Both Soap Opera Digest and Nelson Branco report that a "name" is being sought by the producers of General Hospital to play that often talked about, never seen relative of Claudia's, Uncle Rudy.

With The Sopranos off the air, they shouldn't have a problem.

It would be nice to see them cast against type - maybe an elegant, smooth actor in the style of the late Marcello Mastroianni or Alain Delon (okay, so he's not Italian).

Of course, one must also remember that he's supposed to be related to that weasel Anthony Zacchara. It will be interesting to see who surfaces as Uncle Rudy.

Any thoughts? Preferences?

On yesterday's episode of General Hospital, we were treated to Molly (Haley Poullos) reading Pandora Gets Jealous, a book by none other than Carolyn Hennesy (Diane Miller). Diane enters Alexis' house, sees Molly reading the book and says, "I hear that's very good." Molly replies, "It is." Loved it.

Besides her duties as an actress, Hennesy has a page devoted to her three Pandora books, geared to grades 4-7, on amazon.com. School Library Journal says (reviewing Pandora Gets Vain):

Although set in classical times, this fantasy reads more like a current-day adolescent adventure. The characters use contemporary teenage idioms, making the text accessible to readers, and a glossary of gods, historical figures, and other relevant terms is provided. Classical Greek and Egyptian religion and history tread lightly in the story's background, and certain elements have been modernized (Pandy uses a conch shell much like a cell phone).

How Hennesy manages to do it all - and do it all so well - is amazing.

Kudos to her for creating something that gets kids reading.

Photo: Ron Tom/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Holes I call them - you could drive a truck through them.

I want to know how Michael Corinthos, after a year in a coma, gets a permit without taking the test. I don't care who Jacks knows.

Given the fact that everyone can walk into everyone else's houses in Port Charles, okay, maybe Kristina didn't lock up (though after that visit from Dante/Dominic, I would have). So Andrea walks in, sits at a computer that apparently, even with confidential information in it and young children in the house, one doesn't have to sign into with a password.

She then sends a bunch of emails to her husband from Alexis. So Alexis' email doesn't have a password either? And what are the dates of these emails? The same?

In order to change the date and time of each email, Andrea would have to manually change the time and date in the computer. That's do-able. But to send that many emails would take hours. Also, I'm sure that a look at the computer would reveal that the time and date were being changed every other minute.

On top of which, when the mayor looks at his email, if Andrea didn't change the dates, he's got all these emails from Alexis. If she did, then he has unread messages from weeks ago scattered all over his email.

It is unbelievable to me that the writers don't think through these bright ideas, which, by the way, aren't too bright.

The Brianna Hughes murder is one of the current storylines on General Hospital. For those who watch the show, the Mayor was accused. Now Robin has a theory that the Mayor's wife did it. The last time we saw Mrs. Mayor, Andrea Floyd, she was in the process of framing Alexis.

The plan to have Andrea be the murderer may be changing for one simple reason. The talented Martha Byrne, who plays Andrea, has caught on with the fans. The brass may want to keep her around for a while longer.

So if it's not the mayor, not Andrea, and we assume not Alexis, whodunit? Any thoughts?

Photo: Adam Larkey/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Somebody at ABC had better wake up - fast.

For the period of June 22-26, 2009, General Hospital hit a new low.

The soap opera hit 5th place, beating only three soaps, All My Children, As the World Turns, and the recently canceled Guiding Light. Since last year, GH has lost 411,000 viewers. Its 1.7 rating for total households is a new low.

GH is now in 3rd place in the 18-49 age demographic with a loss of 234,000 viewers from last year.

As long as it stays up there in the 18-49 demographic, ABC will put up with a lot. If it slips any lower in that category, or doesn't return to #1 or #2, the show, things will become even tougher for GH.

I'm not sure what ABC is doing, but let's hope they're holding focus groups and figuring out where this show needs to go. You can make suggestions by contacting them here or here, or joining in the petition blogged about earlier this week.

Watching General Hospital yesterday, I had a few observations:

• The new Molly is cute. She looks like Alexis' daughter and Kristina's sister for sure.
  
  
• Kristina and Molly are not only half-sisters, but cousins as well! "Hi, this is my sister and my cousin, Molly." Anyone remember Chinatown?
  
  
• Olivia tells Johnny: "You're almost as old as my son." Yes, that's true. Her son as played by Dominic Zamprogna is 31, Brandon Barash is two months shy of 30, and Lisa LoCicero is 39. I frankly think Zamprogna looks too old to be Olivia's son. I figure it this way - and I already posted this - Maurice Benard is 46, so Olivia is around the same age, making it possible that she has a 30-year-old son. I think then they should have gotten a 46-year-old actress. By the way, my sister thinks Dominic looks like Nikolas.
  
  
• Michael (Drew Garrett) had such a pleasant look on his face as he pointed out the spot of Jason's accident and described the incident to Morgan, that I wasn't sure if he was planning on replicating the accident or what. He may have been directed that way to keep us guessing. It was a chilling moment because that Michael is a loose canon.
  
  
• If yesterday's shower is any indication, apparently Spinelli can't sing, though Bradford Anderson can! This should be really funny.

In reading over the comments regarding the "save our show" petitions and letters, I thought about what I would like to see more of/less of on General Hospital.

• I'm in agreement - less mob. Not no mob - the mob would be okay if the writers could come up with a really neat story, something besides a gang war. Bring back Faith Roscoe maybe.
  
  
• More comedy like they've been doing lately. I still remember Alexis and Ric getting lost in the woods.
  
  
• A private life for poor Jason - maybe have him vacillating between Elizabeth and Sam.
  
  
• More Quartermaines.

Photo: Carol Kaelson/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

It's called Screening Room , and it's written by about.com's Sue Funk. Screening Room will contain the best TV and movie content on the various sites. It's to be published each week.

Anyone interested should sign up in order to receive the newsletter. Also, if you're not receiving my newsletter and would like to, you can sign up at the top right of the home page for General Hospital Fans.

Our beloved Stuart Damon, who played Alan Quartermaine for 31 years, is headed to As the World Turns , according to a report in Soap Opera Digest.

Damon's character was killed off during the MetroCourt crisis. Viewers were outraged. Alan then returned from time to time as a ghost.

Now it seems that As the World Turnshas him, along with Lynn Herring.

General Hospital's loss is now another gain for ATWT.

Here is just part of their statement, with contact information at the end. Don't forget you can also contact General Hospital through the channels listed here as well.

Having joined together to form the SOS/Save Our Soap! GENERAL HOSPITAL Campaign, fans of Sonny and Kate, Jason and Elizabeth, Patrick and Robin, and Jax and Carly share a common goal in asking ABC/Disney to listen to the viewers and make changes.

Over 12,000 postcards have already been sent to ABC/Disney executives to that end. All involved in this campaign want GH to be successful and want to help restore GH to the position it once held. However, as one fan stated, “women, who are the backbone of GH’s viewership, and obviously the most important demographic, resent being virtually banned from their TV screens by being forced to endure the degradation of strong, independent and professional female characters in favor of showcasing immoral, manipulative, lying female characters on a day-to-day basis.

Women viewers have had enough and have decided that GH is no longer entertaining or enjoyable to watch and the ratings reflect that.”

The number of fans joining the SOS/Save Our Soap! General Hospital Campaign continues to grow in support of working for a better GENERAL HOSPITAL. For more information on the campaign, contact Dana L. Meyer or Kecia K. Picard at saveoursoapgh@gmail.com or visit the SOS/Save Our Soap! GENERAL HOSPITAL page on Facebook.

Sebastian Roche fans, take note: Jerry Jacks is returning, but briefly. No word on when.

Roche has been keeping busy in between GH appearances. He's made a film due out in 2010, called L.L., and he's due to appear in a new film, now in pre-production, Shattered Glory. He's also done a voiceover for The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.

It will be great to see him back stirring things up on General Hospital.