If you have lived in America for more than a year it is almost impossible not to know what General Hospital is. This is the second longest running soap opera on American television and if time should last I am almost sure it will become the first. General Hospital aka GH was created by Frank and Doris Hursley in 1963 and has been on air ever since. GH has already aired 11,995 episodes so if you are planning to catch up, good luck. Throughout the years the episode air time has changed, unlike other soap operas which have had their air time cut down GH has been extended from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.
As the name suggests this is a program about the lives of nurses and doctors of an unnamed hospital. This of course is how the storyline started out but since first airing in 1963 this has changed greatly and the story line has progressed on. I have to give
ABC credit for keeping this program alive for so many years; who would have ever dreamed that America would be so interested in the fictional lives of these characters.
General Hospital has become so popular that it holds the record for most Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series; so far it has collected 10 of these awards. In addition to the Emmy Awards this show has also received awards from Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America. This is not surprising especially since the show has averaged 10 million households' views per episode, this show also holds the record for most daytime viewers; GH has attracted over 17.5 million households and in a lot of these homes more than one person was watching the program. As with most successful shows many parodies have been made off of this program for example in the hit TV show House the main character Dr. House watches a show call Prescription: Passion which is an execrated version of General Hospital.
I never recommend that people watch programs like these, they are time consuming, full of junk, and there is not much else to it. I am not saying that they are not entertaining but people have been known to skip work or not accept jobs just because their favorite soap opera is coming on during that time. If you have absolutely nothing else to do head over to
ABC and check out this infectious show or you can watch full episodes online at
ABC.com
