Laura's return upstaged

This was the day that fans of the ABC soap "General Hospital" have looked forward to for a long time: the return of the female half of Luke and Laura. They were married on the show 25 years ago in what was apparently a really big deal. (News & Chatter is flying blind here, so cut me some slack.) Southern California viewers settled in to watch the reunion on KABC this afternoon at 2:30, and all went well until the station cut away at 2:43 pm — before Laura awoke from her catatonic state — to cover the deadly wildfire in Riverside County. Channel 7 switched back for "Oprah" at 3 pm, so it sure looked like the station chose to absorb the outrage of thousands rather than risk the wrath of Winfrey. Well, Channel 7 did hear from a lot of upset General Hospitalians and according to an LA Observed correspondent will re-air the lost episode Friday morning at 2:08 am. That's a real helpful hour, eh?