'General Hospital' Actor: 'I Dare Them' to Cancel Us

ABC/Yolanda Perez(NEW YORK) -- Maurice Benard, who has played General Hospital's brooding, dangerous-yet-lovable Sonny Corinthos for 18 years says that if ABC gets rid of his soap, there's going to be a problem.

"If they cancel General Hospital, there are going to be riots because these people are loyal,” Benard told ABC News Radio this week. "They love this show,” he said. “So I dare them to try."

And while that may be nice for the show's fans to hear, it doesn't sound as if its staff and actors have been guaranteed anything. Benard said the last time he worked he was told, "'If the audience continues to watch, and our ratings are good, we will continue to be on. That's the bottom line...If we all do our jobs correctly and the audience continues -- because we have a very big following -- then we're going to be all right.”

ABC announced in April that it was canceling long-running soaps All My Children and One Life to Live.

Benard is currently touring comedy clubs while on break from General Hospital. "I'm not Richard Pryor,” he said, “but people laugh. I think people shed tears."

If you get to see his show, you may wind up on stage. "I have somebody come up and do a scene with me,” he said.

And those who attend Benard’s show will also get a chance to see the actor’s six-year-old son perform a Justin Bieber song.

He “steals the show,” Benard said.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio