General Hospital to Change Format

By Brandon Nicols

In a rather surprising move, ABC Daytime President Brian Frons has announced that General Hospital will be moving to a telenova format. Beginning June 12th, GH will begin it’s story arcs. This storytelling format, more common in Spanish Telenovas, was tried back in 2001 when Port Charles switched to that format.

Though many details aren’t available at this time, what we do know is that General Hospital will not be taking the supernatural route that Port Charles did during it’s third arc. Instead, these arcs will allow the writers to focus completely on the stories in that arc.

We have been told the names of 3 arcs that will be aired. Those arcs are entitled “Secrets & Lies”, “Addicted” and “Crush”. The arcs will have a beginning, middle and end to storylines, though some may overlap from arc to arc. Each arc is expected to run 8-13 weeks with various "mini-arcs" in between.

“Secrets and Lies” will be the first arc and will feature a majority of the cast with a couple of weeks focusing on just a few couples/characters. When asked what we can expect, Ryan Chandler wouldn’t reveal much but said that “This arc will shake the foundation of some couples, create tension within core families and one character will wreak havoc all throughout Port Charles after this character learns some shocking information”.

Ryan Chandler has been in contacts other writers to help with the new project. An announcement announcing the additions is expected to be made in the near future.

Make sure you check out our in-depth interview with Ryan with an update regarding the arcs and summer previews.