Template talk:General Hospital

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Who should be on this template?[edit]

I realize that the template currently says "Current contract cast", but perhaps we should change this to "Current cast"? In my opinion, anyone who's got an active recurring presence on the show, within the last month or so, should be in this template, because those are the names that our readers are going to be the most interested in. --El on ka 04:20, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The potential problem with that is trying to figure out at which point someone is not eligible for inclusion. Some recurring players are seldom seen, but GH has an even larger list of active recurring players than they do contract players. Rachel Ames is seldom seen, but she's definitely part of the current recurring cast. (I think it's a great idea, I just don't know how it could be organised without creating multiple edits.) D'Amico 05:35, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I guess I'm confused about how to tell the difference. Are Cooper Barrett and Logan Hayes "contract" or "recurring"? They seem to be appearing about as much as Spinelli. And Dr. Lainey Winters and Mac Scorpio are very much backburner characters right now. Perhaps we want to make a separate page like "List of current recurring characters," and then include that list in the template? Ultimately, my read of "current contract cast," means "anyone who's currently under contract." Even if it's a short-term contract. --El on ka 07:08, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The contract players are the ones that are specifically signed to a certain contract that guarantees them certain wages and the like. Bradford Anderson (Spinelli) is not on contract. Kent Masters King (Lainey) and John J. York (Mac), although seldom seen, are on contract. Jason Gerhardt (Cooper) and Josh Duhon (Logan) are both on contract. D'Amico 12:12, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Who is and is not on contract[edit]

Genie Francis is definitely not on contract, yet someone keeps including Laura on the current character list with Luke. Understandably, Luke and Laura are considered one entity by GH fans, but she's no longer part of the show. If she's going to be included, then Robert Scorpio and Anna Devane may as well be and they are only on recurring status. MysticBlue 06:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There's a similar problem with Bradford Anderson. The character of Spinelli is recurring, yet he keeps being re-added as well. No contract players have been added since Josh Duhon (Logan Hayes). D'Amico 12:12, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Can you provide a source for that? I think part of the problem, is that it's not clear who is or isn't "on contract" and what the term "contract" means. I mean, anyone appearing on the show, doubtless has some sort of contract. But "contract players" seems to imply some sort of longer term arrangement.

One possible way of handling this, is to only include names on the template, for those individuals who actually appear in the show's opening credits. For anyone else, we could make a "List of current recurring characters," and provide a link to that list on the template. --El on ka 19:36, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The best source for contract characters is the show itself. Like many other daytime dramas (heck, like eight of the other nine), contract players are separated from the cast when credits are aired. According to the March 30, 2007, episode of GH, the following people are on contract (and GH lists them in the order of how long they've been on contract: Leslie Charleson (Monica Quartermaine), Stuart Damon (Alan Quartermaine), Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie Spencer), Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer), John J. York (Mac Scorpio), Steve Burton (Jason Morgan), Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos), Ingo Rademacher (Jasper Jacks), Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis), Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth Webber Spencer), Robin Christopher (Skye Quartermaine), Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing), Greg Vaughan (Lucky Spencer), Natalia Livingston (Emily Quartermaine), Tyler Christopher (Nikolas Cassadine), Scott Clifton (Dillon Quartermaine), Ted King (Lorenzo Alcazar), Kelly Monaco (Sam McCall), Jane Elliot (Tracy Quartermaine), Lindze Letherman (Georgie Jones), Dylan Cash (Michael Corinthos), Kirsten Storms (Maxie Jones), Kimberly McCullough (Robin Scorpio), Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos), Julie Berman (Lulu Spencer), Jason Thompson (Patrick Drake), Kent King (Lainey Winters), John Ingle (Edward Quartermaine), Jason Gerhardt (Cooper Barrett) and Josh Duhon (Logan Hayes). Recurring players do not have an actual contract with the show, because there is no guarantee of payment or appearance. It's also often hard to determine who is on recurring, because not all guest stars are officially considered recurring, and that's something that is often not specified. In the case of someone like Bradford Anderson, it was stated in numerous publications that the role was slated to last about thirteen weeks and to be recurring. Then there are actresses like Rachel Ames, who are seen maybe once a month (if even), yet she is officially on recurring status. Contract actors get paid whether or not they appear; recurring players do not. D'Amico 05:17, 1 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This list is still valid as of April 13, 2007. In the coming weeks, Sebastian Roché will also be added as a contract player. (ABC has released that his status was recently upgraded, but he is still recurring at this point.) D'Amico 16:10, 14 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sebastian Roché is officially on contract now as Jerry Jacks. This was effective the week of April 23-27. D'Amico 02:17, 28 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

People need to STOP putting Annie Warsching (sp?) who plays Amelia Joffe on Contract lists. She is NOT a contract player. DJ-Siren 02:16, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Recurring cast members[edit]

Since there's such a difficult to discern distinction about the difference between "contract cast" and "recurring cast", I recommend that we add a section to this template for "Current recurring castmembers". That would help decrease the amount of edit warring that's going on here. I don't think that the anons are acting in bad faith, but that they're simply confused as to why a chracter who's popular, being written up in the soap magazines, and is showing up on daily episodes, isn't being listed in the template. --El on ka 19:21, 3 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

While it's not possible to make an accurate list of current recurring players, we could get a start on it. Current recurring players could include (among others) ...

There will always be more, since recurring players on soap operas may not appear for months or even years. And sometimes, frequent guest stars aren't recurring. Contract status is easy -- every single week the network notes who's on contract. Recurring status, unfortunately, is much harder. D'Amico 06:50, 5 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I believe Emma Samms (Holly) was only meant to appear for brief guest appearances, so can that actually be considered "recurring status?" MysticBlue 09:12, 8 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think that we would probably have to have some loose standards as to when to add or remove a name from the template. My own standards would be:

Recent appearances have been on recurring status, rather than contract
Character is notable enough to already have a page on Wikipedia
Character has appeared on General Hospital within the last year

By those standards, Holly would definitely qualify. How's that sound? --El on ka 18:12, 8 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The biggest downside is that there will still be constant edits, many of them legitimate. Sandra Ferguson is very seldom on as Felicia, and I'm not even sure if she's been seen in the last year (can't recall off-hand). But she is recurring. I like the current template, with the addition to the list of characters ... but you're right, there'll be a ton of edits. ;) D'Amico 05:14, 9 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds logical to me re: recurring status. As for Sandra Ferguson, I don't believe she's been on in well over a year. Did she even appear during last year's encephalitis storyline? MysticBlue 08:04, 9 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

According to IMDB[1][2], she hasn't been played since 2005. I'd say to not include her as "active recurring." --El on ka 08:08, 9 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Her last appearance was in December of 2005, but she is definitely on recurring. Meanwhile, there are a lot of actors that crop up multiple times that are not on recurring. That's the downside of a recurring list -- the network has their own designation for recurring (which includes actors that may not be seen for years), and many sites have another definition. Rather than call it 'recurring' or 'active recurring', why not call it 'recent guest stars'? It's almost impossible to prove recurring status for most actors, since multiple guest appearances does not necessarily mean they are. Soaps have an entirely different standard than many other venues. D'Amico 16:09, 14 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How about instead of "recurring" or "guest stars" we simply say, "Other notable characters with recent appearances"? --El on ka 04:00, 15 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Reversion[edit]

I removed the names of Robert Justin Scorpio and Lindsay Maria Spencer, because I believe them to be a hoax, added by Alliwantisu24 (talk · contribs), a new editor. I have been unable to find a single reference which affirms that Lindsay Maria Spencer is real. The relatives of Luke and Laura have been well-documented. There's no mention of a "Lindsay Maria Spencer" anywhere, and a character that was one of the "longest-running characters on the show" would surely be mentioned somewhere. And this article says that the character has been played by "Emmy Award-winning actress Elyse Austin since 2000." There's no such actress. There is no listing at IMDB.[3] This appears to be a hoax. The editor who added this information also added an article for Robert Justin Scorpio, who "has been played by Eric Dunn for the last 22 years." Again, there's no such mention of this character, and no evidence of the actor "Eric Dunn" playing on General Hospital.[4] If anyone can provide information showing that I'm wrong, I'll be happy to take a look at it, but in the meantime I am removing all additions of these names. --El on ka 19:52, 6 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You aren't wrong, Elonka. I have watched GH since 1979 and can say unequivocally that neither character has ever existed. MysticBlue 07:54, 10 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Kin Shriner[edit]

Kin Shriner is frequently re-added as Scott Baldwin, but he is not on contract. He is recurring. Here is the list of ABC's contract players as stated on Friday, July 27, 2007, with the character names as stated on-air by ABC (ABC lists the actors in the order that they began their contract run):

Leslie Charleson (Monica Quartermaine), Stuart Damon (Alan Quartermaine), Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie Spencer), Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer), John J. York (Mac Scorpio), Steve Burton (Jason Morgan), Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos), Ingo Rademacher (Jasper Jacks), Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis), Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth Webber Spencer), Robin Christopher (Skye Quartermaine), Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing), Greg Vaughan (Lucky Spencer), Natalia Livingston (Emily Quartermaine), Tyler Christopher (Nikolas Cassadine), Kelly Monaco (Sam McCall), Jane Elliot (Tracy Quartermaine), Lindze Letherman (Georgie Jones), Dylan Cash (Michael Corinthos), Kirsten Storms (Maxie Jones), Kimberly McCullough (Robin Scorpio), Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos), Julie Berman (Lulu Spencer), Jason Thompson (Patrick Drake), Kent King (Lainey Winters), John Ingle (Edward Quartermaine), Jason Gerhardt (Cooper Barrett), Josh Duhon (Logan Hayes), Sebastian Roché (Jerry Jacks), Megan Ward (Kate Howard) and Bradford Anderson (Damien Spinelli).

D'Amico 10:20, 29 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Confirmed as of 09/21, there are a few changes from the cast list back in July. Stuart Damon is now off contract as Alan Quartermaine, and Sonya Eddy and Nazanin Boniadi have been added at the end as Epiphany Johnson and Leyla Mir. D'Amico 19:17, 22 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Leyla Mir[edit]

Leya Mir is a contract Character!!! Leave her on the list!! Just look on the GH website

It is easy to distinguish Contract Players from Recurring Characters: A Contract Player will appear at the top of every show in the Credits with their photo. A Recurring Character is not included at the top of the show in the Credits. It is possible to be a Recurring Character and appear for months on the show but that does not make you a Contract Character. Zayya (talk) 18:34, 2 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Contract Player vs. Recurring Character[edit]

There's much confusion about Contract Player vs. Recurring Characters. I hope this can clear it up somewhat: The simplest means to distinguish Contract Players from Recurring Characters is that a Contract Player will appear at the top of every show montage in the Credits with their Photo. A Recurring Character is not included at the top of the show in the Credits. It is possible to be a Recurring Character and appear for months even a year or two on the show but that does not make you a Contract Character. Recurring Characters may even appear on the ABC website if they happen to have a heavier storyline at times. Still, they are not Contract Players. Zayya (talk) 18:42, 2 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]