When General Hospital<\/a>\u2018s executive producer Frank Valentini<\/a> heard John Oliver<\/a> wanted to appear on a soap, he didn\u2019t waste any time making it happen.<\/p>\n \u201cMy reaction was, \u2018Let\u2019s go for it,\u2019\u201d Valentini tells TV Insider. \u201cThe funny thing is, I always watch his show [Last Week Tonight], but I was a little behind, so I didn\u2019t see that episode [in March], and a lot of people from my staff sent me the link. When I watched it, I said, \u2018Oh, we gotta go for this,\u2019 and everybody was very excited. The timing worked out perfectly because we needed somebody to be Z, the head of the WSB.\u201d<\/p>\n Valentini wanted Oliver\u2019s character to make a memorable first impression. \u201cWell, when the writers wrote Z\u2019s entrance, they wrote it that he came in a big black town car,\u201d he relays. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018No, no, no,\u2019 and they said, \u2018Why? What\u2019s wrong with that?\u2019 And I said, \u2018There\u2019s nothing wrong with that, but we\u2019re going to take it up a notch because it\u2019s John Oliver. We\u2019re going to have Z enter in a helicopter.\u2019 So, he made his entrance in a helicopter.\u201d<\/p>\n John Oliver- ‘General Hospital’<\/p>\n Disney\/Christine Bartolucci<\/p>\n Well, kind of. \u201cFor safety and for protocol, we had a stunt double in the helicopter when it was descending,\u201d Valentini explains. \u201cThen when it stopped, and the blades were completely still, we put John in, and we see him coming out of the helicopter. It\u2019s just a grander entrance, especially since it\u2019s the culmination of a big story. We did a whole sequence on remote at this warehouse, which was really great, and we were able to land the helicopter there at the same time. It\u2019s one of the best sequences we\u2019ve ever done.\u201d<\/p>\n Pulling off such an elaborate stunt wasn\u2019t without its nerve-racking moments. \u201cJohn thought it was very cool that he was getting out of a helicopter and that his entrance was made with two highly armed security guards,\u201d Valentini recalls. \u201cBut when the helicopter guy was doing the safety talk, he was talking about the tail blade, which is very, very hard to see. He said, \u2018You know, if you run into that, it\u2019ll kill you before you know it.\u2019 And John and I looked at each other and went, \u2018Gulp,\u2019 like, \u2018Holy cow.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Laura Wright, John Oliver – ‘General Hospital’<\/p>\n Disney\/Christine Bartolucci<\/p>\n Any nerves quickly faded, and Oliver quickly won over everyone on set. \u201cI think because we work with so many different people, it\u2019s always great when someone new enters the production team,\u201d Valentini points out. \u201cAnd John was affable and really generous in terms of taking photos with people and learning about the show. He was very curious about who was who and who did what. On day one, he only had one line. The next day, he had 20 pages, and he was amazing. He remembered every line, did a great job, and it was a lot of fun to have him on the set.\u201d<\/p>\n Laura Wright<\/a> (Carly Spencer), who shares several scenes with Oliver, was equally impressed. In an exclusive clip for TV Insider, Wright praises her costar. \u201cI have to say that I thought John was going to show up, and it was going to be a joke, and it was the exact opposite,\u201d she says. \u201cHe showed up, he knew his lines, he was serious\u2026. He didn\u2019t make fun of us, and that\u2019s something that a lot of people have done in the past, is make fun of daytime television, and I take a bit of an offense to that\u2026 He showed up with so much respect and excitement to be here and just crushed it.\u201d<\/p>\n (new Image()).src=”https:\/\/capi.connatix.com\/tr\/si?token=70112737-439d-4df2-8b0d-c37d7caa07a8&cid=1ffe63de-eb53-11e9-b4d2-06948452ae1a”; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: “70112737-439d-4df2-8b0d-c37d7caa07a8”, mediaId: “73e5912c-fdcd-41c7-bd78-ec1a62f3670c” }).render(“d331c71194b94e6283fe520f1f704eaa”); });<\/p>\n While Oliver impressed his colleagues behind the scenes, on camera, his character shakes up Port Charles. Another of Oliver\u2019s scene partners is Eden McCoy<\/a>, who plays Josslyn Jacks, the newest member of the spy organization. \u201cHe tries to get information out of Josslyn, and we see how committed and tough she is and what a good WSB agent she is,\u201d Valentini previews. \u201cShe makes a deal with him to give him what he wants, and she gets something she wants, which is very personal.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Is Ryan Paevey\u2019s Cassius Dead on \u2018General Hospital\u2019?<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n That\u2019s only the beginning of Z\u2019s impact on Port Charles. \u201cWe\u2019re headed for a big change because Z comes to save face for the WSB after Cullum [Andrew Hawkes<\/a>] has been wreaking havoc and using the WSB for his own personal gain,\u201d Valentini notes. \u201cSo, these appearances help right the wrongs of the WSB. But Z is keeping a huge secret that affects a lot of people in the town. And then he interacts with another character, who\u2019s already in a couple, and openly flirts with her.\u201d<\/p>\n Oliver came with a short wish list, and the show happily accommodated it. \u201cOne of his requests was to be slapped, so he gets slapped by somebody in the show,\u201d previews Valentini.<\/p>\n While Z\u2019s storyline has major ramifications, Valentini still laughs about how the whole collaboration came together, after Oliver discovered that Stephen A. Smith<\/a> has been playing Brick since 2016. \u201cWell, everything goes back to Stephen A. Smith,\u201d he muses. \u201cStephen A. Smith is the origin of everything. But there have been a lot of celebrities over the years that have wanted to make appearances or cameos or be on the show. A couple of years ago, we had Sarah Sherman<\/a> from Saturday Night Live<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n John Oliver – ‘General Hospital’<\/p>\n Disney\/Christine Bartolucci<\/p>\n And Oliver isn\u2019t the last surprise the show has planned. \u201cWe\u2019re having another special guest who\u2019s a big fan of the show at the end of the year,\u201d Valentini reveals. \u201cBetween John and Stephen and all the other actors that have come and gone in the past, it\u2019s always nice to have someone new in the mix, and it\u2019s fun to get to know them while they\u2019re working.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the excitement of celebrity guest stars, Valentini says the attention surrounding Oliver\u2019s appearance has been a welcome bonus. \u201cAs we\u2019ve found out, so many people watch the show and love the show,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd since we\u2019re on all the time, it\u2019s sometimes hard to bring attention to it because there\u2019s no end of season and start of season, and there\u2019s no on-air hiatus. So, it\u2019s always fun to have someone to help us call attention to the show and how good the stories are and how much fun it is to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n And if Oliver wanted to return as Z, Valentini would welcome him back with open arms. \u201cIn a heartbeat,\u201d confirms the exec.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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Is Ryan Paevey\u2019s Cassius Dead on \u2018General Hospital\u2019?<\/a><\/h3>\n
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