|
''General Hospitals 50th anniversary on April 1, 2013, was a milestone for the American soap opera series and has been commemorated with several events in the media and storylines on the show. Declining ratings and the cancellation of other soap operas in the late 2000s and early 2010s prompted concern that the show would not reach the milestone until new management led to a turn-around. Other events were organized to commemorate the occasion, with media promoting the milestone and commemorative memorabilia being released by ABC. Begun in 1963, ''General Hospital'' eventually became the top daytime soap opera before a decline in the late 1970s, which was followed by a resurgence that peaked in the early 1980s. In honor of the anniversary, the producers reintroduced previous major characters and created storylines reminiscent of notable arcs of the past with the focus of the anniversary week on the show being the return of the popular Nurses' Ball event. Cast members also made appearances on several programs and at various media events to mark the anniversary. ==Background== (詳細はAs the World Turns''. In 1977 ''General Hospital'' started to suffer a major drop in ratings and was at risk of being cancelled when Gloria Monty was hired on as executive producer. Monty refocused the series on younger characters and the show became the most successful daytime soap on television, with the 1981 episode featuring the wedding between characters Luke and Laura garnering 30 million views, setting a record as the most widely-watched episode of daytime television in history.〔 When the show began focusing heavily on mob storylines in the 2000s, ratings saw a heavy decline.〔 The show was one of several daytime dramas that was at risk of cancellation in the wake of falling ratings in the late 2000s and early 2010s with long-running soaps ''As the World Turns'' and ''Guiding Light'' being pulled off the air. Two soaps that aired alongside ''General Hospital'' on the ABC network, ''All My Children'' and ''One Life to Live'', were also cancelled in September 2011 and January 2012 respectively. Members of the ''General Hospital'' cast began to believe that the soap would not be able to reach its 50th anniversary as ABC Daytime started prioritizing reality programming.〔 Frank Valentini, who was executive producer of ''One Life to Live'', took over as executive producer of ''General Hospital'' after ''One Life to Lives cancellation. He was joined by ''One Life to Live'' writer Ron Carlivati and are together credited with revitalizing the series.〔 The show began bringing in a new cast to put an emphasis on younger characters and moved away from the show's mob storylines. It has subsequently seen its best ratings in five years with an average of 3 million viewers, the biggest increase being amongst the 18-34 female demographic.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「General Hospital's 50th anniversary」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|