General Hospital
GH 50: Jane Elliot, Tony Geary & Kin Shriner Talk On Cartini, Monty, and Frons!
Courtesy/ABC
In the perfect interview piece to usher in General Hospital’s 50th anniversary today, TV Guide Magazine’s Michael Logan sat down for a rapid-fire, informative, and hilarious chat with three of GH’s all-time enduring and beloved stars: Jane Elliot (Tracy), Anthony Geary (Luke), and Kin Shriner (Scott) to talk about working through the ups and down of life in Port Charles in front of the camera and behind the scenes for decades.
One of them more intriguing parts of the interview was when the trio discussed the usage of the veteran characters, and those who went away, or who were at times back-burnered in favor of new characters. This also dovetailed into banter about GH’s latest regime of executive producer Frank Valentin,i and head writer Ron Carlivati, and ousted former ABC Daytime Chief, Brian Frons. Here is an excerpt below!
Geary: “Usually, new producers and writers want to put their stamp on a show. They don’t want to continue what’s working. They want to reinvent the wheel. It’s an ego thing. And once they’ve gotten rid of characters that were well known and deeply loved, they think they can create that same magic with new characters. Frank and Ron did the exact opposite and it saved our ass. Things were pretty rough there for a while, but they got better as soon as (ABC Daytime chief) Brian Frons left. He hated the soap medium. He hated it from the beginning. He wanted reality TV.”
Courtesy/ABC
Shriner: “It’s weird how it all changed overnight. Everybody was firing everybody. Brian fired [head writer] Bob Guza. Then (exec producer) Jill Phelps got fired. Then ABC fired Brian. ‘You’re fired!” “No, you’re fired!’ It was crazy. But, then, out of the ashes came Frank and Ron.”
Later in the interview, the subject of former GH EP boss lady,Gloria Monty’s riff with Jane Elliot came to light, where Elliot decided to come forth and reveal why she left GH for a time! Read the excerpt below:
Elliot: “I quit because Gloria insulted me. I was making, like, a dollar and a quarter a week — horrible money, so little money that I asked for a $50 raise and Gloria told my agent I was unprofessional. Now, you can call me a lot of things but you cannot call me unprofessional. I was so insulted she applied that word to me that I said, “I’m not working for her anymore!” I finished out my contract and left. I went to Knots Landing for a bit, then Guiding Light. I didn’t return until after Gloria was gone.”
Find out about how Jane submitted herself for the Daytime Emmy the year she won, when she had already had left the show, and much more by reading the entire interview! Then, let us know what you thought of Jane, Tony and Kin’s comments?
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Brian Frons hated soaps…he wanted reality tv! Now BF(which stand s for BIG F….R!) has to face reality…he is so hated by soap fans!! There is some irony in that!!! lmao!!!!
How ironic that this will be his legacy for ever more! Karma, baby, is indeed a bitch!
M.E., K.A. and R.H. returning to GH as John, Starr and Todd! Yeah!!!
That would be great, but is this really true, as I do not see that posted anywhere yet?????
I hope it is not an April Fool’s Joke
As for the interview above, I love candid honesty, and who better to give us that then Anthony and Jane. Bravo to both of them.
Sorry, my sister, knowing i like Aprils fools day to joke, convince me to pull one here, plus there is different posters, who seems anti gh with these three on the show, that i actually meant this for.
I agree Elhu! Tony & Jane say it like it is which is totally refreshing !! Love them!
They are?? I had heard they would have to be different characters? So glad they get to keep their names and characters!
Sorry, i guess this backfired on me. I meant this as an April Fools joke to other posters who seem anti gh with these three actors and those characters…i forgot to realize others would see it too. I wish they could still work it out for and return to gh in those roles. i hope you accept my apologies.
LOL…my comments above about M.E. K.A. & R.H. are not at all true! APRIL FOOLS!!! lmaosm!!!
You are right Jim, there are lots of GH “haters” out there…and I wish you statement were true just to tick them off…its funny how they try to rub it in that GH can’t use the characters, but I know they are upset that they won’t have the actual actors…LOL
And i dont understand gh haters exct(i dont likeb&b but i dont hate it…i know others like it and i hope they continue to watch to help keep the genre alive) Just not too long ago we were all upset thinking our soaps were gone 4 ever, and now what hopefully appears to be a turnaround some seem to find ways to destroy them? Why complain about ABC not supporting the genre and then turn around and do almost the same thing…those are hypocrites!
Some are still angry that their show was cancelled and seem to wish the same ill on GH fans. Sad, because I support all soaps and began watching Y&R and B&B to support the genre (of course GH is my favorite).
I don’t get GH haters either Jimh — GH is must see TV for me!!! I get excited everytime it starts and the fact that it just celebrated it’s 50th Anniversary and that i’ve watched it for 35 of those 50 years makes me proud to be a viewer! Do I agree on all the stories? No.. but the cast is soo rich that I love sticking around for more of what is in store. Just seeing Genie & Tony on there makes me a happy, happy viewer!
Loved your reply Ces…you feel and i feel exactly the same about GH. It felt good to hear that instead of all the other negative stuff. A BIG THANKS!!!
Thanks jimh! 🙂 There’s a simple solution for the negative folks, if they don’t like the show, then stop watching it and stop annoying everyone else with negative remarks. Frank & Ron have made this show fun again!
Just LOVED the interview…what a time they must of had…I don’t understand why writers don’t ask these people (The actors) what would be good…they are the ones doing the leg work and they know their characters! I am glad as well that Calvatini is in the helm…they at least honor the past of the show!
I agree…they should have confrences with the actors but they should also read these threads on occasion to see what the majority of what us fans know about the characters and what we like to see done with them as well.
Well, we always knew he did, didn’t we? Franz walked away from the dirty work of ruining soaps a millionaire many times over. If I were him, I wouldn’t eat in restaurants frequented by soap fans.
Fabulous interview though! I always had a feeling the GH set had to be party town, whether or not GM liked it. It was entirely obvious that everyone was having a wonderful time!
These 3 need a sitcom……seriously……
Frons can kiss my ass
LOL ..
Frons left ABC with a 3 million dollar bonus/whatever and truthfully he is of the type of personality that actually does not care what anybody would think of him; much on the line of a sociopath .. 🙂
Call him names throw mud at him, he really would not care of your/anybodies feelings, not in any manner..
Maybe he does care and maybe he doesnt…but no matter which one it is we are letting each other and maybe him(he could always see these threads) know what we think of him and we dont care if he cares or not!
P.S. saying what we think of him is our way of never welcoming him back in the entertainment world…which he could always try to do no matter how much money he has.
I wouldnt want him anywhere near my donkey! LMAO!!!
The guy is a complete idiot!
What a wonderful interview. Reading it really brought back memories. Thanks for posting the link.
I HATE ABC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love these 3 and their honesty! Also love that GH has show runners who embrace the glorious history of GH! Frank and Eon are.giving fans what they’ve wanted for years now, the splendor of 1980s & 1990s GH. The magic is back!
Frons is a jerk & doesn’t care about our soaps at all! He is an still is mean & rotten assuming that we want to watch cooking/info/talking shows over our soaps! What planet
does he come from?????? Audry Hardy is back ! WOW! Wasn’t sure she was still around. I was surprised to see her! I guess she is back for the 50th Anniversay!
how nice to see Audrey!! Must also say Laura Wright was amazing as always today.
Was Genie Francis in the mix in the good ol’ days? She’s talked often and poignantly about her desire to belong.
PS Saw Alan today–and so did Monica AND Tracy–is he alive or an apparition??
Thats gotta be Rick Webber Luke and Laura found on the boat…i hope!
It was ethan…just as good
Nancy.
Genie was 14 when they basically handed her the ball and said “run with it” in ’77 (the David Hamilton storyline) So, yes she was a member of “the gang”-but she suffered the most damage because of it-she battled substance abuse throughout the 80s. It wasn’t until she married Johnathan Frakes (Star Trek TNG) that she was able to get clean. And it’s taken her this long to be truly at peace about playing Laura, IMO
Yeh! Could Allan be alive because both Tracy & Monica see him. Or was it an April
Fool thing yesterday.
Getting rid of Robert Guza, Jr., Jill Farren Phelps, Brian Frons AND steroid boy himself Steve Burton brought this show from near-cancellation to literally being the best soap opera on daytime AND nighttime. Look for an Emmy sweep this summer!
Great interview!!!
LOVE these three so much! I love how Geary spoke out about Brian Frons’ hatred for soaps, something all of us viewers knew for a long time. I also love the admiration they give to Frank and Ron. They really did help to save GH and now the show is the best it has been in years! It has also been great to see GH getting more promotion! Sure, ABC is probably just doing it because it’s the 50th, but it’s still nice to watch primetime shows and see a GH commercial! 🙂
What a fun interview! Really enjoyed it. I enjoy them on GH, too.
Loved the interview and you guys are right Fronz is scum!!!!
Not wanting to start a fight but Erika Slezak in a complete interview with SOD said Frons did not have the power to cancel OLTL & AMC she blamed it more on Disney. It is done and over with viewers are getting back their soaps only in a different forum so I say be happy and move on and hopefully the last 4 will stay. Times change and it is the older viewers that have saved these and mourned for them your younger crowds could care less.
I feel most of the younger crowd today is more interested in following facebook than soaps. I cant speak for all of the current generation but out of all the younger members in my family…16 to 33 in age, only 1(the oldest) out 15 watch a soap(gh) and the rest could care less, even when told they could watch anytime. They have facebook, skyping, and video games ect they are interested in more now. But i still hope there is enough of them out there who do watch- will continue to do so and help us keep them on the… Read more »
Once the 50th hoopla is over and all these old faces go back to their homes- what is next for GH? It looks like the same tired story lines… Guns, Violence… is it really any better…? I don’t think so… I say it is on the web by the end of the year…
here here
In celebration 4 the shows 50 years, they are paying nod to the shows rich history by refreshening old storylines which i feel is a great way to reintroduce our beloved vets and to help newer fans understand who they are, how they are part of the shows history, and to allow them to catch up what they had missed out on what some of us were so lucky to see the first time. Not all vets are leaving and im certain after the 50th and all the reintros are done the show will move on to newer and exciting… Read more »
In watching the show today I won’t say too much for those who have not seen it most of it was really done well made me sad to see the old faces and mad at the same time that 3 of them who are in a scene today with Monica & Tracy were wiped out by an EP & writer that were obsessed with the Sonny & Jason hour. I just started back taping it again about when FV & RC started I tell you I do not miss Steve Burton one bit and the fact I am having him… Read more »
What guns? Frank and Ron have completely put an end to the mob violence Jill Farren Phelps madated as the number one theme of the show for ten years.
I loved that Jane Elliott doesn’t care about the awards, but is still delivering brilliant work after all these years.
She’s great! She is one of my favorites on GH!
Nice to see ABC fix it where GH opened up the stock market yesterday.. it shows they still care, and hopefully, still committed to GH in the long run. I am no great fan of GH, but no hater either.. I never really got into that show growing up like I did AMC and OLTL. I will say that I’ve watch GH when ever I get a chance to, not only for ratings support, but it’s nice to see characters we CARE ABOUT. Geary had it right, it makes no sense to replace characters who we have an attachment to… Read more »
The interview was a riot, ts so nice to know that they all have these friendship offscreen, and they sound fun to hang around with. Kin, you can call me any time …