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General Hospital names Shelly Altman New Co-Head Writer!

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/ABC

There is more shifting and changing going on behind the scenes in soaps these days than in the cast lists!  News today out of Soap Opera Digest is that General Hospitalhas done another shake-up at the top of the writing regime!  Shelly Altman has been named the new co-head writer, and she will work alongside already previously named new co-head writer, Garin Wolf.

Altman has previously written for One Life to Live and Another World, among other television projects. Altman won a Daytime Emmy award with the the writing team of One Life to Live  in 2008,  and has also received Best Writing nominations from the Writers Guild Of America.

So what do you think of this news, soapers?  Many fans have been commenting recently and have been disgruntled with the show recently under Garin Wolf, and were previously disgruntled with the show under Bob Guza.  Perhaps, Altman is the ticket? Let us know!

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Maybe I’m in the minority, but I’m actually really enjoying Wolf’s writing. Lesser known characters are getting fleshed out (Matt, Steve), dialogue is more intelligent, history and veterans are better utilized, etc. Even Elizabeth, a character that I thought was utterly ruined by Guza, is back to her flawed but charming self. My favorite part of the transition is that the mob/hospital arcs are balancing out – not every episode feels like the Sonny show. I still wish they’d eliminate the Franco nonsense, but as it’s unlikely, I’ll just hope it’s less painful to watch 🙂

Interesting. So the fact that they are bringing on someone to help (isn’t she a breakdown writer for GH?) seems to mean that they are still willing to invest in this show and give it a chance to succeed. At least that’s how I would like to look at it. Viva la GH!

So this news + the Michelle Val Jean news makes for some pretty fun dot-connecting!

Can we please get some new writers on Y and R..I barely watch anymore..its really really bad.

After today’s discraceful episode, not amoment too soon!

*disgraceful. Sorry.

Hopefully the addition of Altman will give us somebody who can actually follow through on a storyline instead of just throw us a couple of tease. I like wolf a whole lot more than guza but so far he’s not delivering either. If you wanna really give the show a boost, don’t tell us what you hope to deliver but actually deliver. So far under wolf everything stilll feels like guza s gh. Its like everyone is in limbo. everything is prolong much longer, it feels like jason and sam have been on their honymoon forever, the maxie and spinneli storyline plays out the same way everyday, its like reset, repeat same problem, same everything , their storyline is going nowhere . the people we thought we would start seeing more of are still appearing like day players, i’m not seeing mac, monica, more under wolf then when guza was writing, and the lead players are still in their same boring storyline that guza had them under. hopefully Altman will bring a female touch that gh lacks under their head writers like guza and wolf.

Something – or someone – needs to happen, and, hopefully, Ms Altman will be to one to work with Wolf to realize some of the potential, On paper, many of the current stories look good, but the delivery is failing. Once promising dialogue has turned repetitious. Yes, Wolf has showing more balance in a wide use of characters, but his weekly balance isn’t working because of the “block” story telling. Dropping characters mid-story while focusing on another block of characters for a two-week story isn’t working. That is NOT the way to maintain interest. Hopefully, a co-writer will help GH get off the sandbar that Spinelli’s little boat became stuck on last week. Right now, the show has parallels to the agonizing slow-moving boat cruise story which is drifting without a captain.

IMO, yesterday’s GHepisode was a “slap in the face” to Claire Labine and Robin and Stone’s HIV/AIDS storyline. To have someone, a doctor no less, threaten to inject a HIV-person with HIV+ blood went way OTT even for GH. This totally belittles one of the greatest storylines GH has ever done to continue with a storyline that should’ve ended along with Guza’s departure.

Jason Thompsom, Kimberly McCullough and Brianna Brown were excellent in yesterday’s scenes. What bothered me was GH even went that route all because of obsession and jealousy.

Looks like part of Altman’s job will be to reign Wolfe in on making sense with stupid storylines.

I love GH and am a lonnnng time fan, and am in favor of the new, fresh turn it is taking, away from “mob activity” and back to more character driven storylines. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Jason and Sonny immensely, but the personal side of their characters, and how they interact with those they love, as opposed to mob killing and dealings all the time. That being said, as long as Garin Wolf and Shelly Altman have been brought in to truly help GH withstand and overcome the soap world decline, then I am thrilled and will back them 100 percent, but if they were put in place by Brian Frons, to help bring the show down (which I can see Frons doing), then I find that revolting. I guess time will tell. Long live General Hospital and the wonderful characters many of us have loved for years, and much good luck to Garin Wolf and Shelly Altman!!!!

sonny and brenda needs to reunite in 2012

General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Carly and Lulu Make Plans to Rescue Their Children; Anna Looks Determined to Secure Her Freedom

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This week on all-new episodes of General Hospital, the race is on! Can Lulu (Alexa Havins) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) get to Rocco (Finn Carr) and Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) in time to ensure their safety from Cullum (Andrew Hawkes)? Can Carly (Laura Wright) with the help of her brother, Lucas (Van Hansis) rescue Josslyn (Eden McCoy) from captivity at Wyndemere? These questions may be answered, plus the return of the one and only Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) are on tap!

In the just released General Hospital spoilers video for the week of June 22-26, Lulu tells her mother, Laura (Genie Francis), “Dante and I have to get to Rocco before Cullum!” Meanwhile, Rocco (Finn Carr) looks angered and emotional as Britt walks through their cabin hideout. Does Rocco know his parents are on the way to find them, or has Cullum already tracked them down to the British Virgin Islands?

Back in Port Charles, Carly is informing Lucas that his niece, “is a WSB agent.” She knows Josslyn (Eden McCoy) is being held against her will at Wyndemere, and she has to find a way to get her out. Lucas agrees with Carly’s plan of, “We go in and we don’t leave without Josslyn!” Elsewhere, Josslyn is looking worried for her future as she is stuck in captivity thanks to Cassius, Cullum and Sidwell!

Courtesy/ABC

FINOLA HUGHES RETURNS

The final moments of the teaser promo reveal Anna in a psychiatric clinic in France. We have not seen her for months after Cullum, Sidwell and Pascal fed her hallucinogenics to make her believe her arch nemesis, Cesar Faison was alive!

Now, the doctors walk towards her hospital bed, where we see the super spy calmly knitting. Is Anna back to normal and playing everyone to get out of her predicament, or does she still remain deeply traumatized … or both?

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

MONDAY, JUNE 22
Willow gets an unwelcome surprise. Trina sticks to her guns. “Nathan” wants reassurance. Ethan advises Ava. Brook Lynn receives an update.

TUESDAY, JUNE 23
Dante cautions Liz. Laura learns a secret. Brook Lynn confides in Michael. Sonny challenges Ava. Chase makes a decision.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
Anna meets with her doctor. Carly makes a stunning confession. Britt extracts a promise. Cullum pulls a fast one. Gio and Emma hit the pool.

THURSDAY, JUNE 25
Josslyn clashes with Cassius. Lulu and Dante make a discovery. Chase receives a warning. Jordan seeks help. Alexis is summoned to the PCPD.

FRIDAY, JUNE 26
Anna takes a huge risk. Britt is in grave danger. Willow is in disbelief. Danny must act fast. Curtis jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Check out the latest General Hospital promo entitled, “Rescue Mission” below.

Now weigh-in: Do you think Anna is still mentally off-balance, or OK, and just pretending to be troubled to get out of France and get back to Port Charles? Will Josslyn finally be rescued, or will Carly and Lucas find themselves locked up with her? And, who will get to Britt and Rocco first? Cullum, or Dante and Lulu? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

Maurice Benard Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’ Writers; Teases Upcoming Sonny Scenes with Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric

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With the highly-anticipated returns of Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) on this week’s June 24 episode of General Hospital, Steve Burton’s (Jason Morgan) upcoming return on July 13, which also serves as the ABC daytime drama’s 16,000 episode, things are about to fire on all cylinders in the story, as noted today by series star, Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos).

On Father’s Day, the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning actor and mental health activist took to his Instagram and expressed in a video that he has some unbelievable upcoming senes with the aforementioned Burton and Hughes. Add to that Nazneen Contractor (Justine Turner) and Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing), where Benard gave credit where credit is due to the GH writing team, which is led by co-head writers, Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten..

In this video, Benard said, “I just want to get on here and say that I did some work with Steve Burton, Finola Hughes, Rick Hearst, Nazneen Contractor, and they’re all just fantastic. Truly fantastic. But, I want to say the writing was just exceptional. It truly was. It was exceptional. So, thankful for that kind of writing. I know writers don’t get the credit a lot, but I just want to say to the General Hospital writing team, keep rolling!”

GENERAL HOSPITAL PREVIEW

So now the question becomes, with a major tease like that, what is about to go down between Sonny, Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric? Will we finally get to the end of the line for Sidwell (Carlo Rota), as previously teased by the GH co-head writers? Will we learn what happened to Jason and Anna, fully? Will Justine and Sonny becomes closer or stop their liaisons? And what of Ric? Will he be true blue to his brother or double-cross him? There is a lot at stake as we move further into the summer and one that looks like it could be one of the more exciting ones in years!

FINOLA HUGHES CONFIRMED AMAZING SCENES WITH MAURICE BENARD

As a punctuation point to his video, Benard also shared this written message in the post: “I just did some wonderful scenes with Steve Burton, Rick Hearst, Finola Hughes and Nazneen Contractor and  and unbelievable writing, freaking amazing scenes that you will see in the near future on General Hospital.” In fact, Finola Hughes jumped in the post comment thread and responded, “I loved our scenes so much xxx”

Fans will most likely see all the scenes Benard referred to later in July, since GH tapes approximately six weeks ahead of air.

So, are you excited to see what Maurice is talking about? Are you hyped for what’s to come on GH? Any clue on what you think will go down between the main characters on the soap with the returns of Anna Devane and Jason Morgan to the mix? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

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A post shared by Maurice Benard (@mauricebenard)

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Announces Upcoming Release of His First Single, ‘If You Need Me’

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In a surprise move, Daytime Emmy winner, Chad Duell (ex-Michael Corinthos, GH) is getting ready to unveil a new chapter of his career in music.

The former GH star, where he played the son of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) for 15 years, has announced his new single, “If You Need Me” will drop on Friday, June 26. The single is now available for pre-order on Spotify and major music streaming platforms and is distributed by DistroKid.

Taking to his Instagram story over the weekend, to announce the pre-save of his new single, Chad expressed, “I’ll make a full post about what I’ve been up to and my music once it goes live next week, but you can pre-save my first single so it goes straight to your Spotify once it drops next week.”

Photo: CDuellIG

SINCE LEAVING GENERAL HOSPITAL

Previously, since his departure from the ABC soap opera. Chad starred alongside Zach Mendez in the world premiere of of Yum Yum at Annapolis, a new play written by Bruce Reisman. Duell last appeared on General Hospital on the January 21, 2025 episode.

The part was recast with Rory Gibson who debuted as the new Michael in May of 2025 during the Nurses’ Ball episodes and who has remained in the role since that time.

In an interview earlier this year on The Able Show, Duell said on his decision to exit the soap opera, “I was blessed to be part of that (show) for as long as I have, but what happens sometimes is if you’re doing the same thing, especially in a creative field for such a long time, you can get a little burnt out in a way. It can make you a little depressed, so that’s kind of what happened. On top of that, I had other things going on in my life at the time. My father passed away recently and I just needed a reset. So, I stepped away. A lot of times you have to go through some stuff to really step into that next level. I needed to kind of feel uncomfortable.”

So, what type of musical genre will Chad’s new song be? Country? Pop? Rock? Dance/Club? Something else? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below, and if you are eager to hear the new single next week via the comment section below.

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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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Finn Carr & Dominic Zamprogna as Rocco & Dante

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