrews’ Dawn series where she played the evil grandmother, Lillian Cutler.
Mills said of portraying Lillian, “I loved the role in the Dawn Cutler series and that was the meanest character I have ever played, and that’s saying something!”
So, are you looking forward to seeing Donna on the GH primetime special? Do you hope their will be a Knots Landing tour coming to you town featuring Donna, Joan and Michele? What do you recall about GH’s evil Madeline Reeves? Comment below.
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I have been (re)watching Dallas from episode one (I’m somewhere in the 5th season now) on Freevee and enjoying every minute. I wish Knots Landing was also streaming – it’s time to let everyone see that great work again!
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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