http://apnews.excite.com/article/20090130/D961IA9G4.html

ABC's 'General Hospital' getting a makeover

Jan 30, 11:00 AM (ET)

By DERRIK J. LANG

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The prognosis for the medical facility depicted for the past 45 years on ABC's "General Hospital" isn't good.

The daytime soap's long-standing hospital set is flat-lining as part of an explosive story line. Following a fiery crisis, the show's crew has ignited the clinical den of drama, and producers plan to construct a totally new interior.

"This story really became an opportunity to take a shot at revising the look of the hospital and refreshing it," said executive producer Jill Farren Phelps. "It felt like the right time to update it. The style of the nurses' station has been the same for 45 years. In daytime, space is money. This new version will incorporate a lot of usable new space."

The fresh new set, created by production designer Chip Dox, will debut in April. It will incorporate several expansive elements, including a nurses' station, emergency room, hospital room, elevators and stairs. Farren Phelps said that on the show, the wealthy Quartermaine family will donate the cash necessary for the hospital's plastic surgery.

"It will have a very different look," Farren Phelps said. "We want it to feel like you are walking into a place that feels fresh and modern. It will still be inside the same hospital. It will have the same architecture, but it will no longer be that big round nurses' station we've become nostalgic about over the years."

Since the show's 1963 debut, the nurses' station set has frequently been home to soapy drama - from a visit by the evil Helena Cassadine, famously played by "General Hospital" fan Elizabeth Taylor in 1981, to last year's over-the-intercom proposal by Patrick Drake (Jason Thompson) to Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough) when both the doctors were on duty.

Edited January 30, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

Interesting, but didn't they just repaint this one a few years ago?

Edited January 30, 200916 yr by detroitpiston

Well, it's about time they revamped their UGLY hospital set, but I don't know if I have faith in this revamp. I trust JPF with sets, but she hasn't done for GH what she's done for other shows production-wise.

Also, losing that traditional nurses' station is like losing a piece of GH history, but we should be used to that feeling by now.

So... We'll have Lathamesque people talk in the elevator and while preparing coffee?

Latham is taking over GH!

I'm guessing the old hospital has to be destroyed due to the airbourne toxin.

I bet JFP is getting wet over this. You know how much she loves to update her sets. If it looks like the hospital set AW had under JFP, I'm okay with it. I loved that hospital set, even though you could tell it took up alot of space and people were meeting there for no reason other than it wasn't Carlino's or the Hospital.

At least on GH, it will kind of make sense.

I've often wondered why they never used PC's hospital wing on the days that weren't really hospital heavy, but they needed a hospital set. They could just easily use that smaller set and only bring out the Nurses Station when they need it.

I can't wait to see how it all looks.

Edited January 30, 200916 yr by bellcurve

From what I understand, the Hospital set (ie Nurses Station) is a permanent set. It isn't taken down or put up...

JFP has done beautiful sets. I agree that her AW hospital set was terrific...the only thing that throws me is the 'usable space' concept...I hope the Nurses Station doesn't become claustrophobic...we'll just have to see, it's JFP, the woman is good at production, she's done wonders with little money at other shows...but this is Frons' ABC Daytime...so who knows...

On the show the Quartermaine's are paying for this project but I hope Jill Farren Phleps did the polite thing and sent Susan Lucci, Michael E. Knight and Ray McDonnell a note of thanks for funding this expansive new set. GH sure is feeling the budget crunch F U Frons!

AMC's hospital set is the best hospital set in daytime, except for that waiting room area, where apparently you can look in at other patients and invade their privacy.

And what kind of a reputation does Chip Dox have?

JFP has done beautiful sets. I agree that her AW hospital set was terrific...

I still maintain the best thing to happen to AW during JFP's year and a half there was her production. AW looked horrible until JFP came and revamped things. She might have concentrated on a few sets, but she made the show look somewhat lush, which it didn't look like before or even after she left. She might have fucked up the show story-wise, but at least it looked better visually than it had in YEARS.

Her GL was beautifully produced as well.

She sure knew how to work her way around a P&G soap budget and NYC studio space...

And what kind of a reputation does Chip Dox have?

Look at the newer sets on GH and all of the sets that were used on Port Charles, if you need proof of his work.

Yeah, he isn't that impressive. However, who knows how he'll interpret JFP's vision, and I do believe this set change is mostly her vision - she LOVES stuff like this

Edited January 30, 200916 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

So instead of big and ugly it's going to look cheap and claustrophobic, huh?

Hopefully JFP will escape the GH stigma with this one; how tiny GL's budget will ever get, GH still has the trashiest sets of them all.

Didn't they just renovate the hospital? The set looks so different than it did before, warm, welcoming, comfy. It's the lighting of the set that's the problem IMO.

Hopefully it's as nice as the AMC hospital set; I really love that one.

But in all honesty, as long as it doesnt have the tiki hut island decor of Guiding Light's hospital, I'm okay with it...