General Hospital
General Hospital Writing Team Wins At 68th Annual WGA Awards In Daytime Drama Category!
Courtesy/WGA
The writing team of General Hospital led by former head writer Ron Carlivati were the big winners tonight in the Daytime Drama category at the 68th Annual Writers Guild Awards. The ceremonies are being held simmultaneously in New York and Los Angeles and are still in progress.
General Hospital beat The Bold and the Beautiful to take home its second WGA Award in a row in this category. Carlivati and his team won for their submission of three scripts; one of which was the beautifully written 52nd anniversary of GH that aired on April 1, 2015 that centered around the reveal of what caused Luke Spencer (Tony Geary) to act out as Fluke. Viewers learned as a young boy Luke had accidently killed his mother and murdered his father. The scenes in the show flipped from black and white to color, and incorporated other cast members including Laura Wright, who played Luke’s mother, Lena.
The winning GH team consists of Ron Carlivati, Anna Theresa Cascio, Andrea Archer Compton, Suzanne Flynn, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Elizabeth Page, Jean Passanante, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, and Chris Van Etten.
Days of our Lives writer Melissa Salmons will also be honored tonight with the Richard B. Jablow Award for service with the guild at the ceremonies in New York City. To follow the live time updated winners list in all categories click here.
So, what do you think about GH’s victory for the top writing honors by the WGA, and former GH head writer Ron Carlivati and his team being honored for the 52nd anniversary episode of GH? Share you comments below!
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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CONGRATS RON !!! & team !!
—-Carlivati and his team won for their submission of three scripts; one of which was the beautifully written 52nd anniversary of GH that aired on April 1, 2015—–
TNT DYNAMITE !! ^^^^^^^ (that ^^^^ was great soap…
WHY?
I second Nancy’s query, only louder and more drawn out.
WWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????
I did not see one thing about the 52nd anniversary ep… other than touting Anthony Geary
I just do not see it… I watch the same show
I really will prop RC. it really bothers me.. that Maurice Benard… “just being Honest” dissed and disrespected the writing of RC…
he only liked 4 months of all of year 2015… J and S started airing in September, 2015
I will also bring in to this post the actors who portray Julian and Alexis who are also disgruntled employees…. allegedly.
Ron Carlivati… revived GH… “saved from cancellation” a big word
It was just a fluke that he won…lol
52 was legendary, what were the other two scripts they submitted?
Congrats to Ron and his Team! Wish he was still the Head Writer
I agree!!
ConGrats GH, well deserve!! 🙂
Congrats to Ron and his team.
You are truly missed.
We really need you to come back.
SOON…
yes, GH was fun and history was used!!
As much as I didn’t like the Fluke story, the b/w Anniversary episode was really good. Wonder what the other two scripts this team submitted were about?
SO happy to hear this! Good on the team from GH!!!
I am not surprised to hear that it was Ron’s GH that took the award. It is still a shock to me that he has let go. I always thought of him and Frank as the Dynamic Duo.
And I always thought of them as the Dynamic Dunces.
the dynamic dancers… left … 2
Harry I, I must hand it to you–you really have a (fine) way with words. Go, Harry I!
LMAO. Agreed!!
A most worthy win. As a viewer, I could not be more pleased. Also, as a viewer I wonder if the powers that be might not be second guessing their decision to dump RC.
hopefully they will submit this same work for the emmy’s too and win, the 52nd anniversary show was really a great episode… as fir RC he was like a mad scientist who just lost it, sure theres things he did great but more often he turned his own work into one old big mess so i’m glad he’s gone in the long run, i’m not as frustrated by the two current head writers as i was with him, i haven’t liked what they’ve done to elizabeth, but that started with RC so, hopefully liz will be redeem and i don’t know yet, but they “the new writers” need to do something to make the show must see tv, they’re not so good with cliffhangers and surprises, but hopefully they will pick up the pace.
I agree that RC got out of control after a while, and things were just a mess by the end. I loved how he brought back veterans and the Nurses Ball. He did some great writing for the vets, but was not so good at introducing new characters. I also hated the way some stories were dropped for weeks. As good as the b/w episode was, the Fluke story was otherwise kind of incomprehensible. But there’s no doubt he is a talented writer who respects legacy characters and a show’s history. I hope he lands somewhere else soon.
As for the new writers…I feel like the writing is more grounded in a way, but it’s also less compelling. They are trying to do some issue-oriented stories, like breastfeeding and Kristina coming out, but these aren’t exactly ground breaking issues. Rather than Kristina coming out they should write a REAL story for Brad and Lucas. Let’s see them more often and in more meaningful stories. Public breastfeeding is protected by law in 47 states, so it’s not exactly a cutting edge issue. All in all these feel like fairly “safe” issues to take on. Gone are the days when soaps tackled thorny issues like abortion and domestic abuse.
You’re right, the 52nd anniversary was not only “incomprehensible,” it was “ire-raising” as it totally did violence to the legacy of the once-iconic character of Lucas Lorenzo Spencer–and made the whole Spencer family VICTIMS rather than VICTORS who had overcome their childhood legacy of domestic violence and alcoholism.
GH should cherish this win ’cause based on the material post-Carlivati they won’t be getting a nomination next year.
True dat.
Congrats to Ron & his team! The 52nd anniversary episode was GH at its best and I hope that’s the one they’ll submit for this year’s daytime Emmys.
Congrats to Ron and company. The 52nd Anniversary episode was a tremendous show, well written, well directed and well acted by everyone. It’s just a shame for Ron that the rest of what he wrote in 2015 was largely a mess, and that’s why he’s no longer working for GH.
I also congratulate the GH’s 2015 writing team for this award. It’s true that under Carlivati, storylines would roller-coaster in quality. But, honestly, the highs during his tenure were some of the most amazing work I’ve seen on tv in general. I’ve watched a LOT of soaps, and GH’s 51st anniversary episode was really outstanding. I’d also like to know which other two episodes were submitted.
I loved RC when he first came on, and I loved the whole water crisis thing and the intense things mixed with some comedy, BUT towards the end he kept doing the same thing over and over. In my opinion, these new writers haven’t done much to the show either. I loved Gh before when they had the Metro Court Hostage Crisis and the Black and White Ball and the things like that. Gh needs to have a huge event like that, something big that will bring in a ton of viewers instead of just the same day to day material. I’m still crossing my fingers that these new writers have something up their sleeves.
Hi Kj..
I really miss the excitement of Ron..
The team GH needs to get back its heart & soul is Guza and Ron teaming up to wake GH up, and take it back to when I was on the edge from suspense and pushing my mind to figure out Ron’s twist & turn mysteries that always held a shocker surprise..
GH under Ron had variety.. something for everyone..
Yes, I think that a pairing of Ron and Guza would be amazing! The problem is that a lot of people don’t want all the “dark stuff” that Guza and Carlivati were portraying. And I truthfully don’t think that the new writers are going to last too long
Hi Aria, I agree with you. RC is very talented, but his stories didn’t seem to have an end and at times, very they were convoluted. He created some very whimsical characters, but what do you do with them long-term? I had previously said he would be great at DOOL or B&B and nighttime TV would benefit from his talent. GH congrats!
RC threw some shade on TG about “the writer” Geary made.
First, I am a huge OLTL fan and enjoyed most of the show under RC/FV. Second, love or hate RC/FV, they saved GH in 2012 which is why the current actors still have a j.o.b! Third, RC and his team need to be congratulated for their recent win!
I thought that the anniversary episode was wonderfully created. It was a very sad episode but I think it give a lot of us long time viewers some closure in terms of the character of Luke Spencer. It showcased Mr. Geary’s acting talent as he portrayed Tim Spencer and Laura Wright was wonderful as Lena Spencer. I’m happy that this episode won.
On another note, I watched yesterday’s episode while home. I can not stomach Dante and Lulu having the same conversation, yet again. Lulu needs to grow-up. Of course her husband would have a difficult time with her going into business with a known criminal-for a number of reasons, or leaving her family for an “adventure” in finding her brother (as I recall, she was more dead weight than help). Not that her behavior excuses Dante’s infidelity-twice, with her cousin, in her home. I think my distaste for this couple, this storyline, etc., is the actress who was recast to portray Lulu. I just can’t stand her. I find her annoying and immature. I’ve also always thought of Dante as a keystone cop.
I don’t understand this show anymore. It’s called General Hospital oh just change the name of the show to The Chosen. 40+ yrs I’m still here for a few actors. But after reading twitter I maybe done.
My question is How could GH assemble a group of writers that are so bias?Instead of writing for ratings they write for themselves, and listen to idiots about show direction!He have great actor, that dumb,ignorant material are given to them!Every since FV&RC walked into GH it has been GOLTL(just as voring as that soap that was canceled)!Who over see the writing?I know NV is General manager,all he is managing is his Twitts!Its time for a complete over haul of GH!Fire Frank and bring back Guza!