General Hospital Soap Opera

The General Hospital soap opera was named the Greatest Soap Opera of All Time by T.V. Guide in 2003 when the show celebrated its 40th anniversary. Following the 2008 Emmy award for Best Drama Series, this program has the most wins for best series of all the daytime soap operas. It received the award in 1981, 84, 95, 96, 97, 99, 2000, 05, 06 and 08.

General Hospital soap opera premiered on ABC on April 1, 1963. NBC launched a rival show named The Doctors the same day. Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, the soap opera focused on the staff of General Hospital in the fictitious town of Port Charles in upstate New York. The soap was 30 minutes long, expanding to 45 minutes in 1976 and to the modern 1 hour format in 1978.

General Hospital (GH) focuses on several families over the years, most of whom boasted doctors in their family trees. A founding family was that of the Hardys. Dr. Steve Hardy (portrayed by John Beradino) was the Chief of Internal Medicine. Dr. Hardy would guide many of the young physicians over the years with his wisdom and kindness. He was paired with Rachel Ames’ Audrey. A storyline in the 70s would reveal that Dr. Jeff Webber (Richard Dean Anderson) was his biological son. Steve’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Webber has been a featured character on GH since 1996. Beradino passed away in 1996 and his character soon followed. Rachel Ames, is retired, although she does occasionally appear on the show.

The Quartermaines are another strong family in GH history. Doctors Alan and Monica Quartermaine worked, loved, and hated each other for many years on General Hospital. Monica originally came to town married to Dr. Jeff Webber but soon resumed her love affair with Rick Webber (Jeff’s brother) and finally began a 25+ year love affair and marriage with Alan. Though the bickersons had their share of extra-marital affairs over the years (Jason is a product of one of Alan’s affairs though he regards Monica as his mother) and heartbreaks (the death of their son A.J., Jason’s brain damage and subsequent shunning of the Quartermaine family), they were always fun to watch.

The Quartermaine family has been decimated over the years with the loss of Lila (Anna Lee passed away), Alan (Stuart Damon was released from his contract and the character killed during the Metro Court hostage crisis), and Emily (she was murdered by Diego Alcazar). Most recently, Michael Corinthos III (A.J.’s biological son) was shot in the head and remains in a vegetative state. Only Tracy and Edward along with Monica remain of the original Quartermaine clan. Tracy’s sons Ned and Dillon are both off screen and Jason, though a Quartermaine by birth remains at odds with his family and does not consider himself one of the clan.

Among the other families that have made Port Charles their home over the years are:

• The Spencers – Luke, Laura and their children Lucky and Lulu are a core family of the modern GH. Nikolas Cassidine (Laura’s son with Stavros Cassidine) is considered a member of the family as is Elizabeth Webber (by marriage to Lucky) and her two sons Cameron Webber (with Zander Smith) and Jake Spencer (with Jason Morgan).
• The Corinthos family – Sonny Corinthos is joined by his brother Ric Lansing, his father Michael Corinthos, Sr. his ex-wives Lily (now deceased) and Carly, sons Michael and Morgan and daughter Kristina. His sister Courtney passed away during the virus storyline though her son Spencer lives with his father Nikolas Cassidine and does not appear to be often remembered as a Corinthos.
• The Scorpios – Robert Scorpio and his former wife Anna Devane share a daughter Robin, who is currently a physician on the modern GH. Mac Scorpio (Chief of Police) also raised Robin after her parents ‘death’ as well as the Jones girls (Maxie and Georgie) with Felicia Jones after Frisco abandoned them to work with WSB. Georgie Jones was killed by Diego Alcazar.

Originally conceived as a show that followed the loves and lives of the doctors and nurses at GH, General Hospital is known for starting many trends in the daytime including the action-adventure years from 1978 to 1989 that launched it to the number one soap opera on daytime. Those years featured the love stories of Luke and Laura, Robert and Holly, Anna and Duke and Frisco and Felicia. These four pairings were powerful love stories told in and around spy like action stories that took them to all parts of the world.

During the 1990s, the storylines on General Hospital trended from action-adventure to more domestic based storylines. Some of the more powerful stories told in the 90s included the death of little B.J. Jones (the daughter of Tony Jones and Bobbie Spencer) after a bus accident. Her heart was transplanted into her cousin Maxie who was in desperate need of a new heart. The scenes of Tony Jones listening to his daughter’s heart beating in Maxie’s chest are still powerful.

Robin Scorpio’s love affair with Stone Cates led to her H.I.V. infection. The subsequent death of Stone and Robin’s struggle to live with her condition are remarkable storylines that ripple into the modern day as Robin, living with the disease for more than a decade now prepares to give birth to a child.

By the end of the 90s, the heroes of the show were a mob boss and his ‘hitman’ while the police began to fade into the background as ineffectual. A complaint about the current show is that many of the heroes of the action adventure years (Luke, Robert, and Frisco) are all portrayed as deadbeat dads. The glorification of the mob is another complaint about the modern GH.

General Hospital has had three spinoffs based on it. The first was a U.K. based series that utilized the premise, but none of the characters. The second, Port Charles, originally spun off to focus on the lives and loves of six young interns but eventually featured supernatural tales of vampires and angels. It was canceled in 2004. Finally, GH: Night Shift is a made for SOAPnet spinoff that featured the cast in a ‘stand alone’ series, but with the upcoming second season will feature the return of fan favorites Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio) and Antonio Sabato Jr. (Jagger Cates) to the screen with stories that will mingle with the daytime drama.

Learn more about General Hospital:

General Hospital Cast

GH Scoops

Slideshow:General Hospital Soap Spoiler

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