General Hospital

History of General Hospital

General Hospital was introduced to the audience in 1963 on ABC Television. It has been at the top of the ratings during the eighties when it introduced the incredibly popular super couple Luke and Laura. It is produced in California and is the longest running soap that is created on the west coast.

The storylines take place in the town of Port Charles, New York where stories originally focused on the characters in Port Charles General Hospital. It began as a half hour show and moved to a full hour in 1978. The original storylines focused on Dr. Steve Hardy and the nurses and doctors in the hospital. The soap had all of the usual infidelities, love triangles and subplots that exist in soap operas.

In the eighties the show took a dramatic turn up as more than thirty million viewers tuned in to see the wedding of Luke and Laura. In the eighties the plots on most soap operas read like an action adventure movie and General Hospital was no different. The nineties took on a more socially conscious trend and introduced some weighty issues such as HIV and organ donation in some of the most heart rending storylines on soap operas at that time.

Recently, the show has slipped in ratings, but it continues to deliver powerful storylines and a great cast of actors. It consistently ranks fifth in its time slot and has not seen the return of its once dominance in the eighties.

General Hospital holds the record for daytime Emmys for outstanding daytime drama with ten wins. The award winning show, even though struggling with ratings, has a loyal following some of whom have been with the show since its beginnings. It has been the model for a UK version of the show modeled on the same format, and another daytime drama entitled Port Charles.

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