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James Franco, ‘General Hospital’ Alum and Oscar Nominee, in New Microdrama ‘Love, Lies and Frank’ on Shortical

By Michael Fairman

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James Franco
Photo: Shortical

James Franco (ex-Franco, GH), who has been trying to make a comeback of sorts, is now starring in Love, Lies and Frank, a new vertical drama for Shortical. Love Lies and Frank is among the first microdramas produced under the new SAG-AFTRA agreement verticals agreement.

The two-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, and former General Hospital guest star is sharing the vertical screen with mainstay microdrama stars, Eric Guilmette and Neela Jolene.

In story, Love, Lies and Frank follows Jimmy Frank (Franco), the CEO of a high-powered ad agency. A man with confidence and humor but marred with risk and unresolved consequence, Jimmy navigates running his company while also dealing with criminal and supernatural underworld threats. Meanwhile, one of Jimmy’s ambitious employees, Daniella Hanson (Jolene), lands her dream campaign and reignites a forbidden romance with her eccentric boss’s stepbrother Cameron Frank (Guilmette), forcing her to choose between the career she’s fought for and the love she’s been hiding.

Photo: Shortical

JAMES FRANCO HEADLINES A MICRODRAMA

Guy Shimoni, CEO of Shortical said of adding James Franco to the cast, “Hollywood is beginning to embrace vertical storytelling in a meaningful way. To see a talent like James Franco headlining an original microdrama is an important milestone for the industry. We at Shortical are proud to be setting the standard by bringing world-class talent, filmmakers, and stories to audiences in an entirely new way, proving that premium entertainment can thrive in a mobile-first world.”

Love, Lies & Frank is directed by Eric Wang Schwager, written by Melissa Lynn Moore and produced by Knockout Shorts with Peter Gold of Gold Films. No AI generated performances or digital replicas were used in the production, which has been a recent move by several vertical short companies.

Matthew Ko, Co-Founder and CEO of Knockout Shorts added, “Love, Lies & Frank was a really fun collision of worlds. It gave us the opportunity to play with the conventions of the genre, and subvert them just enough without losing sight of what audiences already love about these stories. The goal was always to make something that felt both familiar and completely unexpected.”

Photo: ABC

THE ARTIST KNOWN AS FRANCO ON GENERAL HOSPITAL

General Hospital fans will recall it was back in 2009, that James Franco, played the artist known as “Franco” who was fixated on death and became a main villain of the show and nemesis to Jason Morgan (Steve Burton). At the time, James Franco explained about his GH alter-ego. “Franco works in a lot of different ways. He does graffiti, performances, photographs. He creates installations based on murder scenes featuring murders he possibly was involved with. He’s interested in pushing the boundaries of art – both aesthetically and ethically – and he will go way too far.”

James played “Franco” for a few runs on the soap opera from 2009-2010 and again for stint from the fall of 2011 to early 2012. Later in 2013, the role of Franco was recast with Roger Howarth playing the role until 2021.

The last several years have been difficult for James Franco to find work in Hollywood, following a 2019 sexual misconduct scandal and abuse of power allegations of inappropriate behavior towards aspiring actresses at his now-defunct acting school, Studio 4. Franco settled a lawsuit for $2.2 million in 2021, later admitting he slept with students and addressing issues surrounding power imbalances. The actor maintained he did not open his acting school to lure women for sexual advances. Since the scandal broke in 2019, James has only appeared in five films and mostly from international distributors.

Love, Lies & Frank is now available exclusively on Shortical here.

So, what do you think of James Franco starring in a microdrama? Did you enjoy him as General Hospital’s OG Franco? Let us know via the comment section below.

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Yes yes yes love James Franco,y

Really have no use for him after his mockery and disrespect of GH.

The only real Franco. And his story ended appropriately when Jason emptied a clip into him and then burned down the building his body was in, just to make sure he was dead.

A fitting end for a psychotic serial killer. No reason to ever bring back a character with that name, let alone in the form of a recast just to satisfy legal red tape that the Valentini/ReRon regime found themselves in when they attempted to graft the remains of their cancelled previous show into GH.

And definitely no reason to attempt to sanitize such a character, blame his long string of murders & terrorism on a “brain tumor” and claim he was now a family man who was fit to teach “art therapy” to children.

Applauding wildly. Thank you. And moreover, it was not fair to Roger Howarth to recast him as Franco.

I would love to see James Franco on Off Broadway in a play he writes, directs..and acts..perhaps an autobiography of being Franco..and changes n lessons in his life..

General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Brennan is Found Dead in the Water as Suspects Mount and Cover-Ups Begin

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The Tuesday, September 1 episode of General Hospital confirmed that the body floating in the Metro Court pool was indeed WSB Port Charles bureau chief, Jack Brennan, thus ending the run of Chris McKenna, who debuted on GH back in February of 2025.

In story, Charlotte (Bluesy Burke) screamed and Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) had a major freak out, when they were the ones to find Brennan’s body lifeless in the pool. Being in fear that Drew (Cameron Mathison) would use this against him, Danny told Charlotte they need to flee the scene.

Elsewhere in Jack’s hotel room, a panic-stricken Ava (Maura West) was trying to convince Drew to get out of Brennan’s room asap since she thinks the sleeping pill she spiked his drink with only made him head back to his room. Eventually, Ava was able to convince Drew to leave, and the two headed to the pool deck and were in for the shock of their lives when they saw Jack’s body floating face up in the pool!

Courtesy/ABC

THIS DOESN’T FLOAT AVA AND DREW’S BOAT

Ava went into cover-up mode in fear Jack’s death would be traced back to her since Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) saw her with Brennan at the Gardens. Next, Ava threatens to take down Drew with her if she goes down for a crime he put her up to in the first place.

Then, the pair decide to move Brennan’s body out of the pool and place him in a laundry cart. They are going to use the service elevator to bring the body down to the garage and dump Brennan somewhere.

At the Quartermaine boathouse, Charlotte and Danny arrive and Danny realizes he put a dent into Chase’s (Josh Swickard) truck that he “borrowed” without Chase’s permission. Suddenly, Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) and Rocco (Finn Carr) were on the scene and four got into heated words when Danny insulted Drew which brought Scout to tears that she doesn’t want to have to choose sides between her brother and her father.

SECURITY BREACH

After Rocco and Scout left, Charlotte had a new freak out when she realized the bracelet she had on is missing. Cut to: Jack’s wrist and sleeve in the laundry cart with Charlotte’s bracelet around it.

Jason (Steve Burton) helped Carly (Laura Wright) with figuring out how the hotel’s security system was disabled and the alarm was deactivated. Suspecting foul play to a VIP guest, Carly and Jason go up to to Jack’s room. However, once they were inside, Brennan was nowhere to be found. Just then, Jason looked around and realized someone was in the room doing a search.

So, it looks like plenty of people will need to cover their actions including: Danny, Charlotte, Ava and Drew. But if none of them caused the direct death of Brennan, who did? Chief among the suspects would have to be Willow Cain, then we had Nina leveling a threat against Jack overheard by Carly and others, or are they only red-herrings and the real killer is someone you wouldn’t expect? Also, what will Jack’s autopsy report reveal? Stay tuned, and share your theories via the comment section.

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General Hospital

Chris McKenna Speaks Out on His Exit from ‘General Hospital’ and Thanks Fans for ‘The Support You’ve Shown Me and Jack’

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Chris McKenna

On the Tuesday, September 1 episode of General Hospital, the body shown floating in the Metro Court pool was identified as Jack Brennan, ending the run of daytime veteran, Chris McKenna, in the role of the WSB Port Charles bureau chief.

McKenna began his time on the ABC soap opera back in February 2025, after replacing Charles Mesure who decided to leave the show. As it turned out, McKenna actually wrapped almost three months ago in June and has been keeping mum, even though reports surfaced that he was exiting the show come fall and Brennan would be killed-off.

Now as a murder mystery begins, McKenna took to his X account on Tuesday, and shared these heartfelt words and clarification, starting with, “Hey, everyone. Just want to say how moved I’ve been by the support you’ve shown me and Jack. As you now know, I left the show months ago, wrapped in June. I’ll say more once my exit interview runs. Until then, from the bottom of my heart- Thank You.”

Courtesy/ABC

THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IN THE WATER

Then, in said “exit interview” with TV Insider, Chris confirmed,  I did my last episode in June, so I’ve had a few months to adjust.” He also added how bittersweet it was when he found out it was the end of the line for Jack.

“It’s disappointing how it’s ending right now, but this was a gift,” expressed McKenna. “Between my son being born and having this place to go to work for the past couple of years, this has been just a fantastic time, and it’s been so much fun. I got to be introduced to an entire new legion of soap fans who weren’t familiar with me, got back into the daytime world and did some powerful work I’m really proud of, so it’s been a great experience. I have no complaints.”

Previously, Chris played a young Joey Buchanan on One Life to Live where he got his first big break from 1990-1993. Decades later, he took on the role of Mark Harding on The Young and the Restless from 2014-2015.

Photo: CMcKennaIG

CHRIS MCKENNA AND PAIGE HERSCHELL LEARNED THE SAME DAY THEY WERE BEING WRITTEN OFF

While Chris did not get a major exit scene with lots of emotion or dialog, he still appreciated a departure by water! “I would have loved to have had a big, heroic martyrdom or a big grand speech. Unfortunately, I just played my dead body floating in a pool for two days,” joked Chris.

As it turned out, Chris wasn’t alone in finding out he was being pink-slipped from the soap. He learned the news the same day as Paige Herschell found out they were writing Jacinda out as well.

McKenna had one hope for the story in the months to come adding, “Though it’s not the end I woulda chosen for Jack, I hope this generates months of riveting television around ‘Who killed Brennan?’ And I hope that Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) killed him. It’s time she graduates to full-on murder.”

So, what do you think of the events that transpired of when and how Chris McKenna learned he was exiting General Hospital as Brennan? Who do you think murdered Jack?  Are you sad to know that today marked his final episode (unless there may be flashbacks?) of Chris’s GH run? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

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Genie Francis Exits ‘General Hospital’ For Her Annual Summer Hiatus

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Genie Francis

Monday’s, August 31 episode of General Hospital brought with it the the final appearance, for now, of the iconic Genie Francis as Mayor Laura Collins.

In story, it has been revealed that Laura is taking a leave of absence from her mayorship to go abroad and visit her husband, Kevin (Jon Lindstrom), and her grandson Ace in Ireland.

The timing of the story-dictated moved had to do with Genie’s annual summer hiatus from the long-running ABC soap opera. As per usual, GH fans can look forward to Laura’s return on-screen to come with an impact later this fall.

Courtesy/ABC

General Hospital fans have loved the legendary star since her debut back in 1977, when Francis was in her teens, and was later paired with the late Anthony Geary as soap opera super couple Luke and Laura.

Back in 2007, Genie won her first and only Daytime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama Series category. She has been nominated four times as a solo performer in either the Lead (1997, 2021) or Supporting Actress categories (2007, 2012). In addition, in 2002, Genie along with Tony Geary were nominated for America’s Favorite Couple.

LEAVING PORT CHARLES

Before Laura left town, she had a meeting with her friend Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and his arch enemy, Drew Cain (Cameron Marthison) while at the Metro Court Hotel. It was there, Laura announced to the rivals that she was leaving town soon and wanted them to call a ceasefire while she was gone.

Laura asked Drew to first bow out of the Pier 55 auction so Sonny could regain his property. However, that didn’t go over so well with Drew, who said nothing Sonny does is ever legitimate. However, Sonny informed Drew that he was also a legit businessman (and seemingly out of the mob).

So, will you miss Genie during her summer break? What do you hope Laura’s story will be when she returns? Do you think the series will pair Laura with Ezra Boyle (Daniel Cosgrove) or keep the Laura and Kevin relationship going long distance, since Jon Lindstrom is primarily a cast member on CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates? Let us know 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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