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GENERAL HOSPITAL: Has Lucky Spencer’s Return Been Lackluster Thus Far? How Many People Does It Take to Rescue Him?

By Michael Fairman

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Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer) is one of, if not thee, all-time greatest actor to perform on the soaps right alongside his TV father, the retired Anthony Geary (ex-Luke Spencer).

When General Hospital announced that the five-time Daytime Emmy winner was returning to his old stomping grounds, there have been high expectations that his story would kickstart things into high gear, but at this point, viewers want to personally pick him up, literally, and lift him out of captivity in Africa and plop him into Port Charles so the story can finally take shape.

Meanwhile, his mother Laura (Genie Francis) and her husband Kevin (Jon Lindstrom) took off from Port Charles to Africa so she can find her son, but we haven’t see them on the canvas. Then, Anna (Finola Hughes) and Jason (Steve Burton) have showed up to try and find Lucky as everyone is on borrowed time, hoping they can locate him to save his sister Lulu’s life. She needs a liver transplant to stay alive (even though she had been in a coma for four years). All that is soon to change now that GH has found their Lulu in Alexa Havins (ex-Babe, All My Children).

Photo: ABC

But, is Lucky even a viable donor? Hold tight! Dr. Isaiah Gannon (Sawandi Wilson), who is a world-renowned transplant doctor (and Lucky’s friend from Africa) told Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), while Lucky could be a perfect match for his sister, there must be consideration of the condition of Lucky’s liver since he has been known to drink, plus fans recall his prescription drug addiction.

Photo: JPI

Now on the Friday, September 20th episode of GH, after Lucky is beaten by the guards and thrown in his cell, he dreams of Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) coming to his aid. Talking to imaginary Liz, who is acting like his conscience, he claims to think of her and their  family every day. He says helping people in need was his way to atone for what he did. Imaginary Liz tells him to come home and have the guts to admit he messed up and to be there for his son, Aiden and company.

So, what have you thought of Lucky Spencer’s return thus far? When will Lucky be reunited with his mother, Laura? Are you hoping when he does return to Port Charles that Liz and Lucky will finally get back together? Share your thoughts in the comment section. But first, check out the Lucky and Liz scenes from Friday’s episode below.

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Correction ok great child actor big difference when you become an adult happens all the time . Tons of examples he just looks like a kid trying to be a grown up

Ditto Adele. He did a fine job in the role as a child. But, the character has grown and matured. First with Jacob Young as the older teen and then with Greg Vaughan as the adult, married man, police officer, recovering addict. They should have brought back Jacob Young since Greg Vaughan is not available. If Young was not interested, they should recast.

I disagree. Jackson was outstanding when he last returned to GH. There were numerous scenes with Tony Geary, Rebecca Herbst, Tyler Christopher, Julie Marie Burman, and Steve Burton where he gave amazing performances. I have no doubt he will again. I agree the story is slow, but I blame the writers. I think part of the reason Lucky’s return has been slow is so the writers trying to kill time to find the new Lulu. I could have done without all the unnecessary scenes on Thursday and Friday. I am ready for Lucky to be home and for the real stories to begin.

Amen! This is dragging on way to long! BORING!

Jacob Young? The actor who shouted his lines no matter what the scene calked for?No thank you. Jackson is a very talented actor. It’s just Lucky’s great return has been ruined by dreary, depressing, anticlimactic writing. How to ruin a come back of a great actor by bad writing.

Larry Brygmann, Douglass Watson, Jerry Ver Dorn ,David Canary, Roger Howarth, just 5 of the actors that quickly come to mind that impress me more than Jonathan Jackson

i think they are trying to hard they should just get on with it

Far from one of the all-time great soap actors. Very far.

There is one reason this story is dragging – not sure what TPTB was thinking when they scheduled Jackson’s return right during Genie Francis’s annual leave.

She usually comes back in mid-October. That’s when this whole story will conclude – not before.

That’s what I was thinking, too.

I believe he has been back four weeks and the most excitement we have seen is a card game and a fantasy about Elizabeth. I wish GH would have a long-term story arc written out with all the twists and move things along faster. The Pikeman storyline, Austin’s murder and who sent Ava the messages were never given a satisfying conclusion.

Love it; love having him back and I’m fine with the pace. I love how the writers have kept Anna and Jason in each other’s paths; it’s fun to see the show mix it up a bit. Steve Burton finally has a different scene partner to play with instead of Laura Wright and Maurice, and I love how this is turning into a similar type story like back in the day when many of the gang would wind up in a casino to save the day. Jonathan Jackson hasn’t skipped a beat; he’s as ‘lucky” as ever.

Yes, Lucky’s return has been lackluster so far. Very lackluster, I’m sorry to say.

I was so happy when I heard Jonathan Jackson was coming back. He’s one of my all-time favorites. I was looking forward to the story they had planned for his return. But they’re dragging their feet just like they’ve done with many storylines. They did the same thing when Steve Burton returned earlier this year.

The story is all over the place and just a mess, which is unfortunately the state of GH as a whole these days. The never ending card game, this guy Sidwell that is basically a Dollar Store villain that we have no connection to whatsoever. I like Emma Samms, but I still have no idea why she’s involved. Laura and Kevin leave to go look for Lucky and have seemingly fallen off the face of the earth, so they can shoe horn this Anna/Jason pairing they’re clearly pushing where it doesn’t need to be. Laura should be the one to find her son. Maybe she still will be.

I’m holding out hope that they have some better things planned for Lucky once they get this tedious Africa story arc over with.

Ric’s return over Lucky’s BIG TIME!

Mr. Hearst hit the ground running, interacting with literally the entire canvas while peaking interest to existing storylines.

We know Alexa is going to BRING IT when Lulu returns so this studio adventure with Lucky needs to wrap up like yesterday because so far all we got is Lucky saying a few lines here and there whole looking completely deshelved.

Lucky’s lackluster return is also do to poor scheduling. JJ returned to filming while Genie was on her summer break. They might’ve considered delaying his return by 6 weeks or so to permit mother/son scenes to be shot.

Storyline wise – it’s not hitting the mark. That said, Isiah seems like a character with lots of long term potential.

I love Jonathan Jackson, but don’t care for how long they’re dragging this storyline out, honestly. How many days did we need to see him playing poker for his life against Sidwell? Or begging Holly to get a message or for help, only for her to put her own interests first? I was too young for whatever her history was, but every time I’ve seen her on canvas in recent years, she’s been running a con, which okay, but they mention a history with legacy characters that those characters seem to think she’ll commiserate with, but she’s always self first. Just an overall unlikable character.
Back to Lucky, all of his scenes after rescuing Isaiah, have been sitting in a room playing poker for his life, with idle, meaningless chitchat. We’ve had more meaningful conversations about where he’s been all these years from Isaiah, who admits he doesn’t know everything than we’ve had fun the character we were looking forward to having back on screen.
Laura and Kevin went to rescue him how long ago? Anna and Jason made it in a day, right to their gambling den? Of course, now things are heating up, but why did we need to waste so much of the time that we’ve had? Why not have him and Isaiah get out together? Or Holly do the right thing for once? Just a coordinates SOS text to Anna or Laura? Sidwell wouldn’t have known it was her, and Lucky would’ve been back in PC weeks ago.
Just seems like the writers like to drag some storylines out for no good reason right now, change some characters out of the blue, and just don’t seem to know what they’re doing with other characters.

This return has brought the show down to boring. It didn’t take long for Lucky to start the tears again. Seeing him go right back to crying through his scenes and an empty bed for Lulu for weeks is really bad writing.

Its been lame! I see why they have half of PC looking for him; Lulu needs a liver! He came back a month too early. Him and Liz could rekindle their romance? Lucky is like Luke, you just cannot domesticate them. So what do you do, put him on the PCPD payroll to? Too many cops. And most arrests are dismissed anyway. Like Michael, those two boy-men just don’t age so it’s a struggle to write for them unless they are in danger? Ric Lansing, god bless, what a return! [A little less grey please.]

Lucky and Jason’s return has been VERY lack luster. What is happening with the new writers? Don’t like it very much! Been watching this show since the 1980’s!!!!!!

Last edited 1 year ago by Shelia

I will be glad when Lucky is finally rescued and back home in PC. It seems part of the problem with JJ’s return is timing. I assume the delay is Lucky’s rescue is Genie Frances is on vacation and the show had to cast the new Lulu. Now that Lulu has been recast, I hope they dont continue to drag this out and Lucky is rescued soon.

I look forward to seeing scenes between Jackson, Genie Frances, Rebecca Herbst, and Steve Burton.

Omg, this comeback was of to a bad start from the get go.
1st Laura and Kevin go MIA (yes I know ms. Francis is on vaca) bad timing.(shouldn’t somebody send someone to rescue them?)

2nd so then of course it becomes about Carly saving the day because of course she’s the one with WSB connection.

3rd so she sends the towns unofficial antihero Jason who clearly got PTO from Sonny, to go save the day ( because we all know Jasons main job is to cover sonny crimes.)

4th then we gotta wait for NuLulu to wake up, when she does will she think she’s in pine valley?

5th. I love Holly and Anna, but I’m not really enjoying this story arc their in right now.

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‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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Dominic Zamprogna

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).

On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.

Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC

HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT

Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”

Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”

Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Dom and Liz

Photo: ABC

DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES

In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”

Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”

You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.

Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy  for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.

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GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

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Patrick J. Gibbons

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.

However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.

Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC

FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG

Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!

Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”

MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL

Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).

Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI

PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY

Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”

It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”

A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons

IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS

As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”

He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”

Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.

So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.

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‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Admits That He Didn’t Expect the Role of Michael Corinthos to be Recast, and Would Consider Working on Another Soap (Exclusive)

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Chad Duell, the Daytime Emmy-winning actor, who stepped away from the pivotal role of Michael Corinthos on General Hospital, opened up about: his previous decision to leave the series after nearly 15 years, where’s he’s at now after time away from the demands of a daytime soap opera, and took a stroll down memory lane with some of Michael’s most-acclaimed storyline during his run, during a livestream chat on August 19 on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.

Viewers last saw Duell on-screen as Michael in January of 2025, and with his successor in the role, Rory Gibson making his debut at the GH Nurses’ Ball in episodes that aired later in May. It was clear that during the conversation, Chad was a bit surprised that the GH brass decided to recast him when he thought he was just taking some much needed time off.

Burn-out of the daily grind of being on a soap was definitely a part of Chad’s decision to take a break. Duell explained “People know when you’re doing something for so long or your character is kind of in the same place for so long or doing the same stuff over and over again, you do get a a little burnt out, you get a little stiff, stale, a little stiff at times. I didn’t want that to be any sort of lasting impression. I have 15 years of a body of work of I’ve done on that show, which is fantastic.”

Chad Duell

Photo: ABC

WHILE CHAD WAS AWAY GH RECAST MICHAEL CORINTHOS WITH RORY GIBSON

Chad shared, his mindset when leaving GH was, “I’m taking some time away, we’ll see what happens.” Then he added, “Obviously, they decided to go in a different direction with Michael when I was gone. I didn’t think they were going to bring somebody back in my place. But you know, it’s the business. You never know what can happen.”

Duell also shared he has not watched a single episode of General Hospital since he left the series, but now feels he reenergized following the loss of his father and stepping away from the GH, “I’m in a place now mentally, where I’m ready to sink my teeth into it again.”

Courtesy/ABC

Even though he is no longer Michael on GH, Chad was very happy with his final storyline where Michael was set on fire when a bomb exploded at Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) penthouse. “It was fun to put him in a dangerous situation, because I was wanting Michael to be in something scary instead of trying to be a hero character or just things happening around him, but to be the center point of tragedy happening to him. (I always saw) Michael as the heart of the (Corinthos) family.”

When Michael was badly burned the show chose not burn his face, which normally a soap does when they are recasting role and switching actors. Chad weighed-in, “They didn’t burn my face because I told Frank Valentini (EP, GH) I’m willing to come back. It was just a little bit of a break. So, I assumed that if they would have burned my face, they could have brought somebody back looking different than me… if that’s what their plan was.”

Courtesy/ABC

MEMORABLE MICHAEL STORYLINES

One of Chad’s most memorable performances was the in the storyline of Michael’s rape while he was sentenced to prison in 2010 and the confession of it in 2011. “It was so well-written and I was very nervous,” recalled Chad. “When I get really nervous about something, it ends up being really good when I do it, because it just means I care a lot about it”

“I have to put a lot of effort and work into it, and I really want it to be good.  I was working with Dominic  Zamprogna (Dante) and Steve Burton (Jason) a lot during those scenes, and Laura Wright (Carly). It was great working with Steve and Dominic, especially, during that storyline.

A NEW SOAP ROLE FOR CHAD?

As to a future soap opera role, Chad is open to the idea and would love to jump back in to a juicy role, “I know people over at The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless. They know that if they’re interested, I would love to come in for a screen test or something, and they can see what I’m doing.”

Meanwhile, Chad has been busy putting out new music under the moniker Duelly and during the interview he explains how he creates his EDM tracks and much more. You can stream his latest single, Static in the Quiet Room on Spotify, Apple Music and You Tube Music.

You can check out the full conversation with Chad Duell below.

Now let us know: what show would you like to see Chad cast on down the line? BTG, DAYS, B&B, Y&R, or a new role on GH? What did you think of his thoughts on the casting switch while he was away in the role of Michael? What was your favorite Michael storyline during Chad’s 15-year run on the ABC soap opera? Let us know via the comment section.

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