TVSquad

Occasionally, you'll see an actor being allowed to be on more than one show at a time, like when Heather Locklear was a regular on Dynasty and T.J. Hooker. The catch is that it's usually one actor working two shows for the same network. Finola Hughes, apparently, was trying to do the two-show tango with General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, but ABC put a stop to that before it ever started. In the May 26 issue of TV Guide, you'll read a report that Finola was cast as Sabrina's hot mom on Y&R, while continuing to pop up throughout the summer on ABC's GH as Anna. After the magazine went to the printers, ABC contacted Finola Hughes -- probably her agent -- and she backed out of Y&R.

Presumably, ABC leaned on Finola to give up the opportunity to appear on the number one daytime drama, promising her a heavy storyline in the months ahead. The actress has been an ABC soap star for a long time, having been front and center on GH and All My Children in the past. She's also the host on How Do I Look on the Style Network. The network has never objected to the actress doing Style, so it would seem that the conflict here is about Finola drawing soap fans from the ABC lineup to CBS's.


In a statement, ABC explained: "General Hospital always planned a big summer storyline revolving around the characters of Anna Devane and Robin Scorpio as the mother-daughter relationship continues to grow in the face of Robin becoming a mother for the first time. Upon learning Finola Hughes had booked a role in a short story arc on a competing daytime drama, General Hospital requested that she honor her commitment to our show, and she graciously obliged."

Sounds simple enough. Finola does owe some loyalty to GH, but if ABC doesn't follow through with a good story for her, she should be ticked off. I'll be ticked off for her, especially when you hear the part she was offered on Y&R. She was going to play Zara, Sabrina's (Raya Meddine) scheming, attractive and flamboyant mother. The character comes to Genoa City for her daughter's wedding to Victor (Eric Braeden). Call me crazy, but I could have seen that four-episode appearance blossoming into a terrific romantic triangle once Zara caught Victor's eye. As it is now, the Zara appearance on June 19th will be with another actress in the role.

"We think Finola is an exceptional actress. We're sorry things didn't work out, and we'd love to work with her in the future," wrote Y&R exec producer Josh Griffith in a statement to the publication.