The Nineties
GH Tries to Find Itself
In the 1990s, General Hospital found itself searching for a new direction, as some of the popular stars had left the soap opera and the adventure plots were diminishing in popularity. Social issues were put front and center, including, as the decade progressed, AIDS, organ transplant, breast cancer, alcoholism, rape, and prescription drug addiction.
In 1993, General Hospital found their anchor with the return of Luke and Laura as Luke and Laura (Anthony Geary was currently playing a Spencer cousin, Bill Eckert). The plot concerned the family coming out of hiding and returning home, now with their young son, Lucky (Jonathan Jackson). Head writer Claire Labine and executive producer Wendy Riche were on a roll with powerful storylines, legacy characters and new characters such as Emily Quartermaine (Amber Tamblyn), Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Stone Cates (Michael Sutton). In 1995, viewers watched as Stone died of AIDS and Robin (Kimberly McCullough) became HIV-positive.
However, by the 1995-1996 period, General Hospital was again floundering, at this point probably because it had so put the audience through so many depressing storylines. This time, they were bailed out by a plotline long part of the GH repertoire but in the background - the mob. The sexy love affair between handsome mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and the gorgeous Brenda (Vanessa Marcil) gave the soap opera a much-needed shot in the arm. With the arrival of handsome Australian Ingo Rademacher as corporate raider Jasper Jax, who vied with Sonny for Brenda's affections, viewership continued to pick up.
In 1997, General Hospital launched a nighttime spin-off, Port Charles, which ran until 2003; in 2007, General Hospital: Nightshift premiered on the SoapNet channel, using, as Port Charles had, characters from the daytime soap opera.
Since 1996, under head writer Robert Guza, General Hospital has been married to the mob, in particular, to the activities of Sonny Corinthos.
Mob Ties (2000-present)
Years of Change
Since the year 2000, General Hospital has gone through a series of changes, demanded of all soap operas by falling viewership. Today, fans are divided and often at odds with the writers concerning the concentration on mob storylines versus love and adventure stories.
Fortunately for General Hospital, it has strong characters played by strong actors. The show in the past few years has tended to focus on Sonny, Carly Benson Corinthos (originally played by Sarah Brown, later Tamara Braun, Jennifer Bransford and currently by Laura Wright), and Jason Morgan (Steve Burton).
There have also been controversial firings, downgradings in contracts and replacements throughout the years due to new budget demands by the networks and changes in the show's direction. Rachel Ames (Audrey Hardy), the only original cast member, was taken off contract, as were Brad Maule (Tony Jones), Shell Kepler (Amy Vining), John Ingle (Edward Quartermaine), Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin), and Anna Lee (Lila Quartermaine). Jackie Zeman (Bobbie Spencer), Wally Kurth (Ned Ashton) and Kristina Wagner (Felicia Jones) were taken off of recurring status. Robyn Richards, who had played Maxie since 1993, was replaced by Kirsten Storms.
Audiences had little tolerance for some of these changes, and eventually, General Hospital saw the wisdom of bringing back some of its legacy characters: Rick Webber (Chris Robinson), Laura (Genie Francis), Noah Drake (Rick Springfield), Anna Devane (Finola Hughes), and Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers), and Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner). John Ingle returned to the show as Edward Quartermaine. Today, there is a good mix of legacy (Anna and Noah) and new characters (Nadine and Spinelli) on General Hospital, as well as the backbone characters (Sonny, Carly, Luke, Lucky, Maxie, Elizabeth, Ric, Robin, Patrick, Sam, and Alexis).
The text message killer story arc of 2007-2008 managed to wipe out more characters, possibly because of budget cuts, which had begun earlier with the death of Alan Quartermaine (Stuart Damon) during the MetroCourt hostage crisis: Leticia Juarez (Christine Carlo), Emily Quartermaine (Natalia Livingston), Georgie Jones (Lindze Letherman), and of course, the text message killer himself, Diego Alcazar (Ignacio Serrichio). Alan Quartermaine, due to public outcry, has appeared from time to time to give ghostly advice to his sister Tracy (Jane Elliot). Will the writers and producers of General Hospital acquiesce to the wishes of the fans and bring Elizabeth and Jason together at long last? Will they focus less on the mob? The answer to the former is unclear, while the answer to the latter seems to be no. Though General Hospital still has a commitment to legacy characters and bringing in new faces, the recent influx by the Russian mob in Port Charles and the appearance of the Zacchara family sends a clear message to viewers. It's mob rule on General Hospital for some time to come.
