Post by Chloe (admin) on Apr 12, 2022 21:41:24 GMT
• Weekdays (ABC) •
• General Hospital is an American daytime soap opera which airs on ABC and began on 1st April 1963, more than two-and-a-half years earlier than former NBC rival 'Days Of Our Lives'. Originally a medical drama, there is very little involving the actual hospital anymore, with the majority of it focusing on the personal lives of several long-running families in the fictional New York district of Port Charles (although the show is actually filmed in Hollywood, on the other side of the country). During its lifespan it has won 14 Daytime Emmy Awards and spawned several short-lived spin-offs. Originally half-hourly, episodes became 45 minutes in the late 1970s, and just a couple of years later went to a full hour of broadcast (although only 36 minutes of this is actual material). Though there are no original characters left, several long-running ones remain. Leslie Charleson (Monica Quartermaine) has appeared continuously since 1977, whilst Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) is the longest-running male actor to appear continuously, having done so since 1993.
Daytime soaps once ruled the American airwaves, but their popularity began to decline in the 2000s, and a soap bloodbath between 2009-2013 gradually saw twelve of them dwindle to just four - The Bold And The Beautiful (TBATB), Days Of Our Lives (DOOL), The Young And The Restless (TYATR) and General Hospital (GH). With the shock demise of both Guiding Light (1937-2009) and As The World Turns (1956-2010), GH suddenly found itself as America's longest-running soap, having so far racked up well over 14'000 episodes, making it the most volumous television serial drama still on air today. For a period in the late 1980s and well into the 1990s, it was the USA's most popular soap, however ratings have slowly declined and it now finds itself fourth out of four. Rumours of its cancellation swirl around from time to time, yet every year - with little fanfare - ABC renews it once again.
Daytime soaps once ruled the American airwaves, but their popularity began to decline in the 2000s, and a soap bloodbath between 2009-2013 gradually saw twelve of them dwindle to just four - The Bold And The Beautiful (TBATB), Days Of Our Lives (DOOL), The Young And The Restless (TYATR) and General Hospital (GH). With the shock demise of both Guiding Light (1937-2009) and As The World Turns (1956-2010), GH suddenly found itself as America's longest-running soap, having so far racked up well over 14'000 episodes, making it the most volumous television serial drama still on air today. For a period in the late 1980s and well into the 1990s, it was the USA's most popular soap, however ratings have slowly declined and it now finds itself fourth out of four. Rumours of its cancellation swirl around from time to time, yet every year - with little fanfare - ABC renews it once again.