"General Hospital" (1963) TV series 1963-????

Creators:

Doris Hursley
Frank Hursley
Jim Hursley

Seasons:

1 | unknown

Release Date:

1 April 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Events in this daytime drama are centred in Port Charles, a community on the coast in upper New York...

Plot Keywords:

New York | Cult Favorite | Beautiful Woman | Doctor | Actor Shares Full Name With Character

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 182 wins & 346 nominations

Cast

Maurice Benard	...	Sonny Corinthos (1,085 episodes, 1993-2009)
Steve Burton	...	Jason Morgan (1,047 episodes, 1991-2009)
Rebecca Herbst	...	Elizabeth Webber / ... (825 episodes, 1997-2009)
Ingo Rademacher	...	Jasper Jacks / ... (759 episodes, 1996-2009)
Nancy Lee Grahn	...	Alexis Davis (684 episodes, 1996-2009)
Tyler Christopher	...	Nikolas Cassadine / ... (629 episodes, 1996-2009)
Laura Wright	...	Carly Jacks / ... (623 episodes, 2005-2009)
Kelly Monaco	...	Sam McCall / ... (619 episodes, 2003-2009)
Julie Berman	...	Lesley Lu 'Lulu' Spencer / ... (590 episodes, 2005-2009)
Greg Vaughan	...	Lucky Spencer (571 episodes, 2003-2009)
Rick Hearst	...	Ric Lansing (533 episodes, 2002-2009)
Bradford Anderson	...	Damien Spinelli / ... (529 episodes, 2006-2009)
Alicia Leigh Willis	...	Courtney Matthews / ... (525 episodes, 2001-2006)
Ted King	...	Lorenzo Alcazar / ... (505 episodes, 2002-2007)
Anthony Geary	...	Luke Spencer / ... (487 episodes, 1978-2009)
Natalia Livingston	...	Emily Bowen Quartermaine / ... (480 episodes, 2003-2009)
Kimberly McCullough	...	Dr. Robin Scorpio / ... (465 episodes, 1985-2009)
Kirsten Storms	...	Maxie Jones / ... (462 episodes, 2003-2009)
Jason Thompson	...	Dr. Patrick Drake / ... (455 episodes, 2005-2009)

Runtime:

USA:30 min (1963-1976) | USA:45 min (1976-1977) | USA:60 min (1978-) | 30 min (1963-1976) | 45 min (1976-1977) | 60 min (1978-)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (1963-1966) | Color (1966-)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

ABC Television Center - 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Trivia:

While filming on location at Mount Rushmore, Sharon Wyatt's quick ad-libbing saved the show from having to re-shoot after a fan recognized her and walked into the scene saying, "Look, it's Tiffany." In character, she quickly replied, "You must recognize me from one of my movies," and quickly moved the fan from the scene.

Quotes:

Sonny Corinthos: My relationship with Sam is none of your business, Carly. Stay away from her.
Carly Corinthos: You're not having a relationship. You're sleeping with Sam because she's a dead ringer for Brenda.
Sonny Corinthos: Is that what you told her?
Carly Corinthos: I felt she had a right to know.
Sonny Corinthos: Really?
Carly Corinthos: Mm-hmm.
Sonny Corinthos: Well, you're wrong, as usual, because when I see Sam, I don't see Brenda. I see a beautiful, passionate woman who doesn't lie about who she is or what she wants. Nice change of pace, isn't it?
Carly Corinthos: Hmm. Well, if she has any sense she will be gone by the time you get upstairs, and if she is dumb enough to stay, then she deserves the heart-stomping that she will eventually get with you. She's not good enough, Sonny. She's not going to be enough for you, because no one ever is. That hole inside of you is so deep and it is so embedded, no woman could ever hope to fill it up. She isn't going to be good enough. She's not going to be loyal enough, and she certainly will not be strong enough to ease your pain or to fix you in all the ways that you are broken. You are wrecked inside, Sonny, and eventually you wreck everyone around you. But not my children, Sonny. You will not do that to my boys.
Sonny Corinthos: Forget about them. As of now, you have no children.
Carly Corinthos: Don't you even try it. Michael and Morgan are mine. I carried them, I gave birth to them, and I love them more than anything in this world. And you...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Jimmy Neutron: Win, Lose and Kaboom (2004) (TV)

This USED to be a GREAT show. Now...?

General Hospital used to be a great show. Back in the late-70's and early 80's..it was THE SOAP to watch.

In the early 90's, when Claire and Matthew Labine took over head writing duties, General Hospital spotlighted so many fantastic, heartwrenching, and honest stories. I mean, what fan of this show will EVER forget Stone and Robin's love story. Stone, dying of AIDS-blind due to it...takes his last glimpse of his love, Robin by a window and hapilly says "I can see you"...then passes away. Or will the forget the Breast Cancer storyline, when Monica cuts her bandages off to see that she has no breast, and she just begins to cry uncontrollably. Or, the revolutionary and GUTSY storyline when young Maxie is dying from a heart condition, and is need of a transplant. At the same time...her cousin Barbara Jean (B.J.) is rendered brain dead in a school bus accident. Tony and Bobbie decide to donate her organs. Meanwhile Felicia (Maxie's mom), gets the news that a donor heart has been found. So she goes to Bobbie happy that they have found a heart for her daughter. Her happiness turns to horror when she finds Bobbie crying. Instantly, Felicia knows...

"Noooo. Not Barbara Jean. Not Barbara Jean's heart."

And she collapses to the floor, crying. I cry now as I think about it, and this was ten years ago. And then the scene where Tony hovers over Maxie, as she recovers from the transplant. And he leans down and places his ear over her chest to hear the beating heart that belonged to his deceased daughter. Oh man...

This was OUTSTANDING TELEVISION!

Sadly, GH has regressed so much under the watch of Bob Guza, Jr. I don't care what anyone says....it's BLASPHEMY to put a Spencer with a Cassadine!!! To me...this show is long gone. With the loss of some of my favorite actors (Johnathan Jackson, Amber Tamblyn, Kimberly McCullough, Sarah Brown), and some truly horiffic writing, storylines and pairings....I can never watch this show with the same enthusiasm as I did ten and twenty years ago. For me though...there are few saving graces for this show. The Quartermaines': John Ingle...whom not only has filled the shoes of David Lewis' "Edward Quartermaine" character...but has greatly improved on the original (and this is saying A LOT, as David Lewis was FANTASTIC as Edward), Leslie Charleson, Stuart Damon, Anna Lee, Jane Eliot (always a good watch when she returns from time to time), and Robin Christopher (GREAT). Maurice Benard as "Sonny" still delivers the goods. And of course, Tony Geary as "Luke Spenser". I just wish the material was better. Sadly, unless the Labines come back, or someone can be the second coming of Gloria Monty...I'll just be a viewer on occasion.