ABC’s General Hospital stands as the longest-running soap opera in production today and the second longest-running soap opera in history. Needless to say, the fans have been here for decades and are here to stay. Viewers tune in daily to catch General Hospital, but the Writers Guild of America strike may threaten future episodes of the series. So, when will General Hospital run out of new episodes with the writers’ strike?
When will ‘General Hospital’ run out of new episodes with the Writers Guild of America strike?
The Writers Guild of America, which encompasses two unions and 11,000 film, television, news, radio, and online writers, began their strike on May 2, 2023. The writers want better pay, deals, and contracts after finding the current conditions unsustainable to make a living.
“We have reached this moment today not of our own choosing but because the companies’ assault on writer income and working conditions have pushed us to an existential brink,” WGA negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser posted on their website.
Many shows are already feeling the strike. Late-night shows, like Late Night With Seth Meyers, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Saturday Night Live have gone dark. So, how long until General Hospital also feels the effects of the strike?
Daytime soap operas typically have a backlog of content. General Hospital has about four to five weeks of episodes already taped. With this in mind, it’s likely that the show can air new updates up until around Monday, June 5, 2023.
It’s also important to note that writers and producers who aren’t part of the guild can still create soap operas based on plot sketches, which has happened in the past. Soaps managed to stay airing during the last strike because of this.
ABC ran reruns of the series when episodes ran dry in the past
If ABC has to resort to playing reruns of General Hospital due to the writers’ strike, they will. The series ran out of fresh content during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The last new episode during the pandemic shutdown aired on May 21, 2020. Once the new content stopped flowing, ABC chose to begin airing old episodes that were first released in 2014.
ABC had nearly two months of new episodes ready to release when the shutdown hit. And they were able to further stretch their stash by creating “Flashback Fridays.” Every Friday, the network aired a rerun instead of a new episode.
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It wasn’t the only daytime soap opera to run out of episodes, of course. The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful on CBS also ran out of new episodes. CBS employed the same tactic by airing reruns.
How long has ‘General Hospital’ been on?
General Hospital began in 1963, and the show has aired over 15,000 episodes. The cast rotated through the years, and the current cast members reflected on the longevity of the series.
“I don’t think anybody can believe that it’s been around this long. It’s quite an accomplishment, isn’t it?” Genie Francis, who plays Laura Collins, told ABC. “And it’s gone through different generations of people.”
Given how the series has won 15 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Daytime Drama, we doubt the series is going away anytime soon. Once the writers’ strike ceases, General Hospital will be back on track in creating a backlog of new episodes. And fans certainly aren’t going anywhere, as they’ve stayed invested for over 60 years.
This story was originally reported by Vulture.
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