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GENERAL HOSPITAL: Helena, Jennifer Smith & The Ice Princess: What Did You Think of Luke Spencer’s Memorial?

Friday’s episode of General Hospital brought the highly-anticipated story around the apparent death of Port Charles iconic, Luke Spencer (Tony Geary), although many fans, and even some of the cast of the show, are not sold that Luke is “dead” dead.

During the show, characters spoke of some of the history of Luke in Port Charles, most especially Luke’s sister, Bobbie played by Jackie Zeman.  Throughout the years, Zeman is at her best when she is given material through the writing of the show to connect to the history of Luke and Bobbie.  She did so when Bobbie was remembering how Luke came to Port Charles to help her break up Scotty and Laura, in a discussion with her daughter, Carly (Laura Wright).

Photo: ABC

As everyone is gathering at the Haunted Star to pay their respects to Luke, Curtis (Donnell Turner) arrives to support Laura (Genie Francis), Felicia (Kristina Wagner) and Anna (Finola Hughes) arrive together, Nikolas (Marcus Coloma) and Ava (Maura West), as well as Spencer (Nicholas Alexander Chavez  also show up. It is through Nikolas’ conversation with Laura that we learn why Luke’s sons, Ethan and Lucky, can’t make the funeral and, of course, we know why Luke’s daughter Lulu can’t make it because she is in a coma!

Victor (Charles Shaughnessy) shows up and snipes at everyone and then leaves.  Tracy (Jane Elliot), who has arranged the memorial, is with an urn supposedly filled with Luke’s ashes and Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) finds her on the deck of the Haunted Star and talks her into giving her planned eulogy.

Courtesy/ABC

Meanwhile, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) finds his dad, Sonny (Maurice Benard) drinking at Charlie’s, and later Scott (Kin Shriner) and Robert (Tristan Rogers) stop in and heated words are exchanged between Sonny and Scott. Victor shows up and instead of Scott and Sonny pummeling each other, they get into a fight against Victor.

Courtesy/ABC

As Scott and Robert are about to be on their way to the Haunted Star, Scott stays behind because of his past with Luke.  Then, Sonny tried to patch things up with Carly before they head to the memorial.

Back on the yacht, Anna and Felicia find a note and a flash drive, after hearing a commotion on the yacht.  When the note says “play me”, none other than Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers) addresses Luke’s friends and family from apparently the great beyond.  As Helena spews her venom against Luke, Laura has enough and pulls the plug on Helena’s video speech.  Tracy looks concerned, like she may want to hear whatever else Helena had to say.

Photo: ABC

Next, Tracy does her best in short order to eulogize Luke.  That is juxtaposed with Scott trashing Luke.  Later, by herself on the deck, Tracy spreads Luke’s ashes over the waters of Port Charles. Back on the pier, Scott relishes Luke being gone, and that he is still standing saying, “You lose you son of a bitch!” Just then Luke’s ashes blow in into his face.  When Bobbie arrives, and see Scott full of ashes, she asks what happened.  Scott says, “I caught the bouquet,” an obvious nod to the Luke and Laura wedding of the past, where Scott returned at their wedding and caught the wedding bouquet.

Courtesy/ABC

Back on the Haunted Star, Tracy then has a gift in hand for Laura, but she tells Tracy if that’s the Ice Princess she does not want anything to do with it, and tells Tracy to keep it.  Spencer sees this go down and his interest on the diamond is instantly piqued.

Back at Charlie’s bar, Victor has an ominous toast to Luke saying, “The good people of your fair city are in for a big surprise!”

At the Haunted Star, dressed in black with black veil, Jennifer Smith reveals herself to a shocked Laura.

So, what did you think of Luke’s memorial episode? Favorite parts of it? Least favorite? Share your thoughts in the comment section. But first, check out Helena’s videotaped speech and Tracy’s eulogy to Luke below.

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It was nice seeing so many veterans all in one place.

Bonus points for the locale of the Haunted Star, the performances of Genie Francis and Jane Eliot, the handsome picture of Geary, the urn, and the windswept ashes into Scottie’s face (although, for the record, I was always Team Scottie!)

I could do without 60-something, grown men getting into a fistfight. (I can always do without Sonny, who was at his default setting of menacing and abusive. — Wow! What an awful character to base your show around!) But I digress…

It might have been more appropriate to have more than one character give a eulogy, even if they were presented as snippets of dialogue.

The absence of Luke’s children, despite the excuses, was mind-boggling. GH is getting into DOOL territory in the newfangled excuses that show comes up with to explain the continued absences of Hope.

The absence of Luke himself, as perhaps at the end of the show being held captive (a result many viewers suspected, which may still happen).

The appearance of Helena via video was same old, same old — zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The appearance of Jennifer Smith? We’ll see what Monday brings.

The piece de resistance was the return of the Ice Princess! After all these years…

As usual, James, you’re kinder than I. I don’t care about Jennifer Smith (now if Roseanne were back, that’d be different) or that silly rock and the sight of Helena just makes me recoil. I don’t find evil and sadism entertaining unless they can weave in some humanity or, at least, some humor. She no longer has either. Regarding Sonny: James, how many storylines does this egomaniac require at the same time? Right now, there’s:
1. Getting Carly back
2. Dealing with feelings for Nina
3. Missing Jason
4. Going off his medication. Why?
5. Reclaiming his empire
6. Making amends with Michael regarding Nina
7. Inciting trouble all over town (with Scott, with Nikolas)
8. Buying a new business for Phyllis
9. Figuring out what happened to that mess of moss that used to crawl on the kitchen counter
10. Finding some decent hair dye
11. Dealing with Luke’s “death”
12. Inserting himself into Brando & Sasha’s tragedy
13. Bonding with Dante (talk about sleep-inducing).

Enough already!

First, Soaphound, thank you for your reply, although I’m not sure how “kind” my own character is here today. 🙂

Second, I love how you replied to my unnumbered list with an entertaining numbered list! Seeing in black and white (or is it black and grey?) all the various storylines given to this loathsome, tiresome character, as you have methodically summarized, is appalling. “Enough already!” Indeed!

And third, my memory is a bit hazy about Jennifer Smith and the Ice Princess, but I remember four different actresses playing the role (including Roseanne — hey, isn’t she available?!?!). And the Ice Princess might have been mentioned in a storyline long after its inception, but I do like this nod to the past (itself, a favorite pastime of mine).

Cheers!

Perhaps the producers were not successful in persuading Jonathan Jackson to come back for a short time. Or maybe, the producers did not talk to Jonathan Jackson.

It would have been nice move to get Jackson there. The fans would have appreciated it. Thanks for your reply, Anne.

Elizabeth should have been there, if not for herself then for Aiden who is his grandson. What about Kevin? Other than the time Luke’s cousin pretended to be him and tried to kill Sonny, Spencer got along with Luke. Was this scene thrown in to prop Ava who had no business being there. Hell, Epiphany would have better reasons to be there. And how can you not have Bobbie speak!!!

John, I totally agree with you on all your points, particularly that Elizabeth should have been there. She could even had said that Lucky reached out to her and asked her to be there for him… Further, Bobbie should have spoken, given she knew Luke longer than anyone, if nothing else…

We can’t forget about Covid maybe it’s not as easy to get people to guest star on the soaps like it use to be. Also maybe they just weren’t available at the time

Good points, Pat!

It is Stupid—-
There is no sane reason to, out of the blue, to kill Luke off..
What would be a logical purpose to kill off Luke= none.
I do not believe Luke is dead–
To bring Luke into a story, after all these many years,
is asinine..
Luke’s death is a fake-out– A stupid one.

Ok, I have a lot to unload here but I won’t Because I just can’t put my thoughts together, but I do have a question, who in the hell is playing Jennifer Smith?

Damned if I know, but she’s probably too young for the part. Jennifer was roughly the same age as Luke. She was de-sorased in that ridiculous “exit story” ReRon wrote for Luke in 2015. As was her father Frank who should have been left dead, and would have been at least in his late 90s(as both actors who portrayed the historical Frank Smith had died of old age related causes by then)… but showed up in that dumb story looking about the same age as Luke himself.

The 90s stunt casting versions of Jennifer Smith – portrayed by Roseanne Barr and then Sally Struthers – were at least amusing. The 2015 version was as lame as the rest of that story. Hell only knows what the contrived purpose for bringing her back this time will be…. though I suspect it might have more to do with mob-related business than anything to do with her “mourning” Luke Spencer, given the way they made sure she crossed paths with Sonny as well as Laura.

Holly Gagnier, is playing Jennifer now (and her previous visit in 2015).

She played Cassie Callison on OLTL and more recently has been an acting teacher/coach. Her clients include Nicholas Chavez (Spencer).

I think some of these criticisms are a bit harsh. Budget cuts make it difficult to have scenes with upwards of 25 people at a time these days, and I can’t fault the writers or the show if the actors who played lucky or Ethan were perhaps not available to shoot. I think sometimes we need to be a lot more understanding about the genre we all love. It’s not perfect but year in and year out for decades it continues to entertain us. It’s not perfect and the writers are not in control over actors’ schedules when they are no longer on the show. Do I think Luke is dead? No. Do I think this storyline will turn out to be a great old time mystery that ties most of the cast into it? I do, and I’m happy to go along for the ride with an open mind to see where it goes❤️ It’s too easy to criticize and tear down these shows—I’m going to choose to appreciate them and to be grateful for the small handful of soaps we still have left—because the day they are all gone and all we have to watch are talk, game and cooking shows is the day I’ll start criticizing daytime.

I agree, and also there are restrictions due to the pandemic that is still prominent and they are trying to keep everyone safe while being able to still provide drama on a weekly/daily basis. I know that GH temporarily shut down production during Omicron, so obviously they are trying to keep people safe while driving story. I’m very much looking forward to some mystery and intrigue and hopefully it does not result in a mass number of deaths.

That’s an important point. Hairy certain the number of performers in any particular scene is limited to a maximum of 12.

Bravo! I agree, I rarely find anything so bad that it deserves condemnation with regards to GH. It’s a soap, doing the best it can within whatever restrictions it faces. I do hope Luke is not dead & yes, fake deaths are over used, but we’re often delighted when dead characters return, so it’s easy to overlook a fake funeral or two.

Spot on ! 100%

It was a piss poor job! Why not show clips of Luke and the characters that he acted with for so many years? I’m not talking about a rehash of the whole L&L saga. Clips with him and Genie in other stories. Clips with Sonny. What about his kids? Jackson wouldnt or couldnt come back but that doesnt mean they cannot show clips of him and Luke. Tracy was lost in this episode. Why not have someone there to support her? Monica? And no Skye Quartermaine. I know, they only have so much money and time but it was very unmemorable. Scotty was the ONLY good part of the whole Luke episode. He stood out as the only shinning star in the episode. When Luke’s “Ashes” blew over and hit him in the face was an instant classic! Helena, its over, give it a break! She was great in her day but lets move on. She is “Dead.” You have a great Cassadine villain on screen, right now, being played to perfection by Charles Shaughnessy! HE is the focus now, causing havoc with the citizens of Port Charles. He is excellent! This was probably all for naught but we move forward.

They would’ve had to pay Geary his last going day rate if they used any clips. If those scenes featured performers not on Friday’s episode, they would’ve had too been paid their day rate as well.

Since Geary is still living (and quite likely, so is Luke) it was not a tribute episode like they did for John Reilly (Sean Donely) last year.

Those day rates for Geary and others would have taken a serious amount away from GH’s daily budget. So I think it was a choice of either showing clips of Geary with Genie Francis etc or having Jacklyn Zeman and others physically on the set.

As usual, Timmm, you speak truth. I’ve always felt that tribute shows should be JUST THAT… appreciation of past episodes and performances. No need to dredge up false sentiment and imagine phony reactions. Jennifer Smith…REALLY?? I feel the same about those Kennedy Center Honors specials. Rather than see an artist’s work desecrated by a generation of performers that don’t understand and/or are incapable of interpreting the work adequately, JUST SHOW US the original work. Did you see that “tribute” to Bette Midler last month? Disgraceful!

Luke is alive.’Hate him, or enjoy him, like or love him, he is alive. The older sexxxi man himself, bad to the core at times VICTOR showed it, his smirks, to him saying, right in the camera, “The citizens of Port Charles, are in for a big surprise.”[Or said something to this affect.] No way, he is dead. I hope 1 day mid 70’s, yes old now, senior citizen he is, but i hope just 1 day, even 1/2 of epie or a few epie’s, a short 3 month contract, the great LUKE SPENCER (Anthony Geary) return soon. No way as GENIE FRANCIS say, he would just die or that she has a hard time beliving in an “accident”lol
adios

Agree no way is he dead! I can’t wait until this story progresses and the great luke Spenser comes back to save the day!

Loved it!! Seeing all the vets together was wonderful. Yes, it obviously would’ve been great to have all of Luke’s kids back but they pulled off surprises and humor and touching moments all in one episode. Well done!

I didn’t shed a tear which says it was a very poorly written memorial service. I’ve watched GH since it started and expected so much more. Where were the flashbacks of some iconic scenes.

Didn’t Tracy just get through telling Laura at Liv and Neds vow renewal that she had a piece of the Ice Princess that she was going to use to finance her future endeavors? I was not watching back when all that stuff was going on, so who does the jewel really belong to?

I agree that Luke’s death came out of nowhere and certainly will serve other story; otherwise, there’d be no reason to bring it up. If he really is dead, the memorial service itself was really disappointing for the arguably the most well known character on daytime. Also, I couldn’t believe that Scorpio was wasting all that time with Scotty and did not have once scene with Laura reminiscing about Luke. Curtis had more interaction with her. And also why haven’t they talked about Victor too!

General Hospital

THIS WEEK on GENERAL HOSPITAL: Dex and Josslyn’s Relationship at a Crossroad, Jason Contacts Diane For Help

Previews for the week of March 18-22nd on General Hospital, plus the latest promo for the daytime drama series, share that Jason’s (Steve Burton) return has already affected so many lives, especially given the fact that several key people aka Michael (Chad Duell), Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) and Danny (Asher Antonyzn) know his location at this moment.

Eventually, Jason (Steve Burton) will get in touch with Diane (Carolyn Hennesy), from what one can only assume is legal help. However, John (Adam J. Harrington) seems hot on Jason’s trail, but the question remains, if Jason was working for John as seemingly revealed in a flashback to keep out of prison, are the two working together … or are they mortal enemies?

Meanwhile, it looks like its curtain for now in the relationship between Dex (Evan Hofer) and Josslyn (Eden McCoy). After Nina (Cynthia Watros) dropped a bombshell about Cyrus (Jeff Kober), Joss gets an earful of information from Dex, when he admits that he was in Cyrus’s hospital room to kill him on orders from Sonny (Maurice Benard).

Photo: ABC

According to Soap Opera Digest, Eden McCoy shared, ” I think what’s different about this situation, and what pushes her over the edge, is that it wasn’t, like, a self-defense situation. It wasn’t at a shoot-out. He wasn’t protecting Sonny. Cyrus wasn’t doing anything! And I think that really scares her, to see him in the light of voluntarily killing someone in their sleep. That is very different from, like, shooting someone that’s shooting at Sonny. She is just in shock, like she can’t actually believe it.” As told by McCoy, “At that point, Josslyn says.’I can’t do this anymore,’ and makes her exit.”

Take a look below at the rest of the official teasers for the week.

MONDAY, MARCH 18

Dex makes a confession to Josslyn. Tracy shares a moment with Sonny. Diane offers encouragement to Alexis. Kevin explains what might have led to Marshall’s misdiagnosis. Stella has an unlikely encounter. 

TUESDAY, MARCH 19

Josslyn opens up to Carly. Dex confides in Anna. Sonny offers Natalia some valuable insights. Jason gets a visitor. Brook Lynn lays into John.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20

Tracy sees a new side of Cody. Alexis informs Molly about her plans. Natalia has a revelation. Anna makes an admission to John over drinks.

THURSDAY, MARCH 21

Drew has a proposition for Nina. A photo shoot at Deception goes wrong. Laura and Heather find some common ground. Willow is worried by her actions.

FRIDAY, MARCH 22

Jason reaches out to Diane for help. Maxie calls Lucy out. Cody and Olivia comfort each other. Sasha makes a huge decision. Chase and Brook Lynn are stunned.

Now below, watch this week’s promo for the action in Port Charles.

What storyline are you looking forward to the most? The least? Let us know in the comment section.

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General Hospital

REPORT: General Hospital Alum, Robyn Bernard, Homeless & Battling Addiction, Before Her Passing at 64

Robyn Bernard passed away earlier this week on March 12th, when her body was found in an empty field, which is allegedly behind a 7/11, and some trailer homes, in San Jacinto, California. The actress and singer, and former General Hospital alum, played Terry Brock from 1984-1990 and was 64-years-old at the time of her death.

New reporting on the life that she led over the past year, and longtime mental health issues and struggles with addiction, paint a picture that may have led to her death. Although it should be noted, the toxicology report is currently not completed or released. However, the sheriff department stated that no foul play is suspected.

Now, according to the Daily Mail, friends of Bernard spoke on how she had become part of their homeless community, and that she she struggled with alcohol addiction, and had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia through the latter part of her life.

Photo: ABC

In their accounts, things went south for Robyn when in 2014 she moved to the community in San Jacinto, which is 84 miles from Los Angeles. At that time, she moved into a trailer park for senior citizens and was beloved for her singing by her neighbors.

The report also notes that in 2015, tragically, Bernard’s trailer park home was burned to the ground taking 7 of her 8 beloved cats and all of her possessions. After that, Robin stayed with many people of the community, but the previous management chased her off of the premises. She then broke up with her boyfriend and eventually stopped communicating with her parents.

Bernard’s final home was in a community called Parkview Estates, facilitated by Riverside County’s Adult Protective Services Department.  According to police records obtained by Daily Mail, through 2017-2019, Bernard faced numerous DUI drugs and alcohol arrests during that period.

Joni Woods, who lives opposite the space where Bernard’s trailer once was said: ‘I used to see her (Robyn) around town all the time pushing her shopping carts. She always had four or five of them, and I always felt so bad for her.” Robyn’s former boyfriend, Dan Berlin, expressed that the last time he had seen the GH alum was two years ago, “She was out there, talking to herself in a nonsense way. She was a schizophrenic.’

The friends of Bernard shared: “She used to say that Hollywood screwed her over,” adding, “They did her dirty and that’s why she ended up living in San Jacinto of all places.”

Share your thoughts on this tragic story of the last part of Robyn’s life, which again, stresses the importance of trying to find the appropriate help for those dealing with mental illness, being homeless, and addiction. 

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General Hospital

While ‘General Hospital’s’ Dante Lays in a Coma; Dominic Zamprogna Has Some Great New Portrait Headshots

On General Hospital, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) has thus far survived two bullets to the chest, and is laying in a coma. Sam (Kelly Monaco), his lady love, is by his side and beside herself after learning her ex Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) is alive and is of the belief that Jason have been the shooter who tried to take out Dante.

Sonny (Maurice Benard) has been wracked with guilt after he wasn’t so kind to his son, before the PCPD cop got shot. Meanwhile, Jason is hiding out at the Quartermaine boat house trying to recover from the gun shot wound he received.

While Dante’s life is still hanging in the balance, it appears that his portrayer, Dominic Zamprogna, took a diverse range of headshot and portrait photos under the eyes of talented photographer Jackson Davis. The photos were posted on Davis’ Instagram account.

Photo: ABC

A few former GH castmates commented on the photos including Marc Anthony Samuel (ex-Felix) who expressed: “Dante, Dante, Dante…,” and Mark Lawson (ex-Dustin) posted, “Dom!!!! Handle yo’ biz.”

Zamprogna joined General Hospital back in 2009 and has been nominated four times for a Daytime Emmy Award throughout his time thus far on the ABC daytime drama series.

So, what do you think will happen to Dante? Will he wake up and be just fine, or will he have another medical condition? What do you think of Dominic’s new headshots? Comment below.

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