'General Hospital' to Air New Episodes Only 4 Days Each Week Due to Pandemic Production Shutdown

The coronavirus worldwide pandemic has caused mass quarantines to take place leading to a change in television shows. “General Hospital” is one of the shows that have been affected by the country’s shutdown.

The ABC daytime drama is set to start airing repeat episodes on Fridays beginning this week. From April 3 all the way through to May 22, fans will be seeing reruns of the series.

The coronavirus outbreak has, unfortunately, led to a production halt for “General Hospital.” However, fans have something to look forward to.

Series will air Friday reruns

The show is set to air new episodes from Monday through to Thursday as originally planned. “General Hospital’s “Flashback Friday” episodes will now feature an introduction.

A new actor will highlight the episode every time and for Friday’s introduction, Laura Wright will take the reins. Unfortunately, ABC only has a limited number of new episodes that are ready.

When will production resume

The network needs to make sure they will have four original episodes per week until May 22. ABC hopes production would have resumed by then, but if that’s not the case, they will resort to reruns.

How many new episodes are available

“General Hospital” had already completed around two months’ worth of episodes when production stopped. This Friday, a Special 56th Anniversary Show episode will air.

Friday, April 3’s episode

The episode initially aired on Tuesday, April 3, 2019. According to the series, the episode is “a loving tribute to the hospital’s past, present and future, providing a pivotal moment for some of Port Charles’ most memorable characters.”

General Hospital’s accolades

“General Hospital” has won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Drama 13 times. It is the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the longest-running scripted television drama currently in production.

Show was written by a husband and wife

Some fun facts about the show include that it was written by a husband-and-wife team. The first episode aired as a half-hour program on April 1, 1963.

What the show is about

In 1977, the show finally became a full hour. The series focuses on the lives of doctors and staff on the seventh floor of a hospital in Port Charles, New York.

Some of the celebrities who’ve appeared on the show were Elizabeth Taylor and James Franco.