Making its network debut on April 1, 1963, “General Hospital” took to the airwaves on the very same day that another hospital-based serial, “The Doctors”, premiered. Although “GH” predated the feminist movement by several years, it spoke to an audience that was beginning to widen its focus from the confines of the kitchen, home & family. Creators Frank & Doris Hursley shifted their gaze, instead, to the workplace, concentrating more of their time on the relationships between co-workers. Fifteen years later, with most soaps now having an hour-long time slot to fill, the venerable GH was facing cancellation. In an effort to revive the soap, the network brought in Gloria Monty, a long-time veteran of the field who had successfully directed the “Secret Storm” for 16 years. During Gloria Monty’s first meeting with the actor who portrays Luke Spencer, Tony Geary confessed, “I hate soap opera.” Monty replied: “Honey, so do I. I want you to help me change all that.” Although she faced the Herculean task of producing the equivalent of more than 100 movies in the span of one year, Monty dug in, determined to revolutionize General Hospital. Ultimately, this powerful producer changed all the rules on the show & inspired changes in the entire genre. According to the Museum of Television & Radio, “…she wanted the pacing of a prime-time program, so she eliminated the long pauses of the serial and ordered more than twice the number of scenes per episode of the average soap. In addition to redesigning the sets and costumes, she challenged the form itself. She romantically paired the troubled teen Laura Vining with the streetwise, antihero Luke Spencer. United by a problematic rape scene, which Monty labeled a ‘choreographed seduction’, but which others saw as unmitigated violence, Luke and Laura spent the summer of 1980 on the lam, an unprecedented story line that liberated the characters from the established community. Monty enlivened the escapades with homages to Hitchcock and, particularly, to Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night. With the new look capturing a youthful and collegiate audience, General Hospital became a cultural phenomenon; a benchmark equal to anything in the history of television.” Having lived with the rape scene controversy for a long time, actor Tony Geary explains, “From that point on, we played his regret and his total devastation. That’s a story nobody wants to tell – that the rapist’s life is as devastated as the person he rapes. His great love and regret and guilt are what caught the audience so off guard. There were two victims there, even though he was the perpetrator. The character of Luke Spencer was designed to commit horrendous acts and recover from them.” When the writers eventually decided to make Luke and Laura lovers, an uproar among viewers resulted & it remains a topic of debate to this day. Despite the controversy, the ratings continued to soar, culminating in the Most-Watched Event in the History of Daytime Television. That is, on November 16 and 17, 1981, 30 million viewers tuned in to witness Luke and Laura’s Wedding. In addition, Elizabeth Taylor mesmerized this huge audience with a guest appearance at the long-anticipated nuptials in Port Charles, portraying the evil, bent-on-revenge Helena Cassadine. Unfortunately, when actress Genie Francis (a.k.a., Laura Vining Baldwin Spencer) left the show, so did millions of viewers within its young, more fickle fan base. In the last two decades, ratings have experienced ups and downs, however, the now 48-yr. old General Hospital remains a beloved fixture in the afternoon lineup at ABC Daytime.
This collection of color coordinated fashion fabrics is from the Winter 2011 issue of Vogue Fabrics By Mail. Order a subscription to this swatch club catalog service to receive home delivery.
This collection of color coordinated fashion fabrics is from the Winter 2011 issue of Vogue Fabrics By Mail. Order a subscription to this swatch club catalog service to receive home delivery.
