General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Sam’s Loved Ones Gather For Her Memorial Service in an Emotional Tearjerker
It was time for the memorial service for Sam McCall. An emotional day that viewers of ABC’s General Hospital have been, on one hand looking forward as it would bring closure for the character and hopefully bring a proper goodbye, while others are still devastated over the decision to let longtime GH vet, Kelly Monaco, go after 21-years on the series.
On Tuesday’s November 19th episode, Sam’s family and friends are now at the church and the memorial gets started right at the top of the show. There were numerous remembrances and retrospective clips as many of Sam’s longest relationships in town spoke on her virtues, her love of danger, her leather jacket, her giving nature, her understated ways, and why she was a wonderful daughter, sister, partner, and more.
Molly (Kristen Vaganos) was the first to speak and she made the point that with Sam, they (along with sister, Kristina) were known as the “Davis girls” and were always a family. She went on to say that Sam was the quiet and calming sister who one could go to for advice. In a hankie-moment Molly said that now there will be only three sets of arms in the Davis girls hugs in the future. However, Sam will always be there with them. Next, Kristina (Kate Mansi) said a few words on how Sam was always her safety net and would not judge her and that she believed in second chances. As she spoke, we see Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) and Molly holding on to each other and in tears.
Courtesy/ABC
Perhaps, one of the most emotional speeches came from Spinelli (Bradford Anderson), and for longtime viewers, it was Sam that brought Jason (Steve Burton) and Spinelli together. Spinelli spoke of how as a techy-nerd, she was one of the first people to befriend him. He flashes back to when Sam was going to try to help him work out more to build more muscle to help win the love of Maxie. He weeps that his “Fair Samantha” gave him the confidence to fall for the woman of his dreams. We cut to Maxie crying in the church.
Carly (Laura Wright) and Liz (Rebecca Herbst) speak on their contentious relationships with Sam over the years but how they learned to respect her. Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) speaks, and in a heart-tugging moment says that Sam saved his sister Lulu’s life when he and his brother, Nikolas, couldn’t. He hates that Sam lost her life in the process. He doesn’t know why she was taken from them, but their family will forever be in her debt.
Courtesy/ABC
In another hankie-inducing moment, it’s time for Dante (Dominic Zamporgna) to speak. He recounts the dark patch he hit in his life with his terrible bout of PTSD and how Sam stepped up to be there for him, and how their friendship turned to love. Dante promises he’s going to do what she would want him to do and that is to keep going. Dante looks at Sam’s portrait and says through his tears, that he’ll always love her. He looks over at Sam’s children and tells them he loves them all too, and that will never change.
If you wanted more heartbreak, it was when Rocco (Finn Carr) and Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) both spoke. Rocco goes first and tells the attendees just how wonderful Sam was to him as a a stepmom. He goes on to say he is so thankful to her for giving him a brother, Danny, and his sister, Scout. In fact, Sam and Rocco shared secret handshake, and he wants to teach it to Danny and Scout now. As Rocco says this from the pulpit, Danny cries.
Courtesy/ABC
Later, it is Jason and Danny together who address those gathered for Sam’s service. Jason goes first and says he is so grateful for the love and the time that he and Sam spent together. Danny speaks about the different things his mom loved. First, she loved to go fast. Next, she loved a good black leather jacket, and they are going to give hers to Scout when she’s older. Then, she loved Noodle Buda’s Chinese food. However, Danny closed his speech in his most heart-tugging moment of all. Danny shares how much Sam loved him, Scout, and Rocco.
Courtesy/ABC
As the service came to its conclusion, it was Sam’s grieving mother, Alexis, who attempts to read her prepared speech about her exceptional daughter. However, she ends up tossing it and speaking from the heart. She says that Sam “choosing” her to be her mother, and letting her in, years after they found each other, was so profound to her. She says that Sam was not just her daughter, but her friend, and she didn’t know if she could have raised Molly and Kristina without Sam, as she was her anchor. Alexis shares the only way to properly honor her daughter is to be brave just like she was. So with that, Alexis reveals through her tears, she won’t grieve long, or get lost in sorrow, but will cheer Sam on to her next great adventure. As she concludes she looks up and says, “Thank you for choosing me, my angel.”
Courtesy/ABC
Sadly, in a very powerful and poignant moment, after everyone has left the memorial, Alexis is left sitting there alone. Kristina and Molly find her. Alexis says she doesn’t want to leave and asks the girls to sit with her, as this will be the last time they will all be together with Sam.
Cut to: Lulu (the debut of Alexa Havins) waking up in the hospital.
So, what did you think of Sam McCall’s memorial service? What moments had you reaching for the hankies? Share your thoughts via the comment section, but first watch Spinelli’s farewell to his dear friend below.
Some powerful performances from Nancy, Kristen, Bradford, Becky, Dominic and Finn. If Nancy doesn’t win best actress next year, I’d be shocked. The flashbacks were well chosen. Some vintage Sam-Elizabeth and they even showed Sam in her relationship with Sonny.
Despite a short violin solo (which was not in Sam’s rock and roll style) Gio did not need to be there and was a seat filler. Gio’s place in the pew could’ve logically been filled Jordan, Felicia or Laura – all contract performers.
As for Lulu finally waking up… girl’s been in a coma for 4 years. She’s not going to have the motor skills to move her arm like she did. The whole scene should’ve been saved for a different episode.
I hope Gio’s character develops more and he doesn’t become one of those ” what ever happened with” character. Perhaps a Quartermaine.
The mystery about Gio has already dissipated. Many were speculating he was Dante and BLQ’s offspring. That faded because Dante has story mapped out with Lulu for a while. Also, last week, Brook Lynn made a point to say Lois can’t keep a secret. So, BLQ is not involved in the secret.
Gio is not Sonny’s kid, as Benard has gone on record saying Sonny doesn’t need any more children (regardless of age).
So, the odds of Gio becoming the next Dev, Rafe or Rory are pretty good.
Lol, this didn’t age well.
Normally, I would ignore this, but you’re commenting on a post from 18 months ago?
Bottom line you let go of an actress that people loved ! We get that everyone at the show can act but honestly gh it runs deeper. Sam will be missed so your need for more daytime Emmy’s means nothing
where was Laura? we know she wasn’t with Lulu, Anna could’ve of also attended and at least represent the Drakes, since Robin and Patrick and Emma were not there. It was just an ok ceremony to a character that deserved better, The actors as usual are always good, but I wasn’t crying since I was more annoyed for this pointless storyline, I keep waiting for a miracle twist, but as I said this year 2024 for GH is a bust for me as a viewer, The actors though top of their game as usual. hight light was Drew not speaking his fakeness is unbearable to watch.
How ultimately soap opera that at the very moment Sam’s funeral is taking place they have Lulu wake up
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.
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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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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