2 minutes ago, John said:

I Thought it was LIVE. 

It might have been. I think you all would know better than I. If it was, my apologies. But that does not take away from trying to figure out the timeline for speculation sake if anything. 

Per the schedule, there were audience tickets available for The Talk through the 18th. Typically, The Talk tapes special episodes in advance and re-uses audience members for those purposes. Also soap stars especially are adapt to releasing social media content when they are told they can, so timing is harder to pinpoint. Was the SoapHub Awards episode live or taped in advance? We'll find out either way soon.

7 hours ago, Errol said:

  Hide contents

What's sad is Peter is still on the show after this week, so this isn't the climax of his storyline. At least in terms of him leaving the show.

 

It helps to have people in high places. The guy sucks! It shouldn't surprise me considering how many garbage actors Valentini still has on the canvas.

Unless otherwise shown, Steve Burton's last air date would have been Friday, November 19 since he wasn't shown a single time in today's episode.

8 minutes ago, Errol said:

Unless otherwise shown, Steve Burton's last air date would have been Friday, November 19 since he wasn't shown a single time in today's episode.

 

 

7 minutes ago, janea4old said:

 

 

Yes. That happened on Friday, November 19.

I wonder how long they intend to string this out without commenting. Even Deadline has wind now.

Variety:

Quote

But among “General Hospital” viewers, there’s currently a deeper mystery: Is Steve Burton, who has played the popular character Jason Morgan off and on since 1991, also defying the “General Hospital” vaccine requirement, and therefore leaving for the same reason? Burton’s departure has been rumored in the fandom for weeks, but an ABC spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment, and Burton’s publicist did not answer several inquiries from Variety about his status on the show.

At “General Hospital,” all cast and crew in Zone A — which comprises those present on set when the actors aren’t wearing masks, and the actors themselves — were required to be vaccinated as of Nov. 1. The show films weeks ahead, so Rademacher’s goodbye episode, and possibly Burton’s on Friday, were filmed before the rule went into effect. On Monday’s episode, after a tunnel collapse on Cassadine Island (fans will know what that means), an unseen Jason is likely under a pile of rubble.

Over the summer, the set of “General Hospital” became a contentious place to work. Burton tested positive for COVID in mid-August, saying he’d been “exposed at work.” And Rademacher, who frequently touts anti-vaccine propaganda on Instagram, clashed with his vaccinated castmates — and with fans, who caused #FireIngo to trend. 

[...]

Burton’s possible departure has been much quieter. Somehow, though, some fans deduced that he, too, wouldn’t want to comply with the vaccine mandate at “General Hospital.” Rumors that Burton is leaving have been rampant on Twitter, and the sites that cover soap operas have raised the question as well. 

Recasting popular characters on soap operas and dead characters coming back to life are endemic to the genre. In the past, the Jason character has been played by other actors, as Burton has pursued other projects — and that is certainly possible again if Burton has in fact left. In the case of Rademacher, except for a few episodes in 2008, he has always played Jax. Which doesn’t mean that the character couldn’t be recast, should the “General Hospital” storyline have an urgent need for Jax, but for now, there are no plans to recast the character.

Of the four daytime dramas remaining on the networks, “General Hospital,” which is owned by ABC, is the only one that has instituted a vaccine mandate. NBC’s “Days of Our Lives,” and CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” continue to rely on testing, social distancing and other CDC-recommended guidelines for their on-set protocols.

[...]

As for Burton’s Jason, several of the show’s characters continue to look for him, vowing not to give up. The question for “General Hospital” fans is: Is he already gone?

Kate Aurthur is a pretty serious reporter for Variety, and her being stumped is surprising:

I feel like GH is in denial and/or cowed by their aged, conservative Facebook-adjacent audience re: Sonny and Jason tbh. Just trying to avoid acknowledging any of this. I think they're desperate to reach a new deal with Steve to vax and are hoping to avoid releasing the truth until they can make one and then claim it's just  'a break'. That or they'll dump it on Friday.

Edited November 23, 20214 yr by Vee

Thanks for the update I appreciate that Variety is trying but is the GH production office open this week?

 

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, ~bl~ said:

Thanks for the update I appreciate that Variety is trying but is the GH production office open this week?

If GH wanted to respond to Variety and Kate Aurthur, they would do so. They're not Soap Opera Digest or Daytime Confidential lying down on the job to keep access.

Soaps do not traditionally comment on actor contracts, comings & goings, etc unless it's something they themselves want to promote. This is why when a publication cites "exclusive" it's because they were granted the information first without the show outright being forced to confirm anything with another publication. Additionally, the vaccination status of an actor cannot be revealed by a private employer. We only know the status of celebrities, including their getting COVID, because they open their own mouths and say so. 

Just because Deadline, Variety, etc are covering this story in their publications doesn't mean they'll get anything out of the soaps beyond what the soap outlets that are covering the story are able to get unless you count something like what happened with Ingo Rademacher following the transphobic comments.

Right now the exit of a major character is the cover story of SOD which for some reason people still buy. To sell the show and the magazine, viewers have to be led to believe that the characters are going to either find Jason or that Jason will be back down the road. For him to be gone because the actor allegedly didn't get vaccinated won't work for the type of fans that watch soaps, regardless of political leanings. The soaps have an older, more traditional audience more so than any other genre. They aren't as adapt to change like many younger soap viewers would like them to be which is why the transition to the web or streaming is partially due to this demographic.

We can hate the game all we want, but that's how it's played. You either sit it out like some outlets have or you dribble as much as you can until you can get a score. In this instance, the score is hard to come by.

I liked NLG's response. She has known and worked with these guys for 25 years. Of course she wouldn't be happy about it.

Eagerly awaiting @j swift's 5-part thesis about why he was right all along when I get off my plane for Thanksgiving