General Hospital
The Vampire Diaries Co-Creator Julie Plec Reveals How "The Scotty Baldwin Theory" & GH Helped Shape Her Vision Of Villains In Storytelling!

Photo Credit: CW/Emmys.com
Julie Plec, the writer/director/producer of hit primrtimes series including CW’s The Vampire Diaries (which she co-created), as well as The Originals, and the soon-to-be-seen Containment (which co-stars former OLTL star Trevor St. John (Ex-Victor Lord Jr.) is featured in TV Guide.com’s new online series, Visionaries.
In one of her five part video feature installments, Plec discusses “Villains and Anti-Heroes” and the keys to those characters working in particular on The Vampire Diaries. Julie admits that soap operas had a huge hand in her storytelling. She recalls loving General Hospital, and how the character of Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner), and his relationships with Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring), and Dominique Baldwin (Shell Danielson) was a perfect example of how the villain is not alwaya a true villain, and can also be involved in a moving love story.

Courtesy/ABC
Plec related on the soaps and GH: “I always talk about Kevin (Williamson, co-creator) and I, and when we made The Vampire Diaries, and what are influences were. He was a huge nightime soap fan, and I was a massive daytime soap fan, and those shows are the first show to tell you that a villain doesn’t have to be a villain. A villain doesn’t have to be redeemed. I always called it the ‘Scotty Baldwin theory’ and the ‘Lucy Coe Theory’. Two characters I loved from General Hospital ... they were both so nasty for so long, and all of a sudden Scotty Baldwin falls in love with a girl with a brain tumor. Suddenly, you love Scotty and Dominique more than any couple you have loved in your life, and you are right there with them.

Courtesy/CW
You forget anything bad Scotty ever did, because if Scotty and Dominique can’t be together then the world must come to an end. Thinking about that is sort of the root of the Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) character on Vampire Diaries.”
Watch Plec speak about her soap influences after the jump! Then share your thoughts on how soap opera villains have informed dramatic primetime series of today, and your thoughts on Scotty Baldwin, Lucy Coe, Damon Salvatore and more!
I figure most drama, day or night, is a variation of the soap opera “formula.” Also thanks a lot to Shakespeare.
Also think vampires, werewolves and zombies are very “in” for telling a story to certain audiences. As strange as this may seem to some, the stories they tell can have many other layers and can ask interesting questions and suggest consequences of human nature (again a “soap” thing). StarTrek has done this. Like ‘Once Upon A Time ‘ right now…several evil to hero’s…Regina, Gold, Hook.
Getting back to the Vampire Diaries, which was derived from a teen series (lots of adults like to read teen series these days), it’s not hard to root for redemption of Damon or Katherine when they look that good. We somehow forget the damage they’ve done over many years. Makes Scottie and Lucy ‘s intrigues look trivial by comparison.
Agree with her. People, not just “villains” aren’t ever black or white. Always loved the character Scott Baldwin…still do. Wish he was a more permanent fixture on GH. He brings it all…history, humor, likeability…what is WRONG with these writers who don’t recognize the need and demand for the original players! These “scribes” should be talented enough to blend the past with the present and future. Sorta like real life!
I watched when Dominique had her tumor and it was so sad. It was lovely storytelling. Good to get more recognition for the soaps!
Don’t remember the actress playing Dominique, but she was lovely.
Scotty, Dominique, and Lucy…what a great story that was. I too wish that there was more blending of the past with the present and future. I also wanted to add that I believe there is truly one element that has been missing from GH for a very long time…and that is the relationship between Monica and Scott. They are practically family (due to Gail) but that has rarely been addressed since the early days of these characters.
No wonder why I like Vampire Diaries so much! The co-creator based it on beloved characters from my favorite soap!
General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Alum Kelly Monaco Reveals She’s Six Months Sober

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.
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Jason and Britt Break Up After Realizing They Can’t Trust Each Other

Trust issues were cited as the reason for the break-up of Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) and Dr. Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) on the Monday, September 14 episode of General Hospital, ending the their complicated romance once and for all.
The episode began with the pick-up of Jason and Britt’s argument over Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) at the Quartermaine boathouse. Britt is in disbelief that Jason continues to take Anna’s side, and that he will not back her up as her witness, as she wants to report Anna’s attempted murder of her to the PCPD.
Jason tells Britt that Anna had been pushed to the brink through the mental torture she’d endured while held captive at Wyndemere, and accused Britt of doing nothing to save her, when she knew exactly what was going on as she was at Wyndemere as well. Britt told Jason that she’d been a victim of Sidwell and Cullum too, and by the time she figured out what was happening to Anna, they had moved her somewhere else.

Courtesy/ABC
BELIEF SYSTEM BROKEN
Then, Jason clearly lets Britt know he doesn’t believe her version of what transpired. An enraged Britt fires back at Jason in disbelief, that he is siding with Anna instead of her, when he was on Mount Emerson and saw for himself how Anna was planning to kill her. Suddenly, Britt wants to know if Jason would have helped Anna cover her tracks, if Anna had killed her.
Next, Jason argued that Britt seemingly needs to believe Anna would have killed her when he knows deep down Anna would never have murdered her. Jason thinks Britt is trying to absolve herself of her own guilt and complicity in keeping Anna locked up.
Britt shouts “You need to believe that! Otherwise, you’d have to admit that your friend is unhinged and dangerous. And she would have killed someone you say you love!” Now at a complete impasse, Britt walks out on Jason realizing they don’t trust each other and calls it quits.

Courtesy/ABC
PICKING UP THE PIECES
Later, Jason finds Carly (Laura Wright) at the Metro Court, and while in an elevator fills her in that he doesn’t trust Britt, and that as much as he loves her, he doesn’t trust her like he does Carly. Britt is back at the hospital.
A concerned Tristan (Dean Geyer) tries to talk to her about what transpired with Anna. However, Britt clams up and walks away from any discussion.
Now in the General Hospital teaser video for the action on Tuesday, September 15, Jason ask Carly (over beers and a game of pool) “When you lie for a living, how long before you start lying to yourself? Take a look at that below.
Let us know, are you glad that Jason and Britt finally called it quits? What about the reason that the couple broke-up, over Britt knowing about Anna being locked-up at Wyndemere and Jason not willing to back Britt about Anna trying to kill her? Is Tristan the next man for Britt? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.
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