2005

Painting the Town That day Robin stolled into a New York bar and found a drunken and disheveled Noah sprawled out on a table, viewers could immediately tell there was something plaguing him. Did his inebriated state once cause him to lose a patient, leaving him to feel he had "blood on his hands?" Probably so. But blood wasn't the only thing Noah had on his hands that day in the bar. When Robin tried to sober him up by tossing a pitcher of water on him, he jumped to his feet and looked a little puzzled at his hands. That's because the prop department had just painted the table he was sitting at with water-soluable black paint, so he was covered with it! After the scene was shot, Rick Springfield (Noah) showed the powers that be what happened, but they said his hands weren't in the shot. Guess what? They were wrong. (SID 2/14/06)

2004

Roundup "Jack Wagner when he was Frisco Jones on GH. I was a huge Frisco and Felicia fan. Of course, I was only 2 then [laughs]. My mom taped the show every day so we could fast forward through all the other scenes. We were like, 'Boring, boring, Frisco!' I told Jack about that recently and he loved it." -Maeve Quinlan, Megan on B&B, in response to what soap star were you a fan of before you joined daytime? (SOD 2/10/04)

2001

Dance Fever As rehearsal for the Nurses Ball began, Kristina Wagner (Felicia) explained that she wasn't sure if the show decided to use "Swanee River" as Luke and Felicia's musical number because of the silly way her character performed it in front of Mac, or if it had already been written into the script. "According to our choreographer, she said they liked it so much they had to use it," says the actress. "I wash I ahdn't done it so crazy!" But at the Ball, when Luke demands that the music make a quick change to "Old Time Rock 'N Roll," both Geary and Wagner got to show off their smooth moves. "If I had my choice, I would have chosen more choreography over the singing," she continues. "We did add a couple more measures of dancing just because we're not singers. It's all or nothing. It's like the first time I sang 'Swanee River,' I sang out loud and strong. The accompanist said, 'No fear, huh?' But what else am I going to do? Sing it bad softly? I might as well sing bad loud." Still, during rehearsal, they got a round of applause from the crew. Worn out from the workout, Geary concluded, "If you like that, pay up!" (SID 7/24/01)

2000

Blast from the Past Being a daytime veteran, Finola Hughes has some great behind-the-scenes stories to tell. One of her favorites comes from her 1985-1991 stint as sexy Anna Devane on GH. Hughes recalls an on-location action sequence with John Reilly (ex-Sean) in which "John had to race down a mountain, hiding behind trees and rocks, while firing a gun." The gun was a prop, loaded with blanks, but the crew didn't have blanks to waste before the camera started rolling. So during rehearsal, Reilly yelled 'Bang! Bang!' as he ran with the gun, to indicate when he'd be firing. "When it came time to tape, they loaded the gun with the blanks, but as John came down the mountain, he was still making the noises with his mouth! We were all standing at the bottom saying, 'What is he doing?' He looked like a 10-year-old playing with guns!" The response from their then-boss, legendary Gloria Monty? "She was like, 'No, darling, you can't make that noise. Go back to the top and do it all again!'" (SID 9/19/00)  

Harsh Reality Life can get complicated in Soap Opera Land. Just ask Kristina Wagner, whose character has had quite a year, between her various adventures, an affair and the threat of divorce. Still, even with all these twists, Wagner has found it most challenging to adjust to the idea of playing mother to a teenage daughter- and one who grew up in record time, to boot. "All of a sudden, Georgie is 12!" says an amazed-looking Wagner. "I thought she was 9! For months, I was playing her as my baby 9-year-old. Then one day they came and said, 'No, she's 12.' What? She shot right up!" Wagner admits that she was a bit taken aback at the sudden change of plans. "Id have to say I was somewhat disappointed," she laughs. "It was like real life: 'Wait- what happened to my baby?'" She does concede, though, that having a rebellious teen around will only increase Felicia's storyline potential. "I don't know what the plan is, but they can go in so many different directions now." (SID 9/19/00)  

Grin and Bare It With the possibility of Mac and Felicia making up in the near future, John J. York can't help but recall a popular love scene in the couple's past. "I remember our barn scene," reflects the actor. "That was in our first year, when Mac was on the run. He and Felicia were together and ended up in the barn. Mac was hot and Felicia had a sponge and a cloth... We got very close. [The show] always goes back to it when they go into the archives." Unlike many performers, York doesn't mind taping a steamy love scene. "I'm a guy," he says. "Guys love it! I'm not uncomfortable at all." But how would he feel if the scene included nudity? "Well, we all have bodies," he reasons. "We all are what we are. As long as it's not a porn thing. I've never been asked, so I don't know enough to worry about it." So, what if N.Y.P.D Blue came calling, with the stipulation that his fanny would get a screen credit of its own? "I've got the butt for it!" York laughs. "I've got the round, white butt! Or so I've been told." -John J. York (SID 10/3/00)

1999

"Chit" Chat A line of dialogue in a Port Charles script (the June 28 episode) had John J. York (GH's Mac, who was making a crossover appearance) and PC's Jon Lindstrom and Julie Pinson (Kevin and Eve) laughing. "Kevin told Mac that Victor was gone, and Mac said he could help find him," John says. "Mac started explaining to Eve that the WSB owned him, since they got his brother, Robert, and his wife killed. "Then I had a line, 'I'm going to be calling in that "chit."' I thought it was a misprint. So I said, 'I'm going to call in my chip.' Word came down from the control booth: 'No. Say chit.' I said, 'Really? You want me to say chit? Is that a word?'" John says with a laugh, making obvious reference to the sound-like profanity. Producer Hope Smith later explained the significance of a chit- something you ante up in a card game- to the trio, who were in stitches. "Jon, Julie and I were gone," John says. "We laughed for 20 minutes before we finally finished the scene."-John J. York, Soap Opera Weekly 7/13/99

1997

Felicia and Lucy have snuck into a convent to figure out what Kevin's secret is, and Felicia reminisces about the nuns in the movie, The Sound of Music.  "I always wanted to be the pretty one- you know, the one who looked like Lila Quartermaine."  Anna Lee (Lila Quartermaine) played the character, Sister Margareta in the Sound of Music.

"Buying her share of The Outback.  She put the entire down payment on her credit card and they've never brought it up since.  This girl should be in some serious financial trouble." -Kristina Wagner in response to "What's the most foolish thing your character's ever done?" (SOD 4/1/97)

1991

"I wanted very much to give a past to Tristan Roger's Scorpio.  I had brought both Robert and Anna in.  I always felt that they were so right for each other.  [Bringing them back together] has gone over enormously.  They are the new couple.  Also, Mac (John J. York) has been a great success.  I had wanted to create a new, younger hero."  -Gloria Monty, on what's working on the show, Soap Opera Weekly 7/2/91

1988

"One actor who never underestimated the rapport he shares with his co-star is Ian Buchanan, GH's natty Duke Lavery.  He was stuck in a story and a set he didn't like and was relieved he could at least play it with Finola Hughes, who plays his television wife, Anna.  'There I was with all my hair cut off and no nice clothes to wear,' remembers the Scotsman.  'I really felt like I'd been sent to the back and beyond.  I was so pleased that I had someone I was close to work with and not someone I hated.'   Buchanan says he and Hughes became instant fiends at his screen test.  They goofed around, talking, he says, 'in funny English accents, like Monty Python.  And we used to go out a lot dancing.  She's a very let's-go-out-to-the-movies person.  I'm not.'  Still, they remain close, largely through work.  'We're so close, there's no need to go out together,' Ian remarks.  'It's like working with your best friend.  You can only take so much of your best friend.'" -Ian Buchanan on Onscreen Friendships (SOD 12/27/88)

1987

Is Duke Lavery, the character you play, a scroundrel or a hero? How would you describe him? "Half good, half bad.  Good heart and soul, but corrupt by society.  He wouldn't be one of my friends.  He's too unpredictable.  I'm sometimes appalled at what he's capable of.  I have a conscience and get really upset.  Other times I'll wonder why I can't run my life the way Duke does.  Why can't I get on the phone and tell people to go to hell.  Falling in love has changed him.  It changes everybody.  He used to manipulate Anna Devane, but he fell in love with her strength and her resistance.  She's the first woman who's ever resisted him.  She can play the game as well as he." -Ian Buchanan on his character Duke, Daytime TV January 1987

1986

"Because they rub shoulders with stars, soap opera small-fry find their notoriety zooming.   Eight-year-old Kimberly McCullough, GH's Robin Soltini, is constantly being hustled for autographed pictures of co-star Jack Wagner (Frisco Jones).  Her mother, Susan, admits 'That's basically why Kimberly is very popular at her school, more so than her being Robin.'" (SOD 7/29/86)

undated

Her American English "When Emma Samms replaced Pamela Sue Martin as Fallon on ABC's Dynasty, it presented one obvious problem: how to get around the fact that Samms had a British Accent when the first Fallon sounded as American as apple pie.  Even Dynasty couldn't gloss over that inconsistency.  So, from the beginning, Samms has worked hard at burying her native pronounciation.  'We all have to think about our marks, lines, and continuity,' she says, 'but I have to concentrate on sounding American.  It can kill the spontaneity.'  It was thus almost like a vacation when Samms recently shot an upcoming episode of CBS's Murder, She Wrote.  She plays a woman suspected of murder at a ski lodge.  A proper Englishwoman." -TV Guide