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John McBain is soon to be McGone from General Hospital‘s Port Charles. As will fellow Llanview transplants Todd and Starr.
Daytime TV vet Michael Easton took to his Facebook page on Friday morning to advise fans not to send anything to the ABC soap’s studio for his Feb. 15 birthday, because by then he’ll no longer be hanging his hat there. “I’ve been informed that, due to some ongoing legal this and that, I cannot be at General Hospital after February 8th,” he shared.
UPDATE: SoapOperaDigest.com has confirmed that Roger Howarth (Todd) and Kristen Alderson (Starr) also must leave GH — at least for the time being.
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The “legal” matter to which Easton referred stems from the upcoming Hulu/iTunes relaunch of One Life to Live, where John, Todd and Starr originated. When the media company Prospect Park announced its new plan to revive both OLTL and All My Children, it was with the proviso that it owns and thus has first dibs on the sudsers’ characters — even on those that have since relocated to GH.
Though McBain seems fated to return to OLTL‘s Llanview, that does not necessarily mean that Easton will be playing him, since the ex-OLTL actors’ deals are not with Prospect Park but ABC. (Easton’s name was not among the dozen first confirmed for the relaunch, but his leading lady Melissa Archer’s was.)
In fact, Digest is hearing that John, Todd and Starr will all be recast for the online reboot.
GH meanwhile is holding out hope that it can hold onto the three actors, likely in different roles. (Welcome back, Caleb?) “General Hospital is excited about Michael Easton, Kristen Alderson and Roger Howarth staying on the show,” ABC said in a statement cited by Digest, “and we are exploring ways to allow that to happen.”
“[I’m] honestly not sure what the future holds,” Easton added on Facebook, “but I think it’s going to take some time and some very bright people to resolve it.”
if they continue with this vampire thing on Gh i am out!
if they continue with this vampire thing on Gh i am out!
ME TOO……….
What if they were all to get into an accident and come out as other people. Come on GH you’ve done this before! Find a way to keep them!! Please. I NEED MCBAM.
Bring back Caleb!! Put Carly and Scott Baldwin together and have Michael fall in love with Sam!!!! Problem solved!!! ANyone else think that Scott Baldwin is the Quartermaine heir?
Um…ew. And I know Sonny is not Michaels real dad but come on. Does he really want what his father already had?
The missing Quartermaine heir is Lauren, Franco’s daughter (Alan’s granddaughter).
And why on earth would you pair those people up? Yikes!!
I Definitely can’t wait for John to leave GH/PC. I never thought he was transitioned properly. TPTB continually shoved mcbam at us before establishing the character on canvas. The writing for John hasn’t been great either = not working for months, not being in his son’s life, writing Natalie/Clint as props to make him a victim. Maybe PP OLTL can restore some dignity to this character.
agree! john mcbain looks like an ass on gh. not fighting for his son? come on. and this caleb/pc stuff is beyond stupid. poor lucy shoud be all about the nurses ball not at the nut house. question: is sam going to have an instaconnection with caleb too when john leaves?
ITA
ITA McBain wasn’t on the air for LONG periods of time, didn’t really have a storyline, not being in his son life. I’m DEFINITELY glad that he is going back. The writing wasn’t all that great for McBain either.
I totally agree!! McBain was too forced and contrived on GH!! He was barely on too. I hope he returns to OLTL & stays there!!!
These actors and abc knew pp owned the rights to these characters. If u ask me pp has every right to insist that the characters be removed from gh. I wasn’t a fan of gh, but I’m sure they will survive this development
I am still hoping things can be worked out. I believe PP has been working on this quietly all along. Truly hoping for the best for everyone…
I know this sounds crazy, but if they stay on GH, why not just rename their characters and the people from their past and act like nothing has changed so there is no need to create totally new characters? I know it sounds far fetched, but, come on, this is a soap opera that back in the day had an alien story line and a character possessing some sort of “freezing ray” they threatened to use to freeze the world.
YOUR SO RIGHT !!!!!!!!!! Let them Go
I hope they don’t go with the vampire storyline. I will take a hiatus from GH if they do. I like Todd and Starr on GH. I don’t want some stupid storyline that changes who they are on GH. It’s all ABC’s fault for canceling OLTL in the first place. They need to work out a compromise.
This is crazy on so many levels. Prospect Park may (BIG emphasis on MAY) have investment to get these shows off the ground, but they are going to have to see a return on their investment, and how many soap fans (even the lunatics who haunt the blogosphere) are going to sign on? It will be a fraction of the audience ABC had, and that won’t be enough to give PP a return on their investment. So, investors may be content to throw good money after bad for the first year or so, but at some point, they are going to want to turn a profit…and that’s just not realistic, unless they plan to eventually have six or eight characters sitting around talking for days and weeks and months on end. The economics of it just don’t make any sense.
I really liked John, Todd and Star. I am glad they have Lucy, she is funny. I am so sick of that Connie, please just kill her off.
This is an honest question to tvline, since they are usually good about replying to posts: is there a way for fans to contact Prospect Park with our opinions? I like to think that I’m an intelligent person and I know that letter-writing campaigns are rarely to never successful. But I think that some well written feedback letting them know that they are actually turning away potential viewers is worthwhile for them to hear. Whether it gets read by anyone, who knows. But if there’s a chance it gets read, it seems worth taking the time to send, even if it changes nothing.
PP needs cash. ABC can purchase the characters.
How can michlae Easton Roger howarth and Kristin Anderson stay on gh I don’t get that part
I really think its all crap by ABCC and PP.PP DID NOT air by the date needed.Starrr was wrote off leaving Landveiw and ABC extended PP’s rights.So why is this all not fishy to everyone else.Are they trying to piss of soap fans and bring down GH?When they gave PP a extention on the rights they knew wht they where doing and could have had this cleared up.Think ABC is at it again and PP is helping them.Sorry but when they wrote Starr leaving Llandveiw and signed her for a contrat for GH don’t you think they knew what they where doing?PP done said they wanted younger actors.Different firection.So I for one think these three actors are being drug threw the mud.
No need for alternative characters or anything like that. I guarantee I can resolve this in less than 5 minutes if I can get ABC & PP in the same room together. Have the three as such: “Roger Howath/Michael Easton/Kristen Alderson appear courtesy of Prospect Park”
ABC knew that PP held the rights to these characters when they sold the licensing fee. ABC then played a game of chicken thinking PP wouldn’t succeed. PP has last laugh and the actors are screwed over. Typical business.
I will not support pp if they force these actors out of their job and mess up all the good that has happened.
Big mistake. I don’t watch Hula and never will.
I love John and Todd on General Hospital. I dont want them to leave this is terrible
John, Todd and Star R leaving Y. E. S. hahahaha
No it’s not I liked GH the way it was please get rid of all the OLTL cast
They should have never canceled the damn soaps!!!
You are so right, why did they do it? I bet the ratings for the other shows are not that good.
You are messing with your viewers and can lose them. Then what will you have
without viewers? Jen Z.
HOPE THEY NEVER COME BACK …at least I know i will be rid of them for Awhile Dont mind todd Starr and John CAN GO PLEASE
I HOPE THEY BEVER COMEBACK
I hope McBain STAYS on OLTL
Look, I am not in favor of shows going on the internet. I think it’s an insult to the programs that are downgraded to airing on the internet. Prospect Park could become a channel on broadcast TV. That will be the only way I would watch those soaps. And in my opinion, this online viewing of AMC and OLTL will fail. Lastly, I cannot fathom how airing TV shows on the internet will work.
Susan M.
Online viewing is the way of the future, many people do not see this as downgrading or insulting. Many of us watch the internet on our tv’s now, through various devices. Luckily I’ve heard more people say they will watch than people like you, Susan M. who are very negative and won’t watch.
It’s not just a matter of choosing not to watch, but it’s a big problem that a lot of people cannot watch.
PP is working on an international distribution deal for the folks in Canada and on a deal with a cable network to broadcast these shows after a delay. My point is a lot of people said the same thing about cable years ago and you don’t hear that anymore. For all those reasons I think people should just chill out and stop being so negative.
I will watch them too. But a lot of people won’t be able to watch.
I agree with you. To add to that, many people CAN’T watch online. I hope they air on a cable net too.
What happens to Skye? She was on all three shows. Does she stay with GH or can her character only appear on OLTL and AMC in the future?
Skye is an anomaly. I don’t think she ever had a contract with OLTL and she definitely never had one with PP, so she can go on whatever show wants her as far as I understand.
THANK U SO MUCH I’M SO HAPPY THEY R LEAVING
NOW WE’RE IS JASON :) the idea pushing the cast of GH OFF IF I WANTED TO LOOK AT OLTL I WOULD HAVE SUPPORTED THEM BUT IT WAS GETING BORING N NOW PUT THEM ON GH THAT WAS STUPID READ THE MAIL. MORE AGAINST THAN FOR THEM.