“General Hospital’s” Luke and Laura won’t have to fret about their missing daughter for long: Lulu disappeared and has been off the canvas since Julie Marie Berman last aired on March 22, but now, her new portrayer, Emme Rylan, has announced when she’ll be hitting the screen!
On the Thursday, April 4 edition of “Katie,” Katie Couric takes you behind the scenes of ABC’s “General Hospital” as she prepares for her “GH” debut!
On Saturday, April 6, ABC News’ “20/20” takes a behind the scenes look at ABC’s “General Hospital” as the soap celebrates 50 years on television.
While tickets have already sold out quickly, fans of ABC’s “General Hospital” won’t have to miss out on their favorite actors as they take a chair with Will Keck, Senior Editor & Columnist, TV Guide Magazine, during an interactive panel conversation that will be streamed live at PaleyCenter.org on Friday, April 12 at 7:00 PM PT at The Paley Center for Media John H. Mitchell Theatre in Beverly Hills, CA.
“General Hospital” has seen a whirlwind of publicity celebrating its 50th Anniversary, and it looks like “Katie” is the next show to join in on the fun and feature the iconic soap and its beloved stars. Host Katie Couric and an audience filled with die-hard “GH” fans will be spending a full hour paying homage to the long-running drama, and several Port Charles residents are slated to participate!
In a report by Variety, Michael Maloney talks with “General Hospital’s” leading man, Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer), who explains that the renewed success of the soap can be directly credited to its head writer and executive producer.
As “General Hospital’s” 50th anniversary celebration kicks into high gear this week with a very special episode airing Tuesday, April 2 (episode was originally scheduled to air on Monday, April 1 as the 50th anniversary celebratory episode), fans will have no chance of avoiding the cast of the series as they grace your TV screens in more ways than one. In addition to the upcoming Special Edition of “20/20″ with Katie Couric,” wherein ABC News will feature “General Hospital” in a “Real Soap Dish” episode airing Saturday, April 6 from 9:00 – 10:00 PM ET on ABC, the daytime talk show newbie will host the series in a special edition of “Katie” airing on Thursday, April 4. Stars scheduled to appear in the episode include Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer), Genie Francis (Laura Spencer), Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin), Finola Hughes (Anna Devanne), and Kelly Monaco, with a special performance by Rick Springfield (Noah Drake).
As previously reported, Anthony Geary appeared on today’s edition of ABC’s “The View.” Geary was there to help celebrate and honor the 50th anniversary of “General Hospital,” whose cast he’s been part of for the last 35 years (off and on).
Today, April 1, ABC’s “General Hospital” celebrates its 50th anniversary in style! Before the anniversary episode airs (note: due to a national network preemption on Wednesday, March 13, this episode was originally scheduled to air on Friday, March 29; the Tuesday, April 2 episode was the episode previously scheduled to air as the anniversary episode on Monday, April 1) fans of the soaps most recognizable couple can watch “The View” for Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer) or “The Chew” for Genie Francis (Laura Spencer).
On Monday, April 1, ABC’s “General Hospital” turns 50! In honor of the event, fans have been anticipating the return of one of the shows grandest events…the Nurses Ball. While things don’t kick into high gear for the event until the Friday, April 5 episode, we at Soap Opera Network wanted to make sure you got a glimpse of some of your favorite actors before their characters start singing, dancing, and throwing punches.
As previously reported by Soap Opera Network, ABC News’ “20/20” will be honoring the 50th anniversary of ABC’s “General Hospital” on Saturday, April 6. Dubbed “‘General Hospital’ – The Real Soap Dish,” Katie Couric will take viewers behind the scenes of the fictional town of Port Charles, NY. The hour-long special will include interviews with such “GH” stars as Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer), Genie Francis (Laura Spencer), Jack Wagner (Frisco Jones), Rick Springfield (Noah Drake), Kelly Monaco (Sam McCall), Lisa LoCicero (Olivia Falconeri) and many more. Fans will also get to hear from Frank Valentini, who has spearheaded the soap into increased ratings since taking over as executive producer in January 2012.
As People Magazine gets ready to release its special collector’s edition honoring 50 years of “General Hospital” on Tuesday, March 12, the editors of Soap Opera Digest have collaborated on their own special tribute issue for the ABC Daytime drama series. Going on sale on Monday, March 25, the full sized Digest issue will include “revealing interviews, backstage gossip, photos, memories and more!”
The last time People Magazine offerred a collector’s edition of a soap opera was in September 2011, when the mag celebrated the life and history of the then canceled “All My Children.” This time the magazine is celebrating the continued life and history of “General Hospital” with a special 50th Anniversary collector’s edition that finds Luke and Laura Spencer (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis), Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms), Sonny Corinthos and Brenda Barrett (Maurice Benard and Vanessa Marcil), Duke Lavery and Anna Devane (Ian Buchanan and Finola Highes), and Jagger Cates (Antonio Sabato Jr.) gracing the cover.
Although it wasn’t listed with the other “Hot” stuff in TV Guide Magazine’s Annual “Hot List” issue (pages 16-35), “General Hospital” did earn a spot under Michael Logan’s Daytime Highlights column (page 84) under the heading “Hot Again.” NBC’s “Days of our Lives” also made the cut under the heading “Hot Days, Hotter Nights” courtesy of daytime’s hottest (and only) gay on screen couple, Will Horton (Chandler Massey) and Sonny Kiriakis (Freddie Smith).
On the heels of a cancellation announcement and a failed online venture, it was announced that successful former Executive Producer, Frank Valentini, and former Head Writer, Ron Carlivati, of “One Life to Live” were hired for the same positions at a struggling “General Hospital.” Rattling many “GH” fans, in recent days, has been the announcement that at least several major “OLTL” stars will be showing up in Port Charles as their Llanview alter egos. Carlivati insists to insiders that “GH” fans need not worry as he has no intention of turning their soap into “OLTL.” To that end, the show-runners have also announced the return of three of “GH’s” most legendary performers and characters – Finola Hughes, Tristan Rogers and Emma Samms as Anna, Robert and Holly – for extended runs on the last-standing ABC daytime drama.
On Monday afternoon, TV Guide Magazine revealed news that “General Hospital” actor Jonathan Jackson has decided to exit the role of Lucky Spencer on the ABC daytime drama. Sources indicate to the magazine that Jackson was denied a lighter schedule following two years of non-stop drama for his beleaguered character and that ultimately played into his decision to get out of Port Charles. Jackson was also apparently disappointed that his character never got the opportunity to properly reunite with his former love interest Elizabeth Webber played by Rebecca Herbst. The four-time Daytime Emmy Award winner will last tape on November 17.
On Friday, August 12, both Soap Opera Network and Soap Opera Digest reported SOAPnet’s post “All My Children” schedule (Monday, September 26), which included the insertion of “Brothers & Sisters” re-runs and the shuffling of more than 80% of the schedule into different time periods. Other than “Days of our Lives” picking up a primetime spot (8:00 PM ET/PT), nothing caught reader attention more than the network announcing classic episodes of “All My Children,” “General Hospital” and “One Life to Live.” So what is a classic episode according to the network?
After 72 years on air between radio and television, CBS’s “Guiding Light” will cease broadcasting on the CBS Television Network due to low ratings. Love may save the world, but apparently it wasn’t enough to save television’s longest running daytime drama. Even with having its name published in the Guinness World Record Book and winning three Daytime Emmy’s for Best Drama Series (the most recent being in 2007), “GL” found itself unable to withstand the mass exodus of viewers from the traditional daytime soap format in recent years.