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General Hospital premiered on the ABC television network on April 1, 1963. General Hospital is the longest-running serial produced in Hollywood, and the longest-running entertainment program in ABC television history.
General Hospital. Families, friends, enemies, and lovers experience life-changing events in the large upstate city of Port Charles, New York, which has a busy hospital, upscale hotel, cozy diner, and dangerous waterfront frequented by the criminal underworld.
- (5.6K)
- 1963-04-01
- Crime, Drama, Romance
- 60
ABC's Emmy® Award-winning daytime drama, "General Hospital," will celebrate its 60th anniversary on April 1, 2023. "GH" is both the longest-running scripted drama and the longest-running American soap opera currently in production.
- Overview
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holds the title of the longest-running American soap opera, recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest-running serial still in production and the only remaining soap opera on ABC. Its premiere was on April 1, 1963, the same day NBC introduced The Doctors. While The Doctors, a medical soap opera created to compete with General Hospital, ceased airing in 1982, General Hospital continued to thrive. Initially, it was a half-hour show until ABC extended it to 45 minutes in 1976 and further to a full hour in 1978.
is credited for starting several trends in the soap opera genre in the 1980s, most notably that of the fast-paced action-adventure plot-lines that were remarkably different from the more traditional domestic and social issues that had been the sole focus of most soap operas during the previous decades. Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2003, General Hospital was honored by TV Guide as "The Greatest Soap Opera of All Time." It also earned a spot on TIME Magazine's "Top 100 Television Shows of All Time." Furthermore, a 2012 online poll by ABC News and People magazine saw General Hospital voted as the greatest soap opera ever, surpassing All My Children, Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, and
Launched in 1963, the shows' storylines revolve around the fictional city of Port Charles, New York, and the staff at its General Hospital. Initially focusing on the romances of the hospital staff, storylines branched out to cover relationships of various families such as the Hardys, the Webbers, the Spencers, the wealthy Quartermaines, and the nob...
For a complete list of the current cast, see List of current actors.
Watch the official General Hospital online at ABC.com. Get exclusive videos, blogs, photos, cast bios, free episodes.
The official General Hospital site on ABC offers a deeper look at the hit TV series with exclusive content and show information. You can watch full episodes of General Hospital free online.
General Hospital (known as GH) is an American daytime television drama that is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest running drama in television currently in production, as well as the third longest running soap opera in American history, after Guiding Light.
