Sunday, August 9, 2015

'General Hospital' Star Maurice Benard Jokes "We Got Rid of the Writer"

Maurice Benard speaking to fans during the GH Fan Club Weekend event
he co-hosted with Chad Duell and Bryan Craig.
Over the past few days, General Hospital has been celebrating its loyal viewers during the show's annual Fan Club Weekend, with a luncheon and wall-to-wall events featuring much of the cast. While addressing a group of fans at the "Sonny & Sons" event, Emmy winner Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) shared his feelings about the recent departure of head writer Ron Carlivati, who was replaced by Shelly Altman and Jean Passanante, and offered new enthusiasm for what's coming up.

"We got rid of the writer," Benard said jokingly to the audience.

"I'm not one to bash," Benard continued, "but the thing with him was, obviously, he wasn't a fan of mine...and that's a stupid thing..."

The crowd laughed and cheered him on as he continued talking.

"The good news is, moving forward...there's been some great stuff," he teased. "So if you guys have any doubt about what's going to happen, I can tell you right now that the future looks so promising. This is the first time in I can't tell you how long that I can't wait to go to work, and work."

"An actor cay say whatever they want, people can say whatever they want, but it's...you guys are the one that makes things happen, and that's not a lie. If the ratings go down, then things have to happen. So you're the most important ones in reality. If you all don't like stuff, and it keeps going on forever and you don't like it...eventually, shit gets fixed."

Watch Benard talk with the fans in the video below:



RELATED:
- Anthony Geary Talks Leaving 'General Hospital' in Revealing New Interview: "I Have Not Retired From Acting. Just From GH"

20 comments:

  1. First Tony, now Mo. I assumed the cast loved Ron Carlivati but obviously some didn't. I'm glad he's hopeful because I can barely watch GH lately.

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  2. Is Bernard trying to insinuate that he was the one who got RC fired? As a former viewer of GH I think the next "shit" that needs to be fixed after RC is getting rid of Maurice Bernard.

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    1. As a former viewer why would you care?

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    2. I think Mo's sense of humor came out a bit, and maybe a little too much truth in this setting with close fans and him feeling really comfortable. I took the "we got rid of the writer" bit as a joke. I'm pretty sure the ratings were responsible for Carlivati's exit. ;)

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    3. As someone who has watched soaps for decades, and starting watching GH in 1977, I have an interest in soap opera; why I'm here. But I wonder Leslie, why you would feel the need to insinuate that I do not deserve to have an opinion?

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    4. @Kevin I think Bernard's ego is in as much overdrive as his character. IMO, from past interviews, and this, MB is a buffoon.

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    5. Maurice said NOTHING about being responsinle for RC getting fired. He stated Ron didnt like Sonny C. On set lots of the actors had a problem with Ron. U dont know the half of it.

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    6. And you do? You're on set? Did you know RC lives in NY and GH is taped in LA, and RC was hardly ever on set? Also to understand my first post, because you seem to believe that I posted that MB said he was behind having RC fired. I ASKED if he was insinuating that he had something to do with BECAUSE of the words that came out of his mouth..."WE got rid of the writer..." "Obviously he wasn't a fan of mine, and that's a stupid thing to do." To which Bryan Craig replies, "You don't mess with Sonny." Seems a reasonable question to ask after hearing that IMO.

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    7. I took his comment as a reference to Tony Geary's exit interview where he called RC the writer

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  3. I don't like comments like this. They are like family conflicts that should not be aired in public. Actors making comments like this never come off well.

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  4. Mo is actually a funny guy, so I can take this one of two ways. Mob style "We got rid of the writer" or he may be sour grapes he was no longer front burner with mob stories daily since #Cartini took over. I for one loved Ron's writing for most stories.

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    1. With a focus on the mob and the Corinthos family, people should be careful what they wish for.

      But Benard gloating over a person losing his job ...karma, baby. What goes around comes around.

      And Ron Carlivati and Valentini were the team that brought the show back from imminent cancellation. Cancellation that meant the egos that are TG and MB being out of work. So, gloat , MB. Karma. Bad karma.

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  5. All of Ron's creations have been an epic fail: Nina,Franco,Silazzzzz,Det. Woodpile,Jake Dough,Jillian Jerrome, the interim commish..,and a lot of the characters he brought back he either wrote back off(Duke, AJ) after destroying. He brings on vets and tells their stories for a minute, and then they get flashback episodes. As for the kiddie quad, it was not only annoying, but his fixation with Spencer is down right creepy. I happen to like MB in doses, not on constantly, but he is charismatic enough to entertain. The mob war stories finally left with Guza and JFP, only to be back with the ridiculous Jerrome Mob war. In the meantime, Alexis(Nancy Grahn) is only on to service the ever half naked Jillian, and Tracey Q (the great Jane Elliott) twists in the wind, waiting for story. Ron may have dragged them away from cancellation, but he brought them right back there...with numbers so low, they had no choice but to fire him. Ron has talent, but he wasn't listening to the viewers, and we were turning the show off...And while we are at it, Why weren't the people in charge trying to right the ship, and ask Ron to fix the problems???

    Maybe now that there are new writers, some of the characters he has put in a closet with the mothballs will appear...(Leslie Charleson, John J. York, Kristina Wagner,Denise Alexander, Lynn Herring). I myself am looking forward to Genie Francis' arc this fall. After all these years, it would be nice to see a grown, independent Laura having a go at a storyline. I also hope that Finola Hughes returns from her sabbatical with a story that doesn't make her look like an idiot!!

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    1. That's pretty hilarious that after Frank Valentini's interview where he said the show would focus on the Corinthos Family and the Mob, that anyone would thing that means Felicia and Mac and Monica will be seen more. Ron Carlivati is the person who worked very hard to get those people back on screen. He is the one who asked that there be a focus on bringing back Felicia. Frank Valentini is the person who hires and fires. Not Ron Carlivati.

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    2. No one needs to see the Craptini favorites. I doubt the show will truly revolve around the mob for very long, as that is what led it to cancellation rumors in the first place. Frank Valentini should be the next one out the door for allowing Ron to write the dreck that brought the show to its lowest numbers in years. Fans tuned out for a reason, and that reason is Frank and Ron ...end of story. Valentini may be good with a budget, but the quality of the product is at the bottom...lower than UPChuck's hack em up job at Y&R...and the boredom of the Elephants on Days... Valentini needs to bew shown the door as well, and if his plans are all about the Mob, he probably will be.

      The new writers were recently on Y&R and both have been with GH in the past. While I was not a fan of a lot of their work until the end, where they began to actually gel, they continually wrote for characters like Traci and Jill, both of whom don't seem to register on UpChuck Pratt's Y&R. I believe that they will at least bring the vets on once in a while.We haven't seen Felica or Mac since their election Flashbacks...Oh wait...Duke's 80th funeral...Monica, who should be interacting in stories(like her"son" Jake "Smirky" Dough) has only been on three times this year...Yet "Jake" is on ALL the time...
      One should also not hide behind Anonymous if they want to share an opinion...Eh, Ron...

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  6. Add Kiki to that list of awful characters created by RC. Just horrendous.

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  7. "We got rid of the writer," Benard said JOKINGLY to the audience." This could also have been meant as a sorta slam at AG and his remarks. I think much of what Maurice said was tongue-in-cheek and not meant to be taken seriously.

    It is probably at least partly true that many of the actors had problems with Ron "on set," and he doesn't need to be in-house for that to happen. They probably felt more free to state their opinions because he WASN'T there. I can certainly understand many of the actors being upset with the way their characters were written. We, the viewers, were very upset, so why wouldn't the actors be?

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  8. Unprofessional and disrespectful. Regardless of what he thought of the writing, Carliavti and Valentinti saved GH from cancellation and therefore saved actors like Bernard from unemployment. Kicking a man when he's down shows Bernard's character, joking or not.

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