General Hospital - Show History

Show History

Launched in 1963, the first stories were mainly set at General Hospital in an unnamed midsized Eastern city (the name of the city, Port Charles, would not be mentioned until the late 1970s under Gloria Monty). Storylines revolved around Dr. Steve Hardy (John Beradino) and his friend, Nurse Jessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin). Jessie's turbulent marriage to the much-younger Dr. Phil Brewer (originally portrayed by Roy Thinnes; lastly by Martin West) was the center of many early storylines. In 1964 the woman who would finally win Steve's heart, Audrey March (Rachel Ames) came to town. Other nurses that had an impact at General Hospital during the 1960s and 1970s included Meg Bentley, Diana Taylor, Sharon McGillis, Jane Harland, and Augusta McLeod.

By the end of the 1970s, General Hospital was facing dire ratings when Executive Producer Gloria Monty was brought in to turn the show around. Monty is credited with creation of the first supercouple, Luke Spencer and Laura Webber, played by Anthony Geary and Genie Francis. The end of their hour wedding on November 17, 1981 was the most-watched event in daytime serial history.

During the 1980s the series featured several high-profile action, adventure, and some science fiction-based storylines. Location shooting at sites including Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota; Niagara Falls; Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Big Bear and Avalon (Catalina Island), California; and San Antonio, Texas are just some that propelled the story.

In the 1990s, General Hospital entered a transitional phase as the action/adventure storylines of the 1980s became less popular. The show gained critical acclaim for its sensitive handling of social issues, most notable of which were the heart transplant storyline which involved the death of eight-year-old BJ Jones (daughter of Dr. Tony Jones and R.N. Bobbie Spencer) in a bus crash and the subsequent donation of her heart to her dying cousin Maxie Jones. Shortly afterwards, Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson) began a long battle with breast cancer, which led to her adopting Emily Quartermaine, a young girl who had been orphaned when her mother died of breast cancer. Her adopted daughter was later murdered by Diego Alcazar, leaving Dr. Monica Quartermaine heartbroken. General Hospital was also praised for yet another storyline in the love story of teenagers Stone Cates (Michael Sutton) and Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough). After a struggle that lasted throughout most of 1995, Stone died from AIDS at the age of 19 and his death was followed by storylines in which 17 year old Robin had to deal with being HIV-positive as a result of her and Stone's relationship. The storyline got Sutton a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor and won McCullough an Outstanding Younger Actress award. ABC featured an "Afterschool Special" revolving around the AIDS story.

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 around Laura's supposed death at the hands of Stefan Cassadine.

The series' 11,000th episode aired on February 20, 2006.

On April 23, 2009, General Hospital became ABC's first regular daytime drama to be taped and broadcast in high definition, though the 2008 season of its primetime spinoff General Hospital: Night Shift was in high definition. This is the second daytime drama to move to high definition after CBS's The Young and the Restless.

On February 23, 2010, the series aired its 12,000th episode.

On December 1, 2011, ABC confirmed that former One Life to Live executive producer Frank Valentini and head writer Ron Carlivati would replace longtime executive producer Jill Farren-Phelps and Garin Wolf respectively, though Wolf would remain on as a regular writer. The change took effect on January 9, 2012. The first episode under the direction of Valentini aired in February 1, 2012 and Carlivati's material started airing on February 21, 2012.