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John Stamos Inspired 80’s Soap Drama Being Developed By Amazon!

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

Soap fans remember back in 2016 the news that former General Hospital star, John Stamos (Ex-Blackie Parrish) was developing a series based on the uber-popular 80’s in the world of daytime drama along with producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron.

When it was announced, many also knew that GH favorite Kimberly McCullough (Robin) was already working on a series based on her experiences in the 80’s in the soap world called, “Hey Day”.

Now comes word from Deadline, that the Stamos creative vehicle  being developed by Amazon as a drama series.  Written by Adam Stein (Damages), the drama is described as “Boogie Nights in the soap world.” It will explore the colorful and volatile world of daytime drama as it tracks the journey of an 18-year-old Orange County kid suddenly thrust into the limelight of Los Angeles in the early-80s, when he is anointed the Next Big Thing on America’s most popular soap.

The series is obviously inspired by the experiences of Stamos, whose acting career was launched in 1982 when, at the age of 18, he landed his role on GH.

Stamos executive produces alongside Stein, Zadan and Meron, while Zadan/Meron Prods.’ Mark Nicholson will co-executive produce. This is the latest collaboration for Stamos, Zadan & Meron who previously teamed to produce the Emmy-nominated miniseries Beach Boys: An American Family and the TV movie, Martin and Lewis.

So, what do you think about Stamos’ upcoming soapy series in development? Comment below.

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If this is the way we have to “get back” the classic soaps, with this behind-the-scenes edge…why not? However, there’s nothing like the original classic soaps! Good for Stamos!

I love John Stamos. Every time someone in PC goes to prison, I wonder if they ever meet up with Blackie Parrish.

Or Steven Lars Webber or Matt Hunter.

Have to really see it to make a truthful comment…

odd

I’m surprised Stamos doesn’t want to play the 18 year old version of himself! LOL. This sounds mildly interesting, but only if they get into what REALLY went down, not just a bunch of Hollywood cliches about what people think happened. Those are very superficial. I think anything that keeps the soap format viable and in the news, why not go for it?

Okay, now he wants to use his “GH” experience to get viewers.

Where was he for the “GH 50th” anniversary?

He was on a talk show and claimed he had a scheduling conflict. I don’t buy it. It almost felt to me that he was a “little” embarrassed to admit that he came from a soap. GH was turning 50 that year and they got a lot of advertisement from ABC TV. He had all year to squeeze in a 60 second cameo. That’s all, not a lot. He didn’t need a whole storyline. Just a brief appearance would have been enough of a thank you to GH and the fans who would have loved to have seen Blackie Parrish again.

That’s just my opinion.

I won’t be watching his show however, I will support Kimberly all the way.

I agree, Sly. Everything has a dollar sign.
I loved Blackie in my younger years, but none of us can go back to what once was.
Good luck.

Frank Valentini is not one to welcome back old GH vets. He has his own agenda trying to get his buddies from OLTL on GH. Have you seen GH lately? Half of the scenes involve his friends or characters he created and gets paid more from!

Here are the veteran characters that Frank has welcomed back and employs (with various degrees of screentime):

Laura
Anna
Bobbie
Scott
Lucy
Kevin
Felicia
Lucas
+ increased airtime for Monica

Stein wasn’t the creator of DAMAGES but this show could work if he pursues that show’s twisty, dark storytelling punctuated with scenes from the soap that mirror the real lives of the actors. If it just makes a joke of the soaps then I’ll pass.

John Stamos didn’t want a 60 second cameo, he wanted a storyline.

Blackie was such a minor character in the annals of GH history. Bobbie and Scotty are the only ones that might remember him. His main connections, Rick Webber and Amy Vining are long gone. A cameo and a song would have been appropriate.

I would have loved a Jackie Templeton appearance, but that wasn’t going to happen

I agree, a cameo would have been more than enough.

He was buddies with Luke to.

It’s true. While I would’ve loved to see him play drums with Frisco singing for nostalgia, there isn’t much more to explore with his character. Jack Wagner became a much bigger star than him on the show and had a SuperCouple pairing, fleshed out character.

You didn’t see Rick Springfield demanding that he be given a storyline. He just came on, sang his song and caroused at the Ball.

It’ll be hard to convince this classic GH fan to seriously consider watching his project. I’ll happily wait for Kimberly to release hers whenever that is.

Blackie is the ONLY GH character to be sentenced to prison for 30 years and serve the whole 30! I imagine if he slit his wife’s throat and mutilated her friend who was only returning a pair of glasses to her he would have never gone to jail! Sometimes soaps ARE better than real life!

HILARIOUS. The more you know…cue rainbow. LOL.

this bothers me – John Stamos – is, not – a staple of; nor is he a veteran and regarded for

if he doesn’t hire actors from this genre. I will not care

he’s Mr. full house and beats the drums – WOW

is that enough?

General Hospital

Nancy Lee Grahn’s Star-Studded ALS Fundraiser Reveals “I’ll Be There” Video Featuring Soap Opera Notables

Talk about your impressive line-up! It’s a soap fans dream and for a great cause. General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) is prepping her one-night only ALS fundraiser which will feature many of her friends and co-stars.

The benefit is set for May 4th in Glendale, California. Slated to participate are Genie Francis, Jane Elliot, Peter Bergman, Maurice Benard, Eileen Davidson, Thorsten Kaye, Michelle Stafford, Stephen Nichols, Rena Sofer, Jason Thompson, Kelly Monaco, Melissa Claire Egan, Maura West, Kristina Wagner, Gregory Harrison, Trevor St. John, Kate Mansi, Kirsten Storms, Cynthia Watros, and many others.

On Wednesday, Grahn took to her social media and released an “I’ll be there” video shout-out featuring, Monaco, Elliot, Bergman, Bernard, West, Harrison, St. John and more. In a touching and important moment in the new video, Michelle Strogny, who is battling ALS, is featured.

Photo: ABC

Previously, in speaking with Soap Opera Digest on the impetus of the event, Grahn recalled, “I was actually doing Zoom events during Covid and I met this woman that I just fell in love with, Michelle Strojny. At the time, Michelle had been living with ALS for four years. Now, it’s five years. She is a mom of a teenage son, she has the most wonderful husband, and she has been dealing with this [disease] for quite a while. And obviously, there isn’t a cure yet. It’s not survivable yet. But as she says, it’s not incurable. Nothing is; it’s underfunded. But anyway, I just really dug this woman. She is so grounded and filled with grace, and she spends all of her time working to raise money for the cause. We did a fundraiser for her last year and then I thought, ‘You know what? The soaps don’t ever get together to do something for charity.’ Collectively, we have this amazing community and we don’t collectively use it for a good cause, and I think it’s such an easy thing for us to do and we could potentially really make a difference.”

As GH viewers know, Gregory Harrison is playing the character of Gregory Chase, who is also battling ALS in a touching storyline that is currently playing out shedding a light on this disease.

For information on Nancy’s event, including the stars who are s scheduled to participate click here. To purchase tickets to the event click here.

Check out the video featuring Nancy’s friends and co-stars below.  Now let us know, your thought son the line-up for the benefit and helping raise awareness and funds for ALS research via the comment section.

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General Hospital

‘General Hospital’ Writer Shannon Peace Let Go, and Shares on Sprina: “One of My Only Regrets is to Not Have the Opportunity to Develop That ‘Ship’ Further”

As General Hospital’s new head writing team of Elizabeth Korte and Patrick Mulcahy gets off the ground and running, there are still changes a foot on the writing team.

Now comes word via breakdown writer Shannon Peace that she is no longer on contract with the long-running ABC soap heading into its 61st season. Peace shared a heartfelt message on her Instagram, thanking the fans, and the show for the opportunity and the importance of diversity in the writers room.

Peace began, “After almost 3 years on staff and 106 episodes penned, I am no longer on contract with General Hospital. Writing for this country’s longest running television serial drama has been an education of epic proportions; I will forever be grateful that I earned my WGA card on a daytime fixture that holds memories for so many.” (Peace pictured below with GH EP Frank Valentini and script writer, Charlotte Gibson from about ten months ago).

Photo: SPeaceIG

Shannon added “Even more importantly, as the sole Black breakdown writer (and only POC in the writers room) during my tenure, I pushed for vital interactions and discussions that prioritized inclusion, visibility, and representation”

The writer pointed to the example of vital interaction when in story, “Stella and Portia’s frank July 2022 conversation about the role race played in Esme’s framing of Trina is just one example of the impact I’m gratified to have had.”

Acknowledging former GH co-head writers was also part of Peace’s farewell expressing, “Appreciation to my former bosses, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor – not only taking a chance on me, but for valuing my opinion and championing my voice.”

Courtesy/ABC

Many GH fans know that Peace was key to the development of the love story between Trina Robinson and Spencer Cassadine as played by Tabyana Ali and Nicholas Chavez. Shannon gave a special shout-out to ‘Sprina’ fans, “I also want to thank fans who were supportive of my work, especially the recognition of my love for ‘Sprina’. One of my only regrets is not having to develop that ‘ship’ further.”

She concludes her statement with,”In the aftermath of a historic writer’s strike that shed new light on the troubling ways writers are regarded in daytime, my sincere hope is that General Hospital recommits to valuing staff writer efforts and input, with a more intentional focus on diverse viewpoints — and thrives for another 60 years.”

Accompanying her post, Shannon added, “Thank you all for the love and support these last few years. I hope GH fans get all they hope for and more!”

So, what do you think about GH not renewing Shannon’s contract? Will there be more continued changes afoot? What do you think is the future of ‘Sprina’ anyway at this point as viewers wait to see if Nicholas Chavez officially returns to the show?  Comment below.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jason Learns Britt Died and Tells Anna He Has Been Working For Cates Since November 2021

On the Tuesday, March 26th of General Hospital, Anna (Finola Hughes) and the viewers learn about where Jason (Steve Burton) has been for over two and half years. However, Jason gets some news of his own.

Anna is visiting Jason at the PCPD interrogation room. She asks him if he shot Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), which he flatly denies. Anna believes him, but she tells Jason it doesn’t matter, because video footage shows him on the roof at the time of the shooting

When talk turns to Jason not willing to speak without his lawyer present, Anna can’t grasp why Jason would instead spend an hour alone talking with John Cates (Adam J. Harrington).

Photo: ABC

It is then that Anna brings up that John went by “Jagger” and that the two of them knew each other in high school. Jason doesn’t recall much of his time in high school following his brain injury, but then he gets furious realizing John knew about “Jason’s” past. That is when Jason slams the table and tells Anna, “I’ve been working for John Cates since November 2021.”

Next, Jason explains further that he has been working as an informant for the FBI. Anna wants to know how this came about and he tells her that after the tunnel collapsed, and he couldn’t make it to Britt (Kelly Thiebaud)… all of a sudden he sees Anna’s face drop.  Anna is the first person to tell him that Britt died and was murdered. She tells Jason the killer is in custody, but he continues to be shocked, overwhelmed with tears welling up in his eyes. Realizing he has to pivot to save his life, Jason continues telling Anna how he wound up working with John.

Jason explains that after the tunnel collapse in Greece, FBI agents grabbed him and placed him under arrest and took him to Quantico where he met John. At Quantico, John played a recording of RICO violations and offered Jason a deal if he agreed to be an informant against Pikeman, the illegal arms dealer.

Anna hears from Jason that he thinks Pikeman is selling illegal arms to anyone flagged by the NSA but has ties to the WSB which they needed a civilian to infiltrate their organization as a military soldier, a mercenary.

Jason tells Anna he was a part of the team brought into eliminate Sonny (Maurice Benard). Every time an attempt was made on Sonny’s life over the last two years, a different team was sent to do the job. Anna gets furious when she learns that John told Jason his job was to kill Sonny and she was with John at the warehouse that night. Jason ensured the sniper missed Sonny and left the rifle behind. However, they were supposed to meet an extraction team. Before he was shot, Dante saw it was Jason on the roof and when he turned around with his hands over his head, Dante was shot by the other guy. Jason says if Dante dies, he’ll be charged with capital murder and then will be useless to the FBI.

Photo: ABC

Meanwhile, John visits Bobbie’s and runs into Carly (Laura Wright). She learns Jason is in custody and is going to head to the PCPD. Before she does, Carly has some words with Cates when she learns not only does John have a vendetta against Sonny, but Jason too.  Carly tells John he should recuse himself from the case.

So, what did you think about the moment when Jason learned Britt died? What do you think of Jason’s return storyline thus far and what we learned about Jagger/Jason and more? Comment below. But first, check out a moment from today’s GH with Jason and Anna.

 

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