Gossip for Wk of 3/25/13
by Carol Banks Weber

Ingo Rademacher (Jax) will return to GH only for the short-term, because he feels he needs to focus more on his Dancing With The Stars. He doesn’t see himself as multi-talented as the first DWTS winner, Kelly Monaco (Sam), so he has to try harder. Maurice Benard (Sonny) did a nice thing, tweeting to Rademacher some words of encouragement March 19: “Thumbs up @IngoRademacher. Just to be out there is an accomplishment. Keep going.”

The Nurses’ Ball will bring plenty of welcome and unwelcome surprises. Most of the acts will please and delight the audience, especially Patrick singing an emotional duet with his darling daughter and possibly Epiphany bringing the house down with her vocal performance.

Jim Romanovich is the executive producer for several TV shows, including Marie Osmond’s talk show on Hallmark. He got Y&R its 40th anniversary, but tweeted last week that he was unable to convince ABC Daytime to do the same for GH’s 50th.

Romanovich also tweeted, March 19, his relief for pal Sean Kanan (A.J.), finally enjoying a story on GH that he should’ve gotten a long time ago: “Glad my friend Sean Kanan is getting a true AJ storyline. He was never supposed to be a punchline.”

Marlena De Lacroix noticed the same lackluster, dowdy, mousy Laura Spencer the rest of the viewing audience has in this mixed nostalgic bag. While most of the other ongoing stories are working, De Lacroix wrote in her March 23rd blog entry, “General Hospital: Think Of The Real Laura,” the one featuring Laura with Luke and Scotty fails miserably on several points. Mainly, De Lacroix doesn’t understand why Laura isn’t allowed to evolve at all. “The worst part of this travesty – the real sacrilege – is the way they are writing Laura. Totally passive. Looking vacant and confused. Mostly just standing around. Why waste the valuable time of the very accomplished Genie Francis — and ours? Let me re-iterate: This is no slam on Ms. Francis. She is simply given nothing to do but stand there in that ridiculous wedding dress with those godawful peplums and try to look concerned during those anemic arguments between Kin Shriner’s Scotty and Tony Geary’s Luke (how can any writer go so wrong with such accomplished actors?).” It’s true. Laura just stands there while the two men in her life bellow, strain for the next, best cutting insults, gesticulate wildly, and fight over her like an inanimate prize. And that matronly wedding dress! What were they thinking in wardrobe? Lucy Coe must’ve grabbed a straight jacket from Ferncliff by mistake on her escape out.