'General Hospital' Heading To Primetime?

Update: A source told The Huffington Post that Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment, and Vicki Dummer, head of ABC's Times Square Studios, are looking at various angles for the show.

"General Hospital," the last soap opera standing at ABC, could be moving to primetime. According to a new TV Guide report, the network is looking at a possible summer primetime run for the popular soap.

After Katie Couric's eponymous talk show debuts in September 2012, the network will be giving back the last hour of daytime to its affiliates, meaning ABC has three hours to fit four shows into: "General Hospital," "The View," "The Chew" and "The Revolution." "General Hospital" is poised to get the ax if "The Chew" and "The Revolution" -- the two lifestyle programs that replaced "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" -- perform well. "The Revolution," which premiered on Mon., Jan. 16 reportedly lost nearly 20 percent of its predecessor's audience. ABC has maintained it continues to support "General Hospital."

"General Hospital," which reportedly costs $200,000 an episode, would be much cheaper to produce than a regular primetime drama. EW notes CBS has had primetime success with "The Young and the Restless" in the '90s. Between 11 and 13 million viewers tuned into the "Y&R" nighttime specials.

Frank Valentini, who most recently served as executive producer of "One Life to Live," moved to "General Hospital" after "One Life to Live's" online move was called off.

"I look forward to this next exciting chapter working with the wonderful cast and crew of 'General Hospital,'" Valentini said in a statement in December. "This is an incredible opportunity for me to extend my passion and expertise for daytime television as I continue my relationship with DATG and become part of an extraordinary team in 2012."

"One Life to Live" ended its historic 44 season run on Fri., Jan. 13, but its legacy will continue on "General Hospital." Valentini is bringing in four "OLTL" veterans, Kassie DePaiva, Roger Howarth, Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson, to reprise their "One Life to Live" roles as part of a new storyline.

"We have a very exciting story planned for the citizens of Port Charles, with Sonny Corinthos at the center of it! I am confident viewers and fans alike will be excited for the arrival of John (Easton), Starr (Alderson), Blair (DePaiva) and Todd (Howarth)," Valentini said in a statement. "Incorporating characters from 'One Life to Live' continue the legacy of the show as we weave them into 'General Hospital.'"

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Comments

[msteacher613]

10:11 PM on 03/17/2012

I AM LOST WITHOUT MY SOAPS!! IT FEELS LIKE A HUGE HOLE IN MY HEART.. A DEATH IN MY FAMILY!! I MISSED GL & ATWT, BUT IF U REMEMBER, ABC/DISNEY PROMISED US (SOAP FANS) THAT WE HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT AS THEY OWN THEIR SOAPS, SO THEY WILL NEVER BE CANCELLED. REMEMBER, ABC SOAP WEEK-ENDS, LOCAL SOAP EVENTS, ETC. "LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON?" WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?? THEY WANT 24 HOURS OF NEWS, TALK SHOWS, AND COURT SHOWS!! IF I WANT NEWS, I GO TO CNN OR FOX NEWS... TALK SHOWS ARE A PLENTY!! "THE TALK" IS A JOKE!! THEY TOOK "THE VIEW" AND CHANGED THE CAST UNTIL THEY HAD "THE VIEW II" LET'S FACE IT FOLKS, 2 BLACK FEMALE COMICS.....SHERRI AND WHOOPIE....AIESHA AND SHERYL! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? THE WAY THEY GOT RID OF HOLLY AND LEAH WAS DISGUSTING! JULIE CHEN SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HERSELF...SHE IS SOME FRIEND!! I'M HAPPY SHE IS NOT MY FRIEND!! UGH!!
I WANT AMC & OLTL BACK!! HOW ABOUT A 2 HOUR DAILY COMBO OF AMC/OLTL/GH?? THEY CAN DO A LLANVIEW/PINE VALLEY 1 HOUR SHOW AND LEAVE GH ALONE!! I HAVE BEEN WATCHING IT SINCE I WAS A BABY!! I WAS BORN IN 1961 AND HAVE BEEN A HUGE FAN SINCE DAY 1... 7TH FLOOR NURSES STATION WITH THE NURSES...JESSE BREWER, AUDREY HARDY, AMY VINING, BOBBI SPENCER, ETC..
ABC YOU HAVE LIED TO US!!
SOAP OPERA FAN FOR LIFE!!

[rbchap]

03:24 PM on 01/23/2012

Okay, enough is enough. They've already taken off 2 soaps on ABC. I refuse to watch the replacement shows. And the person (Brian Frons) whose responsible is leaving. Leave GH where it is. Ms. Couric's show can come on after Anderson's show. Thank you!

[LeeLoPink]

10:38 AM on 01/22/2012

I grew up on soaps and GH was always my favorite....I can't believe I am so attached to GH and I don't even watch it anymore! I hope it finds a way to stay on air just for the nostalgia.

[Jamie Lehman]

09:55 PM on 01/21/2012

i think that this is yet another smoke screen to try to appease the soap audience that is as of right now boycotting abc give up our soaps back viewership will increase from what it is at now

[RickyPoo]

01:26 PM on 01/20/2012

They need to cancel "The Chew", "The Revolution" and I would not be sad to see "The View" bite the dust either as long as it has Lizzie on it.

ABC needs to admit its mistake and needs to either bring back or develop new soaps, perhaps using existing characters from their old ones.

20% loss of viewership is nothing to sneeze at, no matter how much you're saving on production costs, because you're going to have to start charging a LOT less for ad revenue. Furthermore, the soaps were a cash cow for INTERNET ad revenue for the network and that is now GONE.

I expect ABC will be getting blowback from its sponsors soon for this boneheaded move, which rivals the cancellation of "Star Trek" and NBC losing David Letterman from its network, as one of the dumbest moves in TV history.

[kagea]

01:25 PM on 01/20/2012

I have not been watching abc since taking "all my children" and "one life to live" off afternoon viewing. how many ways can we cook the same thing or how many diet plans are there for us to try. please no more talk shows.

[nancylynnmaire]

12:51 PM on 01/20/2012

Moving GH to primetime may be an answer to all our soaps. Rather than an every day show, it would be a once a week show. This would help cut down the costs and would end for summer months just as the other shows do. Could end with a bang up cliffhanger, then show reruns during the summer months for those who want to join in. Just think if they did this with AMC and OLTL. It could be an amazing return. I see no reason in giving the fans what they want and still cut costs. They want a station? We want our soaps? So why not give that a try? Ratings would be excellent because people would be home from work and all could watch.

[nancylynnmaire]

12:53 PM on 01/20/2012

Sorry error in above. "I see no reason in NOT giving fans what they want and still cut costs."

[Sandrao Ortega]

12:32 PM on 01/20/2012

I really enjoy watching general hosiptal. I have been watching this soap opera ever since the 70's. We don't need anymore talk shows especialy about eating getting makeovers, that's why we have the food channel and that;s why extrem make was cancelled. Come on leave the soaps alone. Having these soap opers has become part of our past time, 44 years or more ABC has had soap opers it seems to me ABC was doing something right. When im home during the day if the chew or the other new show is on i'll change it. I enjoy watching GENERAL HOSIPTAL that i DVR. Has any primetime shows lasted as long as the soaps? I think not. DON'T TOUCH OR CHANGE ANY MORE SOAPS. LEAVE ALON.

[jhsinius]

06:07 AM on 01/20/2012

They need to leave the soaps alone. The Chew sucks and so does The Revolution. KEEP THE SOAPS!

[factorystock1]

06:00 AM on 01/20/2012

The Chew and The Revolution suck the green weenie.

[celtics]

04:32 AM on 01/20/2012

Beware Greeks bearing gifts. The cynic in me thinks the source's rumor is just a teaser because of the bad fallout with the other cancellations. $'s are $'s, so GH is still in trouble. And even if it's not, the pace of daytime soaps don't work in nighttime, anymore than the topics of their replacements would. It might be a gimmick to give them a "possible primetime summer" run. However, viewing is lower this time of year, so another excuse to exit GH. By then there would be no place to go back to in daytime. Katie's show will have taken the slot.

P.S. I've also quit watching ABC except for GH.

[Mustangallee]

01:29 AM on 01/20/2012

The problem is the story lines move too slow. I stopped watching OLTL several years back when I left the country as an ex-pat and came back after more than a year and the same story line is still going on. Also, OLTL just kept recycling the same story line.
I do watch GH, but I DVR it and go through the boring storylines. I do make a point of watching the commercials because that it the bread and butter of the show, it's only right!
BTW...I love the mob thing...I would like to see them go up against the Cassadines with Nicholas of course on the side of the mob! Does anyone remember the days of the Ice Princess?

[temmaleah]

12:47 AM on 01/20/2012

just a thought----michael symon and mario batalli are iron chefs i believe, a least michael symon is for sure......isn't it embarrssing for an iron chef to be in that stupid show?

[temmaleah]

12:35 AM on 01/20/2012

didn't they do that already with general hospital at night, and they focused the story more on the hospital stories......but i will take whatever i can get........though I am among the many that hope the other three shows take a dive........a big dive off a short pier,,,,,

[sugarcreekchile]

11:55 PM on 01/19/2012

Soaps won't work in primetime. The audience that follows the day to day soaps in their afternoon off time (kids still in school, housework done, too early to start dinner and retirees) aren't going to watch a daily primetime soap when they have other alternatives. The soaps were the only alternative in daytime to those who wanted a story to follow and not talk shows or other insipid programs.