General Hospital
Stephanie Erb Temporarily Fills-In for Nancy Lee Grahn as GH’s Alexis
While Nancy Lee Grahn is taking a short break from taping new episodes of General Hospital, while she is recovering from surgery, the ABC soap opera has cast Stephanie Erb as the temporary Alexis Davis.
According to Soap Opera Digest, Look for Erb to first air beginning the week of April 25th.
Stephanie has appeared on numerous primetime series from True Blood to Grey’s Anatomy, to Criminal Minds and Ray Donovan, to name just a few.
Erb was previously on Port Charles back in 2000 as a patient named ‘Camille”.
Nancy Lee Grahn tweeted on the short casting switcheroo: “My dear #GHers. All’s well sweet ones. Out for a bit. Stephanie is a champ. Be back soon. xoxo”
So, while we wish Nancy a speedy recovery, Stephanie will be holding the fort down for Alexis on GH. Share your thoughts via the comment below.
Hope Nancy is doing well & recovers quickly. I’m OK with temp recasts under such circumstances, I’m just not crazy about the temps getting to play out key parts of the storyline (i.e. the NuTrina being thrown right into the middle of Esme’s obsessive plot with the sex tape thing)
…. so now that we know something big about Harmony & er.. somebody in Alexis’s recent past (no specifics mentioned so not to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet) I really hope Alexis doesn’t find out about this until Nancy’s back on the job.
And on that note…. Why doesn’t TJ recognize the voice of the woman who helped Cyrus kidnap him not all that long ago??
NuTrina is not a temp, so her jumping in now makes sense since Sydney was not going to continue in the role.
Otherwise, I agree on temps. When temp-Monica reminisced a few weeks about her marriage to Jeff, it lacked authenticity (although I’ll need James or other long-timers to refresh my memory if Leslie Charleson assumed the role while still married to Jeff).
According to NLG, she’ll miss 2 1/2 weeks of taping. Depending on the writing and filming schedule, temp-Alexis might be around a month.
Hello Steve: Thanks for the mention. I believe that Monica and Jeff were still married when Charleson took over the role from Patsy Rahn (who was fired). 1977 was a traumatic time in GH history for me because that’s when they also fired Valerie Starrett, the original Diana Maynard Taylor (and, as I’ve mentioned, my favorite all-time daytime actress). Of course, Starrett had been driving storyline as Diana since 1969.
But getting back to the original point by you and Satan, a temporary replacement can be jarring, particularly when major plot points are revealed. Back in the 1970s, the fans almost never found out about cast changes in advance. The soap magazines, the main source of soap info, would report such changes long after the fact, and often the details were lacking. Such a different time now, for better or worse…
Thanks James. I knew I could count on you for some background. In the mid-late 70s, they recast many characters who were driving story. Monica, Rick, Laura, Heather, Diana. Those were my early memories of GH, which I sat and watched with my mom after I walked home from elementary school. I remember when LC took over Monica, but forgot where in story they were. Things really picked up when CR took over as Rick. Always fun going down memory lane with you.
Steve, it’s always truly a pleasure. You’re so right (and more comprehensive) about those recasts. It’s actually surprising that GH still avoided cancellation (and later thrived) with all those recasts.
I also like how you provide context to your soap viewing as an elementary schoolboy. I was in the same place, but a few years earlier than you (by my calculations). It’s weird, and yet satisfying, how some of these soap memories remain so vivid all these years later. Take care, Friend!
Hi. Just stumbled on to this,and SO thrilled to read Steve and Jamesj75 comments. I started to watch GH as a little girl, after school, in 1971. I too watched the half hour episodes, and remember original Monica, Rick, Heather, Diana Taylor, etc. “New” Diana came from DOOL. Didnt like Diana recast either. Love when LC Monica recurs now, and does anyone else miss Leslie?? So liked Audrey’s appearance, though brief on GH 50th anniversary. Wish they’d bring Leslie back,even on occasional recurring status. Think the last time we saw her was at Laura/Kevin wedding. Surely Leslie could have appeared to say good bye to Lulu when they shipped her off to long term care. Any thoughts?
Great to read your reply, jvdramateacher! So thrilled you are also a fan of Valerie Starrett. Be sure to watch the link from 1975 that Satan graciously provided us — so many great characters in one half-hour episode!
I agree with you about Audrey. She had quite a long run with the show and doesn’t get the credit she deserves; I just wished she had more screen time in the later years, too. There are so many unsung heroes from GH’s long history… Also, bringing back Leslie on recurring status would be terrific. There have been plenty of times over the years when the presence of Leslie was sorely missed. Take care, Friend!
Hi there.
Lesley Webber is a beloved character in GH history. At 82, Denise Alexander might not want something on a regular basis. Lesley was last on in late 2020 and early 2021 to wrap up the Cyrus as hospital Chairman storyline. They had her actually teaming up with Monica to bring Cyrus down. Her last scene had her saying goodbye to Laura mentioning she was going to check in on Lulu at the clinic.
Grateful for any scenes that DA and Jane Elliot continue to provide for however long they choose to be a part of the show. And, isn’t it about time for Lucy to have a visit from Aunt Charlene? Maree Cheatham is still acting.
Steve
I just happened on your post about Denise Alexander, etc.Your last sentence really caught my eye where you refer to one of my all time heroines, Marie Cheatham. Oh, how I loved her from the first time I saw her on Search For Tomorrow and everything after that, Days, etc. She could almost be another Sheila at times. She still looks good at 81. You say she’s still acting?
James, I stumbled across something on YouTube that you will probably love to see…. It’s a full episode of GH from 1975.
The storyline is from shortly after Phil Brewer was murdered and police detective Wally Cleaver is looking for the geode rock murder weapon. He questions a number of people at the hospital including Diana Taylor – in her original Valerie Starrett form, of course.
For some reason, it’s in black & white, despite from being 1975, long after GH switched to color. But otherwise great video & sound quality for the time…..
Satan, you are my hero! I just watched this episode, and it is golden (despite the black-and-white presentation). For me, this was GH at its peak. Thank you, my Friend. Thank you!
I realize that things happen, actors have real life issues, people leave, etc. But GH has had a large amount of this happening all at once. New Jordan, new Trina, temp Monica, temp Harmony, etc. It really does change the tone and the fabric of the show. It does help when we viewers know some of the reasons. We know Sydney left for college, and so far the new Trina is doing a great job! The similar look helps. Having the real Taggert back helped immensely with that transition. New Jordan is a good actress, but I am just not really feeling her as Jordan. She is too polished, too refined. Both of the other Jordan’s had the wild frizzy hair which really did help to sort of show that the character was a bit of a non conformist. Monica is seen infrequently enough that it would seem possible to reschedule pivotal scenes for when Leslie Charleson is available. Harmony is a recurring character, so it would seem that they could delay her scenes until the regular actress is available. I don’t pretend to know the daily ins and outs of producing a soap, but it just seems like a lot all at once. It really does take regular viewers out of the continuum of the show with so many major and minor recasts happening all at once. But with that said, the writing on the show is really good right now. I am really not on board with the creepy turn Esme has taken on. Showing a young female drugging another young female with date rape drugs, and faking a pregnancy, and exploiting the first time love making of legacy characters is lazy unnecessary soap trope writing. It’s disturbing. Ryan Chamberlain is a character who has violently murdered countless women, so to give him a daughter who loves and reveres him is very disgusting and unnerving. On the plus side, seeing veterans Robert, Anna, Felicia is awesome! Let’s get going with Chase and Brooklyn already!!! They are soap gold!!! Find Maxie a solid long term love interest!! Stop making Michael and Willow so sanctimonious and judgmental.
Agreed on the analysis of Michael and Willow. From a historical perspective, Michael’s personality has snippets (some larger than others) of Carly, Sonny, Edward and AJ.
Harmony has been on contract since the fall. Inga Cadranel indicated she dealt with Covid for 3 weeks, which would’ve been a long time to hold up story.
Whenever there’s a temporary recast I pay closer attention to see if there’s a reason those scenes still had to be filmed. For Monica, the only reason they had to continue that shooting day was the scene with her and Jake by the elevator. Hudson West is a busy “child” actor who is recurring. Every day a minor is shooting, the studio is responsible for having a teacher present. Both Hudson and the teacher’s schedule would have to be cleared at least a few weeks prior. Unfortunately this day in age, budget rules.
On the plus side, sometimes actors are able to give the show enough time to avoid recasts. Lydia Look told Frank about her annual trip to see family during Lunar New Year so Selina Wu was written out for a while and Brad was still able to be part of story.
I hope Nancy Lee is improving and will be back soon. Supposedly some good stuff involving Alexis, Harmony and Neil’s lowlife brother is coming up and I want to see Nancy acting these juicy scenes herself.
General Hospital
Blythe Howard Joins the Cast of ‘General Hospital’ as Monet: Who is She Connected to in Port Charles?
General Hospital continues to add new characters to the canvas. Now comes word of the arrival of Monet, a savvy lawyer played by Blythe Howard. Look for Monet to debut in Port Charles next week on the Wednesday, September 23 episode.
According to TV Insider, “Monet arrives in town as a litigator who recently joined Miller & Davis, the firm run by Diane Miller (Carolyn Hennesy) and Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), and meets with a Port Charles resident in need of legal counsel.”
In a statement, General Hospital’s executive producer, Frank Valentini shared, “I am very excited to welcome Blythe Howard to the cast of General Hospital. Look for her to have an unexpected connection to a beloved Port Charles resident.”
FROM TELEVISION TO CANCER SURVIVOR TO GIVING BACK
If Howard looks familiar you may have seen her on several television series including: Yellowstone, Power Book IV: Force, Walker, 9-1-1: Lone Star, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, CW’s Dynasty, Silicon Valley plus David Fincher‘s Mindhunter.
Photo: ChemoQueens
Blythe is also a cancer survivor having cofounded Chemo Queens with her sister Kelsey Howard. The company creates products for people undergoing cancer treatment, including a patent-pending cold cap design.
In recent months, General Hospital has brought in several new actors for brand new roles or recasts. They include: Alimi Ballard (William Baines), Jonathan Bennett (Joe Fitzpatrick), Kearran Giovanni (Dr. Nichols), Dean Geyer (Tristan Roberts), Kelly Kruger (Serena Baldwin), Kayden Brennan Tokarski (Scout Cain) and Troy Lennon Appel (Hudson Parker). You can now add Blythe Howard to this list.
So, who do you think Monet has an unexpected connection to that is a “beloved” Port Charles resident as teased by Frank Valentini? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.
Longtime General Hospital favorite, Kelly Monaco (ex-Sam McCall), took to her Instagram on Tuesday, September 15 and shared that she is six months, seven days sober from alcohol. Monaco played Sam for 21 years on the ABC soap opera.
Accompanied by a screenshot from the I Am Sober app that tracks the progress of anyone struggling with or trying to not drink, Monaco wrote, “Now the whole 6/7 thing makes sense! #duces.”
Monaco has kept a very low profile since her final episode on General Hospital aired back on October 30, 2024, when Sam had a shocking heart attack and died. It was later revealed that Daytime Emmy nominee, Jeff Kober (ex-Cyrus Renault) injected Sam’s IV with a fatal dose of digitalis.
Photo: JPI
KELLY MONACO HAS KEPT MORE TO HERSELF SINCE LEAVING GH
This year, Kelly has posted on her Instagram account a total of four times, most recently to celebrate her mother, Carmina’s birthday, who turned 70 just four days ago.
Jumping into the comment thread on Kelly announcing her sobriety were several of her former GH co-stars including Brandon Barash (ex-Johnny, GH) who shared, “Love this. Congrats! 👏👏👏,” Ingo Rademacher (ex-Jax, GH) who just posted the hands up and heart emojis, and Lexi Ainsworth (ex-Kristina, GH) who wrote, “So proud of you 👏 badass.”
Photo: ABC
DANCING WITH THE STARS BEGINS NEW SEASON; KELLY WAS THE SEASON ONE CHAMP
With this season’s Dancing with the Stars about to kick-off tonight, in which Kelly was the first-ever celebrity winner in season one and returned for an All-Star version, might we hear from her on her picks or thoughts on this year’s batch of contestants?
One thing has remained a constant with Kelly’s unwavering fan base, they want her back on General Hospital, because as we know in the soaps, many characters somehow come back from the dead, so why couldn’t Sam?
Share your thoughts for Kelly and her six months of sobriety via the comment section below and if you would still like to see her back on General Hospital or even another soap opera within the next few years.
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Breaking News
Soap Alums Remembered During In Memoriam Segment at 78th Emmy Awards; Patrick Muldoon Omitted
During last night’s 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, as it does every year, the television academy paid tribute to those in the industry that they’ve lost over the last year; since the previous Emmys held each year in September.
Starting with an emotional tribute to the late Catherine O’Hara by three of her co-stars, Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy and Dan Levy and Home Alone’s Macaulay Culkin, the segment then dovetailed into Noah Kahan performing “Bridge over Troubled Water” as the faces and the names of those being remembered were shown on the screen.
Daytime soap alums, who either stayed in the genre for the majority of their career, or went on to primetime success as well, were honored including: Anthony Geary (Luke, GH), Hayden Panettiere (Sarah, OLTL, Lizzie, GL, Juliette, Nashville), James Van Der Beek, (Dawson, Dawson’s Creek, and Stephen, ATWT), Gil Gerard (Alan, The Doctors), June Lockhart (Mariah, GH), Patricia Crowley (Mary, Port Charles and GH), Randolph Mantooth (Clay/Alex, Loving and The City, and Richard, GH) and Jon Cypher (Alex, ATWT and Arthur, Santa Barbara).
Photo: TVAcademy
THOSE HONORED AND THOSE WHO WERE NOT
However, in a glaring omission, the producers of the In Memoriam failed to include Days of our Lives beloved star, Patrick Muldoon who played the OG Austin Reed and also Richard Hart on Melrose Place. Muldoon passed away in April of this year at 57.
After Kahan concluded his performance, a special tribute to Rob Reiner began with Jamie Lee Curtis taking to the stage to share some warm words about her late friend.
In a ironic and sad twist, Curtis shared ,“Last week, Robbie won an Emmy for guest actor in a comedy series for his beautiful work on The Bear, and he now holds the record of 48 years for the longest gap between acting Emmys, which was previously held by his father Carl Reiner, at 37 years.”
Reiner, who along with his wife, Michele Reiner were killed by their son, Nick Reiner, is currently awaiting a decision if he will stand trial. Prosecutors on Tuesday, shared they will not seek the death penalty if he is convicted at trial, but instead life in prison. Curtis said of Rob, “He was generous and kind and funny as hell, and a friend to all. We all miss Rob and Michele and all those we lost this year.” The Emmys then faded to black and went to commercial break.
So, were you happy to see those who you know from their work in soap operas included in the 2026 In Memoriam tribute at the Primetime Emmys? Share your thoughts in the comment section. But first, in case you missed it, you can watch it below.
Blythe Howard Joins the Cast of ‘General Hospital’ as Monet: Who is She Connected to in Port Charles?
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Tanner Novlan Set to Star in Roku Rom-Com ‘Cowboy Hearts’
DANCING WITH THE STARS Season 35 Premiere: Which Male Impressed on Night One? Who Was Sent Home?
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Carter Has a Way Out and Implores Steffy, “Say You’ll Be Our Donor and Surrogate!”
TUNE-IN: ‘R. J. Decker’ Season 2 Premiere: Y&R and DAYS Alum Lucas Adams Guest Stars
‘General Hospital’s’ Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson to Star in New Holiday Movie
Jess Walton Memoir ‘The Young and the Rest of Us’ Set for Release in 2027
RATINGS: ‘General Hospital’ Shows Most Gains in Total Viewers Week-Over-Week and Up in Key Demo
Y&R’s Co-Head Writer Jamey Giddens, Ahead of November Stories and Scripts Debut with Dan O’Connor, Explains How Fall Tees Up Their Plans for Genoa City
‘General Hospital’s’ Bluesy Burke Marks 1 Year as Charlotte Cassadine: ‘It’s The Best Gift I’ve Ever Received’
DANCING WITH THE STARS Season 35 Premiere: Which Male Impressed on Night One? Who Was Sent Home?
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL: Carter Has a Way Out and Implores Steffy, “Say You’ll Be Our Donor and Surrogate!”
Soap Alums Remembered During In Memoriam Segment at 78th Emmy Awards; Patrick Muldoon Omitted
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jason and Britt Break Up After Realizing They Can’t Trust Each Other
Franco LoPresti and Sydney Malakeh Makes Their ‘Days of our Lives’ Debuts: What Were Your First Impressions?
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