ABC’s General Hospital marks its 60th anniversary this week, a milestone for the longest-running scripted show currently in production on American television. The soap is marking the moment with a fan favorite storyline, the Nurses Ball, a fictional charity gala. This week the residents of Port Charles dress to the nines and walk a red carpet. In a guest appearance, Chandra Wilson of Grey’s Anatomy plays fashion editor Sydney Val Jean. While viewers enjoy the ball as it plays out this week, executive producer Frank Valentini and head writers Dan O’Connor and Chris Van Ette are looking at storylines for the summer—and beyond. Right now, the show is scripted through the end of May, with writers outlining June.
The trio spoke to the AP on what it takes to keep General Hospital on track, crafting storylines, balancing veteran characters with new faces, and other topics. For example:
- "There are stories that have certain benchmarks that we want to hit," says Van Ette. "We try to say, ‘OK, Chapter 1 may take us through September. Chapter 2 can take us into November.' You get the right bang for your buck by letting a secret or letting a piece of information stew for as long as you can make it make sense and not bore the audience. It’s a weird tightrope to balance."
- When asked if Luke Spencer is really dead, O'Connor replies: "There’s very few deaths in Port Charles that are permanent. You never know."
- "When you inherit so much history and so many front-loaded characters and stories, you can’t just abandon them," says Valentini. "Having been at One Life to Live for many years, EPs would come in and they would fire the whole staff. They’d fire all the writers. They would change the show and start from ground zero. I never think that’s the right thing to do. You don’t burn the ship. You turn it around."
Read the
full interview.
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