Have you ever done a double take while watching a soap? Every once in a while a show does something that is so unusual you have to give yourself a while to read and think about it.That’s how I felt last week when I saw the “General Hospital” episodes in which Dr. Britt Westbourne (the always entertaining Kelly Thiebaud) went to a bar one … [Read more...]
Thank Goodness It’s Still “Bold and Beautiful”
October 19, 2026 by 2 Comments
Have you checked the soap sites on the Internet lately? They are filled with angry letters from longtime fans of “General Hospital,” the once great soap that has suddenly turned terribly disappointing. During the summer I wrote about this alarming downturn. (“When Plots and Characters Don’t Make Sense,” our headline advised, “It’s … [Read more...]
Bravo! “General Hospital” Repeats Tony Geary Tribute
September 6, 2026 by 6 Comments
Marlena says: Soaps are not designed to go into reruns. We viewers are so hungry for good entertainment, we want a new episode every day. However, this Monday, Labor Day, ABC offers a real treat: a repeat of the very fine memorial episode dedicated to Tony Geary (1945-2026), broadcast originally Feb. 21 of this year. Here is my review, published … [Read more...]
“General Hospital”‘s Strange Summer: When Plots and Characters Don’t Make Sense, It’s Not Viable Soap Opera
August 31, 2026 by 15 Comments
We all love “General Hospital.” I watch it every day in real time and I don’t accept phone calls or let anyone bother during that important hour. “GH” is a show that has delivered us wonderful entertainment over the years—for me personally, since Luke and Laura’s glorious and first romantic summers in the early Eighties. That’s why I’m so shocked … [Read more...]
Shock and Awe! Our Soap Summer Begins
July 5, 2026 by 4 Comments
In the last week of June1989 I wrote a cover story for TV Guide called “The Joys of Summer: The Hottest Stories on Daytime Soaps.” On the cover were two popular romantic couples of the day, Robert Scorpio, and Katherine Delafield (Tristan Rogers and Edie Lehmann) of “General Hospital” and Max Holden and Megan Gordon (James DePaiva and Jessica … [Read more...]
When Soaps Give Great Comfort
April 26, 2026 by 6 Comments
I’ve been writing this column for decades on weekends but today I am having a lot of problems. A neighbor and close college friend named Marty, in the hospital with both cancer and heart problems, passed away early this morning. When we went to visit him yesterday, he was not conscious. His PA told us he was on end-of-life care. I was beside … [Read more...]
Thanks, “General Hospital,” for Three Days of Riveting Soap Opera
April 1, 2026 by 6 Comments
In all the years I’ve been writing about and criticizing soap opera, I can’t recall a sequence of episodes that was so solidly entertaining as last week’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday “General Hospital.” Instead of one major “A” story and a few backgrounders, here was a show chock of colliding major storylines and cliffhangers that make us … [Read more...]
“General Hospital”‘s Anthony Geary Tribute: Bravo!
February 21, 2026 by 3 Comments
I’m so glad the current management at ABC Daytime finally has a clue about what made their predecessors in the eighties and nineties so spectacularly successful, with a line-up of fabulous contemporary soaps and landmarks promotion campaigns like “Love in the Afternoon.”) Executives of that era knew the only way to make soap opera successful was to … [Read more...]
“GH”‘s Anthony Geary, 1947-2025: He Changed Our Soap World
December 21, 2025 by 10 Comments
I started watching “General Hospital” in 1978, at the beginning of my career as a soap journalist. That was the year that Anthony Geary made his debut on “GH” as Luke Spencer. I liked Luke immediately. He was charming, funny, and true. And Geary was a terrific actor who won over his already approving audience with his character’s warmth and … [Read more...]
Outback the Beagle on “General Hospital” — The Story of a Star
November 13, 2025 by 13 Comments
Have you ever noticed that “General Hospital” has a track record of performers who became soap superstars not long after their debuts? Think Tony Geary as Luke, Tristan Rogers as Robert, Rick Springfield as Noah, Ingo Rademacher as Jax, and even a pre-“Full House” John Stamos as Blackie.Fast forward to now. On “GH” we currently have a beautiful … [Read more...]
