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Y&R's Head Writer and Executive Producer Chuck Pratt Jr. Previews A Mysterious New Arrival &The Disasters Ahead For The Residents Of Genoa City!

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy/CBS

Courtesy/CBS

Lest you think the number one soap opera is not going to a have a big splashy February Sweeps! Better think again after this new interview from the new head scribe and co-executive producer, Chuck Pratt Jr. of The Young and the Restless! 

The Hollywood Reporter chatted with Pratt Jr., as his major dramas are set to explode and implode on the residents of Genoa City in the coming weeks, and it all looks to really kick into high-gear on the Valentine’s Day episode of Y&R next Friday, February 13th.

The story was accompanied by a high-stakes promo from CBS Daytime called, “Flirt with Disaster” that you can preview below!  As for what Chuck has in store, here are a few excerpts from the interview with THR!

Courtesy/CBS

Pratt Jr. on what to expect in upcoming storylines:  “Victor and Jack will go head-to-head, and a mysterious new person will come to town. A major storm is on the way, guaranteed to turn lives and loves upside down. Secrets will be revealed. And when a plane goes down, lives are rearranged.”

Pratt Jr. on how he plans to keep the audience tuning-in every day:  “My motto in daytime has always been make every day a Friday, so that our audience has to watch each and every day. That means more twists, cliffhangers and that primetime feel of ‘What the heck are they going to do next?’ If you stay within character, and keep the stories coming from character, and throw everything but the kitchen sink at them, an audience will start to identify with them and relate to them both as friends, and as people they want to see succeed or find love or survive unthinkable tragedies.”

Watch the promo after the jump!  Then tell us: What you think of the upcoming disaster storylines which have been a trademark of Chuck’s writing in the past?  Who do you think the mystery person will be?  Who will live … and who will die? Share your thoughts below!

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OMG!! i can’t believe this – it looks so awesome!

doesn’t it tho

high technology standard

great way to marquee the drama unfold

propel deserving #1

Yes I agree Sharon was much much better with Adam then Chelsea. Chelsea is not Adams true love period

The ONLY person for Adam is Sharon. The love and friendship was off the chain. Shadam was my all time favorite couple in soap history!!! 🙂 Chelsea never loved Adam and he didn’t love her. It was thrown together with the changing of writers. Sharon is the future 🙂

I wonder, if it’s going to be a slow build back up… fraught with sexual tensions between Adam and Sharon…. as it should …

LOL when MM’ Adam and Sharon broke up… ??? 3 plus years ago now? when I left the show

NOW… I can see them getting back together again…. excitement, fan embroil is snowballing…. YES

I am SO “over” Nick …. Sharon near doormat … was SO in ‘LOVE” with Adam…

Y&R production has to know… what a hot commodity nuAdam is reeling… and they have to be certain… Sharon and Adam is the ultimate dreamteam…. production and fans alike

heck.. Sharon Case and Justin Hartley, the actors have to know the chemistry is their as well

Sharon and Adam to reign ignite a passion ALL THEIR OWN.

Its all messed up. Look they made Victor hate Sharon when he loved her as a daughter. Now Adam they are writing wrong. Adam loved Sharon so much my screen would smoke! I can’t take Chelsea and her fake baby voice. Sharon is a real sexy women and Adam lust over her. writers please we all want Shadam back. COME ON! Shadam is it not Chadam

PLEASE Adam save Sharon. I want Sharon and Adam back together. Sharon needs her true love. Adam don’t go with Chelsea she isn’t right for you

IF SHARON AND ADAM DONT BECOME A COUPLE AGAIN THEN I CANT HOLD OUT ANYMORE AND CONTINUE THIS SHOW! SHARON IS TREATED WORSE THEN A DOG ON YR!

i really hope its not joe!!
first, carmine, then tyler (missing for months), now joe! all my hotties are off screen!
i m wishingjoe and avery get stuck in a wreck together and make love!

LOL

yes!

Carmine
Tyler
Joe
Adam
Mark Harding
Alex Chavez
Stitch

the funny thing is… these guys should be front burner…. i’ll take a line from “the help” as Aibileen is “telling” Hilly : “ain’t you tired , ain’t you tired”

ie: Victor, Nick, Jack, Michael, Kevin, Billy, Paul…. just saying… it isn’t not true… but the featured contract players have played themselves out some….

these guys are making their mark… and i’ll soapbox… they can ACT

Why is Sharon the most abused character on the show. Fans are leaving the show. It was terrible no matter who writes the show Sharon is the worst victim. Not cool

Joe is too sexy, too gorgeous, too passion-filled…too much man for the likes of Avery….nooooo, please, damien.
You really liked Tyler? ….even with his giant head?
Carmine? Yeah….beautiful, but slithery….do not like that type.

I hope Avery, Joe, Sage, Kelly, Ben, & Victor all die LOL!

Nikki Newman needs to go away too. The actresses’ somnolent approach to acting is putting us to sleep. She also confuses me as she was seen chugging bottles of vodka on the sly and instead of dealing with her alcoholism, suddenly they are blaming her drunken behavior on MS.
I do hope Chuck Pratt does not engage in plot driven stories full of stunts and plot devices.

Pathetic, is it not, harry? Again, as with mental illness, “they” are taking a serious disease as MS and using it so loosely to accommodate a stupid, overly-recycled storyline such as a drunken Nikki. Very sad!!!!!

I would rescue Victor and Joe.

I hope Victor and Nikki are gone and Phyllis . I cant stand them

look at the Winters gang on that plane! #HEVON is goin to hell when Neil finds out

I love this! #HEVON makes me sick to my stomach!

You and the rest of us, Vicki….I hope…LOL.
If there has ever been a more immature, so-non-fitting-actor for this type of storyline, it is Bryton. He goes through the motions. So far, his only acting has been kissing, stripping and having sex with his step-mother. To think he’s on the list of nominees?
I said this before…Neil never learns his lesson…stay away from girls/women young enough to be your daughter. You reap what you sew, Neil…Duh!!

Not sure how I feel about this … not a fan of Pratt’s ‘plot-driven’, over-the-top, “look at me, I’m in charge now, so to hell with what show you’re used to watching!” mentality. (We all witnessed his ‘anti-character-driven’ 2008-09 AMC tenure, brought-on by Frons of all people! Interviews by the cast at that time do NOT bode well for Genoa City as we know it…)

well,
Pratt sees and knows how GH is flourishing and he will copy, he will..
If it works for GH he will make it work for Y&R..
big changes coming!

Y&R has been #1 in the ratings for 26 years. Why would Pratt want to copy a show that’s “flourishing” in 3rd place? He will not turn Y&R into campy GH no matter how bad you want him to. The fans of the soap will not let him. Big changes are NOT coming.

I’m with you. I don’t mind these disaster type angles once in a while. Hopefully Mr. Pratt won’t make a habit out of writing them. I want to watch the Y&R i’m used to watching. Not GH.

I’ll definitely tune in for the plane crash and look forward to the spring twister!

While I agree tha Y&R story lines to move faster, I hope the new regime doesn’t make it unrecognizable.

He did the same thing on ALL MY CHILDREN and look what happened. I believe Susan Lucci when she basically said this guy was a hack.

That troubles me. Susan Lucci is very gracious, very classy. She seldom criticizes anyone so for her to say that is quite telling.

Yes!
Y&R will never be the same…. whoopie!
that is one good thing about Pratt- he does it his way..
No Lucci or Brandon will tell him how they want it done..

Even if Lucci or Brandon would be right and he’d be wrong. . . .

damn, barely a month in and a disaster storyline.
just like what he did at amc with the tornadoes.

Maybe Pratt is going to be using this disaster to launch his new stories going forward.Plus he wouldn’t be the first head writer to do something like that when taking over a soap.As for who dies i’m thinking it’ll be Austin who doesn’t make it but there could be a mystery of how he dies because i read that both Kyle and Fen will both be involved in a mystery when they return in late February.

Good. Austin, begone!! I see no purpose for this character.

Sorry, Andrew…but I think that killing off Austin would be a BAD IDEA!!!!! Let me explain: If Y&R does kill off Austin, then that ANNOYING Summer will turn up THE CRANK FACTOR AND ALL (and even more so!!!!!) on her WHINY WATERWORKS for sure!!!!! Y-I-K-E-S!!!!!!

The promo looks incredible. Y&R needs a much needed jolt of energy. It appears a plane crashes into the underground on Valentine’s Day with everyone inside.

The worst nightclub on TV!

I think people will be trapped together when the Underground club collapses because of the storm that hits Genoa City but the plane crash will be someplace else.

“some one won’t make it out, alive ”

please soap god… make it be Devon

OK… for the millionth billionth time…. what a coop to bring back Drucilla Dynasty

I have a lot of candidates for the ‘one’, which is a shame.

But so many disaster befalling one community? They’ve got rotten luck or too high salaries. 😉

Patrick, I like the way that you think.

Devon and Summer!

Yeah, Devon, too, Patrick….hope he takes Hell-ary with him.

Question? Where is Jill Farren Phelps in all of this? I know this is Chuck’s type of storytelling, but I hope they don’t get further away from character driven stories, in favor of the disaster of the week. We saw this with All My Children and they never made their way back from it. I will remain positive and see how things unfold.

Splat Pratt strikes again!

Well, say what you want but after watching the clip at least it looks exciting. That clip looked as good as you would see in a movie theater!

finally some action!

quote Pratt;
”“My motto in daytime has always been make every day a Friday, so that our audience has to watch each and every day. That means more twists, cliffhangers and that primetime feel of ‘What the heck are they going to do next?’ ” … ”and as people they want to see succeed or find love or survive unthinkable tragedies.”
That is total GH .. !!
Y&R is going to get a big turn around!

A plane crash.. I hope Pratt has Sharon tied to the wing 😉

OK– who will be the 1st to be killed off by Pratt (he likes killing people for sensualism stories)

Had to reply here, Timmm. My comment was only in regards to those whom want character driven storylines. Splatt Pratt does not do characters. He does plots. I don’t think he’s necessarily bad for Y&R, but he may be bad for the fans that yearn for the Bill Bell brand of storytelling. As long as the majority is happy, it’s all good.

Please bring Dru back !!! Please delete Dillon!

Bad attitude on and off camera. I say no to Dru.

I’m with Timmm on this one … I wrote an op-ed letter published in DIGEST a couple mths ago on this very topic. It is beyond distasteful and self-serving the way Rowell is bad-mouthing CBS/Sony in the press because they haven’t asked Her Highness to return to a show (…CLEARLY that isn’t interested!!) She’s like the party guest that won’t leave … can you imagine being let go from a job and then waging a multi-year campaign to return, all the while maligning your former bosses in the press?! Get a clue and turn-the-page!

Timmm…ME, TOO!!!!! Bad attitude PERIOD!!!!!

Victoria Rowell/Dru- I doubt she would even be allowed on any Y&R set..
After her tirade and lashing out at Y&R with her accusations criticizing the show for not having enough African-Americans in decision making positions and so on, and the behind-the-scenes politics that prevented her from getting Daytime Emmy nominations lol.
Her being Dru again will never ever happen..
There could be a recast, but doubt that also..
and-
Dylan is going nowhere.. He is JFP’s golden boy..

but hey! we have a new Billy!

She is crazy! A pot stirrer. Why would anyone want to hire someone who causes trouble, especially on a daytime soap where so many of the actors are so kind to the fans and egoless. Stay away Ms. Rowell!

The only problem with making everyday Friday is daytime is five days a week for almost 52 weeks a year. Daytime is NOT Prime time. You can only put your main characters in these life and death situations before it becomes a bit silly, like the MAB years. Why? Because you have to keep upping your game to out do that last big shocker. Eventually, no matter how talented the writer you are just are going to run out of realistic situations to put your characters in and then you get aliens or vampires kind of stories.

Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind these type of stores now and then, but not all the time because I find I relate to characters less not more in these types of stores. Why?
Because I haven’t been in any explosions, or air planes crashes, or shot, but I have been in love, had my heart broken, dealt with addiction issues, had illness touch my family— these are the dramas of the heart, which is what daytime was built on.

I will ride this out, even MAB came up a few good stories that I liked in the mess that was her plot driven reign. Some will like these changes, others will not— I will watch, but the minute they turn into zombies or vampires I might have to reconsidered, because as loyal as I am to this show, I don’t know if I could bear to see it descend into that kind of madness.

This is a great post, and IA with every word. MAB got fired eventually b/c she got so ridiculous with the stories, so I’m not exactly sure why they hired Chuck Pratt. He is notorious for using gimmicks and plot dvices, and that doesn’t work on this show. Unfortunately, I’m already seeing OOC behaviour and contrived situations.

This week was flirting with disaster. Next week, the promos say that the destruction continues. Let the irony of that sink in for a second. Hello Chuck Pratt. You are already turning our show into a plot driven mess.

Y&R has to compete with GH. The writers at GH have a strong show with an excellent cast. Even when the “unbelievable” happens it still entertains and captivates. I hope that Y&R can catch a little of that fire. I don’t like the majority of the stories on Y&R right now. All any one does is screw and get pregnant. That plot device is so BORING! Half the characters on the show are past child bearing years anyways. I am not a fan of Jill Farren Phelps or Chuck Pratt but I am willing to see if they can stimulate the cast in a new direction. I pray that they kill off Lily and quickly. She has no direction for her character and all she does is pout and screw. Period. Devon needs to go as well. And please if there is a god in heaven, stop with the Dylan/Avery/Joe story. Dylan’s character is so one dimensional a pencil could replace the actor and NO ONE would even notice. Excellent job on the Faith custody story. Pretty accurate depiction of what goes on in a child custody hearing. The new Adam, Justin Hartley, is killing it as Adam/Gabriel. He is no Michael Muhney but he is bringing some power to this character. New Phyllis, Gina Tognoni, is also doing great work. But if the storylines do not improve or pick up pace I will probably drop a show that has been a close friend for over 25 years.

uhm, no gh has to compete with y n r , as y n r is and always will be number #1. gh only has half of y n r viewers!

Uggh these plot driven stories will help nothing for YR, where is Ed Scott and Kay Alden?? We need the YR of the 90s……he’s gonna wreck this show like he wrecked AMC!!! he is obviously more suited for primetime writing instead of daytime. Not surprised by this.

GH has been so good so far for February sweeps and now it looks like Y&R might just out do them! Hopefully Summer is put in a winter freeze! But, speaking of winter, it could be a Winters who meets their demise!

So many people want Summer gone, but is it the character they want gone or is it the actress playing her? Summer is a legacy character, she is connected to the history of the show– a show should rarely if ever kill off legacy characters because that is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. I agree I don’t like Hunter King’s portrayal of the character– I would love a recast, but I don’t want to see them killing off characters that are their future generation, like they did when they killed Colleen and Deliah. So as annoying as HK portrayal is I will put up with it in hopes eventually she will leave and the role will get recast and place in the hands of actress who will do her justice.

food for thought

Hunter King’ portrait of Summer

be it a Newman or Abbott

hasn’t generated any liking, interest, and mainstay

as a SORAS : it just hasn’t worked

@Timmmm i’m with you… i hope it’s devon and summer that demise

Good point Mary, something is better than nothing. Maybe Charles Pratt, who has MANY reputations will be the one to listen to the fans and reboot Summer AND Billy?

Now serving breakfast…..banana pancakes anyone?

HA!!

Cannot wait to watch this episode….I love Y&R and have been a faithful fan for its entire run, from 1973 til now…and it is the BEST daytime drama on the air, now and for a long, long time!!! I look forward to each and every episode and am loving the new twists and turns! I think we all had better buckle up our seat belts when we get on board…it’s gonna be one helluva ride folks!!!

Only 1 person won’t make it out alive? I’m not saying Y&R should go on a killing spree and get rid of half its cast, but a disaster like this warrants more than just 1 death. And there are so many useless characters on canvas right now, I could easily do without: Hilary, Devon, Lily, Cane, Joe, Avery, Dylan, Austin, Courtney… There are many expendable characters on Y&R, and they need to trim the fat and bring back characters people want back, like Dru. I hope she comes out on the other side of this, it’d be great to have her back.

Who is Courtney?

Even though it seems only one character will die the disaster could also make other characters leave town for different reasons.That way they could always return later.Plus even though one character will die for real other characters could go missing in the disaster.The promo says one character will not make it out alive but it doesn’t say anything about other characters possibly leaving too but not dying..

Well we now know that from next time (tomorrow) Victor brings Phyllis home & you can tell by the plane crash Nikki & Phyllis are together. I hope it’s not Michael Baldwin or Sharon but if someone dies lets hope it’s Summer although we wont be that lucky. Did anyone see who Victor was working on in the plane? Billy maybe because they show Chelsea right afterwards.

Watching it over again I saw Nick with Sage jumping to safety (surprise)

I am loving the preview, and feel like this is the kind of storyline Y&R has been craving; the last major disaster Genoa City had was the explosion in 2007. So, this is eight years long overdue. Hopefully this also means some updates to the sets, because the new ones they’ve been debuting are amazing. As for the one death, I have my suspicions of whom it may be, but I won’t say who it is.

I predict;
Adam’s son Conor will be injured and need blood/whatever and only Adam can save him therefore the outing of Adam… heh

uhm, as i recall that parking lot collapse was pretty pointless as was most crap LLM wrote during tha period. the y n r dark days as i remember. lets hope this has more purpose…

More Sharon Case air time and a new storyline kicking Nick to the curb!

“thank you” kick Nick to the curb and his tired dullard wasting away Victor and Nikki

If American soaps want a disaster storyline that is character driven, poignant, emotional with edge of your seat suspense, take lessons from the British…go on youtube and check out Coronation Street’s 2010 tram disaster or their more recent bus crash episode…if our soaps could be at least as half as good as theirs, it would keep our disaster storyline from turning into a real disaster…jmho!!!

hey jimh..
Our soaps do not have the budget for a disaster as that.. they are just hanging on budget wise.

Yeah i know…its just wishful thinking…but Y&R looks pretty good…ill be watching!!!

I hate it.
Things don’t need to be shaken up in this way
or to this extreme extent to add some drama.

No worries, Nanci..
Y&R will throw a pile of junk on the set hopefully resembling a crash, a crash that will not be seen.. Doubt they have a plane to crash LOL
It’s not about the crash its a way for Pratt to make his entrance, with a BANG!
(Pratt saying- here I am folks!)

((please let it be Sharon, the dead one..
anyways whomever dies will be a wee fish in the pond..

Don’t get me wrong, I have loved Y&R for many years and will always watch while ever I am able to, but this show is being flushed down the toilet. Jill Ferren-Phelps is the worst executive producer in the genre, she is a poison to soap-operas. Just when you think things can’t get any worse, they bring on the worst head writer in the business in Chuck Pratt!

Sorry guys but this plane crash or whatever its going to be is classic Chuck; he doesn’t care about the characters in these shows, he doesn’t care about the past and embracing it, he doesn’t care who he kills and how it affects the show. I can still remember the way he ruined All My Children. Chuck just does action action action and in a few months it will be tiresome.

I live in hope that one day Y&R will return to its former glory, which could happen, B&B just had 4 years of being atrocious and has recovered back to being can’t miss TV.

As I said, I will watch forever if I can, but I do worry about the future of this show and if it even has one with those two clowns in charge.

I have to laugh at his “If you stay within character, and keep the stories coming from character . . .” bit, because that’s exactly what he DIDN’T do at All My Children, and he’s gone so far as to say he doesn’t really think characters’ histories matter, especially if they impede the stories you want to tell. Now I suppose it’s possible he’s learned his lesson from that unfortunate episode in his career (i.e., All My Children) and has turned over a new leaf, so that he’ll generate stories from character–but what do you think the chances of that are, really? It’s become quite the catch-phrase in soap writing, “coming from character.” Everyone loves to talk about it (and claim they do it, or are going to do it); very few really understand what it means or know how to do it (and that’s granting them the courtesy of believing they mean what they say—a courtesy that may not always be justified). I guess we’ll see if Mr. Pratt has figured it out since his AMC days.

Can’t wait……………

Chuck Pratt = disasters!! That’s HIS natural disaster! He’s going to disappoint me once again!

Only one thing will bring me back to watching Y&R: Adam & Sharon back together! They are better — and stronger — together when it’s them against the world! Adam & Sharon are only the ‘Sweetest Taboo’ of Y&R, for they can’t quit each other.

I love a good soap disaster. Bring it on.

There was a blind item on Daytime Confidential.com a few weeks ago about who dies. Sounds like it will be Austin, not Joe. Probably to make way for a Summer/ NewKyle reunion. I wish they’d kill off Colin so Tristan Rogers can return to GH where he is needed!

With the announcement that the networks are demanding soaps to cut back their casts, this might be jst the beginning of thniing out the herd..

The twister in the Spring will take a few lives and the sinkhole this Summer will swallow…Summer!

I think Dru will come back… 🙂 Hope nobody dies…

Yeah Sharon and Adam were the best couple on this soap, ever! Their chemistry was off the thermometer hot, so I would like to see if Sharon and Justin can create magic for their characters again. Let’s do it Pratt!

Please don’t put Adam & Sharon together again. She should be with Nick . Also, why is Sharon always the one people turn on. Phyllis is the evil witch, & gets away with everything. Sharon Case is a great actress! Give her a break!

I NEVER post here but read it often. But I just wanted to weigh in to say I’m actually excited the show is spicing up man. It’s been a real dud lately. But I actually wanted to cast my vote on the possible cast-a-way post city storm and my vote is Michael. I know it seems a little far stretched but they have been saying that Michael’s characters dies. And just because he’s in the midst of the cancer storyline doesn’t necessarily mean that the cancer is what takes him out. Not really sure but that’s who I’m going with. But for the real answer I’ll have so stay tune to find out.

I hope it’s not Michael but you could be right. Yesterday they showed a shadow of a person in the bar when Kevin & Mariah were looking at the invitation for a Valentine’s party at the Abbott cabin. I thought maybe that was Kelly Andrews trying to get Jack alone again & don’t forget Phyllis told whiner yesterday to be careful around Kelly because she’s a dangerous person. Maybe Kelly will mistake Summer for Phyllis & kill her but that’s just wishful thinking.

I think Austin is going to die. He already left the cabin, he’s been drinking, and it opens the door for Kyle’s arrival in time to pamper and comfort poor Summer & thus we go for a month of whinny H.K.

Nikki…h-o-n-e-y…I can think of A-T L-E-A-S-T 10 women (and half of them female relatives in my own family!!!!!) who can act C-I-R-C-L-E-S around that Hunter King chick!!!!! And…A-L-L 10 of these wonderful women in my life have never had an acting lesson before in their lives…LOL!!!!!

Later, Nikki. Peace.

Well, you can definitely tell that Mr. Pratt has arrived. The characters are all acting out of character. I don’t mind the big disasters but do they all have to hit at once?!?! It’s about time Nikki got caught drinking. Jack is completely acting against type. I’ll try and not get too upset like I did with Luke’s sl on GH. I’ll try and enjoy this ride.

I believe if anyone dies it will be Hillary. I think Jack will say just enough to get everyone wondering about Adam. Especially Victor and Billy. Adam is going to try to retrace what he’s said. Adam will also use the fire disaster to try to win Chelsey back. I was not pleased at first with all the disasters, now I believe it’s going to be very interesting!

The new writers must be smoking crack! Two Jacks, Really! Why does Phyllis not knew the different when they made love? You can change someone’s face, but not their private parts! While this is a soap opera, you are making it unbelievable!

NOW JACK AND VICTORY ARE PARTNERS!!! THAT IS SO DUMB

Must Sharon go through the whole Newman family? Please, please do not put her in a relationship with dillon. He doesn’tt desire tthis. Enough of Sharon…and victor…and actor playing double roles. I have been a fan of y & r from day one. Love this soap!!! But, please stop — repeating story lines… Thank much,

I’ve been watching Y&R for 33 years. With Pratt, the show is unrecognizable and almost unbearable to watch. The “kids” up at the cabin trying to solve a mystery with Stitch is like Shaggy, Velma and the rest of the Scooby Doo cast solving a mystery. And now Pratt puts Sharon together with Dylan. I understand suspending disbelief but Sharon has slept with all 3 Victor and/or Nikki’s children (Adam, Nick, Dylan) and her step-father Victor. Really Pratt? Really? Y&R separated itself from the pack when they focused on character development. Also, how long is Sharon going to be in trouble and rescued…tiresome.

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Dominic Zamprogna Shares He Was ‘Happy to Hear’ of The Triangle Storyline Developing Between Dante/Elizabeth/Ric

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Dominic Zamprogna

General Hospital’s Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri) opened up about the burgeoning love triangle forming between his Port Charles alter-go, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) after recently aired scenes, plus his hopes for the future of a Dante and Liz pairing, during his appearance on the Sunday, April 23 edition of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli).

On last week’s episodes of GH, Ric has made the decision that he wanted to propose to his ex-wife, only when he showed up at Elizabeth’s front door, he misread the scenario he walked in with Liz tending to Dante’s injured leg from the softball game. From there, the legal eagle’s jealous streak is reemerging which may cause him to act out and do something unforgivable, or will he take the high road? Stay tuned.

Speaking with Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson about where Elizabeth stands in the annals of the long-running soap, Zamprogna said, “She’s up there with Steve and Maurice (Maurice Benard) as one of the most legacy-filled people on the show.”

Courtesy/ABC

HOW DANTE AND ELIZABETH CAME ABOUT

Dominic jokes it’s a far cry for where Dante and Elizabeth previously, recalling, “We had some scenes together years ago and we were both laughing. Becky’s like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not going be paired up anytime soon.’ I remember we laughed immediately after they yelled ‘cut,”‘and said to each other, ‘Well, so much for that!'”

Fast-forward to early 2025 and as Zamprogna remembered it, “Elizabeth Korte (co-head writer, GH) came up to me at the General Hospital Christmas party, and I think it was a year and a half ago and she said, ‘We’re going to have you in scenes with Elizabeth,’ My internal monologue is going, ‘I’m not with Lulu (Alexa Havins) anymore and Sam’s (Kelly Monaco) gone, so maybe they want to see if this works.’ I didn’t want to get scenes with Becky and try to find the chemistry. I just wanted to play whatever honestly was written and came across for both of us and hope it was what people liked, and I don’t know if it is … or not.”

Knowing how beloved Elizabeth is to the GH faithfuls, Zamprogna added, “She got a big fan base with Ric … and a big fan base with with Jason … and you know, you’re going to piss somebody off. But, didn’t Ric drug Elizabeth and put Carly in a panic room?”

Dom and Liz

Photo: ABC

DANTE AND ELIZABETH PAIRING COULD STIR UP STORY FOR OTHERS IN PORT CHARLES

In closing, Dominic felt that the wide-reaching tentacles of a Dante and Elizabeth relationship is something he is 100% down for. “The triangle thing; I was happy to hear it was with Ric and her, because I felt it’s important to have her the top of it as opposed to Dante, Lulu and Elizabeth.”

Zamprogna added, “When you get into relationships on a soap, things seem to fizzle out a little bit, The buildup is what’s the fun part, and the getting to know each other, and the people who are affected by this coming together. When with this case it’s going to affect: Ric, Sonny, Lulu. There’s so much more story here. To me, it’s going to be a fun story to play.”

You can check out Dominic’s visit to That’s Awesome with Steve and Bradford below.

Now weigh-in: Are you rooting for Dante and Liz, or Dante and Ric at this juncture of the story, or neither guy  for Elizabeth? Let us know your thoughts and picks via the comment section.

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Beyond the Gates

‘Beyond the Gates’ Star Mike Manning Lands Role in Indie Horror Feature ‘Deify’

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Mike Manning

While Smitty tries to hold the fort down in his marriage to congressman Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon)  and their two teenaged children, Samantha (Najah Jackson) and Tyrell (Jaden Lucas Miller) on Beyond the Gates, Emmy-winner Mike Manning has also landed another feature film role.

According to Deadline, Manning has joined the cast of Deify with 6 other new cast members for the indie psychological horror film starring Neal McDonough and Skeet Ulrich, which was previously announced last week.

Joining Manning as the latest cast addition are: Dennis Haysbert, Ashley Greene,  Casey Harnett, Kirk Avecdo, Anji White, anf Nicholas Chimera who’s directing the pic also has a part in the film.

WHAT’S THE STORY OF DEIFY?

Taking to his Instagram with the news of his casting, Manning shared, “A movie about a cult? What could possibly go wrong? Come for the enlightenment. Stay because they won’t let you leave. DEIFY is coming…”

The movie is currently shooting in Chicago and in story, “a cult leader is put on trial after causing his devoted followers to be burned alive. The film is inspired in part by events surrounding the 1993 Waco, Texas, standoff between members of the Branch Davidians church and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, one of the largest civilian firefights ever recorded on American soil.”

MIKE MANNING IS A DAYTIME EMMY NOMINEE

In addition, the multi-talented Manning is a producer on the feature. Previously, Mike was nominated last month in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards. He previously won an Emmy for his role on The Bay and for being a producer on the digital drama.

Mike’s previous credits include the role of Charlie Dale on Days of Our Lives and the Manny on This Is Us, plus various primetime and screen credits.

So intrigued to find what role Mike will play in the upcoming horror/cult film, Deify? Enjoying him as Smitty on Beyond the Gates? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

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General Hospital

GH and OLTL Alum Patrick J. Gibbons Reveals the Story Behind Writing Trina’s Song on ‘General Hospital’ (Exclusive)

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Patrick J. Gibbons

At the conclusion of today’s August 21 episode of General Hospital, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) sings a lullaby to baby Dez, that went into a montage to close out the episode as her father Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) reports to Pentonville and winds up in his jail cell.

However, in a fun fact, the song entitled, “A Lonely Heart To Give” was actually written by none other than former One Life to Live and General Hospital actor, Patrick J. Gibbons.

Daytime fans first met Gibbons as Sam Manning on One Life to Live. At the time, when he started on the soap, he was just 5-years-old. Gibbons played the part from 2010-2013 on ABC and Prospect Park’s editions of the show. Fast-forward to 2018, Gibbons shows up on General Hospital as Wyatt Hoover, the scout who seemed always be injured, but in the thick of the drama. Patrick had appeared on GH multiple times as Wyatt including: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023.

Photo: ABC

FROM HIS GRANDMOTHER’S DEATH CAME THE INSPIRATION FOR HIS SONG

Now in 2026, General Hospital fans are getting to learn about another side of Gibbons’ talent as a songwriter and guitar player after “A Lonely Heart to Give” debuted today! Michael Fairman TV caught up with Patrick, who is now a senior at Penn State entering his final year as a finance major, to get the back-story of how his song wound up on GH!

Gibbons explained he wrote the song in honor of his grandmother who passed away a few years ago with whom he was, very, very close with. “Randomly, my grandmother had a downfall and passed away during the second semester of my sophomore year. I was in my dorm a lot and I was just playing with my guitar. And at the time, I was really into finger-style playing. I wrote the lyric and music to it (with a little help from my guitar teacher Lou), and my mom showed the rough demo to Frank Valentini (EP, General Hospital). He’s like an uncle to me. Frank loved it so much he said, “Finish that up. I want to hear the whole thing, and I want it on the show.”

MAKING MUSIC FOR GENERAL HOSPITAL

Gibbons and his parents took the next steps! “So now, all we needed was a female voice, because I thought that would fit the song well,” Patrick shared. “At the golf club we go to my parents were at a dinner. They liked the singer that was performing and spoke to her about the song, and she says she would like to bring it to her ‘boss’ who ended up being Eric Bazilian of the Hooters fame!” (Bazilian also wrote the smash hit song “One of Us” for Joan Osborne).

Next, “We went in the studio and recorded it and the song came together and it was beautiful. We loved it. They loved it at General Hospital and now they’re putting it the show and they are coming in with a piano, instead of a guitar. Paul Glass, the GH musical director, has been keeping us updated over the last six months of how it was coming along, and when it would air, and how GH put their own arrangement to it. I can’t wait to see and hear what they did with it.”

Photo: JPI

PATRICK’S ONE LIFE TO LIVE FAMILY

Everyone knows that the One Life to Live extended family share a very tight bond, and Patrick said he does stay in touch with a few of his former One Life to Live co-stars, especially those from the Manning family! “I stayed in touch with Kassie DePaiva (ex-Blair) and sent her little videos here and there. She was like my second mom for five years. We keep in contact with Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr) over X the most, and she can’t believe how big I’ve gotten. Like, none of them can! (laughs). I also loved working with Roger Howarth (ex-Todd) and Trevor St. John (ex-Todd and Victor Jr.), and to me since I was so young, they were just my friends, ‘Roger and Trevor,’ not Todd Manning or Victor Jr.”

It was a trip to California and a visit to Port Charles that ultimately led to Gibbons second soap role of Wyatt Hoover. Patrick explains, “In 2016, Frank Valentini invited us out to Los Angeles to visit the set of General Hospital. I think he heard me say, ‘This is so much fun. I miss being on the set.’ He goes, ‘You should come out. I’ll bring you on the show. We can make you a character.'”

A few years later, Patrick’s dream became a reality! “Then, by the summer of 2018, I was playing Wyatt, the scout, and shared scenes with Wes Ramsey (Peter August), and the best was when I shared a scene with Roger Howarth and Michael Easton (ex-John, OLTL and ex-Silas, Finn et al, GH), it was like chemistry from the old days.”

Photo: PGibbons

IT’S ALL IN THE NUMBERS

As to his future aspirations, it’s a career in the finance game that has piqued Gibbons’ real-life interest. But never say never to a return to acting. Patrick explained, “I’ve always enjoyed numbers. And on top of that, one of the biggest parts of finance is being personable and outgoing.”

He continued, “That’s one of the greatest skills I developed growing up. I really love the markets. I’m super interested. I’m never going to close the door to acting. I’m always open to that because I just love it so much. It’s such a great art.”

Take note! If there are any investment bankers or private equity folks among the GH faithful looking for a young analyst next year, Patrick’s DMs are open. You can find him on X at @PatrickJGibbons.

So, what did you think of the song sung by Trina on today’s GH that was written by Patrick J. Gibbons? Did you enjoy Patrick’s performances as One Life’s Sam and GH’s Wyatt? Would you like to see him back on GH at some point? Let us know via the comment section.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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