General Hospital
General Hospital Alum Sean Kanan Recalls How AJ Quartermaine’s Ignorance Was Difficult to Portray in Stone’s AIDS Storyline
On June 22, 1995, General Hospital showcased its second ever Nurses’ Ball during the middle of the Stone HIV/AIDS storyline that has now become a classic.
It was at the ball that the character of AJ Quartermaine, played by current B&B star, Sean Kanan (Deacon) was used by the writers to have a character voice what many in the audience may not have been clear about in just how someone contracts HIV/AIDS. During the scenes, Stone (Michael Sutton) admits to AJ, Jason (Steve Burton), Alan (Stuart Damon), Monica (Leslie Charleson), Keisha (Senait Ashenafi) and Lily (Lilly Melgar), that he has AIDS with Robin (Kimberly McCullough) by his side.
On Thursday, a fan posted a clip from that scene and tweeted, “The Storyline That Changed My Life & Led Me To Volunteer As Much As I Could For The AiDS/HIV Community!TY”‘

Photo: ABC
After seeing the clip, Kanan came on to his Twitter account to share his feelings on the challenging scene from the past. Sean shared, “This was personally a very difficult storyline for me to play. Having tons of gay friends as well as relatives I was conflicted. My character, AJ Quartermaine exuded ignorance and a lack of self-evolved understanding. Ultimately I embraced the story because it was the story that was so important rather than my character. I am still very proud of the work the show produced about a socially relevant and humanistically important subject.”
In the writing of the scene, AJ says the following lines to his family after Stone and Robin leave the table: “Who knew he was gay? I didn’t know. Well, what then, drugs? Jason, it’s almost impossible to get AIDS from a woman … sometimes, I’ll grant you that. But it’s far more likely to get transmitted in other ways. I mean, think about it. Stone is practically attached to the hip of Robin for a very long time now and he certainly didn’t get it from her.”
What did you think about the sentiments shared by Sean in 2023 on the actions of his fictional character of GH’s AJ Quartermaine back in 1995? Let us know in the comment section below.
The Storyline That Changed My Life & Led Me To Volunteer As Much As I Could For The AiDS/HIV Community!TY @whitewatercrew @MichaelSSutton @MauriceBenard @VanessaMarcilM @lillymelgar @seankanan @1SteveBurton @wallykurth @KristinaWagnr @RenaSofer @ricky_martin @canyoncatz + #GH ❤️ https://t.co/5NUJNcwzhl
— Lydia (@LitLat) June 22, 2023
I think it was fine and realistic for the time it was written. Not many knew about it, many thought it was a “gay” disease, and it doesn’t seem like “AJ” was trying to be cruel; but was uninformed.
One of the best ever daytime storylines from any soap! Relevant, timely, real… We could use more of such.
It was a story of the times and was brilliantly told, thanks to the brilliance of Wendy Riche (executive producer) and Claire Labine (head writer). And, to think, they originally wanted AJ to be the one battling AIDS, but ABC rallied against it, because of the fact AJ was a Quartermaine.
If a Devil remembers correctly, from something Sean Kanan said himself in a previous interview (possibly an episode of “State of Mind”) the original plan was to have AJ be the one. The problem was how he would have been infected. AJ was a hardcore alcoholic, but not an IV drug user. So the logical implication would be that he had a drunken hookup with some random person, and like most drunken hookups, didn’t practice safer sex.
Problem with that idea is the question of who he would have had this drunken hookup with. Even then they knew that transmission of the virus from women to men was statistically rare, and did they really want to “go there” with AJ being into guys, even if it was only when he was wasted?
Of course they wanted this to happen to a “legacy kid” so it would be a major story. So they chose Robin… by way of Stone. Stone was more or less a blank canvas, so they could give him any backstory they wanted, and if my fuzzy devil memory is correct, they went with the past drug use.
The networks (ABC in particular) were very protective of legacy characters until the 2000’s. In addition to the AJ-Stone switch, ABC rejected an Audrey gets Alzheimer’s storyline and had OLTL switch the gay coming out story from Joey Buchanan to Billy Douglas.
After Frons, Phelps, et al, took over it was suddenly okay to kill multiple Quartermaines and longtime characters such as Dixie Cooney and Gabrielle Medina.
Beyond the Gates
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

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.
General Hospital
Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

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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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Casts Ayla Bullington as the New Avery Jerome-Corinthos

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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