She’s baaack! That’s right hardcore General Hospital fans. The one, the only, Genie Francis, aka Laura Spencer Collins, is soon to be back where she belongs, with multiple sources reporting that she starts taping her iconic role in September.
Executive producer Frank Valentini confirmed the news with TV Insider, saying, “I’m really excited for Genie to be rejoining the cast and we have an amazing story for her.”
There was pandemonium when the Emmy award-winning Francis left the canvas almost seven months ago, with fans taking to social media to demand her return.
ABC executive Nathan Varni responded to the outcry in March, saying on a podcast, “What we want is a prolific, big story for Laura that deserves the many talents of Genie Francis, so our writers are thinking and working on that as we speak.”
“It’s my intention that I hope we can continue to have a relationship as Genie obviously is a very important part of GH and the GH family,” Varni continued. “But you know, we want to be able to service the talents of Genie and we don’t want to just have any tiny little story where she kind of blends into the background. We want a Laura-centric story.”
Well fans, it looks like we’re about to usher in an epic fall season not just with sweaters and cider, but with a Laura-centric storyline to look forward to as well!
We last saw the worldly grandma as she jetted off to tend to her precocious grandson Spencer, and his broken legs, just after marrying shrink Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom).
A teenage Francis debuted on GH back in 1977 and she was an immediate hit, becoming part of the enduring, endearing Luke and Laura super couple. In 1981 the first couple of daytime set a tv record when 30 million fans tuned in to see the iconic pair get married.
If Francis is back, is Geary’s return on the horizon? One can only hope, soap fans, one can only hope!