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Genie Francis Interview – General Hospital – Paley Center For Media Event

By Michael Fairman

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General Hospital’s Genie Francis chatted with Michael Fairman about her return to the series for its 50th anniversary celebration as the iconic Laura! Genie also reveals her surprise at the recent return of Robert Kelker Kelly as Stavros Cassadine, her hopes of staying put at GH, and playing all the twists and turns of one of soaps most beloved characters!

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Oh my gosh Michael! What a neat fun interview with Genie! Loved it! Thanks for being out there for all of us fans! BTW, big fan of yours too!

Thank you Michael, Genie is the best

Thank you so much Michael!!!

Love the video interviews and Genie is a favorite!!! You are so good at getting good responses and she delivered.

Thank you!!!

This woman is incredible! How many actors do you find that are this open and expressive? I want her to have everything she desires for Laura. She has created the best character ever! Thanks for doing this interview with her.

Michael, do you know if this event’s video will be posted anytime soon for those of us who missed it that night? I went to the Paley Center website but couldn’t find it. I’m so upset I forgot about it!!

I am sure every fan would love to see the Paley center GH. As for genie welcome back. Hope she is not stuck all the on screen time with Tony G. he looks like someone gave him something sour to eat. He doesn’t look happy and he said he wanted to be with Spanky pants. He may but we who watch the show don’t care if he doesn’t want to be there retire and give someone else a chance at a job. Genie we are thrilled to see and I want to see her feisty and strong.

wow it is all perception..i may add YOUR perception..Tony Geary never said anything about being unhappy so YOU DON’T KNOW what he thinks. And if now he wants to play something else aside from Luke and Laura..it is his right, actors loved to be challenged not playing always the same thing even if they are successful in it like Tony was with this Luke and Laura pairing with Genie Francis. Both actors can play something else, not a big deal..as for the new Lulu and Cassadine story Tony showed up even if the material was very campy and quite weak actually (come on all these monologues whereas it was pretty obvious that Lulu was not dead at all..even Marcy Rylan did not play a ‘dead’ Lulu, during all the scenes she did flucker non stop her eyes..it was quite funny actually..lol)

Also fun interview : i am happily surprised to hear that Genie Francis was ‘thrilled’ to see again RKK (HOT hot devilish Stavros..he aged so well, even more gorgeous than before..) because he doesn’t have a good reputation poor guy..but he is talented and again..gorgeous, would be great to see him again on Soapland..

What a fun interview with Genie ! I hope Genie stays for a long time !!

What a great interview. Love Genie Francis. I too have watched her from the beginning. She is such a great actress! Please keep her on a long long time.

Thanks Michael you give the best interviews ever because you make everyone feel at ease. You go Genie!

Michael you are the best, thanks for this wonderful interview with Genie, I love her work and I’m so happy that she’s staying around.

Thanks for the terrific interview with Genie. I hope she stays around for a long time. She and the new writing team are the only reason I came back to GH. Here’s to 50 more!

Michael… you must do something else with Genie!!! I think she really enjoyed speaking with you! I watched he watch you and some of the others when she walked behind you! Maybe a podcast or a hangout…?

Such a fun awesome interview. Michael. Love Genie Francis. Always have, always will. She is so approachable, which makes it even more enjoyable.

I hope it is true that Genie finished contract negotiations and will be back on GH in Oct. Keep Tracy away from Luke! It’s all Luke and Laura now. Laura has suffered enough and deserves to be happy with Luke.
And we fans deserve to be happy with the L and L reunion after all this time of waiting and hoping. Contrary to what people say, the chemistry has not diminished (Genie has worked so hard to keep it there!)–and Luke and Laura together does not in any way mean “dullsville” or any such nonsense. The two actor, Genie and Tony, could just look in each other’s eyes and recite the phone book and the scene would smolder!

so is genie francis still with general hospital or not…ill be so pissed if she is not back soon…the new guys over there promisd she would be back to stay …if it wass a ploy to just get some of the audience back,,ill never tune in again…

I say this from the bottom of my heart,I remember genie on GH b4 there was a Luke and Laura,they met on the 3/30/1979 episode,say day 3 mile island was going on in Pennsylvania.
this woman is such a incredible actress,she lights up the screen she is so sincere and is as pretty today as she was in 1978.
soaps were dying in the 70,s were each rating point was only worth 778’000 homes there were no teenagers on soaps that were the forefront of the show.her story pre Luke brought the show from a 7.2 to a 9.3 when she married Luke and all the ABC soaps went up as well even the edge of night which was only available in 80 percent of the country in 1979.she is a great actress cannot believe what Jill did to her at the y and r ‘she is brought on the show by request ‘is nominated by her piers after only 1 year at the show 4 a academy award and she is the first person Jill lets go from the show miss her on the show think the industry has treated her horrible and the recent spike in ratings could be from lots of snow storms on the east coast,tv viewing always go up when people are stuck in there homes because of bad weather.I miss her on tv’but daytime tv does not deserve her,and I would like to thank Michael fairman of the kind words u said about her when interviewed on TVGN,I have so much more to say,but I cant time 2 long 🙂 I think I AM going to buy 1 of those voice activated typing things.thank u so much for taking the time 2 read this…..

p.s. the read lines are from my spell check,i cannot seem 2 get read of them,sorry,thank you 4 your time…..

I should of proof read my type I meant 2 say she married Scotty in 1979,Thank U…..

just like I have always said “CLASS ACT” I wish Y AND R would bring her back…..

what a class act !!!!! what a class act to a industry that I feel really did not treat her good. I feel she really liked Y/R but genie will never show the hurt inside of her and she has aged so gracefully.she adds class and viewers were ever she goes after she left days they went down in the ratings (could be just a “i don’t know how 2 spell it it begins with a c) I cannot get over this interview , I never saw it until today , I am speechlass all that is going through my mind is CLASS ACT CLASS ACT CLASS ACT,i think her parents raised her well and kept her grounded. in a lifetime interview she said when she was just on gh a few months.she went home and told her parents she was getting a new boss “Gloria monty” her dad told her she better be on her toes and have her i’s dotted and t’s crossed.he had worked for Gloria and she’s tough…..

I did not see my previous comments , I guess I did see the interview and don’t remember 🙂

Beyond the Gates

RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

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Beyond the Gates and General Hospital

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.

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General Hospital

Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

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Antonio Sabato Jr.

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.”

Jack Sabato

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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A post shared by Antonio Sabato Jr (@antoniosabatojr)

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Casts Ayla Bullington as the New Avery Jerome-Corinthos

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Ayla Bullington

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.’” 

Josslyn

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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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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