‘General Hospital’ Rumor: Is GH Head Writer Ron Carlivati FIRED? Low Ratings to Blame!
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A new and exciting ‘General Hospital’ rumor is floating around on the interwebs that should leave GH fans cheering. Word has leaked that Ron Carlivati may be gotten the ax as the soap’s head writer. Ratings at General Hospital have been on the decline and there’s no one to blame but the writers. While there’s no official message that’s been issued from either ABC or showrunner Frank Valentini, the indications are clear that Ron Carlivati is persona non grata in Port Charles from now on.
Here’s what we know. As of this writing, it’s been a week since Ron Carlivati has posted on his Twitter when he’s normally a twice a day (sometimes more) daily poster with info, updates and conversations about General Hospital. Second, Luke Spencer portrayer Anthony Geary absolutely reamed Carlivati in a recent interview with TV Insider.
Geary called out Carlivati whom he refers to as “the writer” for sloppy plotlines and for micro-managing the actors so that they have no room to breathe creatively. Geary specifically said that resurrecting little Jake Spencer [James Nigbor] and bringing back mobster Frank Smith were both ridiculous storylines. Geary said his exit should have happened when Luke found out that he had killed his parents, but Carlivati has dragged it out for months.
And that’s the main issue with Carlivati’s writing – it drags on and on and on and on. Rosalie Martinez [Linda Elena Tovar] has been keeping a secret for a year now. Jake Doe [Billy Miller] has been back in Port Charles for so many months and half the town knows he’s Jason Morgan, but Carlivati won’t just let that one die down. And now the “big reveal” we were all waiting on about Brad Cooper [Parry Shen] was made offscreen so we didn’t hear it.
Carlivati’s slow and labored writing frustrates fan who go weeks without seeing favorite characters because everything is so protracted and he constantly throws in flashback scenes to remind us of material we saw just a day or so before. In the end, Carlivati’s writing is an insult to both fans and to the excellent actors on General Hospital. Hopefully this ‘General Hospital’ rumor is true and Carlivati is right now packing up his office and being booted off the set of ABC.
It looks like Nathan Varni, executive director of ABC programming, has finally had enough of the plummeting ratings and is holding Ron Carlivati accountable – as he should. It appears that Frank Valentini is still in place as showrunner – he’s still active with GH posts on Twitter and there are no rumors abounding that he’s in trouble.
The bottom line is that it’s the perfect chance for Valentini and Varni to reboot the show and bring it back from certain death. Their best shot is to bring in a writer from The CW (think Gossip Girl) or even from ABC (think Desperate Housewives). They need a nighttime writer who’s accustomed to faster pace and better use of an ensemble.
Marc Cherry would be fabulous if they can get him away from Devious Maids. Or they could bring in a young, fresh writer. GH needs to pick up the pace, stop regurgitating tired plots, stop bringing people back from the dead, and reinvigorate the show before we lose it for good. Goodbye Ron Carlivati (we hope) and welcome to someone who can shake things up in Port Charles for the better.
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You just basically put all my problems with GH in an article. Well said!
Hallelujah! About damn time. Everything was fine up to and through the 50 year anniversary “bring backs,” and then everything slowed down to a crawl and went nuts! No wonder Tony decided it was time to disappear for good.
All very valid points. The one problem TPTB will have about recruiting a Primetime writer such as Marc Cherry are that Primetime writers only write these days between 8-22 episodes of one hour dramas per year. As talented as prime writers are in their short series arching and planning they are given time to map out a season. In order to make the pace work writing 260+ episodes you need to have a different set of writing skills, ie you need to be able to write and break story virtually 24/7. How many Primetime writers could do that without burning out in the first 6-12 months? If there are any Primetime writers avail and who would consider working on soaps for a very reduced pay check, please stand up and let yourself be known to this thread and to Mr Varni at the network. I’d love to see who in Primetime would consider taking the pay cut and increasing their workload by 500%
Great article. You wrote what most fans have been saying for a long time. I stopped watching April 2013. After watching for 32yrs. Makes me sad of what had become of a soap that i watched for a long time. I just could not watch beloved and iconic characters be destroyed left and right.
Buh bye.
Anyone that supports this or that Petition going around, I do not want to know! Shameful and ungrateful people. You are feeding right into ABC’S wishes. Fools! Hope you will be happy when there are no soaps to watch!
I couldn’t agree more …. well said!
Well that sure sounds wonderful. I am really tired of people coming back from the dead, doesn’t happen, hope this is the end of it. Get back to the lives of regular people.
I completely agree. To bring little Jake back and to keep Jason identity a secret for this long is totally ridiculous
I hate to be mean to Mr. Carlivati but I definately think this woud be good for GH, especially if we coudl get an amazing writer to take over from where he left off….. I love the idea of a primetime write coming on.. maybe even as a challenge to him or herself, maybe for love of the genre and with a passion for bringing GH ratings up……. I think someone who might be amazing would be the writers of Chuck, which was on NBC.. ti was such an amazing blend of romance, fun, excitement and was heartbreaking and so funny and sooo touching with all these amazing heartwarming moments and such depth and poignancy…….. I wonder if those writers would be interested in doing it, as a challenge and to help keep the genre going, which employs so many brilliant actors and behind the scene people……. some will disagree with this, but if they were to pair Guza and Wolf.. I always thought that would make an interesting combination… Wolf has a certain poetry about him imo and Guza is so good with the excitement and definately knows the characters.. some are upset with him for killing off so many Q’s, but what people don’t know is that he was forced to do that by those in executive positions… or maybe pair Guza with someone from primetime, since he does know the characters very well and since imo two is better than one when it comes to writing a soap.. having someone to bounce ideas off of, maybe balance each others strenths and weakness too…. 🙂
Thank God!! I hope this is indeed true! The storylines never seem to end; and then when they do, you don’t care anymore! The Nina and Rick storyline is ridiculous. They didn’t even know each other, then suddenly they’re married!
Hallelujah! I have felt that these actors have so much depth to them and their craft needs someone that able to utilize their talents without some of these rediculous story lines that especially downgrades our sesoned vets.
I agree 100%!! Story lines drag on way too long. Little Jake returning from the dead is so creepy. The only thing missing from my list of complaints is the Dante infidelity nonsense, completely out of character!! The only thing that could make it wise is if Valerie gets pregnant.like that’s never been done before! Don’t do it, please! Most overdone story line ever!!
The biggest problem has been dragged to death stories. Jason should have been reveled when Hayden went to tell both Jason and Sam who he was. Just as she was about to do it she’s shot. Rick Hearst amazing talented actor should not have been pulled out from one terrible story to be put in another. Rick deserves a great new story. Like being brought in as a Special Prosecutor.. Rick would be great doing that or remaining a Defense Attorney and working on cases opposing Alexis and a triangle with Julian and Alexis. Or a paring with Jordan. Just get him out of this story he’s in now and into something new. The Denise Morgan thing awful. Reveal Ava also. Give the veterans like Rick Monica Sonny Carlyle Tracy and others stories that not only make sense but make sense to their history. Like Rick never cared about money if he had it or didn’t. Bring the younger actors into those stories and some teens for Molly and TJ that would pull their parents into it. And most of all speed stories up.
So this article is basically all speculation and opinion at this point. No real facts that tell anyone Ron has been let go are cited. You site low ratings because of slow story lines, Ron hasn’t been on twitter, and Geary’s interview slamming Ron as your indicator he is out. Yet no real proof and you have people believing he’s gone. KInd of misleading if you ask me.
If he goes or stays, I could care less but what if he isn’t out? Then this article makes this writer look stupid and uninformed. Just sayin. Maybe you should write this more as an opinion piece vs a fact piece?
Thank you for your kind comments – perhaps you did not read the title. It CLEARLY says RUMOR – If you are unaware of what a rumor is I suggest you Google it. FYI if it was a fact it would have said NEWS.
This reads like a hater’s rant with no facts to support it. Anything is possible but firing the head writer just after the biggest star has left seems like a bad public relations move. Although ratings have fluctuated, year-to-year ratings (the ones network executives and advertisers care about) are better than before RC started on GH. RC’s Twitter profile still says he’s the GH head writer. Frank Valentini is the boss, RC reports to him, so if there’s something wrong with the writing, FV is where the buck stops. If RC is out, I would think Friday afternoon is when it would be announced.
You just said everything that I was feeling about GH and agree that things have been dragging on for too long! I agree you need a new writer to shake things up and for peep sakes let the truth about Jake-Do come out so Sam can get back with Jason, let Franco and Jeanna get back together, and I agree split Sonny and Carly up after all their marriage didn’t work the first four times what makes them think it going to work this time.
GOOD!
It is kind of sad in the way he was the last really good writer on
oltl which really had good ratings when he was
s writing for that soap. But yes stories are sadly going on way too long. maybe he needs someone to help him speed th stories up. Sad days for soaps indeed
When I first went back to watching GH a few years ago the storylines were very fast and I was impressed. Something changed with the pace of the show and storylines, not on for weeks. When they come back on I am like oh, yeah.
Frankly, I don’t know or care who is at fault. Not the viewers problem.
Just fix it. Get the show back on track so the viewers come back.
Love the actors but they are not the writers and directors.
Soaps are not the same at they were during the life of GH which has to change with the times.
There are new viewers who really don’t care about the old characters other then a mention here or there. Bringing Lucy on? Scotty? no problem but where is any storyline for them? Then they would be relevant.
Ron Carlivati was head writer on OLTL. He initially livened up Llanview, but then started the same stuff he’s now doing to GH. I watched GH years ago in the ’80’s, but stopped and stayed with my favorite OLTL. And we know what happened to that show. Only started GH a couple years ago after OLTL was cancelled. And it is very dull. Too many characters with too little time for story development. Some are gone for weeks, then pop up. Tighten it up; move stories along & stop reanimating dead people.