At this weekend’s #GHFCW General Hospital Fan Club Weekend, there was some “General Hospital” spoilers revealed – but what’s bigger is that in a moment that’s been called “Mauricegate” Sonny Corinthos portrayer Maurice Benard laid into the recently fired Ron Carlivati about his dissatisfaction working with Ron in recent years.
Some fans agreed with Benard’s take on Carlivati’s work and firing while others critiqued it and tweeted that Maurice was taking a page from Anthony Geary’s playbook with his scathing comments.
Here are some of his choices comments:
“We got rid of the writer!”
“The thing was, he wasn’t a fan of mine…and that was a stupid thing…”
“The future looks so promising, it’s the first time in a long time I can’t wait to go to work!”
“You guys [the fans] are the most important ones…if you all don’t like stuff, and it keeps going on forever…eventually sh*t gets fixed.”
And while Maurice Benard used the same lingo Tony Geary did, referring to Carlivati as “the writer” others were more circumspect and just talked about their issues with the writing without referring to Ron by name.
Tyler Christopher – aka Nikolas Cassadine – said “So I think what we’re gonna get back to is writing for the viewer/fan who already know the history of the show…”
And while Kelly Monaco was nice and admitted that Ron Carlivati came in when ratings were low and saved a sinking ship and she appreciated his efforts but said it’s time for something new. But then she critiqued some of Ron’s recent plot lines saying “I don’t think the Little Jake story should have been undone” and Michael Easton being killed off was “tragic.”
Kelly also went on to say that the storyline recently have lost her “two of the closest people” to her when Michael Easton was killed off and Tony Geary retired – and Geary has made it clear his exit was tied to Carlivati’s presence saying he would consider coming back now that Jean Passanante and Shelly Altman are at the helm.
And while some fans may have felt that Maurice Benard was a bit harsh and was “kicking Ron while he was down” it’s clear that fans are still very upset about Easton getting the ax. The petition to bring Silas Clay back is at 7,600 signatures and counting (www.thepetitionsite.com/914/044/258/bring-back-michael-easton-to-general-hospital/) and was heavily promoted at the event. And Easton got a standing ovation when he gave his talk.
I think we can all agree that it was time for Ron Carlivati to go… (and never come back!)