jamesfranco

As we previously reported, James Franco made his big debut on 'General Hospital' this afternoon -- and we have the full scoop on what went down.

We already know that the movie star's run on the ABC soap opera is going to be loaded with surprises. For starters, although his debut was supposed to be today, regular 'GH' viewers noticed that the Golden Globe winner actually popped up on yesterday's episode (what would a soap be without twists?)

'GH' has done a great job of setting up Franco's introduction. From today's episode, we've gathered that his character, Franco, has photos of Claudia's dead body. Since A.J.'s Sonny's son Michael killed Claudia, the mobster is very interested in silencing the shutterbug/artist.

Read on for an analysis of Franco's official daytime debut.

The wait is finally over.

Today, James Franco will begin his multi-episode arc on 'General Hospital,' playing the appropriately titled character Franco, a mysterious artist-assassin out to wreak havoc on Port Charles.

In preparation for the big day, AOL TV snagged an exclusive interview with Franco, in which he talks more about his character name, his steamy on-screen hookup and how his upcoming '30 Rock' guest spot came about.

Watch the video after the jump, then check back a bit later for our full coverage on his first episode.

If you haven't seen The Prisoner yet, you may want to skip the first fifteen or so minutes of this podcast, because we talk about the whole damn thing this week. Jason Hughes and Allison Waldman join me to talk about the AMC remake of the British cult classic, as well as these topics:

• After the deaths of Edward Woodward and Ken Ober, why '80s TV suddenly seems so old,
• Soap news, mainly a discussion of James Franco's guest stint on General Hospital,
• Another dip into our Ask TV Squad mailbag, where we discuss the use of laugh tracks and why multi-camera shows are written differently than single-camera shows,
• Our picks for the week, and much more.

Run time is 1:02:55.

You can listen to the podcast below, or download from here or by subscribing to our RSS podcast feed. It is also available via iTunes. Feel free to leave us feedback in the comments or drop us a line at tvsquadpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

As usual, the music at the beginning and end of the podcast is "Life" by Justin Trawick. Though I decided to add a small surprise at the beginning, a call-back to an interview I did a few years ago. Hope you enjoy it.

The James Franco experiment has begun on General Hospital. Actually, we have now learned that the movie actor, best known for Spider-Man and Milk and The Pineapple Express, has decided to do a two-month guest role on the ABC soap opera as part of a project he's doing with a filmmaker named Carter.

Franco and Carter are making a documentary called Erased James Franco. His guest turn on 30 Rock may also be part of the movie. Nobody knows for certain.

One thing I do know for certain is that ABC is taking Franco's appearance on GH very seriously. They're working around his schedule, giving him a strangely interesting character to play, and promoting it like mad.

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.

James Franco is quickly taking over the small screen.

We've already seen him this season as a surprise guest on 'Saturday Night Live.' He also has an upcoming arc on 'General Hospital,' which we're, um, still trying to wrap our heads around.

Now, he's set to follow that with a guest appearance on '30 Rock.' According to the Ausiello Files, Franco will play a version of himself who winds up in a fake relationship with Jenna (Jane Krakowski), all orchestrated by their agents.

With so many different TV roles in the works, we're beginning to wonder if there's anything James Franco can't do. At a turn, he can go from dramatic ('Milk'; TV's 'James Dean'), to hilarious ('Pineapple Express') to ... soap operas (yep, still confused). Clearly, there are no limits to his talents -- which is why we're itching to see more of him on TV. So to help, we came up with a list of shows that James Franco should appear on next.

Wouldn't you love to know who's giving actor James Franco career advice these days? I'm not knocking him or her, but I'd love to figure out the strategy. Or maybe this is just Franco being Franco (like Manny being Manny, for you baseball fans out there)?

James has just started filming his two-month arc on General Hospital -- check out the first pic (right) -- and now Michael Ausiello reports that James Franco will do a guest spot on 30 Rock.

How's that for a career trajectory -- from box office bonanza (Spider-Man) to Oscar feature (Milk) to daytime soap (General Hospital) to Emmy-winning sitcom (30 Rock). He's like a human pinball machine looking for a perfect score!

(S35E04) I remember sitting down and staring at Gerard Butler as he made funny, smarmy faces at the camera. And then I blinked, only to see Butler was thanking the cast and viewers for a wonderful show. I looked on the computer screen. There were half-remembered notes haphazardly tapped out at some point.

Somehow, I had jumped forward ninety minutes. Had I finally mastered short-term time travel? Or did I just watch an incredibly forgettable episode of Saturday Night Live? Probably the latter. However, I vaguely recall a destructive robot adorably struggling through a wall. If that was actually a dream and not real life, please don't tell me.

Here's a soap twist we never saw coming: Actor James Franco ('Milk'; 'Pineapple Express') will guest on the Emmy-winning soap opera 'General Hospital,' beginning this November.

Franco will play a "mysterious person" who causes trouble for Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), said ABC Daytime's Jori Petersen, according to EW.com. His guest spot -- said to last a few months -- begins taping at the end of October, and will kick off on Nov. 20.

In the biggest casting shocker since Elizabeth Taylor appeared on General Hospital as Helena Cassadine, movie star James Franco is joining General Hospital for a couple of months as a mystery man who comes to Port Charles. Although not confirmed by the show, it's likely that Franco will be playing Vlad Cassadine, another member of that evil family that vexes the citizens of Port Chuck. His first airdate is November 20.

Why would Franco, who's busy with movies and has appeared in Spider-Man, The Pineapple Express, Milk and other hits, take a role on a daytime soap? There's no word from the actor yet, but it could be that they threw a lot of money at him. There's also the possibility that he's a soap opera fan and thought it would be a lark. Ummm, I'm thinking it's more likely the former.

Freaks and Geeks is not only a cult classic among TV fans, but it's also one of TV Squad's favorite "Ol' Yellers". Those are the shows that were taken out back and shot down by the networks before they had a chance to fully develop, despite the crying, whimpering, snot-producing pleas of those who loved them most. It may not be clever, but it sounded a lot nicer than "stillborns".

So it's no surprise that the show made a cameo appearance in a recent AOL interview with mega-superduperstar Seth Rogen on the heels of his new movie Observe and Report about a rogue mall cop who is more tazer-happy than the campus police at the University of Florida.