General Hospital
Jeff Kober To Play General Hospital’s Latest Villain, Cyrus Renault
A very fine actor who is known for his many roles on primetime has been swooped up by General Hospital. Enter Jeff Kober who is about to play Jason (Steve Burton) and Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) newest nemesis, and who knows who else in Port Charles, when Cyrus Renault hits the canvas of the ABC daytime drama series.
If Kober look familiar to you his TV credits include: Falcon Crest, China Beach, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, and many more.
According to ABC Soaps In Depth: Cyrus is a Pentonville prison inmate who is challenging the territory and authority of mob boss, Sonny Corinthos. In recent episodes, there gunfire upon Sonny, Carly and Michael, and more that made Sonny realize he was under attack. Later, after Jason interrogated one of the gunman (after he found himself embroiled in yet another shoot-out with said gunman) as the guy was dying, he revealed to Jason that he was working for “Cyrus”.
What does Cyrus have planned for Sonny? Why does he have an axe to grind? Who else could he be connected to? Stay tuned.
So, excited to see Jeff Kober stir up the drama for the residents of Port Charles as Cyrus? Comment below.
IDK if I’m “excited” for another new character. We’ll have to wait and see. Due to the preemption of the show for so many days and not being able to catch it until today, I am well behind on some of the finer points of what’s happened. That being said, I was hoping the rival trying to push Sonny out was tied to Brando and Gladys. We’ll see.
i would had him played Liz’s father Jeff Webber and still play him dark as Sonny’s nemesis….Jeff could have gone bad-why not…this would tie him to Liz, Monica and Hayden and be part of the show’s long history@@
Just when I was enjoying GH again, now we return to Sonny, Jason, and mob wars. So boring. NuNick and Ava are great together, Nelle at the Quartermaines has great potential….she is the queen of snark! Why are the writers returning their focus on the mob?
Turn the channel brother, GH will always have a mob story to some degree. Sonny and Jason are main characters connected to everyone!
Davy, you are spot on! The powers that be at GH will never understand or realize the harm they have done by their incessant focus on Sonny, Jason, and the Mob. It’s not only boring, it’s dark and it misguidedly glorifies that element. This brother turned the channel many years ago because of all that. I am not alone…
Oh, Jamesj75, how sad is this? ANOTHER MASSIVE story arc for Sonny & Co., featuring self-righteous Carly and Miss Mumbles Sam. Plus, that mob beating scene on Feb. 5 was WAY too violent for Daytime. Very distasteful. So, let’s take inventory of which tales the Corinthos clan have their hooks in: the Lucas/Brad/Wiley endless debacle; the Shiloh fallout due to Nelle’s involvement; the Nina/Valentin story has links to Sasha, hence Michael; Anna and Peter link to JaSam hence Sonny; Elizabeth & Franco… heck now even Elizabeth takes Cameron to SONNY for counsel!! And of course, Ava & Nikolas will become Carly’s new cause for indignation! Why doesn’t she do something useful like check in on Donna or get rid of that hideous mossy eyesore in the kitchen!
Hey Soaphound! Thanks for your reply! And thanks for delineating recent storyline developments regarding the annointed one and his ilk. Never has one show (daytime, nighttime) exerted so much effort (over decades) in propping up such an irredeemable, despicable, abusive character.
I think ABC has a real dilemma, though I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for it, because it’s of their own making. I’m in the camp that thinks the mob long ago overstayed its welcome–but there’s another sizable group that loves Sonny, Carly, Jason, and that whole part of the show. That group is still responsible for a significant chunk of ratings–and the ABC brass apparently pee in their pants at the thought of losing them. I think there was a period four or five years ago when the show was taking tentative steps to move away from the mob focus, but then the ratings must have dipped and they got cold feet. If ABC execs were smart, they’d find a way to integrate Sonny et al. into the rest of the canvas and get them out of the mob–because it wrecks the show, and it’s not sustainable.
But they’re not smart.
Thank you for your reply and analysis, Michael. I think you’re onto something. Admittedly, I’m just resentful of all the actors/characters/storylines that were given short shrift (or eliminated completely) because of the constant focus on Sonny and the Mob. To me, General Hospital sold out long ago, and they continue on that track out of stubbornness, laziness, and thoughtlessness…
For me, it’s worse than that, James. The whole mob-is-good-not-bad motif that they’ve had to employ to make the show workable with Sonny et al. has tainted the entire show’s moral and ethical fabric: Port Charles is a warped place that bears no relationship to any place I’d like to live or work or socialize. Soaps have traditionally depicted places like Oakdale and Springfield where you’d like to live, because there were people worth knowing, but you couldn’t pay me enough to live in Port Charles. So you end up with characters like Ava and Julian, who have to be 30 times worse than Sonny and his gang in order to make Sonny and his gang look not-so-bad-after-all by comparison. It’s a dark, sick show in a lot of ways, and there’s no way to fix it as long as one of the key characters is a mobster. They’ve had to alter the construction of the rest of the show to make it work, and they rode that pretty successfully for a number of years, but they’ve reached the end of the road and won’t acknowledge it, largely because of the stubbornness, laziness, and thoughtlessness you mention (though I’ll also add visionlessness to the list, and cluelessness).
Hey Michael! Despite our agreement on the lengthy sad state of affairs at GH, I am pleased to read your insightful analysis. You make some great points to wit:
“Port Charles is a warped place that bears no relationship to any place I’d like to live or work or socialize.”
I wish that the powers that be could read, and learn from, your commentary.
Once Sonny became front and center, I knew I didn’t like the direction the show took: that is, to the dark side. And they have continued to glorify this abusive murderer. I personally just got tired of all the yelling, let alone the bullets flying… Any moral compass the show achieved with the likes of Jessie Brewer, Steve Hardy, Audrey Hardy, Diana Taylor, and Peter Taylor (probably before your time, Michael) or, as you mention, the moral compass in places, such as “Oakdale and Springfield,” has been completely thrown out the window, akin to hazardous waste bin of a hospital. Whenever the end comes for this once great show, it will be a bittersweet time for me, remembering the wonderful years I spent as a viewer combined with the sad, dark, vapid cesspool it would later become and within which it would willfully, wantonly wallow…
Michael…I was just updating on the Cyrus actor and started re-reading the comments. Couldn’t agree with you more. However it’s getting harder to know where your “any place to live” is anymore. But the violence (not for grandkid viewing for sure) just keeps spreading on GH…Nelle slitting Brocklyn’s throat, Brando getting beat up in his shop, the Taggert shoot out. All when we are going through probably the worse pandemic in real time. We need something more uplifting and fun, not writers who compete with awful crime headlines for stories.
Davy…I am so with you on this. There’s enough gun shooting as if it’s normal going on in real life (thanks NRA and “responsible gun owners and enthusiast and chicken politicians), now we have to see Jason and others doing the same and Sonny wanting payback. Wonder if some viewers who worry about other sensitive content that they won’t let their kids/grandchildren watch also turn off the tv with the mob wars on GH.
Two things this show doesn’t need – a return to mob violence and anymore focus on the Peter character.
The shootouts can’t be filmed properly with set size limitations and budgets. The “badder” guys are at point blank range and could reach out and touch Jason yet miss him with every bullet. Not that long ago, they would rent a real warehouse for these scenes.
It’s just rinse, lather and repeat with Sonny, Carly and Jason. I am intrigued by Gladys and Brando.
On the subject of Peter, what did Finola Hughes do to be saddled with this storyline? Always one of THE strongest woman characters in daytime, she is being dragged down by a character that doesn’t work -no matter what they throw at him. At this point, I look at Peter as “the male Courtney”, another character that long overstayed her purpose.
Now it’s Violet’s job to promote and prop-up Putrid Peter the Parking Lot Poet. All that scene did was glorify how terrible Ramsey’s acting is, compared to a child actor. He is horrific. #shameless
LOL, DMRR. The guy is an instant downer. Even my 86-year-old mother, upon seeing Peter, decries, “Oh, hell no!” And now he clearly wants to eliminate Jason, and probably Spinelli too. Haven’t we suffered enough?
You would think we have suffered enough!
& it’s now Emma’s job to prop-up “The Poet?” I am disgusted with this show. He’s a Juilliard Flunkie!
Oh Steve, every time they’re on, I say, “Poor Anna and poor us”. Peter is like a biblical millstone, dragging down everyone in sight. Where is wonderful Drew? I HATE that he is gloating over even Drew’s hopefully temporary absence. WR isn’t even a shadow of Billy Miller. And now ANOTHER creepy enemy for Sonny? Hand me the remote!
YUP! & have you seen that the shameless boyfriend is now doing events by himself? WHO would pay to see him? The blatant nepotism is astonishing. He can’t act!
Finola is way too smart to abide this dumbing down of her once-savvy character.
Poor Finola & Kirsten, their characters and storylines are now fast-forward material with this dead weight “actor.”
Best thing about the last week of GH??
NO FRODD!!
Keep up the good work, writers!
NElle should be banished forever–has stayed too long and just become tiresome. I’ve said many times that is one of GH’s flaws; they don’t know when to let go of a character, most especially after they taken them as far as they can go down the “bad” road. 🙂
nancy dillingham,
Hopefully we’ll see the end of Nelle soon, if what I just read is true. Another “who dunnit” for us.Gosh, I’d do it myself, for free even!
I know what you mean, Violet! 🙂 And I read the same thing. A lot of possibilities re who might “do” it to Nelle. But guess poor Michael will be the likely suspect, don’t you?
Well, if you don’t like the focus on the mob watch something else. Sonny and Jason are forever.
anne
This is something I could never understand. With GH having such a big fan base, how is it so many people hate the Corinthos family and Jason, when they are foremost and have such integral SL’s on the show. In fact a lot of key players are disliked. These people are not just here today and gone tomorrow. So my question is, what is it that hold the viewers? I wish someone would honestly answer this for me. What keeps you watching a show, when you hate so many of the characters?
This is a great question, Violet, and one I’ve been trying to resolve also. When Drew/Billy Miller left, I vowed to give up the show. Then, inevitably, I retracted because I liked the Shiloh story (well, I liked sexy Coby McLaughlin). Recently, I got fed up again when Dev came on because I realized another major Sonny story was afoot, not to mention the repulsive Peter character hogging so much airtime. But… then they dangled the return of Nikolas and Nelle, which have held my interest. I guess this means that, for me, there’s USUALLY enough good to offset the bad/repetitive. I just wish (and Y&R is guilty here too) that more “secondary” characters were featured more. It’s called balance and we desperately need it now.
I guess the viewers are eternally hopeful that the most capable large cast will FINALLY get a chance at a story that is uplifting or interesting or intriguing, or SOMETHING they can sink their teeth into.
he’s totally Gladys’ ex husband.
Hope this new “super villain” doesn’t turn out to be another cartoonish trainwreck like Teddy Balkan.
Or a cartoonish train wreck like Trevor Lansing father of Rick Lansing. The writers had a really good actor in Stephen Macht and they blew it big time
Trevor Lansing was alright when he started out, but he did get fairly pathetic towards the end, with the bioweapon stored in the ping pong balls or whatever that was. Ironically he ended up as a recurring character on Suits, playing opposite his real life son Gabriel Macht… but NOT as Harvey’s father.
Another interesting trivial note about Stephen…. he was actually Gene Roddenberry’s first choice to play Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek TNG. Can’t imagine anybody other than Patrick Stewart in that role, but who knows??
Oh, Great!!!!! It’s all about Sonny’s swelled head again—-the war of the roaches.
And, about the holier-than-thou women who stay with them….no matter the danger. O-K.
Then there’s Peter—-a cross between Brute and Van Gogh.
One redemption for me is Nina. I did not give her the credit she deserved at first. I suppose I resented her replacing Stafford. Shame on me. I love her in the role. She has given Nina a whole new life—-a new persona. Kudos!! I hope her relationship with Jax ‘expands’ —romantically. Love the ease of camaraderie and witty repartee.
Me too, Celia. It took a few weeks, but Ms. Watros has really made Nina her own. And when she is at her best, like on GUIDING LIGHT, watch out! She’s as good as they come. Nina and Ava would be great BFFs.
I like Cynthia too, she’s really grown into the character, made it her own.
liked her on Guiding Light and she works well with Jax…sorry but i never really warmed up to Stafford!!! but why is Nina hiding the truth-that Sasha is her daughter after all…and later will learn Sasha has a fraternal twin-Willow???
Ahh, Jimmy—if they would only listen to us!! But, this too shall fizzle. LOL.
UGh…this is why I stopped watching GH years ago…all the mafia stuff. ENOUGH! THe writers are getting SO lazy! I mean, they can drag a story out for months into years. IE: Wiley. They finally ended the ridiculous Nelle story/character who’s SOLE motivation for her EVERY ONE OF HER actions is she gave up a kidney without her consent. Seriously? Now they bring her back? It’s all getting far fetched again. As much as I hated Shiloh and that stupid story, at least it had a ring of reality to it. It also reminded me of Mitch and the mission/OLTL. But, enough is enough. Stop mafia stories, stop sociopath brat storylines, end the Wiley story and lets FINNALY reveal that Blue eyed teacher is Nina’s daughter..AGAIN, rehash the Alexis/Sam storyline. HERE’S a novel idea…ABC, start bringing on some other canceled show characters. Bring Dorian Lord in to take over ELQ and put her up against Jane Elliot. Erica Kane to take over Crimson. Bring back the one who was the surrogate for Charlotte and have it revealed she was another alter of Jessica Buchanan/Tess.
And PLEASE make Michael Knight Tad who’s just been scamming everyone as a southern lawyer. THIS is what the audience loves…the GOOD OLD DAYS! Mafia be gone…it’s done!
So you want to take off core characters who have been part of General Hospital for 27 years and literally replace them with OLTL & AMC castoffs??
Nope. That’s what Valentini & his little dog Toto… er ReRon tried to do in 2012. Real GH fans didn’t want it then, and we don’t want it now.
And they can run the mob stories 666 days in a row if it keeps Frodd off the screen.
You do have a point about Nelle & dragging out the whole Wiley thing though. That dragonshit should have been resolved a year ago.
Joe,
You say you stopped watching GH years ago.Well, great, good for you! Then why do you think we are interested in all the stones you are throwing, and why you are apparently still interested enough to comment on ongoing SL’s, and not ones that happened “years ago”. Using an old saying, you sound like someone who talks out of two sides of your mouth, or is it all those sour grapes?
Spot on Violet!
Absolutely! General Hospital is one great drama and adding characters into the mix like Cyrus Renault makes GH worthy of prime time status.
He’s an exciting actor. Wish he could have come in as a “good,” but complicated character rather than just another mob boss.
Nope, this will make me stop watching.
I will stop watching if this guy is permanent!
Take your medicine!
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Nina Confronts Ava for Sabotaging Her Relationship With Sonny and Signs the Divorce Papers
Looks like Nina (Cynthia Watros) and Ava (Maura West) are back to be each other’s sworn enemy number one. By the end of the Monday, April 22nd episode of General Hospital, the women know where they stand with each other after Nina goes in on Ava accusing her of wanting Sonny (Maurice Benard) all to herself, while her marriage has been on the rocks.
In story, at Nina’s office, Ava shows up to see Nina and says she is sorry about what happened with Sonny and that he reacted the way he did, acknowledging that is was over the top, even for Sonny. Ava says she’ll smooth things over, but Nina says she now understands how manipulative and transparent Ava really is.
Given their horrible history, Nina goes in on Ava and how she should never have trusted her. Nina wants to know how long has Ava had this agenda dating all the way back to telling Nina to turn Carly (Laura Wright) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) into the SEC. Ava says she never told her do to that, but Nina wants to know how long Ava has been playing her for a fool.
Courtesy/ABC
Ava says she moved in with Sonny to keep Avery safe and she wants to be on good terms with Avery’s father, Sonny. Nina thinks she likes being in Sonny’s inner circle. Ava tells Nina if she goes to him about her advising Nina to call the SEC on Carly and Drew, it won’t work. Sonny still considers Nina a traitor and he will think she’s lying because she’s so desperate to win him back. Ava says if Nina would stop blaming everyone else that maybe Sonny would respect her. Nina says “like he does you?” Ava says Sonny not only respects her, but he also counts on her.
From there, Ava launches into why she and Sonny understand each other, after all, Sonny is a powerful, turbulent, and sometimes violent man. She goes so far to say if Nina wanted someone to just sit by the fire with and play with their grandchildren, she’s got the wrong guy. Ava then talks about Mike from Nixon Falls (Sonny with amnesia) and how Sonny hid the darkest parts of himself from Nina back then, whereas with Ava they are the same similar creatures, so he doesn’t have to hide anything.
Courtesy/ABC
Nina wants to know just what Ava wants with Sonny? What is her end game? Ava responds that they understand each other, in ways she can’t with Sonny. Nina tells Ava she can go ahead and have it all and signs Sonny’s divorce papers. Ava walks out with the documents, while Nina in tears at her desk, takes off her wedding rings and has her assistant come in so she can messenger the rings back to Sonny’s address.
The episode and these scenes featured great performances by Cynthia Watros and Maura West. You can check some of the scenes below.
Now, let us know, what is Ava’s next move? Is she going to become Mrs. Sonny Corinthos? Do you like Ava and Nina as enemies? Comment below.
General Hospital
Ellen Travolta Makes Another Return to General Hospital
If General Hospital’s Chase (Josh Swickard) and Brook Lynn’s (Amanda Setton) nuptials are on, you didn’t think Grandma Gloria Cerullo would miss out on the festivities, now did you?
Casting news from Soap Opera Digest reveals that Ellen Travolta is back taping scenes that will air the week of May 13th on the ABC daytime drama series. When viewers learned that Carmine Cerullo, was also on his way back to Port Charles, now in the face and body of actor George Russo, it only made sense that Grandma Gloria would join Grandpa Cerullo. Look for them both mid-May.
As most people know, Ellen is the older sister to John Travolta. She first make appearances as Gloria back on GH in the mid-90s. Most recently, she returned to the Quartermaine mansion to meet up with daughter, Lois (Rena Sofer) and granddaughter Brook Lynn for Thanksgiving in Port Charles in 2023. Michael Fairman TV interviewed Rena Sofer and Amanda Setton late last year where they shared what it had been liking working with Ellen, who remains very close to Sofer in real-life.
Photo: JPI
Amanda shared: “We fell in love immediately. What’s crazy is my maternal grandmother was Grandma Gloria. I had her till I was 30 and we were so close. She was really like a second mom to me. So, when I got this script and I’m reading “Grandma Gloria”, it was so bizarre. And then in meeting Ellen, she looks like my grandma – same haircut, same high cheekbones. It really did feel like I had a few days with my grandma. It was very, very special for me. Ellen is sweet, prepared, professional, talented and funny to boot. So, it was one of the best weeks I’ve had at work. I hope she comes back. My fingers are crossed.”
Photo: ABC
Now, we can’t imagine Brook Lynn and Chase’s wedding day to be smooth sailing, in fact, expect just the opposite, but could it be Grandma Gloria who is ultimately the hero or the calming voice of reason for any pre-wedding jitters? Stay tuned.
So, glad to know that Ellen Travolta will be back for Brook Lynn and Chase’s big day? Comment below.
Breaking News
The Young and the Restless and General Hospital Actress and Writer, Meg Bennett, Passes Away at 75
Meg Bennett, who had played Julia Newman and later became a writer for the top-rated daytime drama, The Young and the Restless has died at the age of 75. The news comes from her family who shared that she lost her battle to cancer back on April 11th.
Daytime fans remember fondly, Meg’s portrayal of Victor’s (Eric Braeden)first wife. Bennett joined the show in 1980, after her first soap stint for two years in the role of Liza Walton on Search for Tomorrow.
Impressed by her story notes, the late Bill Bell, then head writer of Y&R, had Meg doing double duty acting and writing on the show from 1983-1987. When he decided to write off the character of Julia, he also wanted Meg to stick around as a writer. Not only did this begin a whole other daytime career for Bennett, but she was not done playing Julia either. Throughout the decades, Julia would still come back to Genoa City for a visit. Most recently, Y&R fans saw Julia in 2018, and again in 2020.
Photo: JPI
Bennett also appeared on Santa Barbara and was a writer on that show as well from 1991-1993. She played the role of Megan Richardson. It was next that Meg had her longest writing stint coming to ABC’s General Hospital. Meg wrote for GH from 1993-2011.
In 1995, Bennett won her first Daytime Emmy for writing and her personal life changed after falling in love with nine-time Daytime Emmy winner, former GH head writer, Bob Guza Jr. In addition, GH also utilized Bennett for her acting skill when she was cast as the villainess Allegra Montenegro. Meg and Bog Guza were officially married in 2004 and purchased a home once owned by Boris Karloff and Gregory Peck.
Photo: JPI
Additionally, Meg wrote for The Bold and the Beautiful 1987-1989 and later served as a executive story consultant to Brad Bell from 2002-2004. She also wrote for Sunset Beach, Generations and GH: Night Shift throughout her writing career. She went on to win five WGA Awards for GH and Santa Barbara.
Meg is survived by her husband of 19 years, Robert Guza Jr., two stepdaughters, four grandchildren, a brother and a sister.
Share your remembrances and condolences for Meg Bennett via the comment section below.
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Y&R’s Eric Braeden Pays Tribute to Former On-Screen Wife, Meg Bennett: “She Was Such a Bright and Gentle Lady”
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