Boston fans rejoice: General Hospital is back at 3 p.m., where it belongs

When General Hospital premiered on April 1, 1963, on ABC, it aired at 1 p.m. Eastern/12 p.m. Central. But in 1977, when the show was poised to revolutionize daytime television, it moved to 3 p.m., where it enjoyed tremendous success throughout the late 1970s and 1980s during the Luke and Laura (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis) era. It remained that way until September 2012, when it was bumped back to 2 p.m., after the cancellation of ABC’s other soaps, All My Children and One Life to Live. Fans were upset at this move since 3 o'clock was considered the show’s eternal timeslot. Now, there’s great news for fans in Boston.

The lone survivor

Back in 1975, General Hospital was surrounded by several other soaps on different networks, including As the World Turns, Guiding Light, and The Doctors, which aired at 1:30, 2, and 2:30 p.m., respectively. While the shows primarily stayed in these timeslots for a while, many would get bumped around.

Eventually, ABC fell into a schedule where, starting at 1 p.m., the lineup would be AMC, OLTL, and GH, and fans loved this. But, after the other two soaps were unceremoniously canceled, General Hospital was the last soap standing and fell victim to corporate tinkering. In 2012, the sudser bumped to 2 o’clock, while the then-new Katie Couric talk show, Katie, took over GH’s long-standing timeslot.

Boston brings GH home again

Devastated fans took umbrage when, in 2013, it was announced that Katie was going to be canceled because it didn’t have enough viewers to warrant its big budget. Essentially, no one cared enough to devote time to watching it. But nothing happened until recently.

Boston’s ABC affiliate, WCVB Channel 5, made a spectacular announcement in August: “Starting Monday, Sept. 8, General Hospital and The Jennifer Hudson Show will switch their weekday time slots. The Jennifer Hudson Show will air from 2 to 3 p.m., followed by General Hospital from 3 to 4 p.m., leading into NewsCenter 5 at 4 p.m.”

Trending

Word of this big return to form has been growing on the internet. Several fans on Facebook got into a conversation about it, with many being confused by what markets would be affected. The conversations showed the soap airing at different times across the country. One fan made a comment that showed they didn’t mind whatever time it aired, writing, “I wish they would move it to a time that they're not constantly interrupting it in AZ.”

General Hospital can be seen weekdays on ABC and Hulu.

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