I realize that writing a soap opera is high pressure work. The writers have to turn out a full script every day, five days a week, and there may not be time to check things closely.

However, with James Franco due to debut on General Hospital tomorrow, and new viewers probably tuning in (at least for two months), I'm hopeful that the writers are going to pay the tiniest attention to detail to give him the best story arc possible and perhaps interest a few new viewers in staying around.

Normally, the writers ask us to accept an awful lot of sloppy writing. The latest gaffe is Maxie Jones waiting at Kate Howard's house at 3 a.m. for an emergency visit from the pool man. While there, she sees Sonny Corinthos return home with a bloodied shirt.

Port Charles, last I heard, was in upstate New York, where I live. Very few homes have pools, even expensive ones, because they're used so infrequently. Okay, so some homes have pools, and let's just say Kate's is one of them.

I must then ask why a pool man is needed on an emergency basis in the middle of November at 3 a.m. Even in sunny California, unless the pool sprang a leak and was flooding someone's home, I don't understand why a pool man would be there at 3 a.m.

Maxie could have been housesitting for the out-of-town Kate and, unable to sleep, peered out the window when she heard a car. That would have made a lot more sense. Now, every time I hear about the pool man, I become annoyed. The show has been on the air for 46 years, and the writers still don't know where it takes place? It's like the New York-based sitcoms that ask in offices if they validate parking. These are California things.

Dealing with another badly-handled incident, a viewer recently wrote the following:

Why wouldn't Sonny and Jason have enough brains to use credit cards to make it look like Claudia ran away? ... Darnn fans have better ideas than we get on the show.

My sentiments exactly.

Photo: Adam Larkey/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Chad Brannon (Zander Smith) tweets that his actual air date on General Hospital will be December 22.

Many have commented how excited they are. This appearance does not sound like Zander comes back from the dead again; I'm guessing that he's more of a ghostly presence.

The debut of character Vlad (Valentin) Cassadine, Mikkos Cassadine's illegitimate son who strikes fear into the heart of Helena, has been delayed, according to head writer Bob Guza.

Due to the return of Jonathan Jackson as Lucky and the impending appearance of James Franco, the Cassadine storyline will now not happen until possibly the spring of 2010.

With all the excitement that's going on now, it's good to know we'll have another juicy storyline to look forward to in the upcoming year. Nothing shakes things up like those crazy Cassadines!

Head writer Bob Guza has hinted to columnist Nelson Branco that we might see the Spencer family - meaning Laura as well - reunited in the near future. That would be awesome!

Photo: American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Here's a Monday chuckle, albeit twisted - and, since it's Monday, we all could use one.

...Chad Brannon returns to General Hospital.

Brannon tweets:

So about that whole dead being dead thing...yes it's true. I will be appearing on General Hospital again. It will air sometime in mid Dec!

Now, is this an apparition? Or the real thing? The last time we saw Zander, he provoked the police into killing him. Maybe they didn't use real bullets, and he's in some special government program.

This should be interesting.

Read more about Zander's death. His first and his second one.

Photo: Chad Brannon (Zander) and Tamara Braun (Carly)/Screenshot: Maria Ciaccia

The good news: Jonathan Jackson's return as Lucky Spencer caused a nice jump in ratings for General Hospital for the last week in October.

The bad news: The show was so far down, it still hasn't recovered.

In total viewers, GH is in fourth place despite picking up 163,000 new viewers. In total households, it's tied in fourth place with All My Children, a soap opera which has seen a growth spurt lately.

Where Mr. Lucky has been most helpful is in the 18-49 demographic, where GH sits at #2, with 76,000 new viewers. This is the demographic that keeps the show alive, and in past weeks, it had dipped. For girls 12-17, it stayed the same at #1.

Photo: American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

A General Hospital rehearsal reveals a different set, a relaxed James Franco - and a newly-coiffed, laughing Kirsten Storms.

Judging by the name on the back wall, the artist Franco plays, whose name is Franco (a real stretch), must be fairly successful.

Photo: Michael Yarish/American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

As the time draws near for James Franco's first appearance on General Hospital, we're finding out a touch more about his storyline and about Franco's taping of the show.

What we know:

• Franco plays a character named...Franco.
• The character is an artist.
• The graffiti "CO77X" relates to him.
• He has some sort of involvement with Jason and possibly Sam.

Franco is set to appear in 10+ episodes and began taping on October 30, according to Entertainment Weekly.

On his first day, Jill Farren Phelps told EW, Franco taped a whopping 65 pages. Remember, now, that in film, actors do maybe one or two pages of script a day. Phelps reports being incredibly impressed by the actor's ability to memorize.

Apparently, Franco was in talks with GH for six months. After hearing that acting in soaps is difficult, he wanted to try it, requesting only that his character be "a little off."

There have also been hints that when Franco leaves the show after the story arc, his departure may not be permanent.

Phelps also expressed the hope to EW that possibly Franco's appearance on the show will open the door for other stars to give soaps a try. It's not such a far-fetched idea. Franco is unusual in that he doesn't have to look for work. However, that isn't the case with some film stars who have found themselves off the A list. Just take a look at the film stars working on network television and in theater, two much more labor-intensive fields. Can soaps be far behind?

Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images Entertainment

Laura Wright has announced that she has signed to do four more years of that feisty, sexy character that she has made her own, Carly Corinthos Jacks.

Wright has been discovering the joys of Twitter; regarding her news, she added to her tweet, "You guys are stuck with me". Viewers will be very happy to read that.

Photo: American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.