Until we meet again

For the first time ever, General Hospital will be taking an extended break. The show is still on lockdown and there's no definitive timeframe for the show's return. What is the future of soaps? What can we do to save them? Let's discuss in this week's GH Two Scoops.

Dear readers, it's sad to think about it, but we have seen the last new episode of General Hospital for the foreseeable future. I'll miss my loony friends in Port Charles.

We were left with many very engaging cliffhangers. Will Nelle beat Michael in court and get custody of Wiley? Is Maxie pregnant with Peter's baby? Will she have the baby off-camera before GH comes back, and they'll just SORAS it into a three-year-old? Will there be drama and mayhem at Ava's portrait unveiling? Will Spencer agree to be poor in order to get rid of Ava, or for the sake of the lush life, will he learn to forgive her? Will Sasha get hooked on drugs? Will Olivia's psychic help her find Dante, and will he come home? Will Sam take a shine to Brando while she is on lockdown from Jason? Will Sonny find out that Julian knew about the Brad's baby/Wiley switcheroo? Will someone kill Cyrus, and if so, who? Will Sonny find the strength to let Mike go gentle into that good night?

These are all compelling questions, but the answers won't be coming anytime soon. I seriously would rather have the actors read their scripts to me out loud from their homes than have no new material at all. But perhaps I am in the minority. I did repertory theatre for years with minimal props, so I have a grand imagination.

The heartbreak to me is that soaps are finally having a moment. With people home in quarantine, the ratings were going up again. There were discussions about bringing back All My Children and One Life to Live. There was even a terrific two-hour primetime special on ABC called The Story of Soaps. Over 2 million people tuned in to watch it! There is a hunger and a love for serialized drama.

If you missed the special, I highly recommend that you track it down on Hulu -- you won't be sorry. It was so fun to see all the people who got their start in Daytime. It makes me wonder which younger soap stars of today will be tomorrow's Oscar winners. The show also reminded me of soaps' glory days. It made me hopeful that perhaps soaps can find a new path in a new era. If networks don't have the budget for daytime, perhaps one of the streaming services can resurrect our long-lost friends. I'd watch.

I think about the plethora of choices out there in streaming land and all the little shows I stumble onto on every streaming platform. I can guarantee that some of these shows are not getting two million viewers. There are little niche shows for people with specific interests on many platforms, and I feel like the daytime soap genre has a broad enough audience to get people to tune in and binge ten new episodes of their favorite soap. It's definitely worth trying, even as an experiment. Do an AMC reunion on Hulu and see if there's interest? Even a virtual one while soaps are not in production. I know Prospect Park tried this, but maybe the timing wasn't right. It could be now.

GH plans to air "classic episodes" until they go back into production, but dear readers, I have to admit, I doubt I'll be able to watch many of them. I watch GH on Hulu, and Hulu doesn't carry the repeat episodes. The past few Fridays, I have gone into my bedroom to get all snuggled in to watch GH and pulled up Hulu to find no episode. It takes me a few minutes to figure out why, and then it dawns on me, "Oh, yeah, a repeat." I have gone so far as to write a letter to Hulu to ask them to please consider carrying the classic episodes, but no reply.

The same holds true for the CBS app; the last episode of The Young and the Restless they have on is from April 23. I have watched bits and pieces of the old Y&R episodes that are airing because they happen to fall during my lunch break. But as nice as it is to see old favorites, I will not be as religious about tuning in. I watch soaps because I like to follow a story, and when we get a chapter in a story that happened 20 years ago and then a chapter that happened three weeks ago, it's disconcerting. But one thing is for certain: when they are back on the air with new episodes, I will be there, waiting with open arms.

EDITOR'S NOTE: We've heard from a lot of fans who, like Tamilu, have been upset that CBS is "not posting" the classic episodes. In fact, though, they are posting the episodes. We know that this is a General Hospital column, but we want to make sure that soap fans know that they can watch truly classic episodes of other soaps. Here's how to do it for The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful: You need to make sure that you are selecting the correct year in the app or on the CBS web site. We've posted an image below to show you how to find them.

I watched a few minutes of GH, I tried recording it on DVR from live, but it was in the middle of a thunderstorm here in Florida, and our satellite dish was in and out. It was so delightful to see Luke. I desperately miss Tony Geary -- which reminds me of one more cliffhanger and question: is Holly dead, and is Luke going to answer his burner phone and help Robert find her? I think Tony coming back to GH, if only for a brief stint, would definitely help them get their audience back after a long break away. I'm rooting for this to happen.

The hiatus is a problem. Soaps are a habit, and when weeks and months pass without you picking up that habit, will you come back? I'm sure I will because I have 40 years invested in the people of Port Charles, but I worry about viewers who aren't quite as rooted. Will you come back? Are you on the edge of your seat, wondering what happens next? I hope so. I hope the pandemic doesn't make GH, Y&R, The Bold and the Beautiful, and Days of our Lives four more of its victims.

I was reading a long thread on Twitter this morning with fans who said they will not be back because they are not at all interested in any of the current storylines. Depressing, but then they brought up the idea of a "time hop" and suggested GH come back having fast-forwarded through some of the current storylines and start fresh. One tweet suggested that Drew and Holly can find each other, Drew can point to Peter as the evil mastermind, and they can spring Dr. Obrecht from prison. Another suggested having flashbacks of Mike's death, hearing Maxie talk about getting over the flu, finding out Peter had fled the city, and more. What do you think about this? Do you want GH to pick up right where they left off, or would you prefer they start with a blank canvas?

I really just want them to come back. To be honest, I'm a little afraid right now. I'm a travel consultant by trade, and yesterday, Hertz, the number one car rental agency in America, the giant that all others were competing against, filed for bankruptcy. My favorite of all home good stores, Pier One, where I have spent literally thousands of dollars on Christmas dcor over the years, announced it will be closing all its stores. Giants are falling in this sad time in our nation, and I just pray that our soaps make it through this trial. Seriously, if you watch The Story of Soaps, it reminds us that soaps started on the radio. For now, while actors can't be naked in bed together, making out, bring back soaps on radio! Have a GH podcast? Again, I would 100% tune in.

I hope this isn't sounding too depressing or dire, but I've been locked in my house since March 8, and it's getting to me. It's probably getting to you, too. However, over 95,000 Americans have lost their lives, so I completely understand why we are on lockdown, but that doesn't make it easy. Thankfully, my company is letting us all work from home and has been downright magnificent through this entire crisis. What about you, dear readers?

I've been writing this column for nearly two decades now, and some of you feel like family. Just like Laura, Scotty, Bobbie, Monica, Carly, Sonny, Mike, Jason, Sam, Danny, Scout, Josslyn, Liz, Cameron, Aiden, Jake, Robert, Anna, Alexis, Julian, Ava, Avery, Valentin, Charlotte, Nina, Michael, Kristina, Jax, Jordan, Curtis, T.J., Molly, Portia, Trina, Lucas, Brad, Terry, Nikolas, Spencer, Lulu, Dante (wherever he may be), Ned, Olivia, Finn, Chase, Sasha, Lucy, Willow, Wiley, Peter, and Maxie are to me. Did I leave anyone out? I love those faces. I get excited when I hear their voices. I love them. Oh, please, universe, let me keep them.

I do have some exciting soap news to report! The 47th Annual Daytime Emmys will be on network TV again! The awards will air June 26 on CBS. Readers! We HAVE to show up. Let's let the world of entertainment know, that like Horton Hears a Who -- WE ARE HERE. WE ARE HERE. Don't be busy that day. Don't let them write off Daytime and pronounce it dead.

GH has 23 nominations in all. You can see the entire list here. First, they were nominated for Outstanding Drama Series. Even though there are only four soaps and all received nominations in the Drama Series category, in truth, they are all outstanding drama series and deserve their nominations!

General Hospital has many worthy nominees, and I could wax poetic on all of them. The list of all the nominees is below, and what a powerhouse bunch.

Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series:Finola HughesMaura West

Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series:Steve BurtonJon Lindstrom

Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series:Tamara BraunRebecca

Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series:James Patrick Stuart (Valentin dealing with Charlotte's kidnapping and when Nina learns Sasha is not really her daughter)

Outstanding Young Performer in a Drama Series:Katelyn MacMullen (Scene in Sonny's safe house where Willow was talking to Kristina about her experience with Dawn of Day.)Eden McCoy

Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama SeriesMichael E. Knight

How can Emmy voters possibly choose between Finola and Maura? Consider Ava's mental breakdown prompted by her daughter's death and discovering she had slept with her daughter's killer! Maura West has made me cry more times this year than anyone else on GH. I love the way Ava has grown as a character and the strides she has made. I keep rooting for Nikolas and Ava to actually work out.

Finola Hughes has also done some incredible work this past year. And for many years! We are so lucky to have her. Consider the angst she portrayed when Anna hid evidence to protect her son, and when she lost Finn and Violet, the trauma of the heartbreak she portrayed.

GH stars have yet another head-to-head match-up between Steve Burton and Jon Lindstrom! I can't tell you why, but when Steve Burton cries, I cry. I think it's because Jason is typically stoic, and when you see a crack in that wall around his heart, it's so moving.

Jon Lindstrom has been both comic relief as loopy serial killer Ryan and a warm, generous, and lovable Dr. Kevin Collins. His scenes with Ava are funny, chilling, creepy, and yet -- give me more, please.

Yet a third GH match-up between Tamara Braun and Rebecca -- sadly two performers no longer on the canvas. I'm still incensed that they turned Kim into a date rapist. A performer of her caliber shouldn't have been so easily sacrificed. Rebecca 's Hayden is still missing, but I hope we find her as soon as GH is back in production!

James Patrick Stuart's Valentin has become my very favorite character on GH. He's brilliant and multifaceted. Mr. Stuart can play every nuanced and mesmerizing layer of Valentin's complicated personality. Valentin can be ruthless and calculating. He can be pure evil and push someone off of a parapet, and then instantly, turn around and be the most gentle, loving, and devoted papa to Charlotte. He can be the most passionate and loyal partner to Nina. The unconditional, all-consuming love Valentin has for Nina is the kind of love we all dream of. He can sing like an angel. I simply can't get enough of him. I could watch an entire Valentin-themed episode -- or month! He's one of the happiest reasons I have to tune in to GH.

Next, our two younger actresses, Eden McCoy and Katelyn MacMullen. Both of these young ladies are powerhouses. Willow Tait is a very sweet, soft-spoken character, but dear Lord, don't you dare try to hurt Wiley, or she turns into a tigress, and a fire rises up inside of her and pours out of her eyes. Eden McCoy was cast knowing she would have to hold her own in scenes with Laura Wright, and she does not disappoint. The roller-coaster ride her character has gone on this past year has taken Josslyn through every conceivable emotion, and Eden McCoy has not missed a note. Both of these young ladies are on a rocket ship to fame and fortune, in my opinion.

Those are just the GH stars nominated. If you are like me, perhaps you are a multi-soap viewer, too. I really hope soaps' moment of favor in the media sticks. I hope the Daytime Emmys get huge ratings from all of the soap fans around the globe that miss their soaps while they are in hiatus. I hope they all come back stronger than ever.

Dear readers, I will see you again. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, don't do anything crazy in your lockdown boredom, and know I value you all.

What will happen tomorrow? Absolutely nothing. What will happen in a couple of months?

Only tomorrow knows, dear readers, but please believe me, I will tune in tomorrow as long as there are tomorrows.Tamilu

What are your thoughts on General Hospital? What did you think of this week's Two Scoops? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.