Some new features on this site:

Hot General Hospital News is a new category.

Another category has been added: Set your DV-R - important General Hospital episodes you may not want to miss!

Articles written from 2003-2006 by your present guide now have their own category.

On the forum, there is a new poll: Which actor would you most want to be stranded with on an island?

Latest rumor from the contract negotiations: Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing) is staying with General Hospital - but only through November sweeps. Word is that he is happy about the circumstances of Ric's exit.

The character of Ric is controversial to say the least, and some viewers will be happy to see the end of his duplicitous doings, if indeed this rumor is true. The actor Ric Hearst is another matter. Not only is he a wonderful actor, but anyone who has ever met the handsome and charming Hearst in person knows what a special person he is and how generous he is to his many fans. He will be missed.

Remember an old storyline concerning Elizabeth being a surrogate for Jax's and Courtney's baby?

As the rumor update article in the Essentials explains...there may be a new twist on an old tale.

And don't forget to check out next week's Spoilers!

Photo: ABC/Adam Larkey

Graham Shiels, currently playing one of Jason's henchmen, Cody Paul, on General Hospital, is featured in the first three episodes and the seventh episode of the new HBO series True Blood. Shiels plays a vampire.

A native of Canada, Shiels joined General Hospital in 2007 and has also appeared on General Hospital: Night Shift. He has a long resume of both television and film credits.

True Blood starts September 7.