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I'll bet he is going to operate on Jason!!! I knew Robin would screw up!!! I KNEW IT!!! This General Hospital's way of trying to get the spot light off of their mess up in firing Jennifer Branston.

November 30, 2005
Prepare the O.R. (and A.A.): Dr. Drake Is Back
By KATE AURTHUR

When it comes to getting viewers' attention, soap operas have always favored the spectacular over the subtle.

And that big-splash approach definitely extends to casting: on Friday's episode of "General Hospital" on ABC, Rick Springfield will begin to reprise his role as Dr. Noah Drake - after a 22-year absence from the show. Dr. Drake may not be the flirty heartbreaker he once was, but his return is sure to shake up the series's fictional town, Port Charles.

Few prime-time shows last 10 years, let alone more than 20, but soaps are an unusual entertainment universe, where stories never end, and beloved characters always have a place in the hearts of lifelong fans. A single portrayal can last more than a generation: in 1970 on "All My Children," Ruth Warrick originated the role of Phoebe Tyler Wallingford; she made a final appearance in the part not long before her death in January.

Stunts, moreover, are standard. Last summer a tsunami engulfed the entire cast of NBC's "Passions." More recently, "The Young and the Restless" on CBS shocked fans by killing off an adored teenage character in a brutally filmed car accident.

Back in November 1981, "General Hospital" featured what is probably the most famous soap stunt: Elizabeth Taylor played a guest role on the show as the evil Helena Cassadine. When Ms. Taylor's Helena cursed the marriage of Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura (Genie Francis) before an audience of more than 30 million viewers, "General Hospital" went from a popular daytime drama to a genre-busting pop culture wonder.

But Mr. Springfield, 56, returns to a profoundly different television landscape. At the popular height of "General Hospital" in 1981, 14 million viewers watched it each day. Soap opera ratings today are vastly diminished: though this 42-year-old series is still one of the top-rated daytime dramas, its average audience is now 3.5 million.

In the 21st century, network soap operas compete for daytime viewers with cable channels and digital recording devices. More women - always the sought-after audience during the day - work outside the home. To keep the fans they do have, soap opera producers are intent on pleasing them.

"We have audience members who remember characters who were here 20 years ago, as well as some that were here five years ago," said Jill Farren Phelps, executive producer of "General Hospital." "These are their stories, and they go into their living rooms. They feel a kindred association with the characters on the show."

Characters that move the story forward and resonate with viewers usually take precedence over the people who play them: recasting a character when an actor chooses to leave is a common tactic on soap operas. "But Rick is a special kind of a character, because he has this other career," Ms. Phelps said. "There's a tremendous amount of nostalgia that surrounds Noah Drake and Rick Springfield."

Mr. Springfield, who lives in Los Angeles, was receptive to the offer. "I got a call from my agent one day, saying, 'Would you be interested in recreating your role for four days on 'General Hospital?' " he said. "I'm busy enough that I don't need to go back to work there, but I enjoy acting, and it certainly would work within what I want to do with music."

He began shooting his episodes at the beginning of November. The plot: Dr. Drake, who left Port Charles to become a neurosurgeon in Atlanta, is urgently needed at General Hospital to operate on a patient with severe brain damage. Unfortunately, Dr. Drake is less sober than he once was. "Things haven't gone well for Noah," Mr. Springfield said with a laugh.

The four days have turned into a longer storyline. "I think we all need to see how it pans out," Mr. Springfield said. "No one's going, 'Where do I sign?' or 'We're done.'
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And how does it feel to be back? "It's freaky," he said.

Because actors on soap operas often have long careers there, many of Mr. Springfield's 1980's colleagues are still on the show. Most relevant to Dr. Drake, Bobbie Spencer, the love of his life, is still in Port Charles - Jacklyn Zeman has played Bobbie since 1977. "There will be a connection between them," Ms. Phelps said. "Yes, you will see Bobbie and Noah together. We're not going to play out a full-on - well, I'm not going to tell you what we're going to do."

Betsy Knapp, who runs the Web site generalhospitalforfans.com, said viewers had been buzzing about Mr. Springfield's return. "The rumor mill runs like a well-oiled machine," she said. "They get really excited."

On the Soapzone.com message boards, one fan, anticipating Mr. Springfield's reappearance, wrote, "Have the smelling salt or nitroglyceride prepared for me on Friday."

Two decades ago, "General Hospital" turned Mr. Springfield's career around. An Australian actor and singer, he had not had an acting job in nine months when he joined the cast in 1981 and had not released a record in years. Bolstered by his new popularity, his song "Jessie's Girl" went to No. 1, and later won a Grammy Award. Mr. Springfield left "General Hospital" in 1983 to devote himself to touring, recording and a movie career.

While his film aspirations were dashed after the 1984 bomb "Hard to Hold," Mr. Springfield has acted sporadically on television, released albums and performed regularly, including a yearlong stint at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2001.

In a twist that will undoubtedly delight the audience further, the character who goes looking for Dr. Drake is Dr. Robin Scorpio, played by Kimberly McCullough. "The good news is, she finds him," Mr. Springfield said. "The bad news is, she finds him drunk in a bar."

While she was not gone as long as Mr. Springfield, Ms. McCullough is a "General Hospital" alumna who has recently come back; she reappeared on Oct. 12 after a six-year absence.

Ms. McCullough initially joined the cast as Robin in 1985 when she was 7. She won a Daytime Emmy at 11.

Ms. McCullough was the rare child soap star whose part was never recast to make her character older, another bizarre tactic daytime dramas often use to increase a show's romance quotient.

"They always used to make fun of it, and say, 'Oh, you're going to go up the stairs and come down 10 years older,' " Ms. McCullough said. "But it never happened to me."

Ms. McCullough's return is far more typical than Mr. Springfield's. She left in 1999, after which she directed short films and had recurring roles on the nighttime series "Once and Again," "The Shield" and "Joan of Arcadia." But it wasn't easy. "I did three pilots while I was gone, and none of them got picked up," Ms. McCullough said. "At this point in my life, I kind of needed the structure of working every day. I missed it."

Ms. Phelps said "General Hospital" did not have an open-door policy for returning stars; Mr. Springfield and Ms. McCullough are exceptions. "I don't want to be a day care center for actors who want to stay here for a little while, go out, and then come back," she said.

"If the writers determine that a character is needed for a story they're telling, then we will look into that," she continued. "Because always, the fans will miss anyone who leaves."
And they will certainly scrutinize that actor upon his or her return.

Luckily, Ms. Phelps, along with the head writers, were with "General Hospital" 22 years ago, so, she said, "We knew the Gestalt completely of who Noah Drake was, who his relationships were with." But even if that weren't the case, it would be easy to research. Ms. Phelps said: "Everything is documented. Every script, every day, every storyline is somewhere."

Demi Moore, John Stamos and Ricky Martin all appeared on "General Hospital" in the early stages of their careers. If Ms. Phelps could have her way, was there one adored character closely associated with a specific actor that she would bring back to the show? She hesitated and then said, "In a million years, I would not touch that."

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company