Tristan Rogers blames politics and egos for lack of ‘General Hospital’ airtime.

Tristan Rogers is a beloved soap vet who has been portraying Robert Scorpio on GENERAL HOSPITAL off and on since 1980. He also played Colin Atkinson on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and at times was doing double duty. His loyal supporters enjoyed watching him on CBS and then ABC all in one day. The actor was taken off contract and not being seen on GH for a while and his Y&R character has gone to jail.

GENERAL HOSPITAL fans were elated last year when Tristen Rogers was given more air time on the ABC soap. His character Robert Scorpio was promoted to District Attorney and his brother Mac (John J York) became the head of detectives. Viewers assumed the Scorpio brothers were going to be back in action and possibly working together but things took an abrupt turn. Both characters were invested in the storyline with Peter August ( Wes Ramsey) and Robert was supposed to help Obrecht get out of jail and takedown Henrik.

DA Scorpio was actually one of the first Port Charles residents who realized Faison’s son was up to no good. Instead of Robert being the one to expose all the dirt on Peter and also see him brought to justice the plot shifted. Peter is presumed dead but it was by the hands of Hamilton Finn with Elizabeth Weber an accessory after the fact. The last time Tristan Rogers was on GENERAL HOSPITAL was in May for the Tribute to Sean Donnelly. Viewers overwhelmingly say they were disappointed by the episode because it did not deliver what was promised in spoiler alerts and promotions.

Fans of GENERAL HOSPITAL have been complaining about Rogers a soaps vet not being on screen. The actor replied to a tweet by saying that egos and politics were to blame for his predicament but he did not elaborate. During the past few months in Port Charles diversity seems to be the name of the game. Terry Randolph is a transgender doctor portrayed by real-life, transgender female Cassandra James who is of Asian descent.

Terry has been more prominent on the show in recent months and now is co-chief of staff with Britt Westbourne. The teens, Josslyn Jacks, Cameron Weber, Trina Robinson, and Spencer Cassadine are getting a lot of airtime as are African American characters Portia, Jordan, Curtis, Sean, and Stella. Austin Holt is also being used heavily and traffic at the Quartermaine mansion is increasing.

There is also Sonny's amnesia storyline that is going on in Nixon Falls which brought the characters Elija, Phyllis, Lenny, and a few others temporarily to the screen. The focus on these storylines naturally indicates that there will be a decrease in the screen time of others. Ryan Chamberlain is back and some viewers are saying they would prefer to see John Lynstrom portraying Kevin instead of his psycho brother.

This is not to imply that Tristan Rogers was addressing any specific issues with GENERAL HOSPITAL but only pointing out what is obvious if you watch the show every day. Most times when someone says "politics" they are referring to decisions to be politically correct. The ABC sudser is being praised by many for increasing diversity with African Americans, Asians, and teens. Unfortunately, when you increase the presence of some characters it always puts others on the back burner.

One thing that soap fans do not agree with is pushing fan-favorite veterans to the sidelines in order to make room for new characters. This happened on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS when the Rosales family of 4 came to Genoa City and became front and center. Fans complained because veterans of the show were relegated to backburner status. Tristan Rogers did not elaborate so GENERAL HOSPITAL viewers will draw their own conclusions.

As far as his mentioning egos, it's not clear if he means in front of or behind the cameras. What is important is that Tristan Rogers is a beloved cast member and fans want to see him on the air as Robert. Fans have been making their displeasure known but the powers that be have not done anything about it. Hopefully, the writers can work out the episodes so that this beloved daytime veteran can get some screen time. One thing GENERAL HOSPITAL should not desire to be accused of is age discrimination.