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General Hospital Soap Opera Part 10 Remodeling and resurgence (2012-present By early 2012, both other ABC Daytime soap operas had been cancelled, All My ending in September 2011, and One Life to Live's scheduled final air date on January 13, 2012.[61] On January 9, 2012, former One Life To Live executive producer Frank Valentini officially replaced Jill Farren Phelps as the executive producer of General Hospital, while former OLTL head writer Ron Carlivati replaced Garin Wolf and Shelly Altman as head writers,[60] who were both demoted to part of the back-up writing staff before being eventually fired from the show later that year. They had previously been hired as co-head writers replacing Bob Guza during the late summer and fall of 2011. Prior to joining GH, Valentini and Carlivati helped wrap up OLTL after its cancellation and subsequent transition to Prospect Park's online venture failed to happen.[60] In the wake of the other cancelled series on ABC, and the low ratings of General Hospital itself, there was speculation that the new regime was an attempt by the network to save General Hospital from the same fate, some comparing it to the hiring of Gloria Monty in 1978.[62] The change in staff occurred amidst key story arcs. In January 2012, Sam learns she is pregnant with either Jason or Franco's . Jason kills Franco, in James Franco's last guest appearance, and Sam learns that Jason and Franco are twins and Franco is the father of her baby. There were two major February sweeps events. The first was the death of Robin Scorpio-Drake, played by Kimberly McCullough on and off since 1985, who had chosen to leave to pursue directing opportunities. Robin dies in a lab explosion, and Valentini received praise for bringing high-profile legacy characters back in the fallout, such as Anna Devane (Finola Hughes), Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms).[63] New head writer Ron Carlivati took the writing over the day after the explosion, immediately turning the story around. He explained, "In the overall general landscape of daytime, with these shows going off the air and soap fans feeling so lost and disenfranchised and giving up hope for their shows, I wanted there to [be] hope that this was not the end of Robin’s story."[64] A few months later, it is revealed that Robin is alive and being held captive at an undiclosed location. The other sweeps event was the catalyst for ushering in the former One Life to Live cast members who had signed on with GH. Cole Thornhart, Starr Manning (Kristen Alderson) and baby Hope Manning-Thornhart are in a car crash involving Anthony Zacchara that kills Cole and Hope. The aftermath brings Starr's mother Blair Cramer (Kassie DePaiva) and father Todd Manning (Roger Howarth) to town, who the latter prompty sets roots by buying the local newspaper and television station. Meanwhile, John McBain (Michael Easton) arrives in town, investigating Sonny Corinthos in the death of his sister. Sonny is put on trial for the car accident, introducing Starr to his Michael, who become close and start dating months later. Valentini explained the integration of the characters: We brought on characters that didn’t duplicate the characters on 'General Hospital.' I think there’s no one like Todd. There’s no one like John. And I believe that the PCPD needs some reinforcement and some beefing up. I love Dante. He’s great. He needs another good cop with him. Michael (Easton) and Dominic (Zamprogna) have such great chemistry with each other. Again, it's always been one of those things where it goes back to 'General Hospital' to support the show. Anna [Devane] and John have a friendship. Sonny (Maurice Benard) and John have an adversarial relationship, but you’ll see them connect in lots of ways over the next couple months and that’s exciting. Todd (Roger Howarth) and Carly (Laura Wright), I think, are really fun together and provide another arena within which to have some comedy. So as opposed to bringing on new people that no one knows, we brought on really good actors. No one can argue, whether you like them or not, Michael, Kristen (Alderson) and Roger are phenomenal actors.[65] Meanwhile, Maxie Jones, reeling from guilt over thinking she caused the lab explosion that killed her cousin Robin, falsely confesses to the murder of Lisa Niles and goes to jail. Eventually it comes out that Matt Hunter is the killer, and Maxie is released. Sam gives birth the same day as (another character crossed-over from OLT  Téa Delgado (Florencia Lozano), both stranded in the woods. Téa's baby is stillborn, but is switched with Sam's by Heather Webber and Todd Manning. Téa leaves town with the healthy while Todd finds out from Heather that Jason is the true biological father of the baby. Being blackmailed by Heather, he keeps the secret. After the series was renewed for another year in April,[66] General Hospital cast were invited to the Television Critics Association press conference that summer.[65] A few months under his belt, Valentini said his work was:...not rebuilding, but maybe remodeling. Being an outsider, I think it's sometimes easier to come in and see what maybe you are not used to seeing when you are there. I think the show was in terrific shape, but there needed to be some tweaks. And I think it's much more my taste, my sensibility, for the show to go just a little bit faster, but I thought there were some key characters missing, not in terms of who they were, but certain archetypes that were really important to bring on the show.[67] Valentini also promoted an upcoming umbrella story leading up to the show's September time slot change, that made room for Katie Couric's talk show, Katie. The story involved the reappearance of Robin, who viewers see being held by Ewen Keenan, later revealed to be working for Jerry Jacks. Jerry poisons the town's water supply with the help of Joe Scully, Jr., who is found to be the real killer of McBain's sister. Joe also convinces his , Trey Mitchell, to marry Sonny's Kristina Davis for revenge. Trey is revealed to be the of Kate Howard, who had been by Joe when they were teenagers, who regresses completely into her alternate personality 'Connie'. Joe is seen to be working for Duke Lavery, who had been presumed dead for decades. Meanwhile, Jason investigates the death of Sam's , leading to her reunion with her , who they name Daniel Edward Morgan. Duke is involved in a shootout that kills Bernie Abrahms and Joe, while Jason Morgan is presumed dead after being shot into the harbor. Soon after Duke is seen holding Robin captive, it is revealed he is actually Cesar Faison, who is holding the real Duke captive as well. Sam learns that Jason is Danny's father, while too late to tell Jason, she is able to introduce him to great grandfather Edward Quartermaine shortly before he dies, following the death of actor John Ingle. Meanwhile, new student nurses Sabrina Santiago and Felix DuBois plan with Elizabeth Webber to revive the old annual Nurses' Ball. Valentini had hinted at the return of the ball a few months prior at the annual GH Fan Club Weekend, stating "I’ll just say this, I love music and I love Nurses."[69] Valentini later confirmed the revival of the ball, scheduled to coincide with the series' 50th anniversary on April 1, 2013.[70] Lynn Herring reprised her character of Lucy Coe as the series continued to bring back numerous legacy characters and fan favorites.[68] Lucy returns to help Sabrina find funding for the ball. By the end of 2012, rating for General Hospital rose to over three million, the highest in two years. Ratings in the target demographic of women 18 to 34 years old were reported to have risen 44% year over year.[71] MSN Money cited General Hospital as leading a revival of the soap opera genre, stating, "Soap fans say the reason for GH's resurgence is simple: The show got a lot better."[71] Michael Logan of TV Guide named General Hospital the best soap of 2012, stating, "This time last year, General Hospital was considered dead as disco, a show merely waiting to be officially canceled by ABC. (...) GH was handed to OLTL's head writer, Ron Carlivati, and exec producer Frank Valentini, who quickly amped up the action, humor and romance and energized the cast by adding top stars from GH's past as well as popular refugees from Llanview. Voilà! Dreary, messy GH was suddenly a thrilling, surprise-packed, can't-miss experience."[72] The series gained more press in early January when it was announced Genie Francis would reprise her role as Laura Spencer for an unknown length of time.[73] On New Year's Eve, a car carrying Connie and Johnny collides with a car carrying Michael, Kristina, Starr, and Trey, then hits Ellie Trout. Trey becomes braindead, and Kristina and Connie take him off life support. Ellie is temporarily thought to be paralyzed. That night Maxie miscarries Dante and Lulu's baby, and becomes pregnant again after sleeping with Damian Spinelli. She keeps it all a secret after Spinelli chooses to be with Ellie. Meanwhile during February Sweeps, Lucy runs into John McBain and believes he is Caleb Morley, whom she calls king of the vampires. She is sent to Ferncliff after she stabs McBain and asserts that she is a vampire slayer. The storyline references the past spin-off Port Charles, where Michael Easton played Caleb and Kelly Monaco played Livvie Locke.[75][76] Valentini asserted "we're not doing vampires" and that the story was homage to the actors and characters involved.[68] Carlivati commented, "The story does get pretty over-the-top yet it's still rooted in a certain reality. Lucy may be off-kilter but she's certainly not in Heather Webber territory. Her belief in vampires will be very convincing."[75] Another former Port Charles character, Alison Barrington, arrives with her now teenage Rafe Kovich, Jr.. McBain is arrested under suspicion of murdering Alison, while Caleb is revealed, seen to be a different person than McBain. A.J. Quartermaine (Sean Kanan) comes back to town after hearing that his brother Jason (Steve Burton) is presumed dead. |
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