General Hospital
Soap Opera Journalists to Celebrate GH 60 and Y&R 50 in The Locher Room
The past several weeks have seen some amazing milestones in the history of soap opera. On March 26th, The Young and the Restless celebrated its 50th anniversary on CBS, and on April 1st, General Hospital celebrated its 60th anniversary on ABC.
While many interviews have been done with members of the cast and creatives, past and present, of these iconic television series, The Locher Room will pay tribute to both shows when it welcomes noted soap opera journalists and personalities for a special episode streaming next week on Friday, April 21st beginning at 3 pm EST/Noon PST.
Joining host Alan Locher will be Soap Opera Digest’s VP, Editorial Director Stephanie Sloane, Contributing Editor Carolyn Hinsey, along with Michael Fairman TV’s, Michael Fairman.
The trio will look back at some of their favorite storylines, couples, moments, interviews from these two legendary shows, and much more.
You can catch the show live here.
So, before we take part in this special episode of The Locher Room, name some of your favorite storyline over the years from GH and Y&R in the comment section below. If we get a consensus from our readers, we will mention it on the show.
Alan Locher does a wonderful job with these shows. I loved the Capitol reunion several years ago, where he had the Queen herself Constance Towers on. Glad that you will be on, Michael. I’ll definitely be watching!
As far as my favorite GH storylines, the Stone/Robin AIDS story, BJ’s death/Maxie’s heart transplant, the original Ice Princess story with Luke and Laura stopping the Cassadine’s weather machine, Sonny’s wife Lily and unborn child dying in a car bomb explosion meant for him, at the same time Brenda and Jax are getting married, in recent times the Alzheimer’s story with Mike, are a few that immediately jump to mind for me.
For me on GH it was 1) BJs death w Maxies heart transplant 2) Clink Boom 3) Luke finds out he killed his own father to protect his sisters.
The real shock wasn’t that Luke killed his father – because the drunken abusive bastard frankly had it coming – but that Luke accidentally killed his mother, because he was swinging the baseball bat around, ironically using it to defend himself (and his mom & sisters) from his father.
Grew up watching Y&R, and there are just SO many to choose from. If I had to pick a top 3: Jill fighting Katherine for the Chancellor Estate (which gave us the best catfight in daytime history); the entire run of the Lauren/Sheila storyline (across both shows); and the reveal of Malcolm being Lily’s biological father (nobody could keep a secret from his characters like Bill Bell). Honorable mentions: Cassie’s death (because it forever changed the show); anytime Judith Chapman is on screen; and Ashley tricking Jack into believing he wasn’t an Abbott (had its bumps but it was such an incredible use of history and another well-kept secret, and Eileen Davidson and Peter Bergman played the HELL out of it!); and it’s not a storyline, but the incredible background music (no show before or since has done it better) and classic sets of the 80s and 90s that made all the stories come to life.
Didn’t watch much General Hospital, but it was Sonny/Brenda/Jax that got me tuned in. I also enjoyed Emily’s adoption; when Laura faked her death in the catacombs explosion; and, more recently, the revenge porn story with the cast’s incredibly adept set of young performers playing Joss, Trina, Spencer, and Cam.
Congrats to both programs on their milestones!
On Y and R for me my Top 3 are: 1) Cassies death 2) The climax to the David Kimble story and his death ending his reign of terror 3) Beth Maitlands portrayal of a Traci Abbott and her story of plus sized women and her struggle with body image. She’s still fantastic.
Y&R : Cassandra and Paul’s storyline a rip off of body heat but done very well. The aids storyline with Nathan sleeping with a gal who had aids and their was a threat to his family that Olivia might have contacted it. Cassie’s death best performance that JM has ever done . GH BJ heart given to Maxie it is criminal that the actor who played Tony did not walk away with the Emmy. Robin and Stone heart breaking . Luke and Laura in the catacombs dancing . Days past never catch those moments again
Beyond the Gates
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

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.
General Hospital
Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

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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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Casts Ayla Bullington as the New Avery Jerome-Corinthos

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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