— General Hospital’s
Steve Burton confirmed to TV
Guide yesterday that he’s leaving the ABC soap. The actor insists the split between him and
the soap is an amicable one and he’s packing up his wife and kids for
Tennessee. “I’m going to take some time off and do nothing but relax, just
enjoy life a little bit with my wife and kids.” The time off may come to an end
if James Franco comes calling…Franco’s
developing his very own telenovela along with former GH producer, Jill Farren
Phelps (who’s not at Y&R) and
wants Burton to star.
Burton first appeared as the Cosby-sweater wearing Jason Quartermaine in 1991,
a few years later, Jason and his drunken brother A.J. were involved in a car accident which caused the
pre-med student to suffer a personality shift, who went by the name Jason
Morgan and became hit man for crime boss Sonny Corinthos. Burton’s contract expires on Sept. 25th, but
the actor has agreed to stay a little bit longer to wrap up his storyline.
While a complex and interesting character, many have grown tired of Jason due
to former head writer Bob Guza’s was
seen as a celebrated hero who could do no wrong in practically every front
burning storyline. It’ll be interesting to see how the show will handle Burton’s
departure and how it affects the women in his lives, including his adoptive mother,
pretend baby mama Carly, former baby mama Liz and currently missing-baby mama
Sam. Oh and let’s not forget how his departure will affect Jason’s biggest
pairing of all, Sonny!
Do you think they’ll recast or kill the character off? Many fans would find it
ironic for Jason to meet a gruesome death after all the blood he’s spilled. My
one storyline hope is that Jason and Sam will finally get their baby back
before Burton leaves the show.
— If you missed the big return of Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) on General
Hospital this past Monday, you’ll have to wait five
more weeks to see the former Scottish mobster again. Were you happy with
the big reveal? I’m hoping Duke’s hiding some other former Port Charles
citizens with Robin, including Alan, Emily, Georgie and maybe even A.J. (I’m
also hoping for the returns of Brenda, Nikolas, Laura and Lucky while we’re at
it.
— Despite what we were told a few months ago, Citytv is indeed moving General Hospital this fall. Beginning September
10th, you can catch GH an hour earlier, at 2 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. PT. I’m hearing
the soap will stay at 3 p.m. in Montreal. The variations of the time is based
on what time the ABC affiliate in each market will air Katie Couric’s new talker…not all ABC stations will air at 3 p.m.
For example, in Toronto, Citytv will simulcast with ABC’s Buffalo affiliate at
2 p.m. due to another syndicated program taking the 3 p.m. slot and Katie airing at 4.
— Kirsten Storms returns to GH as
Maxie on September 5. Really wish her temp replacement Jen Lilley the best of luck, she really did make the role her own
this past year. Happy to have Storms back and I really hope Lilley pops up on
another show soon!
— The Bold and the Beautiful casting
update… Ron Moss (Ridge) is still
out, while Susan Flannery (Stephanie)
will stick around for a bit before leaving the soap by the end of the year.
— Greg Vaughan’s (ex-Lucky, GH;
ex-Diego, Y&R) first airdate as the new Eric Brady on Days of our Lives is November 13th.
— Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe), who
returns to DAYS in early January, may not be back for long. The actress
mentioned on Twitter that she’s only back as a guest.
— The first Josh Griffith written
and Jill Farren Phelps directed
episode of The Young and the Restless will
air October 11 in Canada (Oct. 12 in the US).
— Y&R has cast
Hollywood Heights’ Robert Adamson as the new Noah Newman,
taking over for Kevin Schmidt.
Adamson begins airing on September 28 in Canada (Oct. 1 in the US).
— Christel Khalil (Lily)
and Y&R can’t seem to agree on a new contract and the soap may recast the
role. Khalil told MSN.com,
“I want to stay. I heard a rumour someone said I was deciding to leave, but it’s
not really working that way. There’s something I want that they don’t want to
give me. It hurts. I thought I would be worth what I thought I was worth to
them, but I guess I’m not.”
— Michael Damian (Danny) is headed
back to Y&R for the 10,000th episode and beyond.
OOOOH NOOOO WHO AM I GOING TO OOGLE
AT NOW IN THE AFTERNOON, GOOD LUCK STEVE