Eight more long days until James Franco begins his run on 'General Hospital'

There are a couple of reasons why Nov. 20 is marked on my calendar. First, it's Absurdity Day. Which segues nicely into the second reason: James Franco stars on General Hospital! Actually, as a long-lapsed viewer, I can't wait for the two-month story arc that will bring Franco to the small-screen melodrama and weave him into an organized-crime thread on the show. Judging from the promo clip below, released this week by ABC, he plays an artist, he's mysterious, he's adorable (as usual), and he's embroiled in some murder plot. Sweet! The Spider-Man, Pineapple Express and Milk co-star reportedly approached the team at GH because he wanted the challenge of cramming a couple of film scripts' worth of work into a few days of shooting, as is required for daytime TV. (Don't even think about using that TelePrompTer.) He got what he came for, he recently told New York magazine. And his TV work isn't finished yet. He has a guest-starring role coming up in 30 Rock. It's a good time to be a Francofan.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley