General Hospital: 10 Reasons I’m Thankful for This Show 

ABC’s General Hospital is my favorite soap — here are ten reasons why I’m thankful for this show:

10.  It’s still on the air

As any soap fan knows, it’s been a difficult time for daytime dramas. There are now only four of them on broadcast television. General Hospital is the only one on ABC. But you know what? GH is doing really well in the ratings and the show is better then ever.

9.  The acting on this soap is top notch

It’s not only legends like Tony Geary, Maurice Benard, Nancy Lee Grahn, etc. They cast some of the brightest talent for the younger set.

8.  Super couples

General Hospital had one of the most famous couples of all time, Luke and Laura. Even though the characters are no longer together they still make a great team. Luke is now with Tracy and they are a great match and have some great banter. Carly and every guy seems to be a super couple.  There’s Lulu and Dante, Patrick and Robin, Patrick and Sabrina, Michael and Starr, Michael and Kiki and the list goes on.

7.  Casting soap stars from defunct shows

GH has been great about bringing on people from other shows that have been cancelled like ATWT alum Maura West who plays Ava and Loving/The City‘s Lisa Lo Cicero who plays Olivia, just to name a couple. They even gave us a nod to Ryan’s Hope, a soap that has been off the air for many years, when they brought on Ilene Kristen to play her RH character, Delia. (Kristen also happens to be a One Life to Live vet. Don’t worry, I will get to the other OLTL peeps!)

6.  Robin Scorpio-Drake is alive

When Kimberly McCullough decided to leave the show they were going to kill off the character.  Right when this was happening the writing and producing staff changed. They revealed that Robin not only didn’t die but was being held prisoner. The brilliant thing is that as the audience knew Robin was out there, we watched as the rest of the characters dealt with her “death.” Now the actress is back on contract and there will be amazing stories ahead.

5.  Bringing Michael Easton, Roger Howarth and Kristen Alderson on board after One Life to Live was cancelled.

Yes, they were their characters from OLTL and now ABC is in a lawsuit with Prospect Park over the characters. Then because the actors were on contract with ABC, they came back after a few weeks as different characters. I wasn’t sure if they would pull it off but they did.

4.  The show still specializes in love in the afternoon.

We all love romance and GH does not disappoint in this department. Wouldn’t you want a guy like Dante romancing you with cheesy lines? Or a man that will wine and dine you like any of the heroes on the show do?

3.  The writing keeps us on our toes.

It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s romantic, and it’s just a great soap. Also they don’t drag stories on and on to the point where you don’t care about it anymore. The writing is really top notch and they even manage to surprise us sometimes i.e. Olbrect being Britt’s mom. Not only that, Britt’s father is Faison! Just saying.

2.  Respecting the history of the show but keeping things relevant

I have to say, I am one soap fan that loves flashbacks. When Robin and Anna first saw each other this week, they flashed back 20-something years to showcase another Robin/Anna reunion. It was a tearjerker! Julian Jerome, a character from the 80s has been resurrected. But he’s had plastic surgery because everyone thought he was dead.  Not only is Julian played by another actor (William deVry), now he is coming after Sonny who wasn’t even around back when the Jerome family was in Port Charles. But Sonny is the mob boss in charge of the territory that was once part of the Jerome family past. These are just a couple of examples.

1.  Frank Valentini, Executive Producer and Ron Carlivati, Head Writer

All soaps have had their ups and downs but what I like about these two is after working on One Life to Live together, they came on board to GH and made it better than ever. They respect the history of the show, bringing back many people from the past. They both love the soap and you can see that. In a time where soaps seemed to be going out to pasture they have turned it around and now the ratings are amazing. Keep up the good work.

General Hospital airs each weekday on ABC. Check your local listings for times.