General Hospital
Slezak, Jackson & Geary named "Power Performances of the Week"!
© JPI Studios
So here is ABC, who cancels two longtime soap operas and literally two weeks later airs two episodes in their daytime line-up that illustrate the creativity, emotional power, and unbelievable talent that is within the daytime genre. We dare say that these performances and episodes rival anything we have seen with a higher budget on a primetime series, and were magnificent to boot. Still, one of those shows is soon to be gone. And the other, who knows how long they will truly last. But let’s try not to dwell on that here. Let’s celebrate and recognize the beautiful performances this past week by One Life to Live’s Erika Slezak (Viki), General Hospital’s Jonathan Jackson, (Lucky) and Anthony Geary (Luke).
First up Erika Slezak, who delivered a tour de force performance that had us lapping up every delicious moment of her portrayal of Viki and her alters, Niki and Jean. And just when you think you have seen Erika Slezak do her ultimate work ( after those six Daytime Emmys) she proves without question, and remind us why she is the greatest actress on daytime television. Kudos to the brilliant writing of Ron Carlivati and team for the script, and Roger Mooney for the incredible set representing Viki’s subconscious mind. We have to say, when Erika as Niki in the courtroom flipped into Jean, and then started to lose her grip as the ‘everything-must-be-in-order’ alter, it was just stunning to watch. And that is only one little gem of many in the entire 40th anniversary episode in Erika’s honor. We don’t think there will be anyone who watches OLTL that will ever forget this episode, or the final speech made by Viki to her alters that included mentions of her character’s past: her losing her husbands, her child, her beloved mother, etc. Hankies galore! Erika, a seventh Emmy is on the way to you in 2012. Make sure you submit yourself, please!
Courtesy/ABC
Over at General Hospital, the creative team literally mounted a stage play of Luke’s Intervention complete with chairs, and basically no set, and just actors all sitting around six time Daytime Emmy winner, Anthony Geary. Each took their turn to read their letters and time-out-of-time pleas for Luke to get help for his addiction. In the end, it would ultimately fall on deaf ears as Luke would not accept what his friends and family were attempting to do! The writing and the production were exquisite… complete with a back-screen in which past clips were viewed to illustrate the relationships between all involved. Geary was understated, masterful, and balanced all of Luke’s emotions as a man literally and figuratively tied-up! And it was Geary, who had to listen and react effectively as each of the character’s in Luke’s life tried to get through to him.
However, Jonathan Jackson actually stole the show from Geary, once Lucky had his turn to confront Luke. With letting out his feelings on the way his father is destroying his own life, and how Lucky needs his dad to help him get over the loss of his son, Jake (even though Luke is the responsible party for the hit and run that eventually killed the boy) needless to say, it was powerful stuff.
We don’t think there is a better and a more natural actor, who is the prime of their acting career than Jonathan Jackson. In the time he has been back to GH, we have given Jackson this honor twice before! Jackson and Geary brought tears to our eyes and we are sure everyone else’s in the viewing audience. They are quite the team.
Watch clips of this week’s Power Performances of the Week below and let us know if you agree with our picks!
The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.
Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”
Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ava’s (Maura West) daughter Avery looks quite different, starting on today’s November 9 episode of General Hospital. That’s because GH has made Avery into a full-blown teenager and the role is now being played by actress Alya Bullington.
In her debut, the Tennessee native was thrown into the deep soap waters with Daytime Emmy winners, Maurice Benard and Eden McCoy (Josslyn). Bullington weighed-in to TV Insider about her first scene which featured Avery overhearing a fight between Sonny and Josslyn.
She explained “It was something I have never done before, I did not have a lot of experience with the screaming and the crying stuff, but I got my first script, and I was like, ‘OK, this is a huge opportunity to learn so much about how that stuff works and to become this character that I have never even tried playing before.’”
Photo: ABC
THE TEENAGED VERSION OF AVERY WILL HAVE A LOT TO CONTEND WITH
Speaking of working with McCoy, Bullington shared, “She’s incredible. I remember her just laughing and making jokes on set, and then the minute that they started taping, she just locked in and she cried immediately, and my first thought was, ‘I want to be able to do that.’
The soap opera newcomer added, “I think she just inspired me so much because she is so great and she can just lock into whatever character she wants to in the moment.”
The character of Avery was born back in 2014, but as recently as the October 8 episode of General Hospital, the character was suddenly referred to as a teenager. This is the second young female character in recent months to be aged up following the casting of Kayden Brenna Tokarski as Scout Cain.
As for her take on Avery and what’s ahead, Alya said,“She’s emotional, and she’s curious, and she’s a really fun person to play because so much stuff is happening in her life. I think she’s kind of confused about what’s happening and what to believe.”
So, what do you think about General Hospital making Avery a teenager? Are you excited to see the conflict between Sonny, Ava and Avery now that they have aged up the character? Share your thoughts and welcome Alya to GH via the comment section below.
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Michael, Those three performances were the best of the best. I also agree that Jonathan Jackson is the one that broke my heart and he consistency can do that in these stories. I hope Jonathan can have the career that Tony and Erika have had…he is that good! I commented on Erika’s performance earlier in the week. She also reached the pinnacle of her career so far, and she made me weep at the end of that episode. Tony has always given us something to wait for. You know he is the master of underplaying his role. All in all, this was a powereful week that should go down in the annals of soap history. They give all actors a high ladder to climb…..I also want to give you, Michael, bravo on your latest podcast. It was insightful and fun and very entertaining. I loved Robin’s emotional thoughts about OLTL and its demise. But I also feel there may be something or someone who has the guts to do something exceptional to back these two soaps.This has been an unsually difficult month for all soap fans. I will not abandon the soaps before their time. But, we have been privy to great writing and production on both those shows, not to mention superb acting. So. we are winners all around….
WOW!!!
those scenes were just awesome!!! erica, tony & jonathan ARE the best actors currently on daytime!! all three have a talent that i can’t even describe in words………….they put their heart & soul into their portrayal of the characters!!!
Wow. I do not watch GH, but JJ was amazing. AG is still as good as when I watched the show back before it was about the mob. Erika was great too. That episode was so much fun. It almost felt like the final episode with Viki’s speech at the end. Thank you for recognizing the incomparable Erika Slezak.
I thought the performances were amazing…of all of them. My only problem was the way the writer’s brought about this intervention. It seems they try but always HAVE to rely on the great performances of Tony, Jonathan, Jane, Julie, Maurice, Laura and Nathan because their writing falls short. It takes you up and leaves you hanging and then drops the ball and moves on to something else with no real closure. It’s very frustrating. Thank you for your kudos to these actors. They are well deserving of academy awrds.