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IT'S OFFICIAL: Katie Couric deal with ABC for Daytime Talk Show…network continues support for GH

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/Chicago-SunTimes

Courtesy/Chicago-SunTimes

As predicted, ABC announced this morning the deal between the network and Katie Couric which includes her own syndicated daytime talk show.  Here is the official release below!

“Disney/ABC Television Group has signed a multi-year, multi-platform agreement with Katie Couric, award-winning journalist, best-selling author and popular TV personality, to host and produce her own nationally syndicated talk show and to join the ABC News team, it was announced today by Anne Sweeney, president, Disney/ABC Television Group and co-chair, Disney Media Networks. The program will be distributed by Disney/ABC Domestic Television and will premiere in September 2012.

Couric, the former Today co-anchor who was most recently anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric a 60 minutes correspondent and host of the weekly online interview series, will be reunited with Jeff Zucker, who will be an executive producer with Couric on the yet-to-be-named syndicated series, which will be based in New York and produced in conjunction with Disney/ABC. In addition to hosting the new syndicated program, Couric will join the ABC News team, contributing to all programs and platforms. Beginning this summer, Couric, winner of the distinguished duPont, Murrow and Cronkite Awards and numerous Emmys, will anchor specials, contribute interviews, participate in special events coverage and bring her many talents to bear on some of the most important and interesting stories of the day.

In making the announcement, Ms. Sweeney stated: “Katie Couric is one of television’s iconic figures and we are thrilled to have forged such an exciting partnership with her. We look forward to having Katie join the best News team in the business, and to working with her to create a dynamic and successful talk show franchise.”

Ms. Couric added: “I’m very happy to be returning to the network where I began my career as a desk assistant in 1979. It is tremendously exciting to have the creative freedom to develop my own show with Anne Sweeney, the Disney/ABC TV Group and Jeff, and to contribute to such a vibrant, innovative news division. I can’t wait to be part of this incredibly talented, visionary team. It was a blast working with Katie at Today and I’m excited to do it again,” said Zucker. “And besides, it should be more fun spending time with Katie at 3 or 4 in the afternoon than at 3 or 4 in the morning.”

The eight ABC Owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh/Durham and Fresno, which represent nearly 23% of the nation’s TV households, have already cleared the new show in the 3:00 p.m. time slot. As part of the announcement, the network is set to return the last hour of its Daytime network block to affiliates no earlier than September 2012, but continues to support General Hospital and the plans to launch The Chew in September of this year and The Revolution in January 2012.”

So, what does this exactly mean? Will ABC continues to support GH through September 2012 only? Or, more long term?

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ABC would be better off to be supporting ONE LIFE TO LIVE and NOT GENERAL HOSPITAL. “OLTL” is a much better show.

No thanks, Brian. Love OLTL but not at the expense of GH. I am thrilled Garin has come onboard as the new writer.

Larry, not EVERY story. I read that detail about the return of the last hour at GHH on Saturday.

I am curious how long you have watched both shows for. I watched GH from 1976 to 1990, but when it started to lose the original main cast,( Quartermaine, Aunt Ruby, Bobbie and Tony), it lost me. OLTL still has many of the vetrians, and hasn’t become single story lined, aka the mob.

Brian, I have watched both shows since about 1974. I have a lot of hope for GH’s future now that Garin Wolf will be in charge. Every actor has reiterated that Garin knows how to write for and about women AND how to use character intergration. They seem very enthusiastic and happy. I thought he did a great job with his outlines for the show during the writers strike. GHH says he has big plans for changes to the show.

Ok Brooke, we all have all favorite shows, but at least OLTL is not all crime driven and tries to portray criminals as “good citizens” OLTL has always delt with true to life social issues. In my opinion the canvas of GH is beyond repair.

So every story about Katie’s new show being syndicated has left out the part about ABC returning the last hour of it’s daytime lineup to the local stations. If GH is no longer on at 3 PM, will they shift it to 2 PM (in the place in one of the replacements for AMC and OLTL) or cancel it entirely? This ruins any hope I had of ABC delaying debut of one of their new daytime shows and therefore delaying cancellation of OLTL .

This whole thing about affiliates and time slots is so confusing!!! Can someone explain? When I lived on the east coast and watched GH in the early ’80s, it was on at 3pm EST. Now that KC has that time slot, what will happen to GH? Will it move to the 2pm time slot that OLTL now has? Again, it’s so confusing!!!

Webbie, Go to GHH and read their News section. It is explained pretty clearly there, especially in the last two paragraphs.

Thanks Brooke!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
I am 18 but have been watching General Hospital since I was 3 with my family. We finally got Jonathan Jackson back and TG is getting storylines plus a new head writer

I was always so sure that GH would be around so I can share it with my kids someday. And now American television is going down the tubes for trash.
Soap operas are fine in every other part of the world and more accepted and yet us Americans can’t find a way to watch other things besides a bunch of cackled hens talking about everything under the sun?
NO! Sad that they are taking OLTL but not GH! You WON’T!!!!!!

Breaking News

Robert Kelker-Kelly, ‘General Hospital,’ ‘Days of our Lives’ and ‘Another World’ Star Dies at 62

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Robert Kelker-Kelly

Robert Kelker-Kelly, who became prominent as a one of the leading men in soap operas back in the late 80s and 90s has died at the age of 62. TMZ first reported the news of Robert’s passing on Saturday, October 3 at his home in St. Peters, Missouri.

According to the St. Peters police report, officers responded to call at around 8:16 pm about an unconscious man who was not breathing, as paramedics and other EMS were en route, according to a police statement.

Kelker-Kelly had reportedly complained of chest pain shortly before becoming unresponsive and the circumstances appeared consistent with a medical event. Officers and paramedics administered life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful in reviving Kelker-Kelly. The cause of his death is still unknown and under investigation.

Robert Kelker-Kelly

Photo: NBC

Daytime fans first saw Robert back in 1987 when he was cast as Sam Fowler on Another World. He played the role for three year until 1990. Two years later he took over the role of Bo Brady on Days of our Lives replacing Peter Reckell, who at that time decided to leave the show.

As Bo, Kelker-Kelly was major in story and carried story opposite Crystal Chappell as Dr. Carly Manning, Kristian Alfonso as Hope Williams and Lisa Rinna as Billie Reed. When Peter Reckell returned to his signature role, Kelker-Kelly left the show.

Next, Robert returned to his original stomping grounds at Another World but this time as race car driver, Bobby Reno who was actually Dr. Shane Roberts. His second AW stint lasted from 1996-1998.

Robert Kelker-Kelly, GH

Photo: ABC

Eventually, the actor would begin his run as the evil Stavros Cassadine on General Hospital in 2001, then in 2002 and 2003. In 2013, he briefly returned as Stavros as part of the show’s 50th anniversary celebration, and one last appearance in 2014.  Robert became a professional pilot full from 2003 to 2015,

Kelker-Kelly was married to former Days of our Lives star, Miriam Parrish (ex-Jamie Caldwell) from 1997-2011, but the couple divorced in 2011. Since that time, he has not remarried.

Recently, Robert was back in the news when Lisa Rinna talked about her time working with her former Days of our Lives co-star in her recently released memoir, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.

Rinna shared, “Behind the scenes, we hated each other. Remember when Kathy Hilton said I was the biggest bully in Hollywood? Not true. Not even close! I have legit stories about the real bullies in this town. Robert Kelker-Kelly is one of those bullies.”

The former Billie Reed and reality star even punctuated that with, “He made my life a living hell on the set of DAYS, He was horrible to me, I’d go so far as to say verbally abusive. He was passive-aggressive, manipulative and played weird mind games.”

Michael Fairman TV will provide further updates as they become available on the death of Robert Kelker-Kelly.

Share your remembrances and condolences on the loss of Robert Kelker-Kelly via the comment section below. Let us know of his daytime roles, which was your favorite of his?

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Everyone Turns Their Backs on Sonny; Can Anyone Get Chase to Open His Eyes About Willow’s Treachery?

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This week on all-new episodes of General Hospital, the ABC soap opera picks right back up with everyone turning their backs on Sonny (Maurice Benard), and now the one person he hoped would be by his side appears to be abandoning ship when Justine (Nazneen Contractor) doesn’t believe him about ordering the beatdown of Sidwell (Carlo Rota) in the latest spoilers video.

Sonny screams at Justine, “Someone is setting me up.” She says, “It’s over!” He proclaims, “I didn’t do it!” Little do they know that it was actually Ava (Maura West) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) who set Sonny up to take the fall for the Pentonville drama that left Curtis  (Donnell Turner) with injuries as well.

Then, Lulu (Alexa Havins) is seen using her voice memo app on her phone to record her discussion with Sidwell while he is recovering from his injuries at the hospital. This moment is intercut with Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) saying, “I wish there was someone who could get Chase (Josh Swickard) to open his eyes about who Willow truly is!”

Next, Willow is seen happily waving while at a table at a Metro Court Gardens, while Chase, Michael (Rory Gibson), Brook Lynn and Ava (Maura West) all receive text messages. Tracy (Jane Elliot) punctuates the promo stating, “That’s the real Willow,” while the words “The world knows” comes across the screen.

Take a look at the official GH spoilers for the week of October 5-9 below.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5
Sonny challenges Justine. Josslyn takes matters into her own hands. Britt and Willow discuss matters of the heart. Jason is taken to task. Serena finds herself in a bind.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6
Felicia has welcome news for Anna. Brook Lynn confides in Valentin. Hudson tries to talk Josslyn down. Lulu makes a daring play. Willow and Chase discuss his marriage.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7
Carly asks Anna for a favor. Tracy bites her tongue with Gio. Drew and Alexis go at it. Scout tries to broker peace between Danny and Rocco. Lulu pursues a lead.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8 
Carly supports Sonny. Lulu’s latest article makes waves. Ava pitches a new target to Drew. Curtis gets a shock. Chase throws down the gauntlet.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9
Britt offers a lifeline. Anna offers her expertise. Sonny reassures Gio. Portia makes her loyalties clear. Dante’s investigation hits a roadblock.

Check out the latest General Hospital promo for the action this week entitled, “The World Knows” below.

Now weigh-in: With everyone disbelieving Sonny, what will be his next move? Will he hit rock bottom, or rise up and fight back and prove his innocence? Will Sonny enlist Jason to get to the bottom of this, even though Jason is out of Sonny’s business? Meanwhile, can this truly be the week that Willow is exposed for her multitude of crimes … or is this all a red herring? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

GH’s Kayden Brenna Tokarski Addresses ‘Positivity and Negativity’ That Has Come Her Way as She Embraces Playing Scout Cain

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Kayden Brenna Tokarksu

Kayden Brenna Tokarski took over the role of General Hospital’s Scout Cain from her predecessor Cosette Abinante on the July 20th episode of the ABC soap opera, when they decided to age-up Scout.  Abinante has played the part since 2022.

Now, as the story has been unfolding, viewers are witnessing Scout’s journey and burgeoning teenage romance with Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr) and the conflict she’s caught in the middle of between her brother, Danny Morgan (Asher Antonyzyn) and her father, Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison).

Since Tokarski has arrived on the scene, Scout has shed many tears and been in the middle of some heavy emotional beats. On Sunday, October 4, Kayden Brenna Tokarksi took to her X account and dropped a video message to all General Hospital fans.

Kayden Brenna Tokarski

Photo: ABC

During her message, Kayden addressed how General Hospital has been handed down generations within her family and how she had watched the soap before having the incredible moment of actually becoming a cast member, plus fans positive and negative comments since her debut.

Here’s what Kayden expressed, “I just wanted to come on here and show my gratitude for General Hospital. It’s been the largest dream come true. Seriously, I’m pinching myself. Every single day I get to come to work, and work with the incredible cast and crew. My mom grew up watching with her mom and I watched with her. So it’s very full circle. It’s insane that this is my life. I wanted to give a huge shout out to Cosette who played Scout prior. Thank you for building such a beautiful foundation, and really large shoes to fill, but just such a phenomenal, brilliant actress and young woman, and I just wish you all the best.”

As Scout has grown in front of our eyes, Tokarski shared, “Thank you to everyone for your grace, welcome, and support as Scout is transitioning into a teenager and more. I have never been on a soap opera before, so as I’m navigating this new world, thank you. Thank you for all of the positivity and also negativity, because I don’t look at it as negativity. I look at it as a way to learn and grow and evolve because right now.”

Being on a soap opera is always a work in progress, for any actor who has never fully performed in the medium, it is like no other, with the pace and how it required the actors to make things work often without much rehearsal time. Kayden added,  “I’m at a stage where I’m figuring out what works for me and what doesn’t. And if we take it too far, we’ll pull back. Don’t worry. Thanks for being in the ride with me, I hope you stick it out and keep watching General Hospital.”

You can check out Kayden’s video message to all General Hospital fans below.

Now let us know, have you been enjoying Kayden’s performance as the teenaged Scout? Do you appreciate her addressing her love of the show, plus how she hopes to continue evolve in the role? Drop a comment in the thread 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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