Jump to content

ARTICLE: ABC to Air Primetime Special in January to Celebrate Milestone 60th Anniversary of ‘General Hospital’


Errol

Recommended Posts

  • Webmaster

Genie Francis, Maurice Benard, General Hospital, GH, GH ABC, #GH, #GeneralHospital

On Thursday, January 4 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, ABC will celebrate the milestone 60th anniversary of “General Hospital” with a primetime special featuring current and former cast members as they pull back the curtain on six decades in Port Charles, including behind-the-scenes moments, bloopers, a special fan tribute and more exciting surprises honoring the show’s legacy.

The special, “General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling,” will see current cast members Maurice Benard, Jane Elliot, Genie Francis, Finola Hughes, Kelly Monaco, and Laura Wright, among others, as they discuss their experiences on the show and provide insight into what makes the daytime drama series so special for millions of fans.

The retrospective special will see a robust slate of current and past cast members take part, including “Dancing with the Stars” pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy, along with several celebrity surprises from “General Hospital” alums Emma Samms, Rick Springfield and Amber Tamblyn, among others. Also, look for ESPN host Stephen A. Smith to take part. Smith has made several appearances on the soap throughout the years, including this year, as Brick.

“General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling” is executive produced by Frank Valentini. Directing the primetime special is Ashley Gorman. Michelle Henry and Mary-Kelly Weir serve as co-executive producers. The special is produced by ABC and will be available to watch the next day on Hulu.

The primetime special will be getting a big boost from ABC's airing of "The Golden Wedding," the LIVE special where "The Golden Bachelor" Gerry Turner will marry Theresa Nist. That special is scheduled to air from 8:00-10:00 p.m., LIVE on ABC.

Note: The post ABC to Air Primetime Special in January to Celebrate Milestone 60th Anniversary of ‘General Hospital’ appeared first on the Soap Opera Network website.

 

Read More

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Replies 20
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

Why does this show keep propping up a z-list ESPN talking head as a "star"?  Do sports fans even think of him as a star?  No sports fans are watching General Hospital and soap fans are not watching sports, anyways.  The show is overflowing with 60 years of superstars in film, television, stage and music that they could be highlighting on this special.  So it's ridiculous they keep trotting out and propping up Brick or whatever-his-name-is like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Webmaster

He's cheap (already works for Disney). He likes the show and talks about it to his millions of followers on social media and is good friends with Maurice Benard in real life. It's a cross-promotion type thing if you think about it. On the day the show airs, he can talk about it on his ESPN show to hopefully get people to tune in, plus he can share the news on his social channels.

As for the stars you are speaking about, most of them refuse to mention they ever worked on the show, much less any soap opera, and they are more likely to want to get big paydays for appearing on the special.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Well, after hearing your explanations, then I won't begrudge them for using him (even though I doubt it's successful cross-pollination/promotion).  They'd be better off stunt-casting popular Youtubers, Instagram or TikTok stars (that want to and can act) if they want to juice the ratings and up the GH social media presence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Misinformed headlines.
The anniversary was *last* April, not this coming April.
Inside the article says:
"On April 1 of this new year, the venerable serial will mark its 60th anniversary."  "ABC isn't waiting until April 1 to call attention to this historic milestone. It has already started to do so."
 

There is some new information within the article.  Names of more of the guest stars that hadn't previously been released. 
And descriptions of some of the old clips that will air.

https://www.mediavillage.com/article/general-hospital-kicks-off-its-60th-anniversary-celebration/

That mediavillage.com article seems to be written by someone who has already seen the special.  Maybe they saw an advance copy?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Interesting. Makes me wonder how the day to day looked for Secret Storm at this point in the run. This seems very to deal with the psychological aspect, I guess the "inner storm", and the music is almost sinister. If this is from 1974 there's not much room for dates it could've been from as it ended on February 8th.  It's hard to tell from an edit featuring just one storyline, but if this was the day to day it might've been heavy for the casual viewers.
    • Well, they were both involved with Ray Gardner.  Then, the actress left, only to return as a somewhat broader interpretation of the character after Dottie was SORASed.  By that time, Opal had left in 1983.  So, while they serve the same story function, one could argue that Edna was the carbon copy.
    • Okay, now it's my turn to ask about the Thorntons, namely Edna. Did she and Opal have any scenes together? I ask because I was familiar with Opal first, so when I found out about Edna, my biased mind saw her as the first try for that type of character.
    • There is no dispute that Jill Farren Phelps had a successful career in daytime based on longevity, but that does not preclude discussion and dislike of her decisions at various shows. Sure there may have been some misogyny involved BITD(we don't know as I don't recall JFP ever mentioning that) but the head of CBS Daytime at that point was a woman and there were other women involved BTS. I think that so long as an EP could deliver, or at least talk a good game they would be respected.  
    • It surprises/disappoints me too that GL's ratings during '89-'93 don't reflect the quality of the show. But when I call it great soap, I'm not defining that by ratings either.  I'm probably in the minority, but I think Reilly takes something intangible with him when he goes. There's a sense of humor that just disappears in '93. 
    • Ok, I know nothing about Another World except their catchy intro song from long ago, but this makes me want to catch!  That crazy mother keeping her son's girlfriend or wife hostage, wow! 
    • And maybe Hotel could have been placed at 9pm Tues instead of Paper Dolls. Not that I thing it was a surefire thing but at least viewers were familiar with the show and it might have done better than PD. ABC's line up was pretty threadbare at that point. And with a big guest star to launch the season - Elizabeth Taylor- the numbers would have been there initially.
    • Any fan of RuPaul would dispute calling any of these examples “drag”. A costume?, A disguise?, A lame attempt at humor? -- yes -- Drag? -- nope
    • No asterisk. I meant that the circumstances during the first year were in her favor.
    • Maybe I am misunderstanding you? Are you suggesting that her success at GL should have an asterisk next to it because she was smart enough to exploit a weakness in the marketplace to gain ratings?  Note: Try not to take this personally—I’m not accusing anyone of being consciously misogynistic. I’m simply proposing that the origins of certain ideas about Ms. Phelps—such as claims that she was unprepared or a poor manager of her writing staff—may be rooted in misogyny. Perhaps, with the benefit of hindsight, it's worth reconsidering those opinions. At the very least, imagine being one of the few women in the room while a male network executive tries to decide what women want to watch during the day. That context has certainly led me to reassess many of my own long-held views.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy