NAME:  Karen Hoppe - "The Media Ho"

WHAT PRESIDENT WAS IN OFFICE THE YEAR YOU WERE BORN?   JFK

WHAT IS YOUR ASTRO SIGN?  On the Taurus/Gemini cusp, I'm told.

IN WHAT STATE DO YOU LIVE?   The TRULY blue state of New York

MARRIED?  No, but not adverse to the prospect.

FAVORITE TV SHOW(s) WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD?  Oh, boy. Lots and lots. Batman, F-Troop, The Munsters, Get Smart, The Patty Duke Show, The Pink Panther, The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeannie, and on, and on, and on...

WHAT DO YOU WATCH PRIME TIME?   I'm amazingly loyal to ABC, even though the network tends to dump shows I love (Thieves, Line of Fire, and now life as we know it). Favorites include Desperate Housewives, Alias, and on another network, Las Vegas (though ABC daytime alumni Josh Duhamel and Vanessa Marcil star and -- anyone notice? -- Mitch Longley, former intern Matt on "PC" has a recurring role as a security geek).

LAST BOOK YOU READ?   I've been re-reading old favorites. Just finished Stephen King's "The Stand" and "Needful Things," plus three by Susan Isaacs. I'm heading to the store now for the new John Grisham. And I still have the new Tom Wolfe and "Bergdorf Blondes" a-waitin'.

FAVORITE ALBUM(s)?    Hard to choose. Jeff Buckley's Grace, The Police box set, Billy Joel's box set, Elvis Costello, Sting, Clapton, Pink Floyd, Chicago, Stevie Ray Vaughan, most of the Beatles and Paul McCartney. I basically love classic rock, 1980s MTV fluff, jazz/rock, some techno, and vocalists like Streisand and Minnelli. A real strange, eclectic hodgepodge, making it difficult to select any one particular album.

FAVORITE NON-SOAP HOBBY?   Reading, writing, trivia games, tennis, movies, travel, grilling and chilling. Every now and then I attempt to learn French. Am also a wine enthusiast and cat lover.

WHAT SOAPS DO YOU WATCH AND FOR HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU WATCHED EACH ONE?  WHAT GOT YOU STARTED?

I moved off-campus from college around 1983, and one of my housemates was a 12-year-old GH fanatic. She got me hooked, just before Frisco came on (Blackie was putting the band together) and the initial Grant Putnam/WSB storyline was wrapping up. I have only missed a couple of episodes since, thanks to modern technology.

In 1988, I was home sick with the flu and, out of boredom, decided to tune in AMC. Hooked again. Skye was burning down Angie's house to protest that AIDS-afflicted Cindy was living there and the Silver Kane story was coming to an end.

Although I swore never to watch more than two soaps (hey, I said virtually the same thing about the cat population in my home, and now I have three), I had to watch PC when it started. That addiction went cold turkey six years later with its cancellation. I wasn't too sad, though, because I preferred the original, intern-centric show to the goth, "Dark Shadows" version we ended up with.
 
FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER FROM GH? AMC?

For GH: Jagger, Dillon, Jax (not so much lately), Frisco, Miguel, Robert Scorpio
.
AMC: David Hayward, Noah, Reggie, Leo, Trevor, David Rampal, Terrance Frye.
 

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER FROM GH? AMC?

GH: Anna Devane, Alexis, Lucy, Lila, Brenda, Lois, Celia Q., V, Katharine Delafield, Tracy, Karen Wexler, Jenny Eckert, Helena.

AMC: Erica, Greenlee, Cecily, Lainie, Livia Frye, Danielle, Maria (pre-plane crash), Grace Keefer, Hayley, Arlene, Janet from another planet (both Kate Collins and Robin Mattson).


FAVORITE STORYLINE FROM GENERAL HOSPITAL (PAST OR PRESENT)?

PAST:  Frisco & Felicia's courtship/first marriage, BJ's heart,  Jagger/Brenda/Karen, Miguel, The Asian Quarter, Stone Cates, that really strange town where Terry Brock and the O'Connor boys hailed from, and Click/Boom.

PRESENT: Alexis (anything she does), Brook Lynn's singing career (hope they start that back up SOON), anything involving Dillon, Tracy, or Helena.

FAVORITE STORYLINE FROM ALL MY CHILDREN (PAST OR PRESENT)?

PAST:  Erica/Brooke catfights over men, Julia & Noah, Hayley from start almost to finish, Greenlee/Leo, Greenlee outing "Lesbianca," the Hungarian stories, including Dimitri as the Count, secret son Anton, and crossdressing Tad & Edmund, the whole Dillon clan, most Erica stories.

PRESENT:  Greenlee is Jack's daughter, Reggie/Danielle.

LEAST FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER FROM GENERAL HOSPITAL? ALL MY CHILDREN?

GH: Duke Lavery, A.J., Steven Webber, Sonny (except for when he's being flirtatious), Juan (son of Miguel), Decker, Bill Eckert.

AMC: J.R., Michael Cambias, Edmund, Jonathan Lavery, Hector Santos, Brian and Trask Bodine.
 
LEAST FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER FROM GENERAL HOSPITAL? ALL MY CHILDREN?

GH:  Most of the Dawns, Hannah, Angel, Sarah Webber, Julia Barrett, Vanessa Barrett.

AMC: Krystal, Babe, Maddie, Laura English, Laurel, sanctimonious Mrs. Santos.
 
LEAST FAVORITE STORYLINE FROM GENERAL HOSPITAL?

Mobsters, gratuitous rape, Endgame.
 
LEAST FAVORITE STORYLINE FROM ALL MY CHILDREN?

Proteus, baby swapping, Erica as Vegas showgirl.