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GH's Kelly Monaco on upcoming shift in focus on GH!

By Michael Fairman

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Photo Credit: JPI Studios

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

In an item out today, Knoxville.com blogger/writer, Terry Morrow spoke with Kelly Monaco (Sam) of General Hospital last evening, who stated that there is a major shift and refocusing ahead for the characters and stories in the New Year in Port Charles.

According to the item, “Monaco said the stories will loosen its tight (almost obsessive) grip on Brenda and Sonny (Vanessa Marcil and Maurice Benard). “They’re going to start focusing on other characters, too,” she says, with an acknowledgement that such a move couldn’t come fast enough. Monaco declined to say which characters or exactly what will be happening.  Monaco also said as soon as the cast and crew returned from Christmas break the new shift was evident and obvious in the scripts.  The star did address rumors on if Marcil is leaving soon. She said the star who plays Brenda is sticking around for “a long time.”

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BEST. NEWS. EVER. Now if we can just get away from the Brenda show and get back to a show of balanced characters with fun and romance, the ratings might pick up. I really hope this means they will get Dante out of the Brenda vortex and return his brain. Not sure why TPTB at GH thought messing up their best couple would garner them ratings?!?!?!?

It’s about time! I hope the new writing and new stories involve Robin and Patrick and getting them far away from loser Lisa and Terrell. I have to assume they also involve a baby for Jason and Sam as speculations have suggested. Thanks for the info!

I would like to see Sam n Jason having a baby, however I think Sam is not the maternal type. I would rather see her meeting her real father. I think that this is going to happen 2011.

I am happy to hear there is a shift happening and I hope it includes the character of Elizabeth Webber. Hoping to have more interaction between Jason and Elizabeth! The current pairing for Jason Morgan is a huge reason I tune out more than I tune in. Add to that that Elizabeth Webber hasn’t really had any type of story since her prtrayer, Becky Herbst, has returned from maternity leave. Keeping my fingerscrossed for Elizabeth and Jason!

I really hope the people in charge look at the ratings seriously for the week of December 27-31, 2010 and take a serious look into what and who the writing was for that week. The writing was more believable; it was more IN CHARACTER for most characters (Jason, Sonny, Carly, Robyn, Patrick and even Brenda, etc…) We saw glimpses of the characters we loved who we hadn’t seen in a couple of years.

I for one LOVED Jason Morgan… he was him old self almost and I seriously believe that is because of who WAS NOT on screen at all that week and inserted where they have no place to be.

Yes I am talking about Jason Morgan’is most unbelievable pairing to date, Sam McCall. Whenever she is OUT OF HIS ORBIT the ratings inch up and also the REAL Jason Morgan shines through.

I think the combination of having the writing written so IN CHARACTER for ALL characters and more believable and truer writing for those characters that week is why the ratings FINALLY went well above 2.0.

First off… this is only an EXAMPLE and I know the show as a whole needs to be improved and written more to the TRUE characters natures, traits and personalities.

BUT, the show, for the past two plus years has expected the viewer to accept Jason Morgan with a woman who did what Sam McCall did to him… but the majority will NEVER accept it and has been proven by the steady decline over the past two years. The TRUE Jason Morgan just would NEVER ever be with her again, PERIOD!

To shove him back in to a story, especially a romantic pairing, with ANYONE who attempted (on purpose or not) to endanger ANYONE he cares about, is NEVER going to be accepted by the masses. Sure some will accept it but why do you think the ratings have declined so far ( a slow and steady decline too) since Jan/Feb of 2009?

So many characters besides Jason Morgan (Robin, Patrick, Elizabeth, Sonny and even Brenda) are being written so out of characters the viewer cannot understand or relate to them as they once did. This is what I am seeing by postings, complaints and viewers issues with GH for a while now.

I’m not a delusional person or harping on one item/character but as a whole this show needs help and Jason Morgan’s story and character isn’t the only reason for the decline but just an example of the issues plaguing General Hospital.

You’re response seriously is so idiotic I can’t even begin to respond right now. To me its not even a matter of who goes with who… The writing SUCKS period end of story!!! And let me say that I am a JASAM FAN but the truth is this show is going down the tubes and has been for a very long time…years. So even if u pair Jason with Elizabeth (which I don’t really see the chemistry) fine pair them but my God let the writing be good. The point is this show is lacking in STORY/WRITING!!!! There has not been any balance in character story line and its so obvious lately that the heads have been leaning toward Brenda Brenda Brenda to bring the ratings up. Hell not even bringing James Franco did it. So again the writing needs a major remedy. I would fire Guza. The guy obviously doesn’t and hasn’t watched GH in yrs past and has thoroughly screwed up character integrity up and down the a&*hole. The guy needs to do his frikin research… that stupid storyline when Sam did what she did with Jake & Jason was so out of character for Sam it was unbelievable. To me a stupid way to break Jason and Sam up. I mean if that was the aim then my God there could have been a better way that doesn’t go out of character of Sam. All u Liz/Jason fans have ur heads so far up you know where I feel sorry for ur narrowminded view of what really made this show great. Cause I tell u right now it has nothing to do with getting Jason/Liz together!!!

Well with the new shift in direction of GH, I am praying that Jason and Elizabeth will be reunited soon and we Liason fans will finally get the lovestory that we have been longing for. I mean Liason fans have been screaming for Jason and Elizabeth’s lovestory for over 11 years and I pray to the soap gods that we will finally get to that point and see Jason and Elizabeth together raising the boys as a family. Viva Liason

I can only hope that the focus of GH will change significantly. I’m tired of the sleaze that has permeated the show for the past two years. I’m tired of the lying, the cheating, the public screaming of “whore” and other derogatory name-calling towards the women. I’m also tired of the whitewashing of characters and their histories because the executives favor one actor/actress now. For example, the character of Lucky, played by Greg Vaughn, was never seen as an intelligent, capable, God-fearing, Father of the Year candidate who was capable of solving every crime and as more than friendly with Jason Morgan. Yet, as soon as Jonathan Jackson took over the role, that’s exactly how the character is being written (include the morally over the top screaming derogatory names at Elizabeth, despite Lucky having lied and cheated on her in the past, once with her sister). I’m tired of female characters who were con artists or women of loose morals being re-written as the good girls, and the once good girls being re-written as the whores of the town. I’m tired of all the new characters taking the place of the veterans I’ve loved to watch for years. I’m tired of no families. Of no love stories, only sleazy hookups or relationships revolving purely around wearing corsets and hooker boots. I’m tired of many things that GH has produced for the past few years and I can only hope and pray the mistakes of the past can be corrected.

I like Brenda, but enough is enough. I care barely watch! I want Spinelli and Maxie back together and for Carly to be her confident bad ass self again!

I absolutely loved Jason with his son Jake. And loved seeing Jason once again in scenes with Elizabeth. There is so much history (show and character) there that it’s a crime to have been ignored for as long as it was.

It would have made much more sense to have Elizabeth in the Jake and Jason scenes though. Jason and Elizabeth have so much history and friendship that it just didn’t make sense for them NOT to have time together with their son. Let Jason and Elizabeth enjoy their son TOGETHER, not separately.

Jason NEEDS to spend much more time with his REAL family (Elizabeth, Cam and Jake). It is what has been shown to the viewer of General Hospital over and over through the years.

The character of Jason Morgan has always been in love with Elizabeth and wanted her as his family for years. It has been drilled into the viewers heads off/on (mainly on) since the first time Elizabeth “nursed” Jason back to health after he was shot in August 1999.

To totally ignore that for the past two years is only driving viewers away. The viewer remembers what they have seen and it cannot be changed or ignored. Viewers will not watch it. Jason wanted Elizabeth and even Cam when she had him for his family LONG before Jake was even a thought.

GH needs to wake up and wake up soon or there will be no GH. It seems last week (Dec 27 – Dec 31 especially) and this week that the characters are being written more IN CHARACTER. I just hope it stays that way.

While I love the sound of GH ‘shifting focus’ I’m not all that crazy on who it will focus on. GH lacks what others soaps feed off of and that’s balance. I want the show to focus more on characters that I DO care about and stories that I would actually want to see.

I want more Hospital drama, more Q’s, more romance, REAL romance not contrived cheap stuff. Most of all, I want to see Elizabeth Webber front and center. Rebecca Herbst is a phenomenal actress who’s character is completely under used and I will never understand why. I want to see more airtime with her and her adorable boys. She’s gorgeous, sweet, completely selfless and kind why doesn’t the show use more of her? I want to see the ‘good girls’ focused more on and lose the constant misery limbo they seem to put them in (like Elizabeth). Plus I want to see her with a good man that actually loves her like Jason Morgan. But for some reason those two are the biggest ‘no-no’ couple on this show. They refuse to write for something that fans have been asking for for years.

I caught a glimpse of the scenes this week of Jason spending time with Jake. It was beautiful and very bittersweet. I really hope the writers go somewhere with that. I want to see Jason with a real woman and I think Elizabeth is it for him.

I stopped watching because of the ‘shift’ two years ago. This show is riddled with agenda and show politics and unfortunately it lost flavor its for me as a viewer. It was quite clear who the show garners to so I stopped tuning in.

Bottom line is: Why would I want to tune into a soap that doesn’t listen to fans?

I loved your post! Kudos.

I hope changes are coming. I would love to see much more of Jason and Elizabeth together. There has always been a connection between these two…years before Jake. To ignore their rich history and friendship is ridiculous. Jason and Elizabeth is a true love story. It just needs to be told.

I hope this does indeed come to pass! I don’t watch this show anymore for this very reason. They turned the show into the Brenda show, among other things, and then proceeded to write most of the characters that people love into alien characters – ones we don’t know or recognize any longer. I just don’t understand the need to write the show for themselves intead of the fans – what happened to turn the show away from it’s glory days. I want to see Robin and Patrick return to where they should be, a happy, fun-loving couple getting through the day to day activities with their little Emma. The barnacles attached to them should be 20-feet under, never to grace the screen again – they don’t work, nobody wants them, so GH, let’s do the right thing! I would certainly come back as would other fans, if I saw some positive chanages in this regard!

There will be no quality and sustainable change for the better on GH unless there is a change in regime. Get rid of Brian Frons (he couldn’t even keep SoapNet alive), get rid of Jill Farren Phelps (she allows Bob Guza to poison the show), and get rid of Bob Guza (Rick Webber. Luke Spencer. Holly Sutton Scorpio. Felicia Jones. AJ Quartermaine. Death of legacy characters. Focus on random new characters. Um…Ethan Lovett. Need I say more???).

The issue with the show is lack of character-driven stories, lack of balance, re-writing of established show history, needless assassination and death of many beloved characters, and completely skewed moral plane to sell Sonny, Jason, and Carly as viable characters to root for. Right now, it seems that most action happens off-screen unless it involves Sonny, Jason, Carly, Dante, or Brenda. It doesn’t help that there is non-existent continuity in story and dialogue and poor editing. Basically, GH greatly suffers on all fronts and that goes right back to BF, JFP, and BG.

First I want to say for those who think Jason being with Liz is the reason for bad ratings HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GMABand PLEASE. Like do yall Liason fans study the same crap. And also first yall say SB wanted to work with BH and we all know SB is GH goled buy. But now it’s “backstage” ppl keeping Liason from being together WTF. Also ABC is about making money THEY PUT ON WHO MAKES THEM $$$$$$. Like do we think they would lose money over a fake couple. Can’t yall stop also stop blaming Jason being with Sam for bad ratings my god thats stupid.

A show with a entire cast makes a show not one couple GET OVER YOURSELEVS JIZ FANS. Good writing and to let you know Liason s/l sucked they didn’t save the show how many ppl liked the SOS.

I read the actual article and the blog writer just wrote his spec based on the VERY few words of Kelly M. What a lot of hot air and no substance. Very misleading.

Okay, GH is going to lose a whole lot of fans with this baby story line. Who wants a baby with this woman? Remember what she did to Elizabeth, Cameron and Jake? Jason is a bone head for staying with Sam and I understand why Elizabeth does not want him to help raise her son. Sam is a danger to Jake!GH writers need a 101 course on writing because this show has become nothing but tasteless trash! They have ruined VM’s come back. This Balkan story line is horrible. We are so tired of the same old mob storyline. How many times do the recycle the same storyline? Gh please get with the program and make better storylines. This show is not doing well and soon ABC may cancel it. Soaps are being canceled and replaced with reality TV. Soon there won’t be any soaps.

I hope the show starts to focus on all the characters. So many wonderful actors and actresses has been pushed to the back….Rebecca Herbst, Kelly Monaco, Nancy lee Grahn, Tyler christospher. I think the show needs more balance. Focus on every body. All y’all jiz fans get over yourself’s. No couple is the key to low ratings or high ratings. Always crying ratings are low because jsam. How quickly we forget the ratings weren’t so high when jiz was on either. No way TPTB would’ve broke up a couple that brought in high ratings. Jiz didn’t and that’s why there not together. So get over yourselves jiz fans and jsam fans aswell, thinking your couple is so powerful that the ratings are based on them. The ratings have been in slow decline because the show has been in slow decline. As far as the Jiz/Jsam thing goes ill give my support to jsam because jiz just never did it for me even though jason and liz are two of my favorite characters. Jsam just have more variety and more layers as a couple and that’s something different. Anway both couples could break up for all I care. I support Scrubs. I just want the show to have better writing and better balance and right now it has neither and that’s why the ratings are low. So get the hell over yourselves. So sick of both of these fan bases. No matter what couple is on if the writing sucks ratings are going to suffer. Neither one of your couples are the answer to higher ratings. Better writing and better balance is. That’s what I look for in 2011.

Wow and I thought GH fans had it so good. I am fairly new to watching but went back and caught up on a lot of back story. I have seen them shift focus to various characters backburning others for a time but there seems to be a good rotation in that regard. Elizabeth was just front and center with the whole cheating on Lucky sl then she was backburned I’m assuming because she had her baby and it appears they are working her back to the front again. Sonny and Carly are probably always at the front because they are connected to half the cast it seems like. From the backstory i’ve watched and I watched a LOT I really don’t see any huge character discrepancies. The Lucky’s were different but I saw it more as how the actors portrayed them and a phase Lucky went through. I appreciate that GH overall makes sense in the dialog and sl. I love the humor, family, romance and drama and that for the most part there is a good balance of all those aspects. They do need to use the Q’s more but recently they have been. And they need to follow through with Matt and Maxie and Alexis and Mac instead of being so sporadic with those relationships. I love how it seems like the entire cast enteracts on some level and Gh has great actors and better writing then other shows. I do have to say that Brenda’s return was slow and boring and could have been done much better but I am enjoying it more now. If anyone needs to gain some appreciation for how good they have it watching GH try watching DOOL for a while. Coming from DOOL I love GH!

vanessa marcil giovinazzo is the best thing to happen to GH. period. she brought sexy back to the show and guza would be wise to keep her absolutely central. vanessa has always been tv gold — on GH during her first run and the guza-disaster during her 2nd run (she even skyrocketed ratings with guza’s bad writing) — and now in 2010-11 she’s rocking it again with her sonny and dante storylines. DO NOT LESSEN HER SCENES please. rather, give us those sexy sonny & brenda lovemaking scenes a la 1990’s!

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Jonathan Bennett Receives 3 ‘Critics Choice Real TV Awards’ Nominations for Hallmark Series, ‘Finding Mr. Christmas’

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Many things are coming up roses for Jonathan Bennett! On the heels of the news that he is set to debut this month in the role of Joe Fitzpatrick on General Hospital, who is rumored to be a new love interest for Lucas Jones (Van Hansis), comes the news that Bennett’s reality series, Finding Mr. Christmas has received 3 nomination for the Critics Choice Real TV Awards.

Bennett’s Hallmark Channel series finds itself in tough competition alongside fellow nominees: RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV), Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix), Survivor 50 (CBS), Top Chef (Bravo) and The Traitors (Peacock). In addition, Jonathan himself is nominated for Best Show Host and the series participants as the Best Ensemble Cast in an Unscripted Series.

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) revealed the nominees for the eighth annual Critics Choice Real TV Awards on Thursday, which recognize excellence in nonfiction, unscripted and reality programming across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. Winners will be announced online at CriticsChoice.com on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at 9:00am PT/12:00pm ET.

Photo: Hallmark

Taking to his Instagram to celebrate the nominations, GH’s Bennett, enthused, “3 Critic Choice Nominations! I’m so proud of the FINDING MR CHRISTMAS and to be in the company of all the legends in all these categories is so surreal! Congrats to Hallmark Channel and to our nominated cast and nominated show and everyone who made this magical show possible. This is crazy! This gives FMC 6 Critics Choice nominations in 2 years. Not bad for a little show on Hallmark Channel. What are your thoughts on our show?” Jumping first into the comment thread was one of his new GH co-stars, Dominic Zamprogna (Dante) who expressed, “Yeah buddy!!!🔥🔥”

In the series, Bennett, the host and co-creator spends eight weeks guiding 10 aspiring actors through a series of “festive face-offs” and acting challenges alongside actors like soap opera notables, Hunter King (ex-Summer, Y&R) and Alison Sweeney (Sami, DAYS). Along the way, they develop their skills and a bond with one another. The show, which is available on Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Plus, highlights LGBTQ+ representation with openly gay contestants vying to be the next Hallmark star.

It should be noted that Traitors received the most Critics Choice Real TV Award nominations with 6 nods, followed by Dancing with the Stars with 4.

Bennett is very familiar to daytime fans having started his career as JR Chandler on All My Children in 2000-2001, before landing the part of Aaron Samuels in the motion picture, Mean Girls in 2004 starring Lindsay Lohan, which would become his breakout performance.

You can check out the full list of Critics Choice Real TV Award nominations here.

So, excited for Jonathan Bennett’s General Hospital debut this month? Have you ever watched Finding Mr. Christmas on Hallmark? Let us know via the comment section below.

 

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‘General Hospital’s’ Kelly Thiebaud on Britt and Cassius Sibling Drama, But Who Will Ultimately Blow His Cover?

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On the April 30 episode of General Hospital, Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) had some choice words and warning for her brother Cassius Faison (Ryan Paevey) who has been masquerading as his twin, the very dead, Nathan West.

As the story has unfolded, viewers learned that Britt knew all along that when “Nathan” showed up in Port Charles seemingly resurrected with a missing 7 years of his life unexplained, that Cassius was taking his place.

Now in developments on today’s GH, Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) is figuring out that this guy pretending to be Nathan is someone else, and Cassius learns from Britt, that Joss is not just a ditzy sorority girl as he claimed, but a WSB agent! The moment stuns Cassius. Are the walls about to close in on him and his charade?

Courtesy/ABC

Daytime Emmy winner, Kelly Thiebaud spoke to Soap Opera Digest, about the story point and getting the opportunity this time back at GH to work with Ryan Paevey, when she hadn’t had the chance to before.

BROTHERLY LOVE?

Thiebaud expressed on sharing scenes with Ryan Paevey, “It’s just been so wonderful to have him back and to actually work with him! When he first came onto the show (as Nathan at the end of 2013) I was kind of heading out — it was right towards the end of my contract, so we didn’t actually work together a ton. It’s been really refreshing and so much fun to really spend time together and get to know each other and work together. I think we have really great on-camera chemistry and banter with each other. I really enjoy working with him.”

With the stakes at an all-time, Thiebaud explained how she views her on-screen alter-ego’s involvement with her more hot-to-temper sibling and why Britt revealed the truth about Josslyn to him. “People finding out about Cassius would expose what she’s involved in and what she agreed to do,” explains Kelly “And now Josslyn is digging around, and she’s connected to Carly (Laura Wright) to Jason (Steve Burton) and that whole dynamic! It’s messy!”

BRITT’S MURKY FUTURE

Britt has currently also reached her breaking point with Jason being carted away by the WSB, Rocco (Finn Carr), the child she gave birth to, shooting Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) to protect her and Jason, Marco (Adrian Anchondo) being killed after trying to help her, and Cullum holding over her head getting her Huntington’s disease medication to control her symptoms, while blackmailing her into finishing the research on her father, Cesar Faison’s, final project. Thiebaud summed it up best for Britt right now, sharing, “It’s been a really tough time for her.”

So, who do you think will be the person to blow Cassius’ cover? Will it be Britt herself? Josslyn? Liesl? Brennan? Nina? Lulu? Rocco, Maxie, Cullum or someone else? Let us know your pick in the comment section.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Michael Reveals His Plan to Set Up Chase and Willow to Have an Affair

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After the Wednesday, April 29 episode of General Hospital, it’s clear outside interference and other circumstances are set to blow Chase (Josh Swickard) and Brook Lynn’s (Amanda Setton) marriage sky high, as Michael (Rory Gibson) reveals his plans to entrap Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) and use her relationship with Chase to do it!

In story, Michael dropped by unexpectedly to Carly’s (Laura Wright). A plotting Michael reveals his plan to nudge Willow and Chase into having an affair. Michael hopes it would create both a political and personal scandal, where Willow would lose her seat in congress. In the scenario, she would be having an affair with her ex-husband, while taking care of her supposed disabled husband, Drew (Cameron Mathison), who cannot speak and is confined to a wheelchair, which in turn will look horrible for Willow’s character.

Carly asked does he really want to destroy his cousin, Brook Lynn’s life in the process? Michael goes in on Chase’s holier than thou attitude, and says he is going to set-up the circumstances that would lead Chase and Willow to betray their spouses, and hit the sheets together. Michael swears to Carly what the two of them do is up to them, but he’s going to go on the offense with this.

MICHAEL HAS BACK-UP

Later, Jacinda (Paige Herschell) is talking with Charlotte (Bluesy Burke) at Crimson and how much she dislikes Willow because of what she has done to Michael. Just then, Michael shows up and tells Jacinda privately, he’s figured out a way to fight Willow. Looks like Jacinda might work with Michael to bring down Willow and use Chase as the person to do it!

At the hospital, Lucas (Van Hansis) tells Josslyn (Eden McCoy) that Carly is cheating on Jack, but he doesn’t know with who. Josslyn suddenly flashes back to the moment she found her mother harboring a fugitive, Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart), in her attic, and as figured out that her mother is sleeping with him. She heads out.

Courtesy/ABC

BRENNAN IS ABOUT TO LEARN ABOUT CARLY

Next thing you know, Josslyn has showed up inside Jack’s (Chris McKenna) hotel room at the Metro Court and when he enters his room, he is shocked to find her there. He lays into her for not keeping his distance and that Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) will have no problem killing her if he knows she’s WSB. Josslyn fires back that he is only concerned about that because his relationship with her mother depends on her being safe. But then, she lays the boom, and tells Jack, Well, you’re too late. You already lost her.”

LULU GETS A GLIMPSE OF CASSIUS’ TEMPER

In addition, Lulu (Alexa Havins) sees a different side of “Nathan.” Since she is unaware that the man before her is his twin, Cassius Fasion (Ryan Paevey), he tells her that Rocco (Finn Carr) blabbed that he shot Cullum to Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), and now he thinks they should send him away to stop him from talking to everyone else. This concerns Lulu, who rails at Nathan for telling her what to do with her son and that she isn’t going to abandon him. With “Nathan’s” outburst at her on the matter, will she finally get a clue this is not the man she thinks it is?

So, what do you think of Michael’s plan to push Willow and Chase into an affair? Will it work or backfire? Do you think Joss will reveal that Valentin is the man sleeping with Carly to Brennan, which will send him in a rage? Will Lulu continue to be clueless about “Nathan?” Weigh-in via the comment section below. But first, take a look at the GH video tease for today’s April 30 episode.

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