General Hospital
KATIE Shifting To Live Format In Final Six Months Of Its Run! Talker Has To Tighten Budget!

Courtesy/ABC
Last week, we brought you the news that the axe had finally fallen on Katie Couric’s Disney/ABC syndication afternoon talk show, Katie! The show will end after only two seasons, but now in the final six months of production, January to through June, due to budget issues the talker will shift to a mostly live format!
A representative for the series told The Hollywood Reporter, “The content of Katie will mostly be produced live on four out of five days. In order to keep the production schedule to four days a week, the fifth show will be taped but is expected to be limited to the one-hour time allotted (less commercial time).” They added that the reason to switch to the mostly live format was in the works prior to the news of the officially cancellation.
THR revealed that originally: “Couric’s tapings ran longer than the allotted time because she wanted to keep going to get as much good content as possible. In some cases, shows were running twice the scheduled time. A source close to the show insists Couric’s decision to run longer was made jointly with Rachel Miskowiec, who was brought in last May as executive producer for the show’s second season. The result was that producers and editors often racked up overtime to cut the content to fit the one-hour format, triggering significant budget overruns. Katie was already one of the more expensive daily talk shows ever produced, in part because it had more field producers and news staff than most.”
So, Katie was clearly an over-budget talk show that was made room for in the ABC line-up for affiliates in the original timeslot of General Hospital! And everyone was complaining how over budget soap productions are! Well, it looks like it happens in talk shows too! What do you think of the switch of Katie to a mostly live format, and the troubles the show has had? Weigh-in!
You know, an awful lot of unexpected surprises can happen when you air live….like a guest suddenly making a speech to ABC to bring back the soaps…or a large portion of the studio audience breaking out into a We Want the Soaps chant….
Oh, I’d love to see that happen.
SO happy ABC FINALLY CANCELLED HER SHOW!!! I ONLY WATCHED HER SHOW IELLSB WHEN SHE DID THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL & WHEN RICK SPRINGFIELD WAS ON!! I’M A HUGE ELLEN FAN!!!
They can always use reruns of OLTL in place of Katie until they figure out what their going to do. That will save on a lot of money and I bet it gets better ratings.
Honestly, I don’t know what to say about ABC Daytime and their budget problems. But one possible suggestion is that they may want to get out of producing original content, and just become a giant billboard like AOL. Hey, it could be groundbreaking! Just think about it… an all infomercial major network! LOL. ABCommercial! 😉
Good riddance !!!Now please bring back OLTL and AMC !!!!!
That will never happen mike, OLTL and AMC will never come back on abc. Time to move on, I’m over it now. i enjoy watching general hospital and days of our lives.
So true..
I can not understand how some think ABC will air the 2 soaps, again..
It will never ever happen, they are over/done/gone the same as the canceled soaps before them..
Unless! PP by way of a miracle gets them up and running, again, and that is not probable..
The 2 soaps are no longer in ABC’s hands and when or if ABC gets them back they will collect dust on a shelf, forever archived..
I have an idea on how they could save even more money-just stop producing the Katie show right now. Then they could broadcast repeats of the last 6 months of OLTL, bring OLTL back into production and give us new episodes after 6 months.
I guess that would be a longshot! A guy can dream, can’t he?
I am happy about anything that shows just how stupid ABC is. It is so sad that our wonderful soaps are being replaced with these awful talk shows. Bring back AMC! Bring back all the soaps!
Why bother? Get out now!
Funny, talk was cheap(cheaper than soaps) but in this case it wasnt and the show gets cancelled…but 4 those who dislike Katie…well, she still has her fans and we havent heard the last from her…i wish daytime would experiment with a new soap…it could air for 6 months and repeat 6 months to help keep costs down…also in place advertising would be another way to earn extra money to pay for these shows…maybe a character could be shown ordering and drinking a pepsi or another character is shown buying a Ford truck…it would also add a little realism too…just saying! But i doubt they’d try another soap…the last 4 is it i feel so we should support them while we can…even Y&R!
I MO the budgets were just an excuse. Wonder what they will do now. If it isn’t our cancelled soaps I will not watch. I am looking forward to Tainted Dreams ABC can’t touch that
Here an idea – lets bring back soaps in a LIVE format.
See what rating the Sound of Music got.. people love LIVE (ex. Kelly and Michael)
Everything in TV is cyclical… every ‘genre’ always comes back.. but changes slightly.
What better way to create a buzz … bring back LIVE soaps… you can bet ABC would have an audience increase..
Oh did I mention bring back OLTL…
These budget and over run issues make me laugh… I’m quite sure that OLTL was giving ABC more value for less money.
maybe they can barrow Frank Valentini to get them under budget. lol!
WHO CARES, I DON’T , SHE IS AS BORING AS WET DISH RAG THAT FELL ON THE FLOOR, HOPEFULLY WHO EVER GETS HER PLACE DOESN’T DO WELL EITHER, I WOULD SAY PUT THE SOAPS BACK, BUT ABC/ DISNEY DOESN’T CARE AND WON’T ADMIT DEFEAT, BUT AT LEAST IF THEY DID THEY WOULDN’T HAVE TO REPLACE THEIR DUMB TALK AND FOOD SHOWS WITH ANOTHER FAILURE.
Her contract was too expansive for what the ratings were getting which is what led to her downfall. No surprise here, this woman has always been money hungry since her NBC days.
Despite that, her failure will not bring back AMC and OLTL. Katie’s ratings weren’t stellar but they weren’t The Revolution’s numbers either. ABC will just produce another talk show but this time with an host that ask less money than Katie did. And if that talk show with the other host gets ratings similar to what Katie was getting, ABC will keep it. Sad but true. ABC absolutely wants nothing to do with daytime soaps except for GH.
Nothing against Katie or her show (don’t watch it, don’t know), but the fact that the network allowed the show to continually run over budget after what they learned about “inflated” soap star salaries and show production costs, really pisses me off. Soap stars supposedly make less than primetime stars; yet at one time, the soaps were the “cash cows” for the network. Still, the networks have treated their soaps/stars badly with very little support while they paid gross sums of money to their night time stars and promoted the heck out of them. Soaps started being cancelled and network execs said that one of the reasons was because the shows were too expensive to produce. Hmmm? One would think ABC would have kept an eye on such things with the KATIE show, which has never done well in the ratings. When, oh when, will they ever learn???
Katie and the majority of talk shows are repeats….. unlike daytime dramas.
Going live–a move of desperation. Good riddance!
A talk show going over budget!!!!!!! How can that be????????
now that Christmas is over – I dont feel as charitable to this woman anymore.
she – along with the past daytime boss – ruined the soap genre…. let her go to yahoo dot com… that way we dont ever have to see her again.
bring back the soaps…. you still own them ABC!
Breaking News
53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Presenters Announced

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) revealed on Thursday, the lineup of presenters for 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards taking place on Friday, October 30, 2026, at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California.
The ceremony will stream live on the NATAS YouTube channel at YouTube.com/@theemmys and watch.TheEmmys.tv.
Scheduled to present from the current soaps are: Katelyn MacMullen (Willow, General Hospital), Delon de Metz (Zende, The Bold and the Beautiful), James Preston (Nick, The Bay), Paul Telfer (Xander, Days of our Lives), Tamara Tunie (Anita, Beyond the Gates) and Susan Walters (Diane, The Young and the Restless).

Photo: NATAS
In addition soap alums, Crystal Chappell, Lesli Kay, Joe Lando, Eva LaRue, who is also a nominee this year, A Martinez, Juliet Mills, and Alicia Leigh Willis, will also be on hand to present.
The ceremony which celebrates nominated lifestyle programs and dramas will also include presenters: Eva zu Beck (Superskilled with Eva zu Beck), Danielle Chang (Lucky Chow), Sunny Hostin (The View), Derek Hough (Extra), Pati Jinich (Pati’s Mexican Table), Star Jones (Divorce Court), Michael Jr. (Stand Up and Do Something), Judge Greg Mathis (Mathis Court with Judge Mathis), Keke Palmer (Glam Through the Ages), Nischelle Turner (Entertainment Tonight), and Andrew Zimmern (Andrew Zimmern’s Wild Game Kitchen).
The 2026 Daytime Emmy Awards will bring together an exciting mix of presenters representing the full spectrum of daytime television,” said Adam Sharp, President & CEO of NATAS. “From familiar faces in daytime drama to the personalities and creative voices behind talk shows and lifestyle programming, this year’s lineup reflects the breadth of talent that makes daytime so special. We look forward to celebrating the people who continue to shape the genre.”
Matthew Hoffman (Love Island USA, Cheap A$$ Beach Houses) will serve as the ceremony’s Voice of God, bringing his signature comedic narration to the evening’s celebrations. As previously announced, Lifetime Achievement honoree Genie Francis (Laura, General Hospital) will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by her husband, Jonathan Frakes.
So, what do you think about the list of presenters for the 2026 Daytime Emmy Awards? Let us know who you are looking forward to seeing via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Could Kristen Vaganos and Josh Kelly Be Exiting ‘General Hospital?’

General Hospital fans took to social media following the airing of the Wednesday, October 21 episode of the ABC daytime drama series. In story, Molly (Kristen Vaganos) reveals to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) that she has received an offer to join the top law firm in Chicago that practices civil law. She says it’s her dream job.
The problem Molly says is relocating from Port Charles and uprooting her life and being away from her mother, Scout and boyfriend Cody Bell (Josh Kelly). Wistful that she may lose another daughter to a long-distance situation (Kristina left a few months back to go to medical school in California), Alexis urged Molly to get Cody to go with her.
Molly still seemed concerned and has trouble committing to the idea. Alexis tells her to talk it over with Cody. Meanwhile, Cody asked Tracy (Jane Elliot) is he can have Thanksgiving off because he and Molly planned to spend Thanksgiving together with their families. After initially balking, Tracy agrees.

Courtesy/ABC
WILL MOLLY AND CODY HEAD TO CHI-TOWN?
Later, Cody shows up at Miller & Davis and the conversation turned to Thanksgiving dinner that Alexis is hosting. Molly and Cody asked her not to cook anything. Cody hugged Molly reassuring Alexis that he and Molly would take care of whatever was needed on Turkey Day.
So, this raises the question, why out of nowhere are we learning that Molly received an amazing law offer in Chicago, if the character was not being written out? If Molly leaves the canvas, would the character of Cody make his exit too?
Kristen Vaganos joined GH as a recast Molly Lansing-Davis back in September of 2023 and went on contract in August of 2024. Josh Kelly began playing Cody Bell back in June of 2022. Initial reports were that Kelly joined the show on contract and then as of June 2025 went on recurring status with the show per his choice.
Do you see a world where GH is writing out Molly and Cody? Would you be sad to see Kristen and Josh exit the soap opera? If this is not what is going on, is this just a plot point for some other story that is upcoming? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.
General Hospital
Kin Shriner Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’ TV Daughter Kelly Kruger

It’s been over two-years since his last appearance on General Hospital, now fan favorite Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin) has taken to social media to share his thoughts on the casting of his grown-up TV daughter, Serena Baldwin now played by Kelly Kruger.
Kelly took over the role of Serena on-screen starting with the July 30, 2026 episode and has been ensconced in the storyline with her mother, Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring), in trying to win back full creative control of Deception for her.
In fact on the Monday, October 19 episode of the ABC soap opera, Serena tried to dupe Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) into signing over Michael’s (Rory Gibson) shares of the company. Jason caught on and wondered why she was doing this. She claimed she just wanted to help her mom gain creative control from Tracy (Jane Elliot) rather than full ownership, and begged Jason to keep quiet about it, which he agreed to for now.

Courtesy/ABC
WHERE IS SCOTT?
On Monday, Shriner also took to X and said, “I think Kelly Kruger is doing a great job on General Hospital, and she and Lynn Herring work well together.” That was followed by comments in his thread about the show needing to bring back Scott too.
In fact, back on August 25, Shriner also took to X with a reminder that Scott is still around and ready to come back to Port Charles, sharing, “Scotty Baldwin always fits in he just needs the right sport coat !!!!”
The last time Serena mentioned her father Scott was when Kruger made her debut and informed Lucy that her father was, “living his best life in Key West.” Meanwhile, Shriner posts on his X account continually and shared back on August 2, that it has been 49 years since he made his on-screen debut as then teenaged, Scotty Baldwin and thanked the fans for al the love and support.
So, now let us know, are you enjoying Kelly Kruger as Serena Baldwin? Do you want to see GH bring back Scott Baldwin into the story, so Serena has both her parents in Port Charles? Do you like the potential of Jason and Serena pairing? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
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