General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ to Pay Tribute to Anthony Geary by Rebroadcasting Farewell Episode as Luke Spencer
On the heels of the heartbreaking news that eight-time Daytime Emmy winner and soap opera icon, Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer) passed away on December 14 at the age of 78, comes word from ABC and General Hospital, via TV Insider hat the daytime drama plans on honoring him by rebroadcasting his final episode as Luke Spencer.
Originally airing on Monday, July 27, 2015, Geary’s last episode will run this coming New Years Day on January 1, 2026. The encore presentation previously marked Tony’s nearly four decades with the soap opera in which he became household name and a part of pop culture when he and Genie Francis (Laura) became the most popular soap supercouple of all-time as Luke and Laura in GH’s early 80s heyday.
After winning his record-breaking 8th Daytime Emmy as Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series at the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards in April of 2015, the following month in May, Geary announced his retirement and that he was leaving the show. His departure came at a time when the month prior, Tony delivered which may have been his finest performance during GH’s 52nd anniversary episode which aired on April 1, 2015. In the now classic episode, the reason behind the Luke/Fluke personality shift fully came to light. In the standalone episode, Luke remembers not only did he kill his father, but he had accidentally killed his mother.

Photo: ABC
The Luke/Fluke story revelation was a culmination of a year of story where Luke was acting very out of character and where his dark side “Fluke” (which stood for “Fake Luke”) would emerge. In Geary’s final story arc, after his release from a sanitarium, Luke reunited with Laura for one last adventure, rescuing Lucky (Jonathan Jackson), Ethan (Nathan Parsons) and a young Jake (James Nigbor) who he thought he killed in a hit and run, thanks to Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers). Later, returning to Port Charles, Tracy (Jane Elliot) had annulled their marriage. Sadly, Luke returned to his childhood home with its haunting memories, said goodbye to his family, and made the decision to leave Port Charles solo.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times on his exit decision in 2015, Geary shared he had contemplated leaving GH for over 15 years, but now was the time, explaining “I feel very positive about my decision. That’s tempered by leaving a character that has been part of me for more than half my life. They’ve given me a terrific wrap for my character. He’s been a difficult, eclectic character to find a logical motivating conclusion for, but they’ve done that.”

Courtesy/ABC
Geary later clarified with EW.com that he was not sick of playing Luke and if something came up down the line he would return to Amsterdam for it. “He’s an infinitely fascinating character. I really don’t think we have exhausted what he can do. It depends on the writers and how far they want to look. We had just been repeating ourselves for a while. I had become a dad, a grandfather. There was no way I was going to stick around to become just another guy. If they come up with something, a twist, I would come for it.”
In 2017, Tony made a surprise appearance helping usher off Jane Elliot as she, at that point, had chosen to leave the show. In the story, Tracy met up with Luke in a coffee shop in Europe, signaling the two would go off of into the sunset together. Jane Elliot later returned to the show and Tony did not.
Then in 2022, GH decided to kill-off the character of Luke off-screen when Tracy revealed on New Years Day, that he has been killed in a cable car accident in Austria which later was revealed to be at the hands of Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaughnessy).
When Tony won his 8th Daytime Emmy in 2015, Michael Fairman TV spoke to the legendary star immediately following, where he spoke of winning the gold for the Luke/Fluke story, the 52nd anniversary episode, and heading back to work for what would be his final months before his ultimate exit. You can watch that below from the Michael Fairman Channel archives.
Now let us know, are you looking forward to seeing Tony Geary’s final episode as Luke Spencer again when its rebroadcast on New Years Day? Make sure to bring the hankies! Share your thoughts in the comment section.
This is a rare occurrence for a show that rarely pays former performers for older episodes. Look forward to reliving the ending to a somewhat controversial storyline.
Yes I’m excited
Oh, yes…the episode where Luke did not have a goodbye scene with Laura. I’ll pass.
The irony of them airing it at all. Tony hated that final storyline and he gave that scathing interview when he left.
Yes! Tony complained about some fans who continue to believe that Luke’s actions towards Laura on October 5, 1979 was only seduction.
And viewers never got to see what was in that letter Luke left for Laura.
I was thinking about that letter the other day. The envelope addressed to “angel.”
I already watched it so I’ll pass.
Copy that. Lol
Alrighty then.
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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