General Hospital
General Hospital Turns 59 Today
Today on Friday, April 1st, General Hospital celebrates its 59th anniversary on the air and continues to be the longest-running American soap opera. It debuted on ABC back on this day in 1963.
The show, which has told the story of the lives of the doctors, nurses and patients at GH, and later expanded into a soap about the town of Port Charles and its families, citizens, and mobsters has won a record 14 Daytime Emmys as Outstanding Drama Series.

Photo: ABC
It was created by Frank and Doris Hursley, and is currently written by co-head writers, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor and executive produced by Frank Valentini.
Original series stars John Beradino (Steve Hardy), and Emily MacLaughlin (Jessie) were the mainstays of the show back in the 60’s and were joined a year later by Rachel Ames (Audrey Hardy).

Photo: GH
Nowm the core families of the Quartermaines, Corinthos, Cassadines and more provide the romance, lust, high stakes drama, danger, mystery, love, and more, making GH one of the finest in its genre.
Happy 59th anniversary to the cast, crew and creatives for keeping GH a must-see for all soap opera fans and TV viewers for 59 years.
Now, share your congratulations to everyone at General Hospital via the comment section below, and if its your favorite soap on the air let us know why, too!
Happy bday GH, I’m so glad your part of my daily life, and here’s to many many more.
I am 59 this year too. I cannot recall a time in our house without GH. I think about the characters and stories from the half-hour episodes I saw after school. The excitement of Luke and Laura was unforeseen. I have not fully enjoyed the heavy mob-influenced stories or the eye-rollingly impossible resurrections but in six decades, there is more to celebrate than to deride. My other favorites, All My Children and As the World Turns should still be with us too.
Ok lakovos, how I miss ATWT! I used to love watching when we’d visit my feisty Scottish grandma…she’d spot a character on a show and just blurt out, “She’s a slut!” Or words to that effect. What memories of Nancy’s kitchen, the old Oakdale hospital, Bob and Lisa, Lisa and Grant, Lisa and…well, you get the picture. Golden days!
Congratulations to “General Hospital” on its 59 years, but a slight correction to the post. GH is the longest-running American soap opera ON TELEVISION. The distinction is important because “Guiding Light” remains the longest-running American soap opera overall. 72 years, starting on radio in 1937 before moving to TV. We loyal fans still miss it (but I’m very entertained by GH these days).
Yes and I watched that premier episode. I was immediately hooked by Jessie Brewer and Steve Hardy and Lucille March and even Phil Brewer. Those were the good old days. Happy Anniversary General Hospital and many, many more!!!!!!!!!!!!
LlAnview717
Just FYI. Lucille March, aka Lucille Wall played on two radio shows at the same time in the 40s thru the 50s. Probably wasn’t that hard to do as they were only on for 15 min.She played an attorney, reminds me of Alexes. Was called Portia Faces Life and she also played Lorenzo Jones wife Belle.
Kudos to the current cast members who’ve been part of the show for at least half of those 59 years…
Leslie Charleson
Kin Shriner
Genie Francis
Jackie Zeaman
Tristan Rogers
Finola Hughes
Kristina Wagner
Lynn Herring
John J York
Wally Kurth
Jon Lindstrom
& Maurice Bernard
Steve, thank you for that documentation. I like virtually all of the characters played by these actors, and their tenure is quite an achievement.
Wow. GH is only 4 months younger than myself! Hopefully more good years to come as GH remains the No 1 soap with writing. Just figure out what to do with Sonny and Carly please! And bring back Steve Burton as woke ABC made a big mistake.
I bet Sonny and Carly wish they looked like that old picture. Especially Sonny who seems to like and admire his grey hair and grizzled beard.
Hey Violet
Got to chime in and say that I usually appreciate when a performer embraces the gray. John York went natural and Mac still looks fantastic. Kudos to Benard for doing the same. On the female side, Jane Elliot rocks the gray/white.
Steve
I agree with you thoroughly, except for M.B and Michael on Y&R as he’s let it get so long and unbecoming. Sonny’s hair looks oily and sorry, but its nothing I’d want to run my fingers through, coupled with the nasty old beard. .Now take Gregory Harrison, and Michael E. Knight. They know how to sport that silver grey hair.
Violet, my friend, don’t get me started on Sonny’s recent appearance. It’s pretty sad when a confrontation with so lowly a character as Esme ends with our fearing for SONNY! That silly grin and Grizzly Adams look just ain’t working for him.
Congratulations! So happy GH is still going strong. I started watching It from the beginning, when I was in high school, and the story line was about Angie and Eddie. Loved Jessie, Phil, Steve and all the others. Especially, Audrey’s sassy-mouthed sister, Lucille. It got me through both, the good and challenging times. Loved it even when the writing wasn’t always stellar. Will continue to watch as long as it continues.
Happy Birthday General Hospital started watching soaps sence I was 9 my dad committed suicide my mother had my brother 2 weeks later so we moved to Michigan to live with my grandparents. My grandpa got me into soaps. I’m 70 and still watching so happy birthday many many more.
Lynn
So glad you had the Soaps to help you through such a bad time. They have been there for me most of my life and are like extended family. I’ve tried to stay loyal to most of them save DOOL which I’ve gone without watching due to the crazy Devil story line they have been pursuing for months.Maybe some day they will get back to normal, I miss the real show.r
Did anyone else not get the show today, the 14th? I had to watch it on Utube. If you missed it, nothing happened, boring.
B&B was not shown yesterday and thought we’d see the rooftop scenes with Sheila and Taylor today,, Wrong! They just showed Thurs.show.
Violet
I’ve had this issue a few times (always on the 2nd day after a preemption). It seems ABC, or whoever controls the DVR listing, makes an adjustment on the 1st day after (in this case Wednesday) so that records, but the 2nd day after (Thursday), the DVR thinks is a repeat because it had the same description as the original Wednesday show.
Confusing and annoying indeed. I catch it on the ABC app on those days (and “suffer” through commercials).
I’ve had the same issue, Steve. I tried revising the recording instructions to record all episodes, first run AND repeats. That works for Y&R but for some reason, not with GH. Go figure.
Steve
Thanks so much. I’ve been calling my Cable Co. when this happens blaming them.My goodness, how did you ever figure all that out?
This is why I’m happy we have Hulu in Hell, and I just happened to catch their “Black Friday” special last November so I’m only paying $1/month for a full year. No more worries about news interruptions… unless they preempt the whole show….. though I’m not entirely sure that there should have been a national pre-emption because of what was essentially a local news story in NYC
Iam realizing they inserted those scenes into today’s show and think I might change my mind about Sheila saving Taylor’s dumb butt! It’s nice to be grateful for having had someone save your life, and then to throw all your brains out in the process is beyond me. I wonder if Taylor will stand up for her when she finds out she tried to murder her daughter, after killing her own son.
Since Jason left and sonny has turned soft towards nina the show is getting boring. I have watched it for 50 years and now I am wondering if it is worth my while for first time I have fell asleep watching it this week. Bring the sunny jason duo drama back
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Carly and Lulu Make Plans to Rescue Their Children; Anna Looks Determined to Secure Her Freedom

This week on all-new episodes of General Hospital, the race is on! Can Lulu (Alexa Havins) and Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) get to Rocco (Finn Carr) and Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) in time to ensure their safety from Cullum (Andrew Hawkes)? Can Carly (Laura Wright) with the help of her brother, Lucas (Van Hansis) rescue Josslyn (Eden McCoy) from captivity at Wyndemere? These questions may be answered, plus the return of the one and only Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) are on tap!
In the just released General Hospital spoilers video for the week of June 22-26, Lulu tells her mother, Laura (Genie Francis), “Dante and I have to get to Rocco before Cullum!” Meanwhile, Rocco (Finn Carr) looks angered and emotional as Britt walks through their cabin hideout. Does Rocco know his parents are on the way to find them, or has Cullum already tracked them down to the British Virgin Islands?
Back in Port Charles, Carly is informing Lucas that his niece, “is a WSB agent.” She knows Josslyn (Eden McCoy) is being held against her will at Wyndemere, and she has to find a way to get her out. Lucas agrees with Carly’s plan of, “We go in and we don’t leave without Josslyn!” Elsewhere, Josslyn is looking worried for her future as she is stuck in captivity thanks to Cassius, Cullum and Sidwell!

Courtesy/ABC
FINOLA HUGHES RETURNS
The final moments of the teaser promo reveal Anna in a psychiatric clinic in France. We have not seen her for months after Cullum, Sidwell and Pascal fed her hallucinogenics to make her believe her arch nemesis, Cesar Faison was alive!
Now, the doctors walk towards her hospital bed, where we see the super spy calmly knitting. Is Anna back to normal and playing everyone to get out of her predicament, or does she still remain deeply traumatized … or both?
Take a look at the rest of the official GH spoilers for the week below.
MONDAY, JUNE 22
Willow gets an unwelcome surprise. Trina sticks to her guns. “Nathan” wants reassurance. Ethan advises Ava. Brook Lynn receives an update.
TUESDAY, JUNE 23
Dante cautions Liz. Laura learns a secret. Brook Lynn confides in Michael. Sonny challenges Ava. Chase makes a decision.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24
Anna meets with her doctor. Carly makes a stunning confession. Britt extracts a promise. Cullum pulls a fast one. Gio and Emma hit the pool.
THURSDAY, JUNE 25
Josslyn clashes with Cassius. Lulu and Dante make a discovery. Chase receives a warning. Jordan seeks help. Alexis is summoned to the PCPD.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
Anna takes a huge risk. Britt is in grave danger. Willow is in disbelief. Danny must act fast. Curtis jumps to the wrong conclusion.
Check out the latest General Hospital promo entitled, “Rescue Mission” below.
Now weigh-in: Do you think Anna is still mentally off-balance, or OK, and just pretending to be troubled to get out of France and get back to Port Charles? Will Josslyn finally be rescued, or will Carly and Lucas find themselves locked up with her? And, who will get to Britt and Rocco first? Cullum, or Dante and Lulu? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.
General Hospital
Maurice Benard Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’ Writers; Teases Upcoming Sonny Scenes with Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric

With the highly-anticipated returns of Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) on this week’s June 24 episode of General Hospital, Steve Burton’s (Jason Morgan) upcoming return on July 13, which also serves as the ABC daytime drama’s 16,000 episode, things are about to fire on all cylinders in the story, as noted today by series star, Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos).
On Father’s Day, the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning actor and mental health activist took to his Instagram and expressed in a video that he has some unbelievable upcoming senes with the aforementioned Burton and Hughes. Add to that Nazneen Contractor (Justine Turner) and Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing), where Benard gave credit where credit is due to the GH writing team, which is led by co-head writers, Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten..
In this video, Benard said, “I just want to get on here and say that I did some work with Steve Burton, Finola Hughes, Rick Hearst, Nazneen Contractor, and they’re all just fantastic. Truly fantastic. But, I want to say the writing was just exceptional. It truly was. It was exceptional. So, thankful for that kind of writing. I know writers don’t get the credit a lot, but I just want to say to the General Hospital writing team, keep rolling!”
GENERAL HOSPITAL PREVIEW
So now the question becomes, with a major tease like that, what is about to go down between Sonny, Anna, Jason, Justine and Ric? Will we finally get to the end of the line for Sidwell (Carlo Rota), as previously teased by the GH co-head writers? Will we learn what happened to Jason and Anna, fully? Will Justine and Sonny becomes closer or stop their liaisons? And what of Ric? Will he be true blue to his brother or double-cross him? There is a lot at stake as we move further into the summer and one that looks like it could be one of the more exciting ones in years!
FINOLA HUGHES CONFIRMED AMAZING SCENES WITH MAURICE BENARD
As a punctuation point to his video, Benard also shared this written message in the post: “I just did some wonderful scenes with Steve Burton, Rick Hearst, Finola Hughes and Nazneen Contractor and and unbelievable writing, freaking amazing scenes that you will see in the near future on General Hospital.” In fact, Finola Hughes jumped in the post comment thread and responded, “I loved our scenes so much xxx”
Fans will most likely see all the scenes Benard referred to later in July, since GH tapes approximately six weeks ahead of air.
So, are you excited to see what Maurice is talking about? Are you hyped for what’s to come on GH? Any clue on what you think will go down between the main characters on the soap with the returns of Anna Devane and Jason Morgan to the mix? Weigh-in via the comment section below.
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General Hospital
‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Announces Upcoming Release of His First Single, ‘If You Need Me’

In a surprise move, Daytime Emmy winner, Chad Duell (ex-Michael Corinthos, GH) is getting ready to unveil a new chapter of his career in music.
The former GH star, where he played the son of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) for 15 years, has announced his new single, “If You Need Me” will drop on Friday, June 26. The single is now available for pre-order on Spotify and major music streaming platforms and is distributed by DistroKid.
Taking to his Instagram story over the weekend, to announce the pre-save of his new single, Chad expressed, “I’ll make a full post about what I’ve been up to and my music once it goes live next week, but you can pre-save my first single so it goes straight to your Spotify once it drops next week.”

Photo: CDuellIG
SINCE LEAVING GENERAL HOSPITAL
Previously, since his departure from the ABC soap opera. Chad starred alongside Zach Mendez in the world premiere of of Yum Yum at Annapolis, a new play written by Bruce Reisman. Duell last appeared on General Hospital on the January 21, 2025 episode.
The part was recast with Rory Gibson who debuted as the new Michael in May of 2025 during the Nurses’ Ball episodes and who has remained in the role since that time.
In an interview earlier this year on The Able Show, Duell said on his decision to exit the soap opera, “I was blessed to be part of that (show) for as long as I have, but what happens sometimes is if you’re doing the same thing, especially in a creative field for such a long time, you can get a little burnt out in a way. It can make you a little depressed, so that’s kind of what happened. On top of that, I had other things going on in my life at the time. My father passed away recently and I just needed a reset. So, I stepped away. A lot of times you have to go through some stuff to really step into that next level. I needed to kind of feel uncomfortable.”
So, what type of musical genre will Chad’s new song be? Country? Pop? Rock? Dance/Club? Something else? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section below, and if you are eager to hear the new single next week via the comment section below.
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