General Hospital
General Hospital’s Genie Francis Delivers The ‘Power Performance of the Week’
Sometimes in daytime when it rains it pours and viewers can be treated to a plethora of performances all in one week. Such was the case this past week which saw brilliant work from: General Hospital’s Genie Francis (Laura) and Maura West (Ava), and The Bold and the Beautiful’s Matthew Atkinson (Thomas).
However, there is something to be said when television and soap opera icon, Genie Francis, is given the ball and material worthy of her talents. It’s not every week, or every month that the character of Laura is front and center – but from the looks of the story that GH is weaving they are doing a deep-dive into Laura’s childhood and teenage years which was fraught with drama – a foreshadow that there is more exciting story to tell with Francis.
Last week’s Monday November 30th, and Tuesday December 1st episodes brought with it the emotional fallout, and farewell for the character of Lulu and her portrayer Emme Rylan who was written-off the show. The vehicle to do so was the bomb that Julian (William deVry) planted at the Floating Rib on the orders of Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober). The injuries she sustained in the blast wind up putting her in a coma and having to enter a long-term care facility away from Port Charles.
When Tracy (Jane Elliot) arrives in Port Charles to be there for Laura during Thanksgiving, the hug alone at the hospital between these two characters was enough to bring out the hankies. Tracy considers Lulu a daughter to her. Lulu’s father, Luke, is MIA, so Laura has to carry the burden, make strong impactful decisions and act fast to save her daughter’s life, and do the right thing no matter how difficult this will be for her as a mother.
Throughout the two episodes we watch Laura’s grief and her resolve. When she learns that a bomb has caused the explosion at the Floating Rib and that Cyrus may have been behind it, she is livid, a mama-bear who will get her daughter justice. But lo and behold, who should have the guts to walk up to Laura and offer his apologies and concern for Lulu … Cyrus! In the hospital, Laura wallops the drug lord right in the face vowing that no one will stop her from taking him off the earth after she gets the evidence that he was the mastermind behind the bombing,

Courtesy/ABC
Laura also had the horrific task of telling Lulu’s best friend, Maxie (Kirsten Storms), that they are going to move Lulu to a long-term care facility and that she needs to say her goodbyes. One by one people go to Lulu’s bedside including: Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), Tracy, and Nikolas (Marcus Coloma).
When it is Laura’s turn (as the care facility has come to take Lulu away), she cries by her bedside begging Lulu to come back to everyone that loves her. In a heartbreaking moment, Laura tells a despondent Lulu that she has rejoiced every day since she was born and she knows that her daughter is a fighter and will never just give up and will come through this.
As Lulu’s loved ones gather in the hospital corridor to watch as Lulu is transported to the facility, Laura watches grief-stricken. As the elevator closes she breaks down in front of Kevin (Jon Linstrom) emotionally- spent and devastated.
In all of these scenes, Genie Francis was magnificent and broke viewers’ hearts right along with Laura’s. So with that said, Michael Fairman TV names Francis’ work, The Power Performance of the Week.
What did you think of Genie’s performances? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.
As always Genie was awesome. Im still mad she was let go a few years back. Laura and family should be the center of the show, not Sonny and Company
It would be nice if Luke (Tony Geary) were to go on Zoom and talk to Lula. Luke could tell Lulu how much he loves her and how he wishes that he could be standing beside her.
I know that Tony Geary has decided that Luke and Laura are over and done with as a couple. But Luke would not even have to see or talk to Laura if that’s what Tony Geary wants.
I stopped watching when they ridiculously fired her. Started back when she came back. Will stay as long as she does.
Genie delivered a gut wrenching performance. She reached deep down in herself and externalized it for the camera. She is hand’s down the best crier on daytime. Genie hasn’t just mastered the skill of releasing the tear ducts, she’s mastered the art of expressing emotional anguish through facial expressions to accompany those tears. Finola Hughes is also an expert (and quite copious)crier but she doesn’t have the ability to trigger my tears the way Genie does. It was also wonderful to see Tracy,who is always a sight for sore eyes.
On another note, Maxie’s reaction upon hearing the grave and sad news about her best friend’s state, shed nary a year. She scrunched up her face in an effort to emote, but overall, her reaction was disappointing and lackluster. Moreover, the next day Maxie is happily chattering away with Anna about her wedding with that guy who sucks the oxygen out of the room just from entering it. Despite everything she’s been through, Maxie continually comes off as a superfluous and shallow character.
Give Genie the Emmy now for her Oscar worthy performance.
great
Yes, oh, yes, Harry! Give Genie that Emmy.
They are all great actors it brought tears too my eyes also the scenes
Genie Francis proves again there is no better actress in daytime to take a story and then bring it home, proper. Hats off to Ms. Francis … DAYTIME DIVA !!
Seems like Laura is going to be involved in major storylines for a while, since it’s starting to look like her ancient backstory (Gordon Gray & David Hamilton) is somehow tied to Cyrus the Virus and that sleazy Colonel Sanders wannabe lawyer both of whom might end up being Laura’s half brothers.
So they get rid of Laura’s REAL family, and attach her to those two scumbags? Yeah, that makes sense…. though I’m still thinking that the only logical reason to send Lulu to veggieland for a while is that she can eventually wake up feeling like her old (JMB) self again.
It appears that GH is setting things up to reveal that Cyrus is her father! What a brilliant and creative twist albeit with some revisionist history.
Cyrus is nowhere near old enough to be Laura’s father. I don’t remember Gordon Gray (if indeed he was ever actually seen on GH) but if he was Leslie Webber’s “mentor” when she was a young doctor, and Leslie herself would probably be in her 80s by now, then Gordon Gray would probably be 100 or so if he were still alive. Cyrus may be a few years older than Laura, but it’s probably within a decade. Definitely not old enough to be her father. But he might have some bizzare mental fixation on her, somehow blaming Laura (who wasn’t even born yet) for his father having an affair with Leslie back in the day.
True—-but, such reality makes no difference to the PTB—-eg: Sam and Julian.
Nonetheless, I do agree with your reasoning.
Well they have pretty much spilled the beans now officially on all this. Martin admitted that he and Cyrus are brothers and that Florence Gray is their mother, meaning that Gordon Gray is their father (as well as Laura’s bio-dad)
So now the only question is does Martin have the same ill will toward his half-sister that Cyrus does…. or could it be that he’s not even aware of the connection? Though I would find it hard to believe that an attorney who seems to have his ways of finding information, wouldn’t want to know why his brother is so obsessed with Laura (and other people in Port Charles)
Again, I could not have “examined” and explained this plot better—-Cyrus may have a score to settle with Laura? Did she inadvertently do something in her past to hurt Elizabeth in any way? Is this the mystery ? What has Laura done to the dragon that is Cyrus, to elicit so much “fire”?
Also, I missed a couple of eps and I have yet to catch up—-thus, does Cyrus have something on Martin? Is he blackmailing his own brother? —not that Cyrus would have any such reverence for a sibling, unless he is a partner in crime—yet, I get the feeling Cyrus doesn’t kneel for anyone nor does he hold fealty for anyone either.
Will Martin be Laura’s savior at the opportune time?
She left it all out there and in doing so torn my heart out. Ms. Francis is a Master Class.
What is the relationship between Laura and Tracey?
Tracy was stepmother to Lulu when Tracy married Luke (Laura’s previous husband). While the two did not always get along, Laura’s been extremely grateful to Tracy for being there for Lulu when Laura was in Shadybrook all those years.
Thank you Steve
She was great as always and you know what she is one of the few actresses’s on daytime that has the guts to not have perfect makeup on ! Thank you Genie because it has always driven me nuts when you are in a crisis sorry you don’t have on lip gloss ! Kudos Genie !
Wow, the writers gave her some great material and she delivered one of the most emotional scenes on daytime this fan has seen in a long time! Well deserved, her and Maura West killed their scenes this week. It was actually a great week for daytime drama on GH and BB.
All I can say is phenomenal acting. I am not surprised she showed up and showed out!
She does what she does best, cry!
She was brilliant. Deserves an award for that performance
I love Genie so much. She really is the center/heart of the show. I’m very excited that they are making her part of a big story. She deserves it!
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Genie collect her second Emmy next year for these scenes.
The writers haven’t always given her the most compelling material in recent years, but when they do, she always knocks it out of the park like few others ever have in daytime. She’s one of the all-time soap icons for a reason.
Dominic Zamprogna was also heartbreaking in his scenes saying goodbye to Lulu, Kirsten Storms, James Patrick Stuart, Jane Elliot, everyone brought it.
The bombing of The Floating Rib and the aftermath was some of the finest storytelling and emotional scenes that GH has done in years. Kudos to the cast, directors, producers, writers, everyone involved.
Always the best, Genie—-one of a kind magnificent!!!!!! You killed it!! A million times kudos.
I am hoping for Cyrus to conclude his run lickety-split– I saw Jeff Kober on an old episode (2004) of “Law And Order: SVU”,…..always the bad guy. He’ s a phenomenal actor, despite his obnoxious characterizations ….He has that annoying attitude which makes me want to punch his smug face—So, if any actor can draw such antipathy from me? Well, hats off.
At first glance I thought he was Steve Tyler.
Laura has been a long time character favorite of mine since the beginning of her being on GH. Genie Francis puts so much emotion into her character Laura you can’t help but feel her emotions. I’ve always said if Laura cries I cry!!!. Such a fantastic actress. Love Laura!! Love Genie Francis❤️❤️❤️
Yeah it was alright.
Genie Francis is one of the best actresses that really can portray her emotions as if the scene she is playing is frightfully and terribly real-life! She makes everyone cry even the camera men! God Bless your acting abilities! I have been watching since Luke and Laura,and have always cried when you have a loss.
You know Tony Geary is a great performer,but I think Someone was mad a Genie because Tony won 8 Emmy’s and Genie only has one Emmy. This woman is a great actress, why did she not win a lot of Emmy’s as well? She was cheated, why? Someone did not like her,she is too talented!
Oh Laura, what have you gotten yourself into this time? I think you should resign as Mayor and get together with Curtis as partners.
What has she gotten herself into? A “family reunion” that she never saw coming!!
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).
On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.
Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC
HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT
Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”
Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”
Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Photo: ABC
DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES
In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”
Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”
You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.
Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.
General Hospital
GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.
However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.
Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC
FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG
Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!
Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”
MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL
Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).
Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI
PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY
Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”
It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”
A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons
IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS
As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”
He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”
Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.”
So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Admits That He Didn’t Expect the Role of Michael Corinthos to be Recast, and Would Consider Working on Another Soap (Exclusive)

Chad Duell, the Daytime Emmy-winning actor, who stepped away from the pivotal role of Michael Corinthos on General Hospital, opened up about: his previous decision to leave the series after nearly 15 years, where’s he’s at now after time away from the demands of a daytime soap opera, and took a stroll down memory lane with some of Michael’s most-acclaimed storyline during his run, during a livestream chat on August 19 on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.
Viewers last saw Duell on-screen as Michael in January of 2025, and with his successor in the role, Rory Gibson making his debut at the GH Nurses’ Ball in episodes that aired later in May. It was clear that during the conversation, Chad was a bit surprised that the GH brass decided to recast him when he thought he was just taking some much needed time off.
Burn-out of the daily grind of being on a soap was definitely a part of Chad’s decision to take a break. Duell explained “People know when you’re doing something for so long or your character is kind of in the same place for so long or doing the same stuff over and over again, you do get a a little burnt out, you get a little stiff, stale, a little stiff at times. I didn’t want that to be any sort of lasting impression. I have 15 years of a body of work of I’ve done on that show, which is fantastic.”

Photo: ABC
WHILE CHAD WAS AWAY GH RECAST MICHAEL CORINTHOS WITH RORY GIBSON
Chad shared, his mindset when leaving GH was, “I’m taking some time away, we’ll see what happens.” Then he added, “Obviously, they decided to go in a different direction with Michael when I was gone. I didn’t think they were going to bring somebody back in my place. But you know, it’s the business. You never know what can happen.”
Duell also shared he has not watched a single episode of General Hospital since he left the series, but now feels he reenergized following the loss of his father and stepping away from the GH, “I’m in a place now mentally, where I’m ready to sink my teeth into it again.”

Courtesy/ABC
Even though he is no longer Michael on GH, Chad was very happy with his final storyline where Michael was set on fire when a bomb exploded at Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) penthouse. “It was fun to put him in a dangerous situation, because I was wanting Michael to be in something scary instead of trying to be a hero character or just things happening around him, but to be the center point of tragedy happening to him. (I always saw) Michael as the heart of the (Corinthos) family.”
When Michael was badly burned the show chose not burn his face, which normally a soap does when they are recasting role and switching actors. Chad weighed-in, “They didn’t burn my face because I told Frank Valentini (EP, GH) I’m willing to come back. It was just a little bit of a break. So, I assumed that if they would have burned my face, they could have brought somebody back looking different than me… if that’s what their plan was.”

Courtesy/ABC
MEMORABLE MICHAEL STORYLINES
One of Chad’s most memorable performances was the in the storyline of Michael’s rape while he was sentenced to prison in 2010 and the confession of it in 2011. “It was so well-written and I was very nervous,” recalled Chad. “When I get really nervous about something, it ends up being really good when I do it, because it just means I care a lot about it”
“I have to put a lot of effort and work into it, and I really want it to be good. I was working with Dominic Zamprogna (Dante) and Steve Burton (Jason) a lot during those scenes, and Laura Wright (Carly). It was great working with Steve and Dominic, especially, during that storyline.
A NEW SOAP ROLE FOR CHAD?
As to a future soap opera role, Chad is open to the idea and would love to jump back in to a juicy role, “I know people over at The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless. They know that if they’re interested, I would love to come in for a screen test or something, and they can see what I’m doing.”
Meanwhile, Chad has been busy putting out new music under the moniker Duelly and during the interview he explains how he creates his EDM tracks and much more. You can stream his latest single, Static in the Quiet Room on Spotify, Apple Music and You Tube Music.
You can check out the full conversation with Chad Duell below.
Now let us know: what show would you like to see Chad cast on down the line? BTG, DAYS, B&B, Y&R, or a new role on GH? What did you think of his thoughts on the casting switch while he was away in the role of Michael? What was your favorite Michael storyline during Chad’s 15-year run on the ABC soap opera? Let us know via the comment section.
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