The history of General Hospital refers to the ABC Daytime soap opera, General Hospital, a daytime American television soap opera. It ranks as one of the world's longest-running soap operas, and was in continuous production until the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Set in the fictional town of Port Charles, New York, the show primarily revolves around the lives and relationships of the people connected to the town's hospital. The show has aired over 15,600 episodes as of September 7, 2025, and has spawned several spin-offs since it was originally broadcast.
Early years (1963–1977)
General Hospital was created by Frank and Doris Hursley and premiered on April 1, 1963. The first stories were mainly set on the seventh floor of General Hospital, in an unnamed midsized Eastern city (the name of the city, Port Charles, would not be mentioned until the late 1970s). "They had this concept of the show that it was like a big wagon wheel – the spokes would be the characters and the hub would be the hospital", John Beradino (Steve Hardy) later reflected to Entertainment Weekly in 1994. Storylines revolved around Dr. Steve Hardy and his friend, Nurse Jessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin). Steve was Chief of Internal Medicine and extremely dedicated to his work. Jessie's turbulent marriage to the much-younger Dr. Phil Brewer (originally portrayed by Roy Thinnes; lastly by Martin West) was the center of many early storylines. In 1964, Audrey March (Rachel Ames), a former flight attendant and the sister of Nurse Lucille March (Lucille Wall), joined the canvas and started a relationship with Steve. Other notable nurses during the 1960s and 1970s included Meg Bentley (Patricia Breslin, later Elizabeth MacRae), Diana Taylor (Valerie Starrett, later Brooke Bundy), Sharon McGillis (Sharon DeBord) and Jane Harland (Shelby Hiatt). Meg marries Lee Baldwin (Ross Elliott, later Peter Hansen), who adopts her son Scotty and becomes his only family when Meg dies. Diana is torn between two men, Dr. Peter Taylor (Paul Carr, later Craig Huebing) and Dr. Phil Brewer. Sharon marries Dr. Henry Pinkham (Peter Kilman) while Jane marries Howie Dawson (Ray Girardin). In one fast-paced plot in 1971, Audrey is accused of murdering her son's babysitter and General Hospital was briefly elevated to the number one position, beating longtime ratings giant As the World Turns. In 1972, Howie Dawson becomes involved with Brooke Clinton (then Indus Arthur), who is found murdered the day after she spurns his advances. In 1973, Audrey marries alcoholic Dr. Jim Hobart (James Sikking) before finally realizing she loves Steve. Augusta McLeod (Judith McConnell) arrives the same year, bringing back Phil Brewer in an attempt to break up Peter and Diana Taylor. Augusta is pregnant with Peter's child. In December 1974, Phil Brewer is murdered with a geode paper weight and Jessie Brewer is put on trial. She is acquitted and Augusta is sent to prison and gives her son up for adoption.
Having been rated No. 1 in 1972, by the mid-1970s, viewers of General Hospital felt it to be glacially paced and the show was low-rated. Due to relatively easygoing choices in storyline, the show almost always lost out to rival medical soap The Doctors on NBC, which was considered by many to be more daring. Time magazine panned General Hospital in 1976, stating, "If malpractice is this dull, it is worth insuring against", noting the serial's saving grace was Dr. Lesley Williams (Denise Alexander). The introduction of actress Leslie Charleson (Monica Webber, later Monica Quartermaine) and actor Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin) were also credited with aiding the show's revival.
With cancellation looming, Douglas Marland was brought on as head writer. Marland is credited for creating longtime staples such as the Quartermaine and the Spencer families. When he objected to a planned storyline that called for the virtuous Dr. Lesley Webber to cheat on her husband with David Hamilton, Marland was challenged to come up with a better idea. As a result, Lesley rejected David's advances and the enraged suitor began sleeping with her sixteen-year-old daughter Laura Webber (Genie Francis) instead. This torrid affair culminated in Laura killing her older lover after discovering that he was only using her to get back at her mother. This storyline was successful and as a result, Laura became a major focus of the show. Laura's subsequent storyline, a love triangle involving her, Scott Baldwin, and Bobbie Spencer, was also a success, but soon the success of both stories would be overshadowed by a phenomenon that very few expected, when Laura crossed paths with Bobbie's brother Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary).
Cultural phenomenon and supercouple pairings (1978–1987)
Faced with threats of cancellation in 1978 after several years of stagnant ratings, ABC Daytime executives brought on Gloria Monty as executive producer and gave her 13 weeks to increase ratings. Monty had much experience in the genre from directing The Secret Storm for years. Monty is credited with increasing the pacing of the series, and introducing action adventure storylines, which General Hospital was first among soap operas to do. Reportedly not agreeing with the increased pace and also not wanting to relocate to Los Angeles, California where GH was produced, Marland left the series and was replaced by Pat Falken Smith. The introduction of the WSB spy agent Robert Scorpio (and later fellow agents Sean Donely (John Reilly) and Anna Devane (Finola Hughes)) led to several popular spy mysteries involving secret formulas, hidden treasures and world domination schemes. A few of these plots were considered preposterous, such as the 1981 storyline in which Luke, Laura and Robert saved the town of Port Charles from being placed under a deep freeze by maniacal Mikkos Cassadine's Ice Princess weather machine. General Hospital bounced back from the brink and subsequently became the highest-rated American soap opera from the 1979/80 season until 1988 when they tied with The Young and the Restless.
The supercouple pairing of Luke Spencer and Laura Webber would eventually become the most popular storyline in soap opera history. Their November 16–17, 1981 wedding was watched by about 30 million viewers, setting a record for the highest-rated episode of a soap opera in American television history. Their popularity got the attention of actress Elizabeth Taylor (a huge General Hospital fan), who asked to be a part of the wedding. She guest-starred as Helena Cassadine and adorned Newsweek magazine with Francis and Geary. Rumors circulated that the wedding was not planned until Taylor asked for them to be married as part of her appearance, confirmed by head writer Pat Falken Smith as she left the series. Luke and Laura's relationship was not without some controversy, as Luke had raped her in 1979. Laura was traumatized and went to counseling, and eventually forgave Luke. Monty's comment on the storyline, as The New York Times quoted from a prior 1987 interview, "Some people call it a rape – we call it a seduction."
Just before the wedding aired, head writer Pat Falken Smith and her team of writers angrily quit the show in August 1981 after repeated battles with Gloria Monty and ABC Daytime chief at the time Jacqueline Smith. Pat Falken Smith was also upset over the work done during her three-month absence during the writer's strike earlier in the year, claiming the Ice Princess storyline written while she was gone was, "the most convoluted, insipid, insane ... crappy idea in the world". In the plot, Smith's team left and went to NBC's Days of Our Lives. "Gloria's a genius—who runs a Gestapo operation", sniped Falken Smith in a 1981 People Weekly interview. During summer 1981, GH was averaging 14 million viewers per episode.
The success of Luke and Laura led General Hospital and other soap operas to try and emulate the formula. Under the reign of Monty, the series produced other successful pairings such as Robert Scorpio and Holly Sutton (Tristan Rogers and Emma Samms), Duke Lavery and Anna Devane (Ian Buchanan and Finola Hughes) and Frisco Jones and Felicia Jones (Jack Wagner and Kristina Wagner).
Exits of major characters like Luke and Laura, Heather Webber, Scott Baldwin and Dr. Lesley Webber contributed to falling ratings, although new characters brought in new fans to make up for those losses. Emily McLaughlin reduced the number of her appearances during this time due to weakening health but remained a strong presence when she did appear. Veteran actors like Peter Hansen and Susan Brown departed, although they would return on a recurring basis and later helped launch the 1997-2002 spin-off, Port Charles. But fans continue to bemoan the fact that others like Frank Maxwell, Todd Davis and Bianca Ferguson would not return after their late 80's exits, having contributed greatly to the show's supporting cast during its heyday. Lynn Herring was cast as a sexy new vamp, Lucy Coe, bringing both humor and scandal to her role of the husband-stealing character who briefly had a family written in around her thanks to her Aunt Charlene Maree Cheatham and Charlene's two sons.
The series also launched the media career of fitness instructor Richard Simmons, who frequently appeared as himself on the show who was a fitness instructor that taught an aerobics class at the town's trendy nightclub at the time during the morning hours, The Campus Disco.
The transition (1988–1991) As Gloria Monty left in 1987, General Hospital entered a transitional phase as the action/adventure storylines of the 1980s became less popular. H. Wesley Kenney took over as executive producer in January 1987, and for a while into his tenure, the show still capitalized on the action success of the past few years. In an interview with the Associated Press, Kenney said:
In the mid-1980s, General Hospital introduced mob families, which played an essential role in the show, both past and present. The introduction of Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) brought on several new mobsters including the mysterious "Mr. Big", who turned out to be none other than police chief Bert Ramsey, as well as the Jerome family. Years later, when Duke was brought back from the dead, the new writers would re-introduce the Jeromes to match wits and automatic rifles with Sonny Corinthos just as the writers had done years before with the Cassadine family.
The show took a different turn when Joseph Hardy took over in 1989. In one far-fetched storyline in 1990, Robin Scorpio (Robert Scorpio and Anna Devane's daughter) befriended Casey Rogers, an alien from the planet Lumina. The show's ratings fluctuated; Leslie Charleson (Monica Quartermaine) later explained to the Chicago Tribune: "It seemed every year we were getting a new producer who brought in new writers. The writers wouldn't do their homework, then they'd tell us, 'Make it work.'"
In 1991, Gloria Monty was brought back to the series in an attempt to increase ratings. Not long after, the show lost major stars such as Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) and Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio). Anna and Robert had recently been reunited after having both been part of successful supercouples for the bulk of the 1980s. Although at the time some viewers felt the coupling odd, since they had spent the past decade as platonic friends, their reunion gave them a supercouple name for themselves. Hughes' departure was amidst rumors of Monty firing her, angry she had exercised her option to pursue prime time opportunities. Others however, said Hughes herself opted out early from her contract entirely. Rogers reportedly left due to unmet salary negotiations.