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GH’s Emma Samms Talks on Her Connection with Jonathan Jackson, and the Similarities in their Work Thanks to Tony Geary

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: ABC

Today, on the Wednesday, September 4th episode of General Hospital, Emma Samms reprises her role as Holly Sutton, when she arrives on the scene in Africa where Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) is being held.

This will give longtime viewers a chance to see Samms and Jackson in story together, something that has never happened before. Emma first joined GH in 1982, while Jackson was cast in 1993, and while they have both come and gone from the show, they never crossed paths … till now.

Speaking with Variety on her return and getting the opportunity to work with five-time Daytime Emmy-winner, Jonathan Jackson, Emma expressed, “It’s such a gift that Frank (Valentini, EP, GH) has given me, working with Jonathan, who is, obviously, a very, very good actor.”

Photo: ABC

Emma also noted, “That’s undisputed – but he’s also really nice. And we have a very similar way of approaching the work, and we realized that that is because we were both trained by Tony Geary (ex-Luke Spencer).”

Viewers will remember that Samms was originally brought in as a love interest for Luke when Laura went missing and Genie Francis exited the show. At that time, Jackson was only 11-years-old. Emma recalled the difficulties the series had in finding another love interest for Luke that would stick.

Photo: JPI

“I didn’t realize when I started that I was the third attempt to find somebody for a new romantic relationship for Luke,” shared Samms. “They had tried really amazing people, like Janine Turner and Demi Moore. So I was sort of the last-ditch attempt in that regard. But I had no clue, which is probably extremely valuable and helped me a lot. I just came in sort of innocent, and ‘I’ll do the best I can’ sort of thing. And I just somehow got away with it. I was very fortunate.”

The actress, who struggles with symptoms from Long-COVID, also revealed that this time back on-screen she’s working with a “brilliant, strong, powerful, interesting villain now,” and there’s “going to be some interesting twists with Holly coming back to town.”

So, are you looking forward to Holly’s return on GH and her scenes/story with Jonathan Jackson? Comment below.

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I get that JJ is beloved by many sentimental Luke and Laura fans, which makes sense, but I don‘t understand why people keep saying he’s a great actor. Squeezing one’s forehead, loudly dragging one’s shoes across the set, constantly pushing one’s hair to the side, lip-licking, eye rolling and saying Mmkay? for emphasis is literally NOT acting. Yes, I resent that they are writing off so many interesting characters to bring back old stars who probably cost a lot, but if they at least brought back good actors, it wouldn’t be quite so disappointing.

He’s won 5 Emmys. doofus.

Wow, He’s a five-time emmy-winning actor, who plays his role superbly, we’ve seen all of about 2 minutes on screen thus far… Which is really not enough time to tell what an actor can put out!

I’ve seen you write the same exact thing criticizing Jonathan’s acting multiple times. Like you somehow feel the need to keep repeating yourself to try and sell people on your opinion. Particularly the line about the “lip licking, eye rolling, hair pushing, saying Mmmkay”, like he’s a Valley girl from the 1980s or something.

Everyone is obviously entitled to think what they want. But I mean, go back and watch the 2011 storyline when Luke got drunk and allegedly killed Jake with his car, the scenes with Tony Geary and Jonathan Jackson, which both won an Emmy for, and if you still want to say that JJ is a bad actor, then I’d say that you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Case in point, I am very glad to see the talented Emma Samms back. She brings something playful, mischievous and interesting to her performances as Holly. Would love to see her interact with characters beyond Robert. Her brief scenes last time with the spectacular and dynamic Carolyn Hennessy were fun to watch.

What happened is he was good as a kid then he left that’s fine but he never took off in movies like they all thought. He just never grew up as a grown up if that makes sense. This dirty scruffy look I see he has going on does not help. It will not encourage me as a former viewer run back to the show anymore then Steve Burton did been there done that.

Totally agree Adele. Jackson was great as a child. He left and Jacob Young did a great job playing Lucky the teen. Then it was time for Lucky to be an adult and they brought in Greg Vaughan who was wonderful as Lucky the adult. He became a police officer, married man and father. He even tried to get his father to recognize his excessive alcohol use disorder and get help. Didn’t work. Lucky faced and overcame his own substance abuse disorder. Vaughan was an adult and did a great job with everything they threw him. Jackson suddenly decided he wanted to come back and they dumped Vaughan. Jackson stayed what two or three months and left again. What was the point? How long can he spare you viewers this time?

Jackson stayed 2 years after he replaced Vaughan. At that point, the character needed a break (remember the horrible pairing with Siobhan).

Of course this was in 2011, when “temporary” head writer Garin Wolf had some kind of bizzare agenda to destroy the entire Spencer family. Luke was a hopeless drunk who allegedly ran over his own grandson & burned down the family home. Lulu was doing her own acts of arson. Lucky became a pill popping crybaby who abandoned his wife & kids on Xmas eve. And yes, the Siobahn story was pathetic. And Laura at this point was still a blonde wig attached to a rocking chair at the Shadybrook funny farm.

Luke & Lulu were at least able to redeem themselves somewhat (though the Fluke story would ruin Luke all over again). Lucky never really had that chance, because until recently, we only saw him for one week in 2015, and that was of course focused on Luke’s “exit story” so he didn’t have any time to redeem himself. Though he did manage to bring Jake back from Cassadine island as part of that story.

You can bet your soul that Jonathan Jackson would not have agreed to a long term return as Lucky unless it included the chance to finally redeem the character from the horrible corner he was written into back in 2011

Also Rick Hearst. I didn’t think I’d want to see Ric Lansing again but Hearst’s performance is so immediately and intensely creepy and controlling/ manipulative but also with flashes vulnerability. That guy is acting. Can’t wait to see him to cross paths with Sonny.

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Alum Kelly Monaco Reveals She’s Six Months Sober

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Kelly Monaco

Longtime General Hospital favorite, Kelly Monaco (ex-Sam McCall), took to her Instagram on Tuesday, September 15 and shared that she is six months, seven days sober from alcohol. Monaco played Sam for 21 years on the ABC soap opera.

Accompanied by a screenshot from the I Am Sober app that tracks the progress of anyone struggling with or trying to not drink, Monaco wrote, “Now the whole 6/7 thing makes sense! #duces.”

Monaco has kept a very low profile since her final episode on General Hospital aired back on October 30, 2024, when Sam had a shocking heart attack and died. It was later revealed that Daytime Emmy nominee, Jeff Kober (ex-Cyrus Renault) injected Sam’s IV with a fatal dose of digitalis.

Photo: JPI

KELLY MONACO HAS KEPT MORE TO HERSELF SINCE LEAVING GH

This year, Kelly has posted on her Instagram account a total of four times, most recently to celebrate her mother, Carmina’s birthday, who turned 70 just four days ago.

Jumping into the comment thread on Kelly announcing her sobriety were several of her former GH co-stars including Brandon Barash (ex-Johnny, GH) who shared, “Love this. Congrats! 👏👏👏,” Ingo Rademacher (ex-Jax, GH) who just posted the hands up and heart emojis, and Lexi Ainsworth (ex-Kristina, GH) who wrote, “So proud of you 👏 badass.”

Kelly Monaco, Dancing with the Stars

Photo: ABC

DANCING WITH THE STARS BEGINS NEW SEASON; KELLY WAS THE SEASON ONE CHAMP

With this season’s Dancing with the Stars about to kick-off tonight, in which Kelly was the first-ever celebrity winner in season one and returned for an All-Star version, might we hear from her on her picks or thoughts on this year’s batch of contestants?

One thing has remained a constant with Kelly’s unwavering fan base, they want her back on General Hospital, because as we know in the soaps, many characters somehow come back from the dead, so why couldn’t Sam?

Share your thoughts for Kelly and her six months of sobriety via the comment section below and if you would still like to see her back on General Hospital or even another soap opera within the next few years. 

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Soap Alums Remembered During In Memoriam Segment at 78th Emmy Awards; Patrick Muldoon Omitted

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In Memoriam Emmys 2026

During last night’s 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, as it does every year, the television academy paid tribute to those in the industry that they’ve lost over the last year; since the previous Emmys held each year in September.

Starting with an emotional tribute to the late Catherine O’Hara by three of her co-stars, Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy and Dan Levy and Home Alone’s Macaulay Culkin, the segment then dovetailed into Noah Kahan performing “Bridge over Troubled Water” as the faces and the names of those being remembered were shown on the screen.

Daytime soap alums, who either stayed in the genre for the majority of their career, or went on to primetime success as well, were honored including: Anthony Geary (Luke, GH), Hayden Panettiere (Sarah, OLTL, Lizzie, GL, Juliette, Nashville), James Van Der Beek, (Dawson, Dawson’s Creek, and Stephen, ATWT), Gil Gerard (Alan, The Doctors), June Lockhart (Mariah, GH), Patricia Crowley (Mary, Port Charles and GH), Randolph Mantooth (Clay/Alex, Loving and The City, and Richard, GH) and Jon Cypher (Alex, ATWT and Arthur, Santa Barbara).

Photo: TVAcademy

THOSE HONORED AND THOSE WHO WERE NOT

However, in a glaring omission, the producers of the In Memoriam failed to include Days of our Lives beloved star, Patrick Muldoon who played the OG Austin Reed and also Richard Hart on Melrose Place. Muldoon passed away in April of this year at 57.

After Kahan concluded his performance, a special tribute to Rob Reiner began with Jamie Lee Curtis taking to the stage to share some warm words about her late friend.

In a ironic and sad twist, Curtis shared ,“Last week, Robbie won an Emmy for guest actor in a comedy series for his beautiful work on The Bear, and he now holds the record of 48 years for the longest gap between acting Emmys, which was previously held by his father Carl Reiner, at 37 years.”

Reiner, who along with his wife, Michele Reiner were killed by their son, Nick Reiner, is currently awaiting a decision if he will stand trial. Prosecutors on Tuesday, shared they will not seek the death penalty if he is convicted at trial, but instead life in prison. Curtis said of Rob, “He was generous and kind and funny as hell, and a friend to all. We all miss Rob and Michele and all those we lost this year.” The Emmys then faded to black and went to commercial break.

So, were you happy to see those who you know from their work in soap operas included in the 2026 In Memoriam tribute at the Primetime Emmys? Share your thoughts in the comment section. But first, in case you missed it, you can watch it below.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jason and Britt Break Up After Realizing They Can’t Trust Each Other

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Jason and Britt

Trust issues were cited as the reason for the break-up of Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) and Dr. Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) on the Monday, September 14 episode of General Hospital, ending the their complicated romance once and for all.

The episode began with the pick-up of Jason and Britt’s argument over Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) at the Quartermaine boathouse. Britt is in disbelief that Jason continues to take Anna’s side, and that he will not back her up as her witness, as she wants to report Anna’s attempted murder of her to the PCPD.

Jason tells Britt that Anna had been pushed to the brink through the mental torture she’d endured while held captive at Wyndemere, and accused Britt of doing nothing to save her, when she knew exactly what was going on as she was at Wyndemere as well. Britt told Jason that she’d been a victim of Sidwell and Cullum too, and by the time she figured out what was happening to Anna, they had moved her somewhere else.

Courtesy/ABC

BELIEF SYSTEM BROKEN

Then, Jason clearly lets Britt know he doesn’t believe her version of what transpired. An enraged Britt fires back at Jason in disbelief, that he is siding with Anna instead of her, when he was on Mount Emerson and saw for himself how Anna was planning to kill her. Suddenly, Britt wants to know if Jason would have helped Anna cover her tracks, if Anna had killed her.

Next, Jason argued that Britt seemingly needs to believe Anna would have killed her when he knows deep down Anna would never have murdered her. Jason thinks Britt is trying to absolve herself of her own guilt and complicity in keeping Anna locked up.

Britt shouts “You need to believe that! Otherwise, you’d have to admit that your friend is unhinged and dangerous. And she would have killed someone you say you love!” Now at a complete impasse, Britt walks out on Jason realizing they don’t trust each other and calls it quits.

Tristan

Courtesy/ABC

PICKING UP THE PIECES

Later, Jason finds Carly (Laura Wright) at the Metro Court, and while in an elevator fills her in that he doesn’t trust Britt, and that as much as he loves her, he doesn’t trust her like he does Carly. Britt is back at the hospital.

A concerned Tristan (Dean Geyer) tries to talk to her about what transpired with Anna. However, Britt clams up and walks away from any discussion.

Now in the General Hospital teaser video for the action on Tuesday, September 15,  Jason ask Carly (over beers and a game of pool) “When you lie for a living, how long before you start lying to yourself? Take a look at that below.

Let us know, are you glad that Jason and Britt finally called it quits? What about the reason that the couple broke-up, over Britt knowing about Anna being locked-up at Wyndemere and Jason not willing to back Britt about Anna trying to kill her? Is Tristan the next man for Britt? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.

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

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