General Hospital

General Hospital first aired on April 1, 1963 on the ABC Network making it the network’s longest running entertainment program. The show was created by husband and wife team, Frank and Doris Hursley. Soap Opera’s from the very essences are ever changing and evolving causing the need for plot, story, and character lines to do the same. Thankfully, the Hursleys had the same concept from the show from the very creation and inception. Since General Hospital first aired in the 1960’s the target audience was a lot less dynamic than it is now. Mainly created for housewives, the show first hand minimal plot lines and lot less adventure and controversy than it does today. The 60’s were a trying period for General Hospital, as it was for all other soap operas at the time. The networks were playing with the formatting, producing, writing, and direction during this time. Time slots were changing, writers were hired and fired, as well as the general direction of the show was tweaked. However, the 70’s were also a turbulent time for the show as General Hospital suffered from low ratings. The early popularity of the show in the beginning of the decade did not last as changes needed to happen whether they wanted to or not. The show captured back audiences in latter part of the decade as they injected more controversial and topical plot lines into the show. Insert some love triangles, controversial topics, and younger actors and you have sum up the eighties for General Hospital. The show made the necessary changes in the 70’s that they needed to secure more successfully years for the show. Sure some writers got fired, but new writers were also hired. The 80’s provided to be a successful decade for the show and were able to hit the audiences demand for a more adventurous and character driven show. The show was also able to get away from the sullen plot lines that it had once been turning out on a daily basis. In the 1990’s General Hospital was again looking to make some changes as characters were leaving the show and audience loyalty was starting to slip. The show decided to put social issues front and center concentrating on addressing these issues full force. Such issues included rape, addictions, AIDS, and cancer. These issues seemed to resonate with viewers and once again captivated audiences all over the country. Since 2000, many soap operas saw decreased viewership and had to once again do something to regain viewers. Luckily, General Hospital has always relied on their character lines to carry the show so they were able to focus on their base of strong actors. General Hospital’s legacy characters are what enable the show to continue on to this day relying on their ability to draw in viewers each day. There are still many loose ends to tie up and many stories to tell on General Hospital so we will just have to wait and see what they come up with next.

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