Photo Credits: ABC/HutchinsPhoto.com

Great soap opera features: high emotional stakes, daily cliffhangers, a deep connection to the history of the show and finding ways to honor that and their longtime viewers, character-driven storylines, large umbrella stories that service many characters on the canvas, and sharply written twists that keep fans begging for more, and even becoming so frustrated that they want that reveal for their favorite character to finally come to light.  While 2016 was the first full year of current GH head writers, Shelly Altman and Jean Passanante steering the characters of Port Charles, they certainly faced many challenges, but by mid-year, the duo seemed to have the show firing on all cylinders, and with that came the emotional heartbeat that is specific to the brand, “General Hospital”.

Teamed with the man in charge, executive producer, Frank Valentini, these creatives took fans of the long-running soap though their paces in a good way.  None more so than the hankie-inducing, riveting storyline of the tragic death of Morgan Corinthos, putting squarely the burden of this drama on three of daytime’s most respected and revered performers, Laura Wright (Carly), Maurice Benard (Sonny), and Maura West (Ava).  2016 also put the popular duo of Julexis, played by Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) and William deVry (Julian) on a haunting journey on the dark side of love that has made this twisted love story must-see TV.  Valentini, Altman and Passanante also pulled off another GH Nurses’ Ball with surprising performances, and tender story within.  They utilized beloved veterans, such as Genie Francis (Laura), and Jane Elliot (Tracy) in story, gave Monica (Leslie Charleson) her job back as Chief of Staff at the hospital, and brought back fan favorite Michael Easton to yet another role on the series that of Dr Hamilton Finn.  Now, while every single story may not have been a home run in the eyes of GH viewers, the good this year on General Hospital far outweighed the bad, and has set the drama on the road to a very promising 2017.

On-Air On-Soaps has given our highest honors of 2016 to Frank Valentini, Shelly Altman, and Jean Passanante as our choice for “Soapmakers of the Year”.  This is Valentini’s fourth honor, and the first for Altman, and Passanante.  After receiving the news of our year-end honors, Frank, Shelly, and Jean chatted with On-Air On-Soaps and shared their thoughts on: the biggest GH storylines of the year, what they felt were the show’s standout accomplishments, plus they gave us an inside look at their collaboration.  We get a taste of how some of the must-see moments came to life and how they were constructed, and in addition, how this trio made some of the key decisions that mapped out what viewers ultimately would see on-air.  And in a little bonus, we get a little tease as to what’s ahead as we ring in the New Year.  In a comprehensive review of what had viewers talking in 2016, including their favorite GH duos, characters, and casting additions, here’s what our honorees shared.

MICHAEL:

The death of Morgan Cortinhos, the lead up to it, the groundwork that was laid prior to it, the fallout after it, and the time you have taken to show the devastating journey of grief the Corinthos family has endured, has been the most emotionally riveting storyline in soaps in 2016.  Not only did it give the audience many powerhouse performances from the cast, but it also was well written in the set-up of it, and the scenes between the characters.  Can you tell me how you came to decide to construct the story this way, once you knew Bryan Craig (Ex-Morgan) made the decision to depart GH?

JEAN:

Courtesy/ABC

In terms of the writing of it, we started the groundwork of it without realizing what we set the groundwork for.  I think when Morgan gets in the middle of Ava’s (Maura West) arms deal, and Carly starts to question Sonny’s involvement in a business that ends up in violence every step of the way, and with Morgan nearly jumping off the roof of the hospital, Kiki (Hayley Erin) getting shot at, and Sonny getting shot in the first place, it put so much in place.  We knew we wanted to head towards a crisis that really caused a huge rift in the Sonny and Carly relationship, with this being a part of it.  So, when Bryan made the decision to leave we thought, “Here we go.  What could be higher stakes for them as a couple, but for them to lose as a result of Sonny’s involvement in this very violent world, their own child?”

SHELLY:

In addition, as you may know by now we are really fond of umbrella stories, and how this would have more global implications by playing the romance of Kiki and Morgan, and at the same time playing a young people’s potential love triangle.  That gave it emotional roots for them, and that put Morgan in a particular state of mind that also affected Julian and Alexis.  We started laying the groundwork with them, and realized there could be more story with the disillusionment of their marriage over the course of the year.

JEAN:

… As well as Ava’s history with Morgan, and Dillon’s (Robert Palmer Watkins) interest in Kiki, the death of Carlos (Jeffrey Vincent Parise), the death of Duke (Ian Buchanan), and the return of Carlos.  It all sort of fell into place.

MICHAEL:

Frank, from a production standpoint, was having the car bomb explosion, and playing Morgan’s final scene, and the fallout with the other characters at the edge of a cliff, difficult to execute within the confines of a studio?

FRANK:

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Not really, but I think the pre-production is very tricky, because you want to construct the set in the way that you could take advantage of the most important moment.  I feel like the most important moment, although some of it was off-camera, was Sonny on top of that cliff realizing that his son was down there in the debris and trying to process this accident.  So we sort of worked from what was the most important moment and construct the set off of that, because you could really get crazy and almost take up the whole studio with roads, and walls, and cars, and everything else.  Because we do such a large amount of work in a year we can’t get too crazy on any particular day.

MICHAEL:

When you watched the performances back following Morgan’s death, can you tell me if you had a favorite moment, or scene played by Maurice Benard and Laura Wright?  Where you were either on the floor as Frank would you be seeing it go live-to -tape, or when as writers you saw it play out on -air?

FRANK:

It’s hard sometimes when you are moving into a very important arc, or an umbrella story arc, where everybody is going to have very challenging work.  You are kind of keeping your eye on each scene after each scene, after each scene.  Certainly, you are moved when they are performing it, but once we had that first moment where Jason (Billy Miller) had to find out, then Jason had to tell Sonny, and then Sonny has to tell Carly, you wanted to make sure every domino was close to the next one to knock it down.  It’s kind of hard at that point to enjoy it, but I had that experience certainly in the edit, and that for me was like, “Wow.  It really all came together, and they did a great job.”

SHELLY:

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I think there were so many great scenes on-air: Carly listening to Morgan’s phone, and Sonny and Kiki were tremendous.  I think Maurice and Laura are such magnificent actors that the silent scene when Sonny tells Carly what’s happened, and that it was shot through a window, and the audience couldn’t hear the dialog, but you knew everything these two people were feeling and saying.  I thought that was pretty stellar.

JEAN:

I thought Carly letting loose on Kiki was tremendous, and not a lot of actors are willing to go that far.  But, Laura is pretty amazing, and Maurice as well.  They are both emotionally available.  I am not on the studio floor with them, but you can tell they listen to each other, and they play off of each other so well pretty much every time they are in scene together.  Each scene now is loaded with their history.  Frank did encourage us from the beginning to give them something really meaty to play, and they got it.  They have delivered, for sure.

MICHAEL:

Frank, speaking of the silent scene, and the long shot through the window (when Sonny tells Carly their son perished) was that a decision you made to shoot that moment in such a poetic way?

FRANK:

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That was already in the script.  When we read it we loved it, and it was pretty powerful.It is very untraditional in what is usually a typical soap moment when someone has to deliver bad news.  I felt this was a very fresh take on it.  That is also a perfect example of knowing who your talent is, and being able to give them something much more challenging to do.

MICHAEL:

A huge moment that meant so much to so many longtime fans was the scene when Robin  (Kimberly McCullough) came upon Sonny on the bridge as he is overwhelmed by grief, and guilt over Morgan’s death.  How did that moment come about to have Robin be the one character to save him from possibly ending his life?  You also effectively weaved in the history of Robin and Stone to it.

FRANK:

That was in the script, as well.  The writers felt Robin was the right person to help Sonny at that moment, and again, when you are mixing and matching the legacy characters from the show, certainly Jason could have talked Sonny off the bridge, or Sam (Kelly Monaco), or Michael (Chad Duell), or Max (Derk Cheetwood), or somebody like that.  But, it was so refreshing that it was Robin, because there were so many things that tie back into it, which is cool.  I just had to work out the logistics with Kimberly.  She was lovely, and so excited about coming back for it.

SHELLY:

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One of the wonderful things about working with Frank Valentini is we present him with our best case scenario, which in this case was Robin on the bridge, and he makes it happen.

JEAN:

We appreciate that.   Frank is a producer who says, “Yes”, way more often than he says, “No”.

MICHAEL:

Let’s discuss Ava’s replacement of Morgan’s pills with placebos prior to his death.  Were you at all concerned with Ava switching the pills on a character that was dealing with a mental health issue, such as bipolar disorder?

JEAN:

We are holding on to it, but we are continuing to play it.  It’s a bomb waiting to go off, pardon the analogy, but that’s what it is.

SHELLY:

We knew that we were in dangerous territory, but at the same time it did not seem out of character for Ava.  It seemed motivated by love for her daughter, and never imagining the potential consequences.

FRANK:

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I think it was an opportunity to do something really bold, and also something where you don’t know what’s going to happen next.  It’s such an extreme thing that Ava has done and you want to see her get her comeuppance, which is great, but then at the same time you are going: “Oh, no!  I love that character, and I don’t want her to go away, so how is this going to work out?”  Maybe, she will get her comeuppance, and Sonny will kill her, or she will go to jail, or she may worm her way out of it.  There are just so many possibilities there to play, and understanding you have someone like Maura West who can do it all and take on that much responsibility as the character, and get the audience to believe that switching Morgan’s meds was the only thing she could do.  That, even though it’s a reprehensible thing, there’s a part of the audience going, “Yeah, I could see her doing that.”

MICHAEL:

I think Morgan’s death is an example of great soap opera storytelling; how Shelly and Jean not only weaved in Ava’s part in this, but there is also the “Oscar Jessup” mystery which fans are cluing in on, and who planted the bomb in Julian’s car.  There has been this continued domino effect for many of the core characters out of this tragedy.

FRANK:

I agree.  It’s never easy on us with the constraints we have to work with tell the stories, both in the writing and in the producing.  You have to be very clever.  In addition to being great storytellers they are clever in the way they keep the audience guessing.  Almost every day there is a cliffhanger. Then the following day, there is another piece of the puzzle to see, and for the audience to be a part of.

MICHAEL:

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Shelly and Jean, how do you feel creatively the last six months has been for you?  Do you think you are finally on the track you wanted to be on since you took over as head writers?  As with any writers taking over that position on a soap, you had to first get out of other stories that were previously in place.

SHELLY:

It’s funny.  We are always looking forward.  So, it’s hard for us to look back and look at what we have accomplished.  Our goal is always to figure out where this story is going, or that story is going.  We think about,” How is this going to roll-out?”  We go, “Won’t it be great to put this person with that person!”  I think it certainly has been an evolution for us.  Hopefully, the next six months will be even more exciting.

JEAN:

I think in writing soaps you hope for the periods of time where one thing leads naturally into the other, and that it can incorporate a lot of characters, and a lot of completely different points of views, desires, and motivations.  You can pin it on something of extreme importance to a lot of people.  Obviously, Morgan’s death was that event of extreme importance.  You only get so many times when the son of a prominent character on a show dies.  So you look forward to those times when it all comes to a head, and you have those wonderful and enormous pay-offs that keep on going.  That’s what we always want and hope.

SHELLY:

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We try very consciously to create story events that will lead into the next story.  Stories never end, and they never should.  It’s about, “Where does this story go?”   As you said, we picked up on story that was in place when we got here.   We then moved it into a direction that we felt was logical and potent, and off of that came the next story, and off the story we have been telling will come the next story.

MICHAEL:

Bringing in Nelle (Chloe Lanier) to the canvas, and having her “set up” Sonny to make it look like she slept with him, just as Sonny and Carly are getting back to sort of reconciling, was another story move with a secret planted that could potentially spoil any happy reunion.  Did you know when you brought Chloe Lanier back to the show how Nelle’s story would slowly reveal itself, since viewers are seeing it eek out while making their guesses as to who she really is in relation to Carly?

SHELLY:

The casting of Chloe was all Frank’s idea.  We are so thankful for that, because she is wonderful.  This is another story, which plays upon the history of the show, and yet is going to carry forward with the characters that are here now.

JEAN:

There is an overlap with the Morgan story, because that character Nelle comes into the Corinthos family at a time when they are in crisis.  In that sense, it is still part of the umbrella, but her story is also sort of its own arc.  One of the great things you have with a soap opera that has been on for decade is a lot of history.  It’s great to be able to open up something like, “How would Carly feel if what she did to her mother somebody did to her?”

MICHAEL:

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Sometimes in soaps writers bring in new characters with a mystery, but they haven’t really fleshed it out that mystery before they begin airing.  Had you mapped out Nelle’s entire back-story and knew all the points you were going to unveil before she made it to air?

SHELLY:

We did in this case.  We know Nelle’s back-story.  Another example of how it is not too dissimilar from planting the bomb in Julian’s car, and everyone is waiting for it to explode.

MICHAEL:

Frank, we know Chloe Lanier delivered a memorable performance as young Patricia Spencer in the Daytime Emmy-winning 52nd anniversary episode of GH.  What was it about Chloe that made you decide to hire her back to play the role of Nelle?

FRANK:

I have always said that here at GH we have an extraordinary cast.  So if you add someone into the mix who can’t keep up with them, it tends to stick out on the air.  I didn’t want that.  I was so impressed with what Chloe was able to do on the 52nd anniversary episode, and I feel like in a way the audience so loved and embraced that show, that they would accept Chloe a little bit more readily than they would another new face.  I think this year we have added two new main characters, and that is something we haven’t done in a long time: Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) and Nelle.  I felt we added them in a way that honored the show.  The other thing I would like to say about the story with Nelle and Carly is that it also lets us dip back into the history of fan favorite Jackie Zeman (Bobbie), who we all adore and love, and it gives her something to do as well.

MICHAEL:

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In 2016, the mighty Alexis was well on her way to becoming an alcoholic, and the tale of the tearing apart of Julexis with: Julian trying to kill her, Alexis stabbing him, then she later runs him down!  How did you come to make this such a dysfunctional mess (laughs) for Alexis and Julian, yet you still can play and see the love between them?

JEAN:

They are both very powerful characters, and we decided to put them through their paces!

SHELLY:

It’s one thing that we kept being reminded of, and that is despite their great love and wonderful romance, Julian’s past couldn’t be erased.  Despite the changes he made for love, for Alexis, that was always sitting out there.  When the past caught up with him, and things start to unravel for Alexis, she started to have to examine the choices that she made.  It seemed sort of a natural instance for a downward spiral for a smart, powerful woman who has to take stock of the fact that she may have made a very bad … and potentially lethal mistake.  Now, obviously, it remains to be seen if that mistake is everything we think it was, but it seems a natural progression for her, and of course, we learn more about Julian, which will play into this story.

FRANK:

I also think it gave some real credence to the fact that she has gone through some horrible upsetting experiences.  I think it’s important to play those things off.  A lot of times we tend to brush things off in soaps: “Hey, we’re great.  Now, we are moving on.”  I think it was very, very smart to explore the trauma Alexis experienced.

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MICHAEL:

Frank, did you talk with Nancy Lee Grahn about where the story was going to go prior to beginning this story arc, in that you were going to have Alexis develop a drinking problem?

FRANK:

I feel like sometimes with the actors you don’t want to say too much, because you don’t want to get sort of ahead of yourself, and play the end story.  So as we were going through the storyline, I sort of fed Nancy a little bit, and just enough so she would know what she would have to connect the dots to next.  But, not too far into the future that it would step on a surprise or a reveal for the audience.

MICHAEL:

What do you think, as writers of how Nancy has been navigating and performing the material you have given her?  It’s been fantastic to see her have a story she can sink her teeth into.

SHELLY:

She has been amazing.

JEAN:

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We tried to develop the story of a woman with a drinking problem without underscoring, “Oh, oh! Drinking problem!” coming off of the first day she took a drink.  We are glad that Frank didn’t talk to Nancy about it too much; because you don’t want to have the actor start playing it, before the character does.

MICHAEL:

I think both Nancy and Will deVry have done some of the finest work in their careers in taking their characters on a dark path, and in some very dark, and complex scenes.

FRANK:

I am very excited with the performances they have turned in.  It has been fun to watch.  It’s always fun to watch the actors be challenged.  I have felt we have done that with everyone on this show … Roger Howarth (Franco, Becky Herbst (Liz), and Michael Easton (Finn), for instance.  Everyone has gotten the chance to sort of spread their wings, and dig in.

MICHAEL:

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This year, you had to deal with the situation of Tyler Christopher not returning to the show, and thus writing-off the character of Nikolas Cassadine.  You made the decision to cast Nick Stabile as Nikolas to finish out the story.  Stabile did a very fine job in the role.  What was that like, from a creative standpoint, figuring out what to do in these circumstances with replacing a popular actor with another actor at a key point in the story?

SHELLY:

It wasn’t that difficult for Jean and me, because it was in the writing already when that happened.  But yes, there were plans that had to be changed.

JEAN:

We didn’t expect Tyler to be gone.  That’s why, as writers, we always have to have a plan B.

FRANK:

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I have been doing this for such a long time, and I almost never, and not to my memory, have I been in a situation where I had to recast somebody in that way.  I have always been able to work it out scheduling wise, but this situation was a little out of my hands.  I think Nick Stabile did a great job.  We were able to make it work for the other people who were still involved in the story.  It is always a challenging decision.

MICHAEL:

The arrival of Valentin Cassadine on to the scene was quite memorable, and now he is back for a second go-round on the canvas.  Is it everything you had hoped for having James Patrick Stuart inhabit the role and bringing it to life?

SHELLY AND JEAN (In unison):

And more!

JEAN:

He is such a wonderful actor, and he gives us everything.  You know he is a bad guy, but boy can he be charming and loving!

FRANK:

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James is just easy to work with, and from a production standpoint, it’s sort of the same thing as I said about Chloe: You are adding someone into the mix who can do it, and James obviously can do it.

MICHAEL:

You have found a way now to have Finola Hughes as Anna Devane, in story linked to Valentin.  I think we can safely say 2016 was the year you wrote major stories for the women on GH.   How do you view the legacy character of Anna?

SHELLY:

We want to see Anna Devane being the strong woman she has always been in the past.  We love Finola.  She is an important element on the show for many people.  Increasing her relationships with the addition of Griffin (Matt Cohen), and the occasional return of Robin as often as we can have her, we felt was re-grounding her in Port Charles society.  We admire strong women in the world, in our lives, and on our show.  So it’s fun to invent situations for Anna to be in.

JEAN:

Anna is obviously a kick-ass character, as that is who she is, and we want that to continue.  We wanted her to have an emotional reckoning with all of the loss she has experienced in her life.

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MICHAEL:

I think Anna had a major part of that reckoning in an episode back in February.  Anna was sitting inside the hospital chapel.  She is just beyond sad following the mess on the docks with the arms deal gone awry.  Anna chats with Andre (Anthony Montgomery) about her loss, and about trying to get justice for Duke’s death, on the heels of Robin and Emma (Brooklyn Rae Silzer) leaving Port Charles.   It was another brilliant performance by Finola.  On that note, Frank, you have so many major actors and characters to service story to on GH.  Do you ever have anxiety about, “How am I going to make this all work and appease everyone?”

FRANK:

No!  I don’t. (Jean and Shelly laugh)  Because that is what Jean and Shelly do!

SHELLY:

I would not say we have anxiety over it, but it can be a challenge. We are aware that sometimes some characters have to recede into the background for a day, or a week, while other stories are in the foreground.  Port Charles is a community and people interact, so it’s our goal to have the characters interact, and sometimes in the most surprising ways.

JEAN:

Sometimes the things that turn out to be the most fun are the ones that happen when you throw people together, because you are working in a certain set, or you need to finish off the day.  You go, “Isn’t that great having Franco and Liz together?

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SHELLY:

… Or look at Valentin and Nina (Michelle Stafford)!

JEAN:

So just when, as writers, you are ready to be the most anxious, something happens.  It is certainly a pleasure to work off of a partner like Shelly who never is short on ideas, and we bounce things off of each other a lot.  One of us is going to come up with something! (Laughs)

SHELLY:

A lot of sentences begin with, “What if …”   When working together we often start sentences by saying “This may be really stupid … but …”    We will finish the sentence and the other one of us will say whether it’s stupid, or not.  Often times it is! (Laughs)  We keep the photos of our entire cast in front of us on the wall when we are writing.  So, just seeing them and remembering this is our community, and that these are the people that will be interacting with each other is helpful.  It is a large cast and we try to honor all the characters.

MICHAEL:

Did you decide to put Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) and Lulu (Emme Rylan) back together after the Dante/Val (Brytni Sarpy) affair more quickly than you would have, because there was a fan backlash?

SHELLY:

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We were always intending on putting Dante and Lulu back together.  We are invested in them as a couple.

JEAN:

We think they are an important and central couple of the show.  They bridge the Spencer and Corinthos families, and they are beloved.

FRANK:

I also think Dante and Lulu are rational people who make mistakes.  I think more than the others who don’t have those characteristics that might have stayed apart a little longer. You can’t look at Dante, who is always sane, practical, and the peacekeeper, and Lulu, who serves the same purpose in her family, and think they would not get back together.  I feel that the timeline was totally realistic.  Also, it was put in place to serve future story, which is what we have going on now with Lulu interacting with Valentin.

MICHAEL:

Now there is this young girl, Charlotte, who as it turns out is the bio-daughter of Lulu!  Did you have a hard time trying to connect the dots, when looking back at the often convoluted history, and back-story with the Cassadines and Lulu’s frozen embryos’, to have this make sense? (Laughs)

SHELLY:

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Surprise! (Laughs)  This was a story we were very clear on, and in inheriting the past of these characters we took a look at it and said, “Huh.  Here’s a very logical outcome of that.”  It seemed surprisingly logical to us (laughs) in a crazy way.

FRANK:

It also paid off a lot of story that the audience had invested in; when Stavros (Robert Kelker Kelly) came back, and sort of continuing the legacy of Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers), who is such a beloved character, and in terms of Laura.. This will ultimately affect her as well.

MICHAEL:

There was a major outcry from fans to give Genie Francis story.  You put the character of Laura into a romance with good guy Dr. Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom).  Did you have any trepidation putting this iconic character with Kevin?  You had promised, and needed to find a romance for her.  So why was Kevin ultimately that guy?

JEAN:

For one thing, we love Jon Lindstrom.  He is a wonderful actor.  We didn’t want to bring in a completely new, unknown, and un-beloved character to the audience.   It’s always a risk when bringing in someone and going, “Here’s so and so, and they will be the love interest…”   It just seemed right for it to be Kevin for Laura, and it sort of just evolved.

FRANK:

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They are two people that had no history.  It was a fresh love story, which is great. That always really struck me about the love story Jean and Shelly came up with.  It’s about two characters who are blank slates with each other, and you can actually see them falling in love.  What is interesting about doing this with a more mature couple is that they would bring their experiences in all the relationships they ever been in to one another, and how would they make that work?  How would they reconcile that, and share that experience with one another?  I thought that was very interesting, and continues to be very interesting with the two of them.

MICHAEL:

They don’t have baggage with each other!

FRANK:

They are baggage-free, which is great!

MICHAEL:

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Whose idea was it to pair Liz (Rebecca Herbst) and Franco (Roger Howarth) as a romantic duo?

SHELLY:

We just did one day.   It probably was one of those, “What If’s?”

JEAN:

We did have a conversation about how Liz just had come off of a relationship with Jason (formerly known as “Jake”), and we have the fan bases of Liz and Jason, and Sam and Jason.  The Sam and Jason pairing though seemed inevitable to us in a lot of ways, but Liz is a very worthy character.  Her relationship with Jason was a very worthy relationship, too, until she started lying to him, but that’s another story.  We wanted someone to fall madly in love with Liz, and who needed her in some way, and we wanted to take Franco in a new direction.

SHELLY:

And we wanted someone for her that would not judge her for what she did.

MICHAEL:

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In the latest GH winter romance promo from ABC, it clearly looks like Griffin is being positioned as a spoiler for the Liz and Franco romance.  So in 2017, can you see him becoming a suitor for Liz?

JEAN:

Sure.  He is hanging out there, too! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Then you brought Liz’s rapist, Tom Baker (Don Harvey) back.  Now Tom has been murdered.   Some fans have been somewhat critical of this story.  Is this story ultimately for Franco to be redeemed, or to be put back into his old treacherous ways?

FRANK:

You will have to stay tuned and all will be revealed!

JEAN:

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We brought Tom back, because we wanted to play off some of Liz’s history, and her evolution, and put Franco in a position to come to grips with who he really is.  In some ways, Tom is/was a mirror of that.  I think the rest of the story will become clear as it goes along.

MICHAEL:

In 2016, you also positioned Hayden (Rebecca Budig) as more of a feisty, misunderstood heroine, and she is more firmly anchored into the show then she was before.   How do you feel the Finn and Hayden romance is stacking up?   Was the Liz and Hayden connection (that they were revealed to be half-sisters) a way to further secure her into the fabric of GH?

JEAN:

I think that was the rationale of having her being related to Liz, and knowing Tracy (Jane Elliot) and making it a little triumvirate of: Finn, Hayden and Tracy.

SHELLY:

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We did see Hayden and Finn as a potential couple.  We knew early on that we wanted to make this sister relationship happen between Liz and Hayden.  As Jean said, we connected her to Tracy, a beloved, solid character on the show.  We felt it was an important way of grounding her.  Hayden was very isolated there for a while.  We delved a bit more into her, and it created an interesting relationship between Tracy and Hayden with Tracy being the hinge between Hayden and Finn.

JEAN:

These are two women who don’t really like each other, but who also love each other.  

MICHAEL:

Frank, can you speak about also utilizing soap treasure, Jane Elliot, in story throughout 2016 in particular with Hayden?  Jane also shared some great scenes with Leslie Charleson (Monica) this year, which played upon the history of Tracy and Monica, particularly when Tracy thought she might die.

FRANK:

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I feel like in a way, and not to make too much of a simplification in comparison, but Hayden is the way Tracy used to be when she was younger.  Hayden on the outside is tough and feels like a bad girl, but on the inside isn’t.  The contrast to that is Liz, who on the outside does sweet and nice things, but sometimes on the inside we know she does the wrong things.  Whereas Liz has all these other people to play off of.  I think what Jean and Shelly did was create a situation where Tracy has to take in this stray, and who better than someone like Jane Elliot to do this where she is creating this situation and relationship that is sometimes cantankerous, contentious, and other times motherly.

MICHAEL:

You went out and brought Michael Easton back to the show after he was previously killed-off as Silas Clay.  Now watching him in his latest soap incarnation, Dr. Hamilton Finn, what do you think about how that move has turned out?

FRANK:

I think I have said that every time I have seen Michael do something different.  I will go, “This is the best he has ever been!”(Laughs)  Michael is a fantastic actor.  There is no doubt he can play anything.  He has been great as Finn.   I love how he has helped create this relationship with Hayden.  Michael is a very good friend, a wonderful actor; and it is so much fun to watch him.

MICHAEL:

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Jean and Shelly, I would assume it would be fun for you to write for the character of Finn, and all of his quirks, and let’s not forget his reptilian sidekick, Roxy!

JEAN:

We love writing for Finn, because we love watching Michael.  We have known him, and written for him in other roles.  This one is really different, and I completely buy into him as this guy.

SHELLY:

Michael instantly gets what we are thinking, and brings this quirky quality to it, and to the screen.  It’s a real pleasure to watch, and write for.

MICHAEL: 

Sam and Jason had a tumultuous year.  He was finally Jason after months and months on end of being “Jake”.   You finally resolved that part of the story.  Now you have the duo together, and Sam is pregnant, but they can’t stay happy for too long, or can they?

JEAN:

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The trick has been that the character of Jason had to evolve in a certain way, because the circumstances of the character are different.  He has a child and a wife, and he never really had the opportunity to be with them, and there is a different actor playing the role.  Billy Miller brings these special characteristics to the part.  We love his warmth and humor.  I think the two of them together have evolved into this strong pair, and they are soul mates.  Kelly and Billy are very good at playing that.  Kelly is very strong, too, and they are sexy and fun together.  When we watch the two of them they inspire us.  It has been a long path to sort of find a new way of seeing them, but the way the characters are now, the actors have done a great job with that.

SHELLY:

We put them now into a domestic situation, knowing that they will never be domesticated.  This is a couple that is not your “average” couple.

FRANK:

They always play by their own rules, because that is who they are, and yet they are very relatable.  It seems like love brings out the best out of one another, and unites them in a very emotional, as Jean said, a soul mate kind of way.

SHELLY:

Photo: ABC/Getty

With the fact that they have a growing family now, Jason is being forced to look at this past, specifically with Sonny, and what he sees in the future.  Is that a path he wants to continue down, or is there something else ahead?  At the same time, he has more reason now to stay alive and protect his family than he ever did before.

MICHAEL:

Throughout the year, viewers have seen the hotness that is Curtis (Donnell Turner) and Jordan (Vinessa Antoine).  When will they finally hit the sheets?

JEAN:

We are going to play the heat.  Donnell Turner and Vinessa Antoine do something to each other’s presence on-screen.  We are trying to hold off with that as long as we can so we can get people wanting to see that.

MICHAEL:

In 2016, you also played the beginnings of a same-sex relationship with Sonny and Alexis’ daughter, Kristina (Lexi Ainsworh) and Professor Parker Forsyth (Ashley Jones).  Since this has not been featured on the canvas for a while, is that relationship done with?

JEAN:

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We certainly plan to play Kristina’s growth, and development as a character, and her sexual identify.  Parker is an enormous factor in her life.  So, I would say, no.

SHELLY:

They are absolutely not done.

MICHAEL:

Frank, what were some of the achievements, from an overall production and vision standpoint, you are most proud of having accomplished on GH in 2016?

FRANK:

I think there are so many.  However, I can only address the one that sticks out in my mind at the moment.  I think that it was the Nurses’ Ball.  I think it was really fun this year.  The opening number of the homage to “Hamilton”, I think was very fresh.  I thought some of the numbers had a new twist to them, and involved a lot of different people.  The Nurses’ Ball is always our chance to break out and have a bit of fun together.

MICHAEL:

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Jean and Shelly, what were some of the achievements, from the overall writing and story point perspective, you were most proud of having accomplished on GH in 2016?

JEAN:

Echoing on what Frank said, the production of the Nurses’ Ball was fantastic, and for us it was really fun to play with some different twists within it, and climaxing certain stories outside the building that affected what was going on inside the ball.

SHELLY:

I think overall what I am proud we accomplished is that I think we made “General Hospital” a real center of the show again, which was a goal, and one we continue to work on, and one we continue to hold important.  In all the stories we mentioned; the Morgan story, Hayden/Finn, Sam/Jason, the Nurses’ Ball, the hospital itself is almost like a character.  We want to honor that character, and I hope we have.

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So, what did you think of 2016 on General Hospital?  What parts of the comments made by Frank, Shelly, and Jean stood out to you, and you were pleased to here?  What did you think of the trio reflecting back on key storylines that were some of the best in daytime throughout the year, as well as the popular duos and characters in Port Charles?

Share your thoughts on our “Soapmakers of the Year” feature in the comment section below. (Note: To make a comment, go to the top left side of the interview and click on “Leave a Comment”)