General Hospital
Lilly Melgar Gives Details On Her Ending Credits GH LIVE Appearance & How The Boston Marathon Bomber Sentencing Altered It!
Photo Credit: Matt Petit/ABC
Fans who watched Friday’s episode of GH Live were in a for a big surprise when during the closing moments, Lilly Melgar (Ex-Lily Rivera) walked out in front of the camera and handled the closing credits for the episode, and told viewers to stay tuned-in for Monday!
Melgar’s Rivera is infamous for blowing up via a bomb meant for Sonny Corinthos, and was joined by her former on-screen love interest Maurice Benard (Sonny) for the final “wink-wink” nod to the audience during GH Live when Lilly saw a bomb and Maurice came to her rescue! However, the gimmick had to be changed for the second live show broadcast, after the breaking news that the Boston Marathon Bomber was sentenced to the death penalty, thus the sight gag of a bomb that happened at the end of the first performance was left out.
On-Air On-Soaps got the Intel from Melgar herself, who first explained how the idea came about to have her included in the final moments of the broadcast! Lily revealed, “In mid conversation, Frank (Valentini) had an ‘Aha!’ moment at the General Hospital Daytime Emmy After-Party. It literally came to him then. He’s quite creative and brilliant. ”
As to what happened when the news broke during GH Live, that the Boston Marathon Bomber was sentenced to the death penalty while GH was having fun with the Lily Rivera bomb spoof, Melgar revealed what went down: “We did the first live show and knew the fans would love the bomb spoof. Maurice and I had a blast with it! Then on a commercial break during the 2nd taping, Frank came in and said there was breaking news on the Boston Marathon bomber, and it’d be in poor taste to do the bomb act. He was right. What are the odds on the timing?!!! However, the first version is out there on You Tube. It was so perfect spoofing our history. Frank was right … the fans loved it, as did we.”
Watch the original version of Lilly Melgar’s GH Live closing credit appearance with Maurice Benard after the jump! Then weigh-in! What did you think of the bomb spoof? Are you glad GH changed it for the next performance? If you watch the GH Live version that is up on Hulu, it has Maurice and Billy Miller (Jason) joining Lilly at the end of the final moments of the broadcast.
It showed great respect not to show it at that time..
I thought it was disgusting. But the Boston channel had already pre- empted the show because the jury was coming in, I just changed the channel. At least they took it out before the 3 o clock show. GH is on at 2 p m in Boston. It was nice to see Lili .
I think all of New England airs GH at 2 pm. Here, in New York, it airs at 3. Programming was interrupted for just a few minutes….so, I didn’t miss much.
I didn’t know who Lily was, myself. That’s why I was a little taken aback….I thought she was just a random person who was hired to turn cue cards? LOL.
I didn’t even know who the woman was!! It was a great spoof, but it went over my head because i didn’t recognize her as Lily!!
Very wise choices all around. I watched the original version live and it was hilarious, but it would have been awful the next hour.
I liked the nod to Lily’s explosive history, and thought it was smart to change it due to the news. Great seeing Likely Melgar on GH again, beautiful as ever.
*Lilly*. (damn autocorrect)
HaHa…’explosive’ history…how clever…great pun, GMob.
I hated Lily and hope they don’t bring her back!! I was so happy when that car blew up with her in it!!
Lily will be back, thats the rumor out there. I loved Lily, she is a terrific actress. Lily is not dead, she is heading home to Port Charles very soon.
What year(s) was Lily on GH? The idea that Sabrina is Sonny’s daughter still wafts in my head now and then. But, Lily looks too young to be her mother.
Lily was blown up in 1996, she was on for a couple years leading up to that. I still wish Carrrlos had been her vengeful brother.
In general, it was a poor choice. It was not part of a scene, and I felt it was pointless. It’s a LIVE event, and some viewers who don’t get the inside joke, might have believed that it was true that there was a bomb on set. It wasn’t classy – at all, thank goodness, ABC had the sense to nix it from the second show. It was not a good decision on a whole.
With that said, I would love Lilly Melgar to return to GH, if everyone can return from the dead on GH, why not Lily Rivera, or she can play Lily’s “twin sister”.
The nod to her was because her character died in a Car bomb. As to why she was chosen as the surprise, She was at the right place at the right time.
hey Vinnie, yes, I do know that. I’m a long-time viewer of GH, so I was watching way back when that happened to Lily. My point was in regards to how the “nod” was generally done in poor taste by the show.
I hope that’s how it went, vinnie…that she was at the right place at the right time. Otherwise, Jeremy is absolutely right….done in poor taste. If it was meant as a joke? It really would have been disgusting. Coincidence is one thing; purposely done , is another. Lives were lost that day…children were maimed…devastation all around, that will last a lifetime.
I doubt the writers would be so insensitive or callous. Besides, how would they have known the episode would air at the same time as the verdict came in? Pure coincidence.
Yes, I do think it was coinicidence
Nothing against newer fans but most of us knew who it was and it was a “Tongue in Cheek” moment. I commend Frank for always being different and being spontaneous. He didnt know the verdict was coming in at that particular time. He did the classy thing and omitted it during the second feed.
Well I wasn’t watching GH when she was on, so I had no idea who she was and the whole bomb thing confused me– I thought it was some kind of teaser on what was going to happen on Monday– well at least I understand it now. Yes, they did the classy thing by changing it– a lot of newer viewers like me, might have thought they were poking fun at being interrupted by the news and misunderstood their intent.
I think GH did the right thing by not showing the bomb out of respect. The timing was really bad for this type of viewing and I believe many fans would have been confused, as I was!!!
I guess I don’t have much of a sense of humor…neither version did much for me. The bomb thing was more mobster tasteless stuff, and the credits were just too much RC, etc self promotion for my taste.
This woman is so beautiful from the inside out, and so glad they squeezed her in somehow. Sometimes shows air at a time that something similar is happening, & it’s not always easy to scramble and do damage control so fast. Glad bomb was changed to bug, but I think “Rat” would have been funnier, involving Sonny.
Maurice, William, Finola, Billy, Kelly great live performances.
Adored the final credits with Lilly holding the cue cards, Maurice
was an added bonus.
Definitely wise not to show it.
Speaking of Lilly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rosalie turns out to be her daughter…with Sonny. Who knows? Maybe she got out of that car alive and was whisked away by her father…or Carlos…who may just turn out to be Lilly’s brother for real…
rebecca1, fingers crossed, I hope your right!
Could be Timmm…which might be the reason they thought to bring Lilly…out of all the characters no longer on the show…back for the end credits. We shall see!
I have no clue why they brought her on at all. It was pointless. I can think of 10 people right off the top of my head better suited for showing the live credits!
It was a surprise Joe. If they teased us about a surprise guest at the end of Live #1 we would have never guessed Lilly! I liked it. Now if I could dream I would have loved if Stuart Damon had appeared.
It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen her I didn’t recognize her. She looks good. Her delivery wasn’t exactly smooth, but maybe she hasn’t done a lot recently, either. Putting her next to Maurice Bernard certainly showed how much he’s aged, though. And how orange he is.
lol
It was great to see Lilly Melgar again. It’s been almost 20 years. A nice tip of the hat to long time GH viewers. I honestly can’t believe that some people are actually complaining about it, though I’m not surprised at all, since some people will complain about anything.
The bit with the bomb was a tongue in cheek ode to GH’s past, I thought it was a clever idea. And yes, it was the right decision to scrap it from the later airing of the show, after the verdict for the Boston bomber came in.
I agree Dan and basically said the same thing as you. Some people live in a world where nothing is ever good enough! Lilly looked hot and Sonny needs to shake Carly lose and this hot ma ma is just the ticket!
Had no idea who she was (have only been watching 3+ years) but she’s a stunning looking woman and the bit was a lot of fun.
Lilly has a radio show now & Maurice & his wife Paula were on it to promote the Ghost & The Whale.
I watched the 2 pm live show & had such a smile on my face when Lilly did the closing
Credits ! Great Idea kudos to GH.
Frank had incredible class to leave the bomb scene out of the 3pm airing!
Loved the LIVE show & GH for 37 years now!
Great job
Loved seeing Lily – I remember when she was blown-up. I saw the “bomb” version of the live show, but I thought she said “it’s a BUG” LOl. So, I didn’t get it! Having said that, since the Boston Bomber news was out, Ron did the right thing. See what you can do when the show is live?? Looking forward to Monday. It would be great if Lily came back. I do believe Carlos is her brother. What will Sonny do when he finds out it was his former brother in law who shot Duke? what will happen to Carly and Sonny if Lily returns?? Is Rosalie Sonny’s daughter? Stay tuned!
Wouldn’t have mattered to me. This whole article puzzled me because I didn’t realize it was Lily, and , most importantly, I saw the east coast version on Friday, but I thought she said “bug!” I had no idea they were talking about a bomb!
I was confused when I saw the closing credits last night as viewed on Hulu Plus. I knew who she was, but I felt it was out of line with the current storylines. I am not a fan of the mob stories on GH at all. That said I think the original concept as bad taste. However the alternate was acceptable, but awkward. Keep in mind the state of the country since 9/11 when making choices Mr. Valentini. I think it would have been fun to have the kid actors that play Spencer and Emma do the cue cards.
Look, this is entertainment. The world came to a halt on 911. You wouldnt go near any of the 911 material on ANY show until the country heals. Remember even the talk shows and SNL struggled to figure out when the right time would be to be funny again. Its a line and you have to figure it out. You will ALWAYS offend some people because some people are never happy. You have to move on and thats what we do as a country. The azzholes responsible for 911 are not going to bring down USA! We will laugh again, we will cry again and we will blow things up as part of pretending and telling a story on TV or in movies. You have a right to be offended and I’m not being critical of YOU its just that 911 was almost 14 years ago and I have moved on and am thankful that when a bomb goes off, bullets fly are a building crumbles, 99.9 percent of the time it is fictional.
It was great to see Lily. I understand out of respect to the victims you censor the west coast feed BUT it also reiterates that the monster who hurt the people at the marathon yet again by his actions wins by affecting what great privileges we have as Americans. I realize life is a bigger than a soap opera but you look at how much these sick bastards have affected our conveniences in our towns, cities and airports because of their sick definition of being a hero or their sick definition of worshiping their “God!” He will burn in hell.
I am newer to GH and was lost as to who she was and why there was a bomb at first. When Maurice yelled “Lilly” my first thought was “Isn’t that Carlos’ sister, wow what bad timing”, then I remembered she died in a car bombing. Personally I didn’t hear about the sentencing until that night and was able to see the 2pm airing, so even though it was a funny scene it was good on ABC’s part to change the ending credits.
I was horrified to see Lily. But not for the reasons mentioned above.
I was horrified because Lily was a sanctimonious, passive-aggressive, Sonny-enabling bitch with a halo.
And I am glad she’s dead! Glad, I tell ya.
I feel ya! Ugh. I dI’d not want to see her ever again
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Carly and Lulu Make Plans to Rescue Their Children; Anna Looks Determined to Secure Her Freedom
This week on all-new episodes of General Hospital, the race is on! Can Lulu (Alexa Havins) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) get to Rocco (Finn Carr) and Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) in time to ensure their safety from Cullum (Andrew Hawkes)? Can Carly (Laura Wright) with the help of her brother, Lucas (Van Hansis) rescue Josslyn (Eden McCoy) from captivity at Wyndemere? These questions may be answered, plus the return of the one and only Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) are on tap!
In the just released General Hospital spoilers video for the week of June 22-26, Lulu tells her mother, Laura (Genie Francis), “Dante and I have to get to Rocco before Cullum!” Meanwhile, Rocco (Finn Carr) looks angered and emotional as Britt walks through their cabin hideout. Does Rocco know his parents are on the way to find them, or has Cullum already tracked them down to the British Virgin Islands?
Back in Port Charles, Carly is informing Lucas that his niece, “is a WSB agent.” She knows Josslyn (Eden McCoy) is being held against her will at Wyndemere, and she has to find a way to get her out. Lucas agrees with Carly’s plan of, “We go in and we don’t leave without Josslyn!” Elsewhere, Josslyn is looking worried for her future as she is stuck in captivity thanks to Cassius, Cullum and Sidwell!
Courtesy/ABC
FINOLA HUGHES RETURNS
The final moments of the teaser promo reveal Anna in a psychiatric clinic in France. We have not seen her for months after Cullum, Sidwell and Pascal fed her hallucinogenics to make her believe her arch nemesis, Cesar Faison was alive!
Now, the doctors walk towards her hospital bed, where we see the super spy calmly knitting. Is Anna back to normal and playing everyone to get out of her predicament, or does she still remain deeply traumatized … or both?
Take a look at the rest of the official GH spoilers for the week below.
MONDAY, JUNE 22
Willow gets an unwelcome surprise. Trina sticks to her guns. “Nathan” wants reassurance. Ethan advises Ava. Brook Lynn receives an update.
TUESDAY, JUNE 23
Dante cautions Liz. Laura learns a secret. Brook Lynn confides in Michael. Sonny challenges Ava. Chase makes a decision.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
Anna meets with her doctor. Carly makes a stunning confession. Britt extracts a promise. Cullum pulls a fast one. Gio and Emma hit the pool.
THURSDAY, JUNE 25
Josslyn clashes with Cassius. Lulu and Dante make a discovery. Chase receives a warning. Jordan seeks help. Alexis is summoned to the PCPD.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
Anna takes a huge risk. Britt is in grave danger. Willow is in disbelief. Danny must act fast. Curtis jumps to the wrong conclusion.
Check out the latest General Hospital promo entitled, “Rescue Mission” below.
Now weigh-in: Do you think Anna is still mentally off-balance, or OK, and just pretending to be troubled to get out of France and get back to Port Charles? Will Josslyn finally be rescued, or will Carly and Lucas find themselves locked up with her? And, who will get to Britt and Rocco first? Cullum, or Dante and Lulu? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Maurice Benard Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’ Writers; Teases Upcoming Sonny Scenes with Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric
With the highly-anticipated returns of Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) on this week’s June 24 episode of General Hospital, Steve Burton’s (Jason Morgan) upcoming return on July 13, which also serves as the ABC daytime drama’s 16,000 episode, things are about to fire on all cylinders in the story, as noted today by series star, Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos).
On Father’s Day, the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning actor and mental health activist took to his Instagram and expressed in a video that he has some unbelievable upcoming senes with the aforementioned Burton and Hughes. Add to that Nazneen Contractor (Justine Turner) and Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing), where Benard gave credit where credit is due to the GH writing team, which is led by co-head writers, Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten..
In this video, Benard said, “I just want to get on here and say that I did some work with Steve Burton, Finola Hughes, Rick Hearst, Nazneen Contractor, and they’re all just fantastic. Truly fantastic. But, I want to say the writing was just exceptional. It truly was. It was exceptional. So, thankful for that kind of writing. I know writers don’t get the credit a lot, but I just want to say to the General Hospital writing team, keep rolling!”
GENERAL HOSPITAL PREVIEW
So now the question becomes, with a major tease like that, what is about to go down between Sonny, Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric? Will we finally get to the end of the line for Sidwell (Carlo Rota), as previously teased by the GH co-head writers? Will we learn what happened to Jason and Anna, fully? Will Justine and Sonny becomes closer or stop their liaisons? And what of Ric? Will he be true blue to his brother or double-cross him? There is a lot at stake as we move further into the summer and one that looks like it could be one of the more exciting ones in years!
FINOLA HUGHES CONFIRMED AMAZING SCENES WITH MAURICE BENARD
As a punctuation point to his video, Benard also shared this written message in the post: “I just did some wonderful scenes with Steve Burton, Rick Hearst, Finola Hughes and Nazneen Contractor and and unbelievable writing, freaking amazing scenes that you will see in the near future on General Hospital.” In fact, Finola Hughes jumped in the post comment thread and responded, “I loved our scenes so much xxx”
Fans will most likely see all the scenes Benard referred to later in July, since GH tapes approximately six weeks ahead of air.
So, are you excited to see what Maurice is talking about? Are you hyped for what’s to come on GH? Any clue on what you think will go down between the main characters on the soap with the returns of Anna Devane and Jason Morgan to the mix? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Announces Upcoming Release of His First Single, ‘If You Need Me’
In a surprise move, Daytime Emmy winner, Chad Duell (ex-Michael Corinthos, GH) is getting ready to unveil a new chapter of his career in music.
The former GH star, where he played the son of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) for 15 years, has announced his new single, “If You Need Me” will drop on Friday, June 26. The single is now available for pre-order on Spotify and major music streaming platforms and is distributed by DistroKid.
Taking to his Instagram story over the weekend, to announce the pre-save of his new single, Chad expressed, “I’ll make a full post about what I’ve been up to and my music once it goes live next week, but you can pre-save my first single so it goes straight to your Spotify once it drops next week.”
Photo: CDuellIG
SINCE LEAVING GENERAL HOSPITAL
Previously, since his departure from the ABC soap opera. Chad starred alongside Zach Mendez in the world premiere of of Yum Yum at Annapolis, a new play written by Bruce Reisman. Duell last appeared on General Hospital on the January 21, 2025 episode.
The part was recast with Rory Gibson who debuted as the new Michael in May of 2025 during the Nurses’ Ball episodes and who has remained in the role since that time.
In an interview earlier this year on The Able Show, Duell said on his decision to exit the soap opera, “I was blessed to be part of that (show) for as long as I have, but what happens sometimes is if you’re doing the same thing, especially in a creative field for such a long time, you can get a little burnt out in a way. It can make you a little depressed, so that’s kind of what happened. On top of that, I had other things going on in my life at the time. My father passed away recently and I just needed a reset. So, I stepped away. A lot of times you have to go through some stuff to really step into that next level. I needed to kind of feel uncomfortable.”
So, what type of musical genre will Chad’s new song be? Country? Pop? Rock? Dance/Club? Something else? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below, and if you are eager to hear the new single next week via the comment section below.
Christel Khalil Reveals She Almost Quit Acting After ‘That’s So Raven’ Audition, But Then Came ‘The Young and the Restless’
DAYS OF OUR LIVES: Marlena Looks Back at 50 Years in Salem
‘WWE: Unreal’ Season 3 Premiere Date, Cast of Superstars, Announced by Netflix
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Carly and Lulu Make Plans to Rescue Their Children; Anna Looks Determined to Secure Her Freedom
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