Genie Francis is coming back to General Hospital.

I'm really not sure how I feel about this.  I've all but given up on GH until there is some kind of regime change, but I'm going to have to start watching again when she reappears.  But I don't have to be happy about it.

On one hand, yes:  It's Laura.  It's freaking Laura Spencer.  One third of the reason I got hooked on the show in the first place (Luke and Lucky being the other two, obviously).  I've always loved Laura, and I've loved Genie more.  But on the other hand, the show I loved her on is gone.  No longer are there stories about families and relationships, heightened of course, but still with that spark of humanity that made it relatable.  Instead, the show today is filled with skitsophrenic stories that ultimately go nowhere (when they're not busy going somewhere we've already seen five hundred times), barely propped up by an uneven cast and features some of the worst examples of male fantasy writing (and in a "woman"'s genre, no less) and a truly troubling adoration of violence and exploitation, especially towards women.  I had to sit through Laura being destroyed when Genie left, I'm really not anxious to find out what horrible things they'll do to her when she comes back...after all, they brought back Robert Scorpio, one of their most famous characters, as a deadbeat dad doing shady governmental work who gets duped by teenagers.  Not promising.

I do hope that Genie got them to pay through the nose to get her back, even if it means they have to skimp on lightbulbs (as if GH weren't already the worst lit soap on tv) and clothes (they all look hideous anyway), just so long as they don't fire any other veteran actors to make up the difference.  And if it means they can't afford to keep Tyler Christopher or Kelly Monaco when their contracts run out again...well, that's just a bonus.

Speaking of Tyler Christopher, I just know that when Laura returns, she'll have more to do with Nikolas than Lucky and LuLu.  Well, LuLu maybe, because she's new, but Laura will get to see Lucky once or twice, wave hello to Elizabeth and never even get to meet Cameron, her first grandchild (no matter what the stupid show tries to tell me otherwise).

Cynical, yes, but I am the viewer they made me.  I've been taught better than to expect great things.