General Hospital
Knots Landing Stars Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark On Oprah: Where Are They Now?

Courtesy/OWN
OWN’s series Oprah: Where Are They Now? tracks down the “Oprah” show guests who made you laugh. .. and made you cry with a glimpse inside the lives of the biggest newsmakers and most memorable celebrities of all time.
In an all-new episode airing this Sunday June 15th at 9:00PM ET/PT, it’s a Knots Landing reunion when the former cul-de-sac battling blondes of Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark appear together for a candid chat, plus segments with former soap heartthrob and Antonio Sabato, Jr., and another with Candy Spelling, the family matriarch famous for her 38-year marriage to legendary producer Aaron Spelling, and who recently made headlines for her public feuds with daughter Tori are a part of the broadcast.
On Oprah: Where Are They Now?, Joan Van Ark and Donna Mills (who plays Madeleine on General Hospital), reunite to reveal the truth about their enduring off-camera friendship with an inside look at how they live their lives today and in this clip after the jump they discuss their views on plastic surgery!
Will you be checking out Donna and Joan this weekend? Do you miss them as Abby and Val on KL? Let us know!
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jacinda Executes Her Plan to Drug Willow, Jason Tells Tracy He’s Out of the Mob, Sonny Quits Too!

On the Thursday, August 6 episode of General Hospital, Sonny (Maurice Benard) seemed to get a clue from Jason and also decided to leave the mob. Speaking of Jason (Steve Burton), he went to tell Tracy (Jane Elliot) that he quit working for Sonny, which Tracy says would be music to Monica and Alan’s ear.
Michael (Rory Gibson) gets caught in Serena (Kelly Kruger) and Lucy’s (Lynn Herring) scheme, and Jacinda (Paige Herschell) slips a blue pill into Willow’s (Katelyn MacMullen) iced coffee as payback for the restraining order she filed against her. All this, as the closing arguments from Molly (Kristen Vaganos) and Martin (Michael E. Knight) are delivered before the jury in the Isaiah (Sawandi Wilson) vs. Curtis (Donnell Turner) court case.
Let’s break this all down: In the most heartfelt of scenes, Jason shows up at the Qs to see Tracy. He explains he told Sonny he can’t work for him anymore and quit. He tells Tracy he has to be a better role model for his son, Danny.

Courtesy/ABC
GETTING OUT OF THE MOB IS EMOTIONAL
Jason gets teary-eyed. Tracy says what Jason wants for Danny is all that his parents, the late Alan and Monica Quartermaine would have wanted for him. A gutted Jason feels so badly for his previous behavior towards his parents and wishes he could apologize for all that he put them through. Tracy says if they were here now, they would be happy that he had come to this decision for himself.
At Sonny’s, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) gets an earful from his father, who informs him that Jason had decided he wanted out of the business for Danny’s sake. Suddenly, Dante is worried for Sonny’s safety. However, Sonny says he shouldn’t be. Sonny claims he’s getting out of the mob too and plans to focus on business opportunities that opened up after Sidwell’s arrest. (This makes no sense, because Sidwell was involved in shady dealings too!) Next, the two men hug it out as Sonny explains he won’t be a problem for his son with the PCPD anymore.
At Nina’s (Cynthia Watros), Willow wants her mother to stop confiding in Jack Brennan about her children. Nina explained to her that her quest to reopen the investigation into Michael as a suspect in Drew’s shooting, could implicate Jack, since he had gotten rid of the traffic cam footage of Willow, the night she shot Drew. Nina is mortified when she also learned Willow has a restraining order against Jacinda.
JACINDA WANTS PAYBACK AIMED AT WILLOW
Jacinda asked Ezra (Daniel Cosgrove) to return the blue pills she’d left at his place a few months back, claiming she needed to take the edge off after Willow served her with a restraining order. She explains Willow wants her nowhere near Amelia and Wiley. Ezra is concerned for his escort/friend.
Later, Jacinda arrives at Nina’s where she runs into Willow. When Willow and Nina leave the room, it leaves Jacinda to spot the iced coffee lattes marked for Willow and Nina. Next, she slips one of the blue tablets into the cup marked “Willow.”
Elsewhere, at the Metro Court Pool, Serena Baldwin lays on Michael’s pool chaise lounge chair. When he gets out of the water, he goes over to his chair only to have Serena laying on it. She gets a bit flirty, but explains she is concerned for her mother and Deception. Michael explains he will vote fairly with his shares given to him by Maxie. (You can check out the scenes entitled “Ambushing Michael” below).
Now weigh-in: Do you think Sonny is truly going to get out of the mob? And take up some of Sidwell’s, of all people’s business opportunities? Did you enjoy the touching scene between Jason and Tracy? Do you think Nina will wind up drinking the coffee that is laced with the drug Jacinda put in it instead of Willow?
Do you think Willow is going to try to paint Michael as a bad father and use drugs against him as well? Do you see a spark yet between Serena and Michael, or no? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.
Days Of Our Lives
Jean Lodge, British Actress and Mother of ‘Days of Our Lives’ and ‘General Hospital’s’ Charles Shaughnessy, Producer/Director David Shaughnessy, Dies at 99

Our hearts and condolences go out today to Charles Shaughnessy (ex-Shane Donovan, Days of Our Lives and Victor Cassadine, General Hospital, and Maxwell Sheffield, The Nanny) and his brother, David Shaughnessy, one time executive producer and director at The Young and as well as The Bold and the Beautiful, on the loss of their beloved mother, Jean Lodge.
Lodge was a British actress who appeared with Alan Ladd in the 1954 medieval adventure film The Black Knight. She died at age 99 on August 5 just one day after she celebrated her birthday. News of her passing came from her granddaughter, Amy Shaughnessy who took to Facebook with a tribute to her beloved grandmother.
Throughout her motion picture career, Lodge was featured in 1949’s Dick Barton Strikes Back and Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress. Later credits included: Brandy for the Parson (1952), White Corridors (1951), Final Appointment (1954), Accidental Death (1963), The Eyes of Annie Jones (1963) and Invasion (1966).

WATFORD/Mirrorpix via Almay
THE SHAUGHNESSY BROTHERS CARRY ON THE FAMILY LEGACY
Talent runs in the Shaughnessy family as Lodge’s late husband, Alfred Shaughnessy, had developed and served as head writer and producer on the acclaimed 1971-75 UK series, Upstairs, Downstairs.
As daytime fans know, Charles Shaughnessy was one-half of the Days of Our Lives super couple of Shane and Kimberley (Patsy Pease) and has appeared on the soap opera on and off for decades starting in 1984 up until his more recent appearance in 2025 at John Black’s memorial. In addition, Shaughnessy was the last actor to play Victor Cassadine on General Hospital, a role he played from 2021-2023.
David Shaughnessy has continued his career behind the scenes mainly as a daytime soap opera director with a list of credits from Santa Barbara to Y&R, B&B and since 2019, Days of Our Lives.
HEARTFELT REMEMBRANCES
When Amy Shaughnessy took to Facebook to announce her grandmother’s death, she expressed, “Jean Margaret Shaughnessy (neé Lodge) left us today, one day after her 99th birthday. She passed, as she would say, “quite quietly” and peacefully in her sleep. My grandmother was a beautiful, talented, complicated, passionate, emotional, energetic woman who was always on the move and full of life.”
She continued, “The perfect hostess Jean enjoyed parties, friends, socializing, the theatre, feeding the ducks, museums, gardening, music, culture, long walks in nature, animals, painting (she was amazing!), cooking, art, traveling… the list goes on. She loved her two sons, Charles and David, her daughters-in-law, Susie and Annie, and her five granddaughters, Amy, Jenny, Katie, Maddy, and Josie. She was blessed with two great-grandsons, Julian and Noa.”
“An ever-present matriarch, her silliness, stubbornness, joyfulness, and her love for storytelling will continue on through her family. Us. Forever. We will miss her. We will carry her with us always. We love her all the world and then some.”
Share your thoughts and condolences to Charles, David and Amy and the rest of the extended Shaughnessy family on the passing of Jean Lodge via the comment section.
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General Hospital
Chris McKenna Reportedly Out as ‘General Hospital’s’ Jack Brennan

As ABC’s General Hospital continues to make casting additions in front of the camera; a new report indicates that Chris McKenna is the next contract player to be written out of the show as his storyline as Port Charles WSB bureau chief, Jack Brennan, is coming to end this fall.
According to sources close to the situation, who informed Soap Opera Network, McKenna will exit the long-running soap opera when Jack is killed-off the canvas. The outlet shares, Brennan’s death will come about as the soap, “leans heavily into storylines surrounding the World Security Bureau (WSB).”
McKenna, who previously appeared on the soaps when he was 12 as a young Joey Buchanan on One Life to Live from 1990-1993, then as an adult as Mark Harding on The Young and the Restless from 2014-2015, and next on The Bold and the Beautiful in the short term role of Dr. Hayden, began his run as GH’s Brennan back in February of 2025, replacing Charles Mesure in the role.

Photo: ABC
JACK’S ROCKY ROAD TO ROMANCE
In fact, McKenna won the part over Daniel Goddard and Daniel Cosgrove, who eventually were cast in other roles on General Hospital, that of Henry Dalton and Ezra Boyle, respectively. Chris informed his fans via X, back in August of 2025, that he was put on contract at the daytime drama and thanked them for helping make it happen.
Chris told Michael Fairman TV how it was to step into the role previously played by Charles Mesure, “I knew the challenge it was going to be and I had a like 0nly five days to get my head around it, so I was ready for it. Sure, it was challenging, but I was up for it. I was a recast before on The Young and the Restless.”
On-screen, Jack became romantically involved with Carly Spencer (Laura Wright), but that went bust when Carly learned Jack was not up front with her and had secretly enlisted her daughter, Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) to join the WSB. Over months, Carly plotted to get revenge on Jack, and suddenly, Valentin Casssadine (James Patrick Stuart), Jack’s mortal enemy, came into the picture and he had fallen for Carly and she for him.
Now, Jack has started up a relationship with Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros) and has found himself in situations stooping to lows to help Nina and her criminal daughter, Willow Cain (Katelyn MacMullen) out of jams, especially where Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) is concerned.

Photo: ABC
REUNITING WITH ERIKA SLEZAK
Last fall, Chris got a thrill of a lifetime when his OG on-screen mother from One Life to Live, the iconic Erika Slezak (ex-Viki) took on a guest role on General Hospital as Ronnie Bard, the secret sister of Monica Quartermaine (the late Leslie Charleson). While the two did not have a storyline together, Chris did share some tender moments reconnecting with Erika on the set,
McKenna has a laundry list of primetime credits including: State of Affairs, Good Trouble, Lucifer and Castle, where in an ironic twist he appeared alongside another Joey Buchanan none other than Nathan Fillion.
So, how do you feel if the report holds true and GH is killing off Brennan and Chris McKenna would exit the show? How do you think Brennan will die on GH? Will he be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and someone will take him out? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.
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Knots Landing, Dallas, and Peyton Place were my top 3 primetime serials…i hate to sound harsh but some aging stars need to stay away from botox because in most cases the results are not very flattering…
It’s the lips.. they get too much in lips..
When their top lip does not move it is plumped..
ALL senior soaps stars have work, even some of the men..
I once worked for a plastic surgeon and I can spot work done from 10 paces lol ..
I still work in the field. IMO Joan’s case it’s not just lips.)she has had several extremely bad rhinoplasties, eye work, (the “starry eyed” look eyes and lifts are the most obvious) botox, juvederm, besides face lift. Donna has had some work done, but not as much ; she probably does botox, juvederm, had some eye work, perhaps brow lift and neck work but certainly not going overboard.
Women and men in general, young or old not necessarily celebrities either who are addicted to facial work don’t see themselves as we do – People’s individual features go away and their faces turn into a one size fits all rubbery looking mask.- Eventually eyes and lips all look the same. It’s so rampant that you might say it is a production line prototype for people to see what they will ultimately look like after having too much plastic surgery. You made a statement that all senior soap stars have work done. You should preface that as it’s just your opinion, because you don’t know that for a fact.
Why on earth do these beautiful women keep carving themselves up like this? And no, for all the haters, I am not being mean. I find it incredibly sad. And if I’d made such a mess of my face as Joan I sure would not be putting it in front of a camera again, no matter how much $$ someone waved in my face. Pathetic and sad to see this.
This is so true, jimh….I really don’t care what people do to themselves, it is their personal business, except when their face is plastered on an HD, bigscreen TV it does give the viewer a right to comment. Some celebs have had very successful tweaks that provide a more youthful appearance and that is fine….Donna Mills, for example…you can tell she has done some subtle work, but when the camera is close-up, she still looks like herself, albeit a bit older than her KL days….which is fine…she is lovely and vibrant, and I have immensely enjoyed her stint at GH. However, when someone completely overdoes the plastic surgery and injections to the extent that they look like they belong in a freak show, then it is almost impossible to enjoy their work….it affects the quality of the program and the acting…..like one current cast member of GH who shall remain nameless. I really wish they would just get her off my screen.
Joan Van Ark looks horrible in this clip. What in the world has happened to her face?
Her face did well, it is the lips..
the lips make one change appearance more than other work..
It takes a very good rare surgeon to do lips to look near natural..
I do so miss Donna Mills and Jone Van Ark. They are such good actresses. I hope that there can somehow be a reunion of Knots Landing.
Someone needs to produce a brand new Knots Landing with our favorites and some great new talent just like Dallas did. That’s a formula that works well.
Donna, I agree.
at the very least…
release the rest of Knots Landing…. i’d buy it
I understand they stopped after season 3
geez! in this day and age… to find quality material…. to watch
it’d be a Knots feast
Knots Landing was my only nighttime soap. Loved it. I will watch. I agree with jmh(leave it to beaver).I have never seen any of the beautiful actors who went this way, that are still beautiful. They actually look weird. What is so bad about getting old? there is only one alternative. Death. Sure we would all love to stay looking 25, but what they end up looking like is a lot different.
To Barbara in Atlanta and others who feel the need to publicly post comments criticizing appearance … does it occur that these are real live people with real feelings and who likely read what is written about them online? It is so unnecessary and unkind. Sure, they are public personalities and we may not feel that they look the way we think they should today, but is that any reason to only post some negative comment about someone’s appearance? Imagine how YOU would feel if you posted YOUR photo and all of us commented on what WE think of the way you look. You might think twice before posting “mean girl” comments next time. Just sayin …
I know…i feel bad for commenting about stars appearances myself…but i have…imo…a good reason for it…ive often been critcized for my appearances since early childhood…everyting from my clothes, looks ect.,…schoolmates were so horrible that a few said i wouldve been better off if i wasnt born…even a teacher had made harsh remarks…in recent years i tried to cover up a medical problem and my own relatives make jokes about it…this all started decades ago and it continues to this day even publically…so YES, i have the experience to know what it feels like…thats why i said i wish aging stars should stay away from botox because most results arent flattering and i know the harsh things people will say because iv experienced the same harshness for over 50 years!!!
I’m sorry you have experienced this. Hopefully your bad experience helps you, more than anyone, understand why commenting on other people’s appearance is neither kind nor helpful. All it does is hurt their feelings.
I absolutely loved Knots Landing the baby storyline on Valene’s twins should have won Joan Van Ark an emmy. The comment that JVA said about it being the norm is right Welcome to Hollywood and what is so funny is some of your best actors and actresses are just regular looking Joes. Can you say Jack Nicholson & Kathy Bates.
@jimh….In general, kids are brats, especially when grouped up in school. It’s universal, and they delight in bullying anyone who doesn’t fit the norm, whether good or bad in nature. I happened to be blessed with a stylish, glam mother who loved to dress me in the latest and most beautiful fashions from the time I was born, and this didn’t go down well with my classmates. They did everything in their power to torture me, and depending upon the year in question, some of the teachers were not much better…many thought their job description included being a social arbiter-they wanted nothing more than “cookie cutter kids” to make their work easier. Fortunately, those early life experiences made me stronger and more determined….I never let it bother me, probably because of wonderful parenting, but I’m just trying to say that being different and an individual is not always easy, but it makes life much more interesting and satisfying. As a matter of fact, the very things that made me a target in my early years made me extremely popular later on in college, yet because of those formative lessons, I was able to handle that end of the stick just as ably. What matters most is what you think of yourself because in the end you are the one who has to live with that person!!!!!!
Paul, you make a very good and appropriate point in your post.
Well put Paul…
Norman Bates mother had work done on her and she didn’t look good either. I was expecting Vera Miles to walk in and scream!
Donna Mills was fabulous as psycho socialite Madeline Reeves aka Magda Westbourne on ‘General Hospital’ earlier this year. Hope they can get her to come back again!
Donna should REALLY give Joan her plastic surgeon’s number!!
Loved KNOTS LANDING. Not sure I love measures taken here to look young. No shame in aging as we were intended. There is vitality and vibrancy from within. How about we embrace that as a culture?
I remember Donna’s performance in Play Misty for Me with Clint Eastwood. How time flies! Loved watching these two ladies on Knots. Maybe they can visit TNT’s version of Dallas.
Im hoping DM returns to GH for more guest appearances, especially in scenes with Dr.O…strange how so many villians get away with their crimes but not Madelyn…i still want flashbacks showing Silas and Nina before Ninas coma!!!
Seriously, they need to create a new Knots Landing. Call it, Knots Landing the Next Generation (or something like that). Have some of our KL favorites and bring on some great new talent just like they did on Dallas. I know I would be tuning in.