| General Hospital | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Also known as | GH |
| Genre | Soap opera |
| Created by | Frank & Doris Hursley |
| Written by | |
| Directed by | See below |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 15,000[1] |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | See below |
| Production locations | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time |
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| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | April 1, 1963 (1963-04-01) – present |
| Related | |
General Hospital (often abbreviated asGH) is an American daytime televisionsoap opera created byFrank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast onABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour serial, its running time was expanded from 30 minutes to 45 minutes on July 26, 1976, and again to a full hour on January 16, 1978.[2]
Set in ahospital in the city of Port Charles, New York,[a]General Hospital originally starredJohn Beradino andEmily McLaughlin; both actors stayed with the show until their deaths in 1996 and 1991, respectively. They were joined a year later byRachel Ames who made her most recent appearance in 2015. The show is taped atthe Prospect Studios inLos Angeles, California.General Hospital was the second soap to air on ABC after the short-livedRoad to Reality (1960–1961). In 1964, a sister soap was created forGeneral Hospital,The Young Marrieds; it ran for two years and was canceled because of low ratings.General Hospital also spawned the daytime seriesPort Charles (1997–2003) and the primetime spin-offGeneral Hospital: Night Shift (2007–2008).
In the late 1970s, storylines began to shift focus around theSpencer andQuartermaine families. From 1979 to 1988,General Hospital had more viewers than any other daytime soap opera. It rose to the top of the ratings in the early 1980s in part thanks to the monumentally popular "supercouple"Luke and Laura, whose 1981 wedding brought in 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history.[3][4] The soap opera is also known for its high-profile celebrity guest stars who have included, among others,Roseanne Barr,James Franco andElizabeth Taylor. On April 23, 2009,General Hospital began broadcasting inhigh-definition television, making it the first ABC soap opera to make such a transition.[5]
General Hospital is listed inGuinness World Records as thelongest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history afterGuiding Light.[6][7][8] Concurrently, it is the world's third-longest-running scripted drama series in production after British serialsThe Archers andCoronation Street, as well as the world's second-longest-running televised soap opera still in production. It is also the longest-running serial produced in Hollywood, and the longest-running entertainment program in ABC television history.General Hospital became the oldest ongoing American soap opera on September 17, 2010, following the final broadcast ofCBS'As the World Turns. On April 14, 2011, ABC announced the cancellation of bothAll My Children andOne Life to Live, leavingGeneral Hospital as the last remaining soap opera airing on the network after January 13, 2012.[9] The show celebrated its50th anniversary on April 1, 2013, and its 15,000th episode on June 22, 2022. It holds the record for mostDaytime Emmy Awards forDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, with 14 wins. In 2007, the show was listed as one ofTime magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time".[10]
General Hospital was created byFrank and Doris Hursley and premiered on April 1, 1963, replacing the canceledgame showYours for a Song. The first stories were mainly set on the seventh floor of General Hospital, in an unnamed midsize Eastern city (the name of the city,Port Charles, would not be mentioned until the late 1970s by headwritersEileen and Robert Mason Pollock.[11]). "They had this concept of the show that it was like a big wagon wheel—the spokes would be the characters and the hub would be the hospital",John Beradino (Steve Hardy) later reflected toEntertainment Weekly in 1994.[12]
Launched in 1963, the first stories were mainly set at General Hospital in an unnamed midsized Eastern city. Storylines revolved aroundSteve Hardy (John Beradino) and his friend, NurseJessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin). Jessie's turbulent marriage to the much-youngerPhil Brewer (originally portrayed byRoy Thinnes; lastly byMartin West) was the center of many early storylines. In 1964Audrey Hardy (Rachel Ames), a flight attendant and sister of NurseLucille (Lucille Wall), came to town, and was the woman who won Steve's heart.
By the end of the 1970s,General Hospital was facing dire ratings whenexecutive producerGloria Monty was brought in to turn the show around. Monty is credited with creation of the firstsupercouple,Luke and Laura, played byAnthony Geary andGenie Francis. The end of their hour wedding on November 17, 1981, was the most-watched event in daytime serial history.[4] During the 1980s, the series featured several high-profile action, adventure, and some science fiction-based storylines. Location shooting at sites includingMount Rushmore inSouth Dakota;Niagara Falls;Grand Ole Opry inNashville, Tennessee;Atlantic City, New Jersey; Big Bear and Avalon (Catalina Island), California; andSan Antonio, Texas are some that propelled the story.
After Gloria Monty first left the series in 1987,General Hospital entered into a transitional phase that lasted until Wendy Riche took the position of executive producer in 1992. Under Riche, the show gained critical acclaim for its sensitive handling ofsocial issues. In 1994, Riche started an annual Nurses' Ball, a fundraiser andHIV/AIDS awareness event both on the show and in real life. Later that year, aheart transplantation storyline involves the death of eight-year-oldB. J. Jones (daughter ofDr. Tony Jones andBobbie Spencer) in a bus crash and the subsequent donation of her heart to her dying cousinMaxie Jones. Shortly afterwards,Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson) begins a long battle with breast cancer, which leads to her adoptingEmily Quartermaine, the orphaned young daughter of Monica's friend from treatment.General Hospital was also praised for the love story of teenagersStone Cates (Michael Sutton) andRobin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough). After a struggle that lasted throughout most of 1995, Stone dies from AIDS at the age of 19 and his death is followed by 17-year-old Robin having to deal with being HIV-positive as a result of their relationship. Sutton received a nomination for theDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and McCullough won aDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series award. ABC featured an Afterschool Special "Positive: A Journey Into AIDS" revolving around the AIDS story as well asThe New York Times best selling novelRobin's Diary.
On Saturday, December 14, 1996,General Hospital aired its one of three primetime episodes,General Hospital: Twist of Fate, which picked up where that Friday's episode had left off. The special centered on Laura's supposed death at the hands ofStefan Cassadine. In 1997, the show's long-rumored spin-off materialized into the half-hour serial,Port Charles. The series' 11,000th episode aired on February 20, 2006.[13] On April 23, 2009,General Hospital became ABC's first regular daytime drama to be taped and broadcast inHigh-definition television, though the 2008 season of its primetime spinoffGeneral Hospital: Night Shift was in high definition. This is the second daytime drama to move to high definition afterCBS'sThe Young and the Restless. On February 23, 2010, the series aired its 12,000th episode.[14] On December 1, 2011, ABC confirmed that formerOne Life to Live executive producerFrank Valentini and head writerRon Carlivati would replace longtime executive producerJill Farren Phelps andGarin Wolf, respectively, though Wolf would remain on as a regular writer. The change took effect on January 9, 2012.[15] The first episode under the direction of Valentini aired on February 1, 2012, with Carlivati's material beginning on February 21. Several storylines reminiscent of iconic story arcs of the past were created and popular characters returned to the show in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the series in 2013.[16] The serial celebrated 13,000 episodes on February 24, 2014,[17] and marked its 51st anniversary several weeks later on April 1.[18] Also in January 2014, ABC renewed Carlivati's contract with the soap.[19][20] The series marked its 52nd anniversary on April 1, 2015, with a special episode revolving around theSpencer family.[21][22][23][24]
In July 2015, it was revealed Carlivati was fired as head writer;Shelly Altman andJean Passanante were hired as his successors.[25] On September 16, 2016,Daytime Confidential reported that Valentini, Passanante and Altman re-signed with the show.[26] On June 6, 2017, Passanante announced her decision to retire from the serial.[27] On July 29, 2017, it was revealed through Passanante that breakdown writerChris Van Etten would be promoted to co-head writer as her successor.[28] On February 23, 2018, the serial aired its 14,000th episode.[29] On July 30, 2019, Altman announced her retirement; breakdown writer Dan O'Connor was named as her successor, joining Van Etten as co-head writer.[30] On June 22, 2022, the soap aired its 15,000 episode; in celebration, the episode focused on Francis'Laura Spencer.[1]
On January 22, 2024, it was announced Van Etten and O'Connor had been dismissed from their positions as co-head writers;[31][32] former associate head writer Patrick Mulcahey and present script editorElizabeth Korte were named as their replacements.[33] Per reports, material from the former regime aired into March 2024.[34] Five months later, it was announced Mulcahey had been dismissed from his position as head writer.[35][36] Mulcahey's final credited episode aired on August 6; the following day, it was announced Van Etten would resume the role of co-head writer credit, with Cathy LePard named as associate head writer.[37]
General Hospital has aired on theABC television network and has been filmed in Hollywood since its inception. The show was filmed in theSunset Gower Studios from 1963 to the mid-1980s. It relocated in the 1980s toThe Prospect Studios.
General Hospital has had a number of different distributors throughout the show's history. From its beginning until 1968, it was a co-production ofPlitt Theatres and Selmur Productions. ABC bought the series outright in 1968 and its ownership passed from Selmur to American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., ABC's old separate conglomerate. Ownership of the soap was then passed in 1986 toCapital Cities/ABC, which was formed after the acquisition of ABC by a smaller media concern, Capital Cities Communications.The Walt Disney Company bought Capital Cities/ABC in 1996, and Disney has held ownership of the soap since then.
Production ofGeneral Hospital was suspended in March 2020, as a direct result of theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[38] Production resumed on July 22 of the same year; new episodes began airing on August 3, 2020.[39]General Hospital was Disney's first series to go back into production during the pandemic.[40]
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Though the series originally focused on solely the medical staff at Port Charles' General Hospital, and starredJohn Beradino asDr. Steve Hardy andEmily McLaughlin asNurse Jessie Brewer, the series branched out and began to focus more on the people and families of the town of Port Charles rather than those solely in the hospital.[42]
Port Charles is full of "dysfunctional family dynamics ... and family drama remains the focal point of this town."[43] The current families on the show include the quarreling and wealthy Quartermaine family, the mobster crime Corinthos family, the middle class Scorpio/Jones family, the aristocratic Cassadine family, and the adventurous Spencer family.
| Name | Years | Production notes |
|---|---|---|
| Selig J. Seligman | 1963 | |
| James Young | 1963–1976 | |
| Tom Donovan | 1976–1977 | |
| Gloria Monty | 1978–1987 | [44] |
| H. Wesley Kenney | 1987–1989 | |
| Joseph Hardy | 1989–1990 | |
| Gloria Monty | 1991–1992 | |
| Wendy Riche | 1992–2001 | |
| Jill Farren Phelps | 2001–2012 | |
| Frank Valentini | 2012–present |
| Name(s) | Years | Production notes |
|---|---|---|
| Theodore Ferro | 1963 | |
| Mathilde Ferro | ||
| Terence Maples | 1963–1964 | Served as co-head writers withFrank and Doris Hursley in 1964. |
| Joan Maples | ||
| Catherine Turney | 1963 | |
| Milton Geiger | 1963–1964 | Served as co-head writer with Frank and Doris Hursley in 1964. |
| Rick Vollaertz | 1963 | |
| Melvyn Levy | 1963 | |
| Frank Hursley | 1963–1973 | |
| Doris Hursley | ||
| Bridget Dobson | 1973–1975 | |
| Jerome Dobson | ||
| Richard Holland | 1975 | |
| Suzanne Holland | ||
| Eileen Prince Pollack | 1976–1977 | |
| Patrick Mason Pollack | ||
| Irving Elman | 1977 | |
| Tex Elman | ||
| Eileen Prince Pollack | 1977 | |
| Patrick Mason Pollack | ||
| Douglas Marland | 1977–1979 | |
| Pat Falken Smith | 1979–1982 | |
| Margaret DePriest | ||
| Robert J. Shaw | 1982 | |
| John William Corrington | 1983 | |
| Joyce Hooper Corrington | ||
| Anne Howard Bailey | 1983–1985 | |
| Pat Falken Smith | 1985–1988 | |
| Norma Monty | ||
| Ann Marcus | 1988 | |
| Gene Palumbo | 1989–1991 | |
| Norma Monty | 1991–1992 | |
| Maralyn Thoma | 1992 | |
| Bill Levinson | 1992–1993 | |
| Claire Labine | 1993–1996 | |
| Robert Guza Jr. | 1996 | |
| Karen Harris | 1996–1997[b] | |
| Richard Culliton | 1997 | |
| Janet Iacobuzio | 1997 | |
| Christopher Whitesell | ||
| Robert Guza Jr. | 1997–2000 | |
| Michele Val Jean | 2001 | |
| Elizabeth Korte | ||
| Megan McTavish | 2001–2002 | |
| Robert Guza Jr. | 2002–2006 | |
| Charles Pratt Jr. | ||
| Robert Guza Jr. | 2006–2008 | |
| Garin Wolf | 2008 | 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike |
| Robert Guza Jr. | 2008–2011 | |
| Garin Wolf | 2011–2012 | |
| Garin Wolf | 2012 | |
| Shelly Altman | ||
| Ron Carlivati | 2012–2015 | |
| Shelly Altman | 2015–2017 | |
| Jean Passanante | ||
| Shelly Altman | 2017–2019 | |
| Chris Van Etten | ||
| Chris Van Etten | 2019–2023 | |
| Dan O'Connor | ||
| — | 2023 | 2023 Writers Guild of America strike |
| Chris Van Etten | 2023–2024 | |
| Dan O'Connor | ||
| Elizabeth Korte | 2024 | |
| Patrick Mulcahey | ||
| Elizabeth Korte | since 2024 | |
| Chris Van Etten |
Since the series began in 1963, Port Charles,New York, has been the setting for the show. The town exists in the same fictional universe as other soap opera settings such asLlanview (One Life to Live),Pine Valley (All My Children),New York City (Ryan's Hope), andCorinth (Loving). The same setting was also used forGeneral Hospital's spinoff,Port Charles.
General Hospital's cast and crew have won many awards since 1974 when theDaytime Emmy Awards were created. In 2012, theCreative Arts Emmy Awards were created.General Hospital has won 16 Daytime Emmys forDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.[45]
In June 2009,TV Guide ranked "Luke and Laura's Wedding" at number forty-five on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes.[46] In December 2023,Variety rankedGeneral Hospital number eighty-eight on its list of "100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". Citing the Luke and Laura pairing as reason for the soap's "stratospheric heights", the magazine also called the soap's celebration of it sixtieth anniversary a "feat".[47]
During the 1960s,General Hospital earned decent ratings against the likes ofTo Tell the Truth andThe Secret Storm onCBS, but there was a decline as the 1970s came, especially whenNBC'sAnother World became highly popular. For two years, it also faced CBS'sThe Price Is Right, already a major hit. After continued mediocrity in theNielsen ratings,ABC was prepared to cancelGeneral Hospital, but decided to give it a second chance in 1978 when it expanded the show from an experimental 45 minutes to a full hour. However, the expansion came with an ultimatum to the producers that they had six months to improve the show's ratings.Gloria Monty was hired as the new executive producer, and on her first day, she spent an extra $100,000 re-taping four episodes. A miracle occurred thanks to Monty and head writerDouglas Marland; the show became the most-watched daytime drama by 1979, marking a rare instance of a daytime serial's comeback from near-extinction. During the wedding ofLuke and Laura on November 17, 1981, about 30 million people tuned in to watch them exchange vows and be cursed byElizabeth Taylor'sHelena Cassadine.
From 1979 to 1988,General Hospital remained number one in the ratings, competing against two game shows and two low-rated soaps on NBC—Texas andSanta Barbara—andGuiding Light on CBS (althoughGuiding Light experienced a renaissance for a brief period in the middle of 1984, and became the #1-rated soap, briefly dethroningGeneral Hospital from the top ratings spot). For the most part, however,General Hospital continued to triumph, even after the departure of popular actorsAnthony Geary andGenie Francis in the mid-1980s. AlthoughThe Young and the Restless tookGeneral Hospital's place as the highest-rated serial in 1989,General Hospital continued to maintain excellent ratings.
Even at its peak in the 1980s,General Hospital had been pre-empted in at least two markets in the United States. With the show still number one in the Nielsens,WDTN inDayton, Ohio preempted the series upon joining ABC in January 1980 in favor ofWoody Woodpecker andSuper Friends cartoons. Later, the station would air such shows asHour Magazine,Geraldo andMaury in the show's timeslot until September 2000, when the station's new owners, Sunrise Broadcasting (which purchased the station fromHearst Television two years prior), pulledMaury from the station's schedule, due to what it called "community standards", and broughtGeneral Hospital back to Dayton. InVermont andPlattsburgh, New York,WVNY droppedGeneral Hospital from the schedule in the 1980s and would only bring it back in 1995. During that hiatus,General Hospital still aired onMontreal'sCFCF-DT, whose signal was decently available in Vermont and Plattsburgh.
Ever since the 1991–1992 season ofGeneral Hospital, the show has had a steady decline in ratings. On and off, it would rank between third and fifth place in the Nielsen ratings, with CBS'sThe Young And The Restless andThe Bold and the Beautiful coming in first and second place, respectively.General Hospital remained in between third and fifth place in the ratings during that time, and from late 1991 to 1996All My Children held the title of ABC's highest-rated soap.
After months of speculation and cancellation rumors,Deadline Hollywood reported on April 11, 2012, that ABC quietly made the decision to keepGeneral Hospital on the air and to cancel instead the lower-rated talk showThe Revolution.[48] On June 26, 2012, ABC officially announced thatGeneral Hospital would move to the 2 p.m. ET/PT timeslot starting on September 10, 2012, and that the network would give the 3:00 p.m. hour back to its affiliates, as it was the recommended time slot forKatie Couric's new, ABC-syndicated talk show,Katie.[49]
Encore episodes were shown every weeknight on the former cable channelSoapnet, with a marathon on Saturday and classic episodes at 4 a.m. EST and 5 a.m. (3 a.m. and 4 a.m. CST).
Production ofGeneral Hospital was suspended in March 2020 as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The show had banked roughly two months' worth of episodes at that time.[38] By airing repeats on "Flashback Fridays",General Hospital was able to air original episodes through the week ending of May 21.[50] This was followed by several weeks of vintage episode repeats.[50] Production resumed on July 22, 2020, and new episodes began airing on August 3.[51]
On October 22, 2024, it was announced10Play, a freevideo-on-demand andcatch-up TV service byNetwork 10, would carry the soap in Australia beginning January 1, 2025.[52]Foxtel'sW previously broadcast the soap in 2011.[53]
| Start date | End date | Time slot (ET) | Run time (minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 1, 1963 | December 27, 1963 | 1:00 p.m. | 30 |
| December 30, 1963 | July 23, 1976 | 3:00 p.m. | |
| July 26, 1976 | January 13, 1978 | 3:15 p.m. | 45 |
| January 16, 1978 | September 7, 2012 | 3:00 p.m. | 60 |
| September 10, 2012 | present | 2:00 p.m.[c] |
ABC stations in theMountain andPacific time zones, and inAlaska andHawaii follow a Central Time Zone schedule for daytime programming; thus,General Hospital is scheduled by the network to air at 1:00 p.m. in these areas.
For historical ratings information, seeList of American daytime soap opera ratings
| Year(s) | Household Rating |
|---|---|
| 1979–1980 | 9.9 |
| 1980–1981 | 11.4 |
| 1981–1982 | 11.2 |
| 1982–1983 | 9.8 |
| 1983–1984 | 10.0 |
| 1984–1985 | 9.1 |
| 1985–1986 | 9.2 |
| 1986–1987 | 8.3 |
| 1987–1988 | 8.1 (Tied withThe Young and the Restless) |
| Serial | Household rating | (Time slot) network | Millions of households |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.General Hospital | 16.0 | (3–4pm) ABC | 13,040,000 |
| 2.All My Children | 10.2 | (1–2pm) ABC | 8,313,000 |
| 3.One Life to Live | 10.2 | (2–3pm) ABC | 8,313,000 |
| 4.Guiding Light | 7.9 | (3–4pm) CBS | 6,438,500 |
The popularity ofGeneral Hospital has gained it many parodies and references in other mainstream programs. For example:
The success of the long-running soap opera has had one sister serial, one spinoff in the United States, and two primetime spinoffs in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Young Marrieds was ABC's first attempt at a sister serial forGeneral Hospital. It ran for only two years, racking up a total of 380 episodes. Despite its moderate popularity, it was aired againstCBS's top-ratedThe Edge of Night, which it could not compete against. The series finale aired on March 25, 1966, with the show's main protagonist contemplating suicide. It ended in a cliffhanger, leaving the audience wondering if the man had killed himself or not.The Young Marrieds was set in the fictional suburb of Queen's Point, which was considered by the writers to be a suburb ofPort Charles.
The British television seriesGeneral Hospital did not feature any characters from the American show, but was modeled after its format. It started as a half-hour program broadcast in the afternoons, which was unusual for British serials that normally aired in prime time. In 1975, it was expanded to an hour-long format and moved to Friday evenings.
Port Charles was a daytime drama that initially featured interns in a competitive medical school program,[63] and was known for having more action actually in the hospital thanGeneral Hospital itself. It also included the characters ofScott Baldwin,Serena Baldwin,Lucy Coe,Kevin Collins, andKaren Wexler, all of whom originally appeared as characters onGeneral Hospital.[63] As the show evolved, it tended more towards gothic intrigue, including supernatural elements such asvampires andafterlife. It also switched formats from an open-ended daytime serial to 13-week story arcs known as "books", similar to Spanish-languagetelenovelas.
General Hospital: Night Shift is the second American prime time spinoff of a daytime drama (the first beingOur Private World, a spinoff ofAs the World Turns). Its first season aired from July 12, 2007, to October 4, 2007, onSoapnet, a cable channel owned by ABC.[64] The series follows the nighttime adventures of familiar and new characters around the hospital. As of March 2008, the first season of the series was "Soapnet's most-watched series ever", with ABC Daytime and Soapnet PresidentBrian Frons noting thatNight Shift drew more than 1 million new viewers to the channel during its first season.[65]
General Hospital: Twist of Fate was a primetime special that aired on Saturday, December 14, 1996. The episode picked up where that Friday's show had left off. The special centered on Laura's supposed death at the hands ofStefan Cassadine.[66]
On April 2, 1998,General Hospital aired a primetime special in celebration of the program's 35th anniversary. Hosted byAnthony Geary, the show focused and recapped on many popular storylines includingMonica Quartermaine's breast cancer,BJ's death, andStone Cates' battle with HIV. This was the first anniversary special that was broadcast in primetime and that did not include any of the current storyline.[67][68]
On April 6, 2013, as part of the show's 50th anniversary commemoration, ABC's newsmagazine20/20 airedGeneral Hospital: The Real Soap Dish—a retrospective and behind-the-scenes special hosted byKatie Couric.[69]
On September 5, 2014, it was announced that cast memberNancy Lee Grahn would begin to host a companion web series for ABC.com in January 2015,General Hospital Now!, which would feature behind-the-scenes interviews with fellow cast members, as well as panel discussions with comedians who are fans of the show.[70][71][72]
On May 15 and 18, 2015,General Hospital aired two live episodes as part of its 52nd anniversary celebration, using thehashtag #GHLive to promote the broadcast on social media.[73]
On December 15, 2023, it was announced ABC would air a primetime specialGeneral Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling, in celebration of the soap's sixtieth anniversary. The special featured interviews with present and former cast members, behind-the-scenes footage, blooper reels and a "special fan tribute".[74] The special aired on January 4, 2024.[75]
As a result,GH's show's 15,000th episode, which was originally slated to air on Friday, June 17, and due to a previous preemption was going to air on Monday, June 20, is now scheduled to air on Tuesday, June 21.
Unfortunately, as was expected,General Hospital is preempted on June 21 for ongoing news coverage of the hearings on the attack on the Capitol Building.
