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
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
Deidre Hall Marks 50 Years as ‘Days of Our Lives’ Dr. Marlena Evans
Maurice Benard Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’ Writers; Teases Upcoming Sonny Scenes with Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric
‘General Hospital’s’ Controversial Luke and Laura Rape Episode: Writer Sheri Anderson Reveals Behind the Scenes Decisions and Admits ‘I Was Wrong’ to Defend It (Exclusive)
‘Days of Our Lives’ Eric Martsolf Recalls Moment He Learned He Was Cast as Brady Black, and Last Scenes with Drake Hogestyn (SOAPY Exclusive Preview)
‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Weighs-In on Dante and Elizabeth Pairing and Sharing Scenes with Rebecca Herbst (Exclusive)
GENERAL HOSPITAL Promo: Rocco’s in a Panic as Britt’s Health Takes a Turn, Chase is Called to the Carpet
Christel Khalil Reveals She Almost Quit Acting After ‘That’s So Raven’ Audition, But Then Came ‘The Young and the Restless’
‘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
Deidre Hall Marks 50 Years as ‘Days of Our Lives’ Dr. Marlena Evans
Y&R Preview: Matt Clark Asks Phyllis on a Date, Would You Be Down for the Pairing? Roger Howarth & Michelle Previously in GH’s Franco/Nina Romance
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