TVSquad

There's a lot to be happy about if you're a fan of General Hospital. There's been some very good news from the soap. Things like James Franco's guest role and the return of the original Lucky, Jonathan Jackson. And Steve Burton has committed to playing Jason for a while longer.

And now comes some news that's downright reassuring. Laura Wright has re-signed a four year deal with GH. She Twittered the news to her fans. Four years!

To me, this means that not only can we count on the character of Carly being around for a long time to come -- and played by the same actress who has the most tenure in the part -- but also that GH will likely be around for four more years. Oh, sure, there's nothing guaranteed, but I'm an optimist and I choose to see this as a positive sign.

It's report card time. From time to time, the TV Squad Soap Report will take a look at a show and grade it accordingly. This week, we'll look at General Hospital -- you know, sort of take its temperature. To put it bluntly, General Hospital needs some intensive care. The show is suffering from post-dramatic stress disorder, not traumatic, dramatic. I'm speaking specifically of the shooting of Michael Corinthos, Jr.

Intellectually and from a writer's point of view, I understand why Robert Guza, Jr. -- the head writer -- decided to do this story. It's caused a major upheaval in the Jason-Carly-Sonny-Jax quadrangle. The situation he created, for those who haven't been watching, is this: Sonny's new love, Kate, urged Sonny to bring Michael to the coffee warehouse so he could see the legitimate side of his father's business interests and presumably be impressed enough to want to emulate him. Sonny had been worried that Michael was on the path to becoming a mini-mobster.

There's something about the name Carly, I guess. The four actresses that have caught my attention are now or have played a "Carly" on daytime TV. They are all terrific actresses. They've all brought something dynamic and exciting to their characters, even when they are no longer named Carly. The four ladies in question are Laura Wright, the current Carly Corinthos Jacks on General Hospital, Maura West, Carly Tenney Snyder on As the World Turns, Tamara Braun, Carly #2 on GH and currently Ava Vitali on Days of Our Lives, and Sarah Brown, Carly #1 on GH and presently Claudia Zacchara on GH. Each woman has made a lasting impression on daytime, and they continue to rattle the rafters still.