I love Frank and know he’s doing the best he can for the show and the fans. The best part of what he said, however, is that he’s consider bring Erika Slezak on the show. I’d do cartwheels to see that happen! LOL!

Frank needs to bring Erika Slezak and Melissa Archer on like NOW!!!

Seriously, Melissa Archer needs to come on as Finn’s not so dead wife! Fans of Archer and Easton have waited too young for a reunion! Please make it happen!

I’m loving GH. I love Finn! Seeing Michael Easton and Kelly Monaco together today was everything! Sinn

Meant too long

Are you serious Michael, bring on another OLTLer? I don’t care if it IS Erica Slezak, may I please remind you that this is GH!!! No more Actors and esp no more OLTL ones! I think Frsnk Valentini is watching another show altogether! Sorty but Dumb, Dumber, Maxie & Claudette is a super snooze fest; ffwd material! Nina sucks. Lucas got like one scene with Julian, Parker & Kristina are done already, kiki & stupid Morgan are pointless and a waste of time to watch.
Oh ….. I can go on!!
Btw….. The Sonny & Carly show is grating on all my nerves!

Well, this interview reinforces my belief that Frank doesn’t watch his own show or listen to fans. Under his leadership, the story lines are a jumbled mess full of newbies he has brought on recently. There are days I don’t even recognize GH. Beloved vets/legacy characters are sacrificed for his pets many of whom were on OLTL. The Cassadine Island adventure had a lot of potential as an umbrella story line but it fell short and seemed rushed to its ending. Characters are placed in stories that makes no sense. Ava in the Cassadine Island story, Nina in the kidney donor and now the Cassadine Island story, Curtis just floats around the canvas with no real purpose. Just when stories are getting interesting, they are dropped for days or weeks. I have loved GH for years and hate to see what Frank and his writing team has done to it!

Really, Julian trying to kill Alexis a betrayal? One you can easily overcome and that whole story is s great “umbrella” story? Such a bogus response and I am disappointed in you Michael for letting Frank get away with that response.

This is GH, not OLTL. Enough already. Disappointed you didn’t address the bloated cast issue. It’s killing the show and clearly Frank’s the one responsible.

have to say i was disappointed in the typical oh your pregnant but to dumb to know it episode of GH today, especially considering the character hardly pays any attention to her current offspring, oh i forgot, i’m talking about sam, theres one storyline not looking forward to seeing. and although i love all the players in the maxie,nathan,claudette, and griffin story , its weird because the two guys(hot as hell) look alike, and the two women do too, i guess you can make the argument that they have a type. As for Valentin Cassadine, well not sure yet, creepy, yes, jasam, boring, loving bree wiiliamson, yes to more laura, more jax, more anna, more liz and franco, bring on Erica Slezak, and yes, GH is better, but not great yet. I’ll still watch though, love my GH…

I’d love to see Dr. Dorian Lord return!! lol

A big mistake was made when they decided to break up Julexis the way they did. They went so far over the top there is an uproar on twitter & many fans have quit watching. Ratings have dropped & fans feel disrespected. They need to fix this now before it gets any worse.

Well that answers so many questions. So basically, he is writing half the stories around characters he creates so that his friends can have a job. I guess the ratings will tell whether or not his vision for the show is working. I think long time viewers, like myself, just have much higher expectations. We’ve seen the best of the best, but sadly, that’s been many years ago. I was not a fan of his with OLTL and so far my mind hasn’t been changed.

One example of what I wish GH had done differently was bringing Jason back. They had such a great opportunity to take that character in an entirely different direction but instead, he’s right back to the same old thing. And how many times is Easton going to be resurrected? It’s a joke among daytime veiwers. And instead of adding Hardy’s and Webbers to boost the cast (Liz’s cousins, Uncles, etc.) we get new families and more new characers.

Great interview with Frank! How amazing it would be to see the fabulous Erika Slezak on GH!

Nice try Michael–but this is just not realistic.
This–I feel we are doing very well. The ratings are very solid, and very consistent. The audience is loving the show–

is simply not true. The ratings are mostly down–the demos are tanking. At least be honest Frank.

I would love to see Erika Slezak, Melissa Archer and Bob Woods on our screens. Miss them sooo much.
Would especially love to see Archer and Easton again. Really miss those two..

Erika could play Claudette’s mother!

hey Frank !
I’m BORED !!
for godsake man, give us some on the edge action..
And– dump the Queens of Snooze ..

It’s General Hospital not the Waltons, remember that .. thanky

I was surprised to read Frank Valentini’s comments about Erika Slezak. She is an amazing actress and would add a lot to the show. Must admit I would so love to see Melissa Archer again as well.

Hell No to the comment put ME back with KeMo #JaSam the story gh tried it 4 times don’t do it gh Liz fans always trying

I know many fans complain the GH cast is too big and I get that but damn it would be wonderful to see Melissa Archer as well as Erika Slezak again. Wonderful talents. Especially love Melissa Archer and Michael Easton together!

Frank cares nothing about General Hospital and its fans and that is the main reason the show is in the tank. Yeah, we know Easton is a friend, the fact that he’s back for a fifth character gave it away Frank and guess what? That “huge” fan base that was supposedly clamoring for him doesn’t exist. And watching him try to play a “quirky” character is painful, yet he takes up space that a character and actor that would bring GH fans back could have.

Frank thinks Friz is working because the same five people, literally five people post on a couple of message boards and he will ride it to death because he has to make Howarth work after three years. Another mess. Frank thinks GH fans want to watch Howarth stuff his mouth with a muffin, chew like a cow and lick his fingers because Todd ate. That’s so appealing to GENERAL HOSPITAL fans. And what acting talent that involves. How has Hollywood resisted for so long?

Now he’s got Bree Williamson, the door is open for Slezak and GH fans care why?
It is so sad that GH is going down the tubes because it has an EP who can’t get past his former show being cancelled and his need to stick it to GH fans. Duke is dead and Carlos dies twice, is brought back, then killed again and the actor returns as a twin. You can’t make this up.

ABC really has to be clueless or they just don’t care. Either way, Frank stays along with his OLTL crew and other “huge stars” like Stafford, West, DeVry that have no appeal to GH fans and the show stays where it is or disappears completely and it’s a shame.

Frank don’t play with my heartstrings. It would do this OLTL fan so much good to see Erika again. Outstanding actress.

2 things outa the gate

1. Thank you FV for bringing back Jeffrey Vincent Parise… just wowsah

2. as a fan who will never “know” the behind the scenes product assembly line as it were

with all due respect ; you deserve it.. the accolade of most deserving executive producer

of the 4 shows… GH is the only one I make time

my DAYS have gone dark…. I hope and pray that Ryan Quan and Dena Higley TURN

Garbage. General Hospital is a mess and has been a mess for way too long. You can bring every beloved veteran back but it does the audience no good without well constructed, well written stories, Frank Valentini seems to have good intentions, certainly better than Jill Faren Phelps, but soap opera is a lost art, It can;t be reinvented,

My main issue with GH is the bloated cast size.It’s unmanageable. Storylines drop off for days or weeks so the pacing sucks.Stories can’t resonate that way.

Frank needs to cut unneeded characters that haven’t caught on or are unneeded.I’d cut newbies like Claudette,Hayden,Julian,Naomi,Darby,Joe,Nina,Aaron,and Amy.I’d also cut Paul (what a mess they’ve made of him) & Olivia.
I’d give contracts to Ned and Lucas & put Lucy & Scotty on heavy recurring. Lucy Coe should be running Crimson not Nina.

I/m thrilled with the development of Franco/Elizabeth.I’d never thought to put them together but Becky/Roger are amazing & they’re getting a classic push/pull soapy build. I love KiKi/Dillon.Why they’ve saddled her with bratty Morgan I don’t know. I’m also loving Laura/Kevin. and Finn/Tracy.
If I were writing the show I’d love to see a messy sassy triangle between Ava/Scotty/Lucy. They’d be a hoot!
GH has a lot of strengths but they simply must cut the cast size down. That’s 75% of the show’s problems

Enjoying the Valentin addition a lot – really liking the actor – curious to see him moving about Port Charles, and more curious to see what happens when Nikolas returns. I’m remaining open to the Jasam baby story, although it’s definitely not what I would’ve chosen for the “adventure couple”. Hopefully the writing makes that apparent conflict a part of the story. Laura and Kevin were my favourite part of the Cassadine story; it would be great to see Laura with a new pairing out from under Luke’s long shadow. Elizabeth/Franco totally took me by surprise, and I’m rooting for them individually and together – genius pairing. Dr Finn is entertaining me. This is by far my favourite of Easton’s GH characters. Not seeing the fuss about Bree to be honest, but I’m interested in seeing more of the quad story. I didn’t watch OLTL, so I have no real interest in seeing Erika Slezak. The cast that’s there now is already way too large. My biggest wish for GH would be for the hospital killer to pick up the pace, or a pretty major disaster story that dramatically reduces PC’s population.

It would be great to see Erika onscreen again .

“The ratings are very solid, and very consistent.”
Lol! The ratings are actually lower than what got RC fired.

I don’t doubt that everyone is working hard but For the love, as great as Erika Slezak is, GH needs no other characters. I’m so sick of not seeing storylines for weeks on end because we have to see other characters. In the past month alone GH has added four new characters. Nelle, Valentin, Claudette, & Dr. Joe. From the beginning of the year we also added Amy, Curtis, & Andre. And because of that Becky Herbst & Tyler Christopher were offered crap contracts.

It is just ridiculous how disjointed this show is. What was the purpose of the CI story other than to get Nik offscreen for awhile, introduce Valentin, and make the audience laugh that Jason was flying a plane? What is the purpose of the hospital killer except to give Franco a reason to whine about no one believing in him? No one we know has died. No one we know has even come close to dying except Lucas, who has been MIA with the exception of the day he was allowed to yell at Julian.
I mean FV wanted RB. Hired her for short term and then gave her a huge 4 year contract. To only have her fail with Nik, because shocking after a guy has you shot in the head he kind of loses his shine as a romantic partner. So now they are going to shoehorn her into a legacy family so she can have some reason to be on the show. Same with MS. First Nina was brought on to cause trouble for Silas, but then they killed him so they made her crazy & hooked her up withFranco, but the audience had no interest in the pairing because NEITHER character was likeable, so they moved her to the Crimson story, but that wasn’t working, so now she’s sleeping with Valentin and for some reason they’ve inserted her in the Joss kidney story. What should have happened in both the cases of MS & RB is they should have been shipped out of town when their initial stories didn’t work. Take the contract options and CUT BAIT.

Just pick 5 stories and tell them. Stop collecting actors from other shows.

Excellent interview Michael!!

I would love to see Erika Slezak, on GH or Y&R. Erika can play Dina Abbott Mergeron on Y&R. Also cast Erika, in a new role on GH or a recast of Audrey. Erika needs to be back on our screens again. She is a wonderful actress and still looks terrific for her age. Erika turned 70 years old.

Frank please bring Robin Strasser to General Hospital, I miss her so much. The lady can act.

You Can’t Just Think Of One Child: Sonny is involved in too many storylines! Bobbie’s birthday party was rushed. Liz does not need Jason to micromanage her life. The police department needs to be more competent. Jason comes across on screen as a bully. Where are the strong female characters?

Characters History: The only revelation from Cassidine’s Island is that Sam is pregnant. Nicholas is trained in the martial arts and should only lose to Jason with a gun. Dr. Mayes was the only doctor on staff in the vein of Steve Hardy – a no nonsense male doctor over the age of 40.

“When you have actors that you love so much you try to find ways to use them.” Yep, that pretty much says it all….forget about characters who have real appeal/development potential or intriguing storylines to draw in the viewers…as long as the actors that are “loved” by the show get to come/stay on, well, that’s all that really matters! (As the current—and future?—-GH canvas attests…..)

They should have Nikki Smith kill Julian and then Vikki could take over the Port Charles Press. Just a thought.

Yes! Erika Slezak would be an awesome addition!

Such a crowded cast already, but would love to see both actresses on the show, Kassie DePaiva as well. Frank is awesome, and this cast is soooo talented. Frank, if you ever need to add a writer to your team and want to take a chance at an unkown, I am in! The GH cast is a writer’s dream cast!

Yes bring Erika to the show and yes Natalie too ill play different people but they will be part of the Claudette storyline would be great also bring tea please make happen

Why not ask if ilene Kristen is ever coming back as Delia-Ava’s momma???

I’m 71 yrs young ,have been watching GH for over 40yrs, thank you, I think it’s fabulous. Please don’t put Alexis and Julian back together again, that wouldn’t be good For girls after all Alexis is a very strong woman.
Thank you

Erika should join GH or robin strasser I miss seeing robin!!!!

I hope Franco doesn’t get evil again. Just keeps him struggling with his inner demons. He’s quirky but funny.
Also wth bring back Alcazar.

You could bring Erica on as Claudette’s mother. That would be a great story line.

Franks is obviously out of touch with the majority of GH fans…b/c they are not happy with GH at all. Thus they FF lots which makes ratings stay down. Frank and Jelly need to visit some of the large fan based sites for a reality check.

Nothing is working on this show because its a disconnected/disjointed mess with too many characters. He doesn’t seem to care about the fact that keeping all of his friends employed is what has made this show what it is today. Nina, Franco, Finn, etc are failures but he keeps trying to sell them. The Cassadine Island “adventure”. What a joke that was. Weeks on end of actors just standing around in the same room talking about nothing. If anything he needs to be off the floor and locked in his office because his instincts and perceptions of what audiences want to see are totally backwards.

Glad to hear they will continue to use Laura. I’m only watching GH for Genie Francis (the rest of the show is not very good).

I am going to take him at his word re Genie. He says: “She will be working nonstop.”

Re Julian and Alexis: I beg to differ with his analysis that they are “two people who really love each other and have betrayed one other.” Julian is incapable of love–can’t paint him any other way given his actions. And very disturbing that he goes on to say, “It happens.” Would be repugnant to me if TPTP get the two back together. (Retch!)

Re Michael Easton as Dr. Hamilton Finn: He says, “Michael is a personal friend of mine and “we took a big risk.” Re the “taking a big risk” part: W-A-Y too big a risk in my book!

Re Erika Slezak: I love Erika Slezak, but hope that he wouldn’t bring her back and ruin her legacy and damage her reputation as he has done with RH–as Franco. Would be a real shame.