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NY Daily News on How Canceling Soaps Is No Sure Road to Success for Network Programming Execs!

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/ABC

Courtesy/ABC

The New York Daily News has a great piece out today about GH getting a renewal and One Life to Live’s replacement, The Revolution being axed with the post titled, “ABC keeps General Hospital after finding that canceling soaps is no sure road to success.”  Ain’t that the truth!

The NY Daily News piece goes on to say:  “The lesson here is some soaps may still draw a bigger audience than some of the cheaper chat shows that replace them. In this particular case, it also could be a factor that Couric reportedly preferred General Hospital as her lead-in, noting the loyalty of  GH viewers and fearing she would be seen as the villain if  GH were canceled. With The Revolution averaging about 1.33 million viewers a day in March, around a million fewer than General Hospital, it didn’t turn out to be a tough call. Still, soap fans call it a win, if only because General Hospital has the lowest audience of the four daytime soaps remaining on broadcast TV and thus was the most vulnerable.

This means GH can now celebrate its 50th anniversary, on April 1, 2013. While that doesn’t guarantee it a 60th, or even a 51st, it does underscore that killing a soap doesn’t automatically solve the networks’ daytime viewership problems. Soap fans argue that even though soap ratings have been declining, so have all network daytime ratings. More people work now. TV viewers have 500 channels instead of three.

Soaps haven’t lost fans in greater proportions than other programming, their supporters say, and they have the added value of being an appointment show that builds loyal audiences.  TV watchers still talk about the wedding of Luke and Laura on General Hospital in 1981. Who remembers a guacamole recipe from a week ago? The tide is still flowing away from soaps. But the fate of this “Revolution” is a good reminder that if you throw away the soap, you better have another way to clean up.”

OK soapers, we thought there were some very good points made here! Would you agree? Let us know!

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YEAH! We are thrilled! I have watched One Life to Live and General Hospital since they started and tho I liked OLTL the best and was crushed that ABC would cancel 2 great soaps in one swoop… I am thrilled they finally saw the light that making that decision was not the best idea and best not to repeat the wrath of loyal viewers so soon again by canceling GH.

I don’t think ABC really thought soap fans would boycott their network, especially not in droves or be so vocal all over the web and social networks. I don’t think their daytime lineup could take a final blow of us walking out for good if they took GH off the air. Many fans are watching nothing but GH right now because of AMC and OLTL being canceled.
I’d sure like if Agnes Nixon got back the rights to All My Children and One Life to Live so that she and we can one day see our favorite characters again thriving elsewhere…. We still want our shows!
In the meantime, this is great that it’s going on to it’s 50th year and that is fantastic news!
I would like to hear from the replacement, I mean the revolution cast… didn’t they call soap fans a bad word. Well we showed them!

I think this is only another temporary ruse like Prospect Park and ABC will try again to cancel GH next year. They kept the worst of their 3 soaps and it hasn’t improved. They think fans will eventually get tired and go away. IMO Katie Couric is already the villain. Everywhere you read, she is despised by viewers. Her show will quickly fail as well. The revolution failed not due to soap fans but because it was a truly awful show with hosts who were not qualified and were annoying. Myself, I don’t care what any of them have to say.

I agree that this is possibly just a temporary decision. I think we’ll all still be worried about GH getting the ax this time next year. But I do NOT agree that the The Revolution failed becuase it was a bad show. It may have been; I don’t know because I didn’t watch it and that’s the point. As a loyal ABC soap fan I refused to watch either of the new talk shows when they came on the air. Thousands of soap fans did the same. THAT is what caused The Revolution to be cancelled – the soap fans boycotting the show that replaced their beloved soap. Don’t underestimate the loyalty and power of the fans. We loved those shows, and if ABC was determined to ignore our pleas to keep them on the air, then we were no longer going to support ABC. As of now, I only watch GH on ABC – nothing else, and that includes the local affiliate for news. If GH is ever cancelled, I will not watch the network at all. And of course, I can’t agree with you that GH is the worst of the three that were on ABC; GH is my favorite!

Thanks for the reply. Watch the revolution tomorrow, or any other day and see what you think. It is so bad I want to push a pencil into my head. I don’t think it’s fair to criticize something unless you know what it is, so I watched them and IMO they are awful. Soap fans did not put much of a dent in the ratings of the chew which has been about the same as AMC and it has not been cancelled. So it can’t be just soap fans. I wrote GH was the worst because it had the lowest ratings. I should have written that. I’m glad you like it, someone should. IMO Ron and Frank have made it worse. As a GH fan, what do you think about them?

Christy, I agree with you about wishing Agnes would get the rights to AMC and OLTL and bring them to another channel. In fact, I was recently reading the weekly prime-time TV ratings in USA TODAY and noticed the the CW’s YTD ratings average 1.8. That’s nothing to crow about. Soaps often do better than that. So why doesn’t the CW scoop up these cancelled shows? They’d have fans yakking about it for years and gains tons of loyal viewers who are starved to see their favorites return. It’s a win-win.

We have all said it over and over again but we who work filmed our soaps to watch at night. And I although we may not watch all the commercials I have often found myself rewinding to watch certain commercials because it got my interest, or because it had someone I like on it. So, what I am saying is you don’t know who is watching, yes I know you gather info on who is filming but I am certain you are wrong because the other people I work with still talk about GH when we get together and everyone wants to know what happened. ONTL was my favorite too but so far we are getting some ONTL/GH blending that may bring some ONTL fans back. ABC should be doing more to advertise that. I like Katie Couric but I think she is making a big mistake, yes we are not about to support anything that is not a soap in daytime programming at ABC, they strong-armed us away.

The biggest reason networks are getting rid of soaps is that they are no longer profitable. They take a lot of money to make and are hardly turning a profit anymore. The Revolution tanking was almost predictable. It didn’t even test well before it aired. ABC can’t say they didn’t see this coming. The “solution” is not rushing a bad replacement on the air just to get rid of the soaps post haste. Actually, the last statement in the New York Daily News is so true.

“The tide is still flowing away from soaps. But the fate of this “Revolution” is a good reminder that if you throw away the soap, you better have another way to clean up.””

Agree with you. I do think that ABC could have approached this cancellation of the soaps a little better. I’m gonna go on record as saying, All MY Children had a truckload of problems, and it hadn’t gotten to the point that it was completely ridiculous. Although, I don’t wholeheartedly agree with the cancellation, I can see how AMC got the axe. Now OLTL, I am still scratching my head on that one. It was the highest rated soap on the network…and ABC is still feeling the repercussions of canceling OLTL, which speaks volumes for how popular the show was. I just feel that there were better decisions that could have been made, to restructure the shows, in order to save the all mighty dollar that the networks are so concerned with. Cast cuts, reducing the show down to a 30 minute format…people may not have been crazy about that, but it’s better than not having the show to watch at all. Even if they would have gone to a primetime format, where the shows air nine months out of the year and have a 3 month break, some time throughout the year…..they could air September and October…take November & December off…come back in January and run until July, where they have a Summer finale then come back in the fall. It would take a little getting used to, but I’m sure soap fans would have preferred this option over cancellation. My point being is they didn’t even try other options….it was just a clean the house moment, without any thought put into. Now ABC has put themselves in a precarious situation to where they have lost viewers….and lost their trust as well…now they have to walk an extremely careful line, to ensure that they don’t completely sink the network….which is why I think they gave GH another year. I’m keeping my eyes on them….cause this renewal could be a setup, just like Prospect Park was for saving AMC & OLTL….

I am finding myself tuning in a little more each day, with GH…so we’ll see how things go. I wish them the best, and don’t want the hardcore GH fans to have to go through what the fans of OLTL went through.

I disagree. Soaps made lots of money for the network. OLTL was always under budget. Ironically, it was GH that was often over. The management just didn’t like them personally. They want more talk to get out their political message. ABC repeatedly tested The Revolution with focus groups and made changes to improve it and they consistently hated it, but they went with it anyway. Earlier versions were worse, imaging that. I do agree they could have gone to several other formats like primetime or telenovella. I have often wished they would have shown reruns or older “classic” episodes.

Could not agree more!!!!

and they still are not bringing back oltl or amc : (

Nice article. Very well written and has reiterated what we’ve all been saying for a long time.

Very good points. Hopefully NBC will recognize this and leave Days of Our Lives alone.

I so agree,they thought we would sit down ,shut up and watch whatever drivel they put on the air…WRONG ABC.I hope a lesson is learned here,we love our stories and for the record we know how to dress and how to set a table….and we are tired to being told what to do how to do it etc.Bring back OLTL,,,,and we may give ABC another chance…maybe.I think they are beginning to see that we LOVE our stories and we will fight as long as it takes to keep them on.

Great article! I do agree that daytime viewership has been declining for the last several years. But in the case of soaps, I’d be interested to see how many people don’t watch the soap live, but DVR it for later, or catch up on the almost defunct SoapNet. I think we’d find that viewership hasn’t dropped off at all. The same can’t be said for the game shows, talk shows and infomercial shows that the networks continue to try to replace soaps with. One Life to Live, for example, was a show that I’d use as an excuse to take a break from work, eat lunch and catch up on Llanview. What do I do now? Check my email and keep working. I’ve got no use for these sterile, cheaply done shows. I want programming that engages me, that I look forward to. The replacement shows just aren’t it.

I’ll be one of the ones that watches GH and then turns it off when Katie Couric’s show is on. The last thing I need is one more talk show. We already saw how well a non-soap show did with the titanic sinking of The Revolution. I’ve better things to do with my time.

I totally agree with Trapper. I think a huge part of the viewership problem is in the “rating system”, because a majority of the ways people tune into their soaps is not being counted (i.e. DVR/Tivoing does not count unless it is viewed within 48 hours (so I have heard),and watching soaps on youtube or on soapnet, I believe, does not count at all). This system is so flawed and must be updated.

I always wondered how it worked thanks for the info!! To watch for me I have to watch DVR most of the time.

You are welcome Kay. I received the same info from someone on this site as well, and was glad to find out how it worked too. Which also tells me that you and I are not the only ones who did not know how the rating system worked, and if that information was out there more readily for many to see and absorb, than I am sure more viewers would also be counted, because they would know what needed to be done, to be counted.

Great article but, they still don’t realize what the fans want, we want our AMC and OLTL back.

“YAY!”

Me and everyone in my house only watch GH on ABC now. We refuse to EVER watch the network again unless OLTL is brought back or they make up for it some how like a TV movie or something to wrap it up and if they keep GH on the air.

“This means GH can now celebrate its 50th anniversary, on April 1, 2013.”

NO it doesn’t. Not until ABC announces it. Just because they canceled The Revolution is no guarantee.

Out here in Southern California there is an extermination company whose logo features a man wearing a top hat and a long black coat bending over to a mouse (looking like he is making nice) while he has a MALLET behind his back. Folks, we, the fans, are the mouse, ABC is the man in the top hat, and Katie Couric is the mallet.

Speaking of Katie Couric, has anyone heard the rumor about her actually doing an arc on General Hospital to come across as a “fan” of the show? This is such BS it is not even funny. Sure, she comes on GH for a few episodes to get people to like her, her show debuts and then POOF, bye bye GH.

Let’s not let Couric use the soaps for ratings the way Doprah did! Don’t watch her! Let her show be an even bigger failure than The Revolution!

You will not have to ask me twice not to watch Perky Katie!! I know people personally who have met her she is not a nice person and she is no lady makes a sailor blush with her trash mouth!

lipstickcat ,you are right ,Theres no way Im watching katie couric or any other dopy show abc/disney puts on ,as far as I am concerned they renewed general hospital for 1 years that is cheep thats not a network that is committed to the soap,there just passing time and trying once again to shut us up and I am not going to do that ,If abc/disney cared or had faith in general hospital they would have renewed it for 3 or 5 years 1 year ,there trying to shut us up like the pp garbage.And your right about doprah to.

As others have mentioned I watch GH, but rarely do I watch it at the time it’s actually airing. I use my TIVO, which I would imagine a lot of other people do as well. There are way more soap fans than ABC is willing to admit….

that is so true!!!

Thank you for the article. Soap fans are very loyal. I have been watching for 49 years and now I look forward to the 50th.

I cant believe ABC doesnt make a big profit from GH.
If they cancel GH their profits will really drop, all the GH fans will boycott ABC.

great commentary!! soaps are the life-blood of many, many people. Those who work, simply dvr them and watch at night. If the networks counted all the people watching on dvr or online, then the rating would be different. i for one, would never dvr the revultion or the spew in a million years!! the networks need to get into the 21st century and learn how to count those who watch, whenever, not what they might watch if they forget to turn off the television while they are at work!! 🙂

Glad to see another great article about daytime t.v. The fans are still here, but our viewing habits have changed. I REALLY miss OLTL and predicted The Revolution’s demise along with many other soap fans boycotting ABC/D except for GH.

ABC made a huge mistake with the cancellation of AMC and even bigger one with OLTL. The way I see it they have all these big wigs over there making all this money and no one understands they daytime audience or even realized the answer to production costs was right under their noses. It’s called SoapNet. They could have taken all 3 soaps put them on SoapNet and then made SoapNet a premium cable channel. Even if they charged $5.00 a month do the math. $60.00 a year times 2 million viewers. They would have made more than enough to cover production costs. I would have gladly paid to keep my soaps on tyhe air and I’m sure many others would have as well. But as we all know that asshole Frons HATED soaps so of course they were cancelled. It’s been a devastating blow to all the fans. So they are letting us keep GH……for now. Me personally I will never trust abc again which is why I watch nothing on abc except GH.

I, too, would have happily paid to keep my soaps on the air!!

Great article! But not “new” news. Soap fans have been saying it (screaming actually) for the past 10 years with the cancellation of Passions, Sunset Beach, Guiding Light, As the World Turns, All My children, and One Life to Live. We went ballistic last year when 2 were cancelled at one time and still, some idiot said “we’ll retrain you to watch the new stuff”. I hope ABC has learned a very valuable lesson: soap fans matter! I truly believe this GH extension is just a temporary reprieve to 1) shut up the fans 2) try plan “C”, GMA in the afternoon, and give it a chance to build an audience. 3)Get GH to the 50th anniversary next April. That network is determined to kill all the soaps. WATCH GH!!!

I don’t watch anything on ABC anymore except General Hospital. I will not stay loyal to a station that takes off my favorite shows. I have been watching All My Children and One Life to Live for over 30 years. To just cut them off is so mean. I wish another station would take these shows on. A lot of fans would be very grateful. We miss the characters, the stars and even the sets. (Screw the Chew!!)

long live soaps. It keeps me out of the mall!

I guess we could send the soaps to China since they almost do everything else! Can you imagine Victor & Jack on Y&R talking Chinese or Jason & Sonny on GH! Just kidding!!!

If someone would simply develop a way to count the number of people who watch the soaps on DVR or on SopaNet, they’d realize the soaps have A LOT MORE viewers than the Neilson ratings show. And as for watching the soaps on DVR and NOT fast-forwarding through the commercials or watching it doesn’t “count”….that’s total bs, because how many of us watching any show “live” doesn’t use the commercial to raid the kitchen, use the bathroom, etc. I am so happy that GH will live on for at least another year, but I still miss One Life to Live and All My Children!!!

Congratulations to all soap opera fans for our success in getting rid of The Revolution.

However the fight must continue. Realistically, there’s nothing that can be done to bring back AMC and OLTL. It would cost too much to bring the soaps back. Not to mention many of the actors and crews have moved on to GH and other soaps.

However the battle must continue to insure that both GH and Soapnet remain on the air. So keep sending your letters to Disney.

Having GH renewed is one battle. But keeping on the air for many more years is another battle.

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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Dominic Zamprogna

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).

On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.

Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC

HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT

Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”

Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”

Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Dom and Liz

Photo: ABC

DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES

In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”

Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”

You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.

Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy  for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.

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GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

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Patrick J. Gibbons

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.

However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.

Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC

FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG

Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!

Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”

MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL

Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).

Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI

PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY

Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”

It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”

A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons

IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS

As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”

He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”

Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.

So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.

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‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Admits That He Didn’t Expect the Role of Michael Corinthos to be Recast, and Would Consider Working on Another Soap (Exclusive)

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Chad Duell, the Daytime Emmy-winning actor, who stepped away from the pivotal role of Michael Corinthos on General Hospital, opened up about: his previous decision to leave the series after nearly 15 years, where’s he’s at now after time away from the demands of a daytime soap opera, and took a stroll down memory lane with some of Michael’s most-acclaimed storyline during his run, during a livestream chat on August 19 on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.

Viewers last saw Duell on-screen as Michael in January of 2025, and with his successor in the role, Rory Gibson making his debut at the GH Nurses’ Ball in episodes that aired later in May. It was clear that during the conversation, Chad was a bit surprised that the GH brass decided to recast him when he thought he was just taking some much needed time off.

Burn-out of the daily grind of being on a soap was definitely a part of Chad’s decision to take a break. Duell explained “People know when you’re doing something for so long or your character is kind of in the same place for so long or doing the same stuff over and over again, you do get a a little burnt out, you get a little stiff, stale, a little stiff at times. I didn’t want that to be any sort of lasting impression. I have 15 years of a body of work of I’ve done on that show, which is fantastic.”

Chad Duell

Photo: ABC

WHILE CHAD WAS AWAY GH RECAST MICHAEL CORINTHOS WITH RORY GIBSON

Chad shared, his mindset when leaving GH was, “I’m taking some time away, we’ll see what happens.” Then he added, “Obviously, they decided to go in a different direction with Michael when I was gone. I didn’t think they were going to bring somebody back in my place. But you know, it’s the business. You never know what can happen.”

Duell also shared he has not watched a single episode of General Hospital since he left the series, but now feels he reenergized following the loss of his father and stepping away from the GH, “I’m in a place now mentally, where I’m ready to sink my teeth into it again.”

Courtesy/ABC

Even though he is no longer Michael on GH, Chad was very happy with his final storyline where Michael was set on fire when a bomb exploded at Sonny’s (Maurice Benard) penthouse. “It was fun to put him in a dangerous situation, because I was wanting Michael to be in something scary instead of trying to be a hero character or just things happening around him, but to be the center point of tragedy happening to him. (I always saw) Michael as the heart of the (Corinthos) family.”

When Michael was badly burned the show chose not burn his face, which normally a soap does when they are recasting role and switching actors. Chad weighed-in, “They didn’t burn my face because I told Frank Valentini (EP, GH) I’m willing to come back. It was just a little bit of a break. So, I assumed that if they would have burned my face, they could have brought somebody back looking different than me… if that’s what their plan was.”

Courtesy/ABC

MEMORABLE MICHAEL STORYLINES

One of Chad’s most memorable performances was the in the storyline of Michael’s rape while he was sentenced to prison in 2010 and the confession of it in 2011. “It was so well-written and I was very nervous,” recalled Chad. “When I get really nervous about something, it ends up being really good when I do it, because it just means I care a lot about it”

“I have to put a lot of effort and work into it, and I really want it to be good.  I was working with Dominic  Zamprogna (Dante) and Steve Burton (Jason) a lot during those scenes, and Laura Wright (Carly). It was great working with Steve and Dominic, especially, during that storyline.

A NEW SOAP ROLE FOR CHAD?

As to a future soap opera role, Chad is open to the idea and would love to jump back in to a juicy role, “I know people over at The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless. They know that if they’re interested, I would love to come in for a screen test or something, and they can see what I’m doing.”

Meanwhile, Chad has been busy putting out new music under the moniker Duelly and during the interview he explains how he creates his EDM tracks and much more. You can stream his latest single, Static in the Quiet Room on Spotify, Apple Music and You Tube Music.

You can check out the full conversation with Chad Duell below.

Now let us know: what show would you like to see Chad cast on down the line? BTG, DAYS, B&B, Y&R, or a new role on GH? What did you think of his thoughts on the casting switch while he was away in the role of Michael? What was your favorite Michael storyline during Chad’s 15-year run on the ABC soap opera? Let us know via the comment section.

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Heather Tom

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