ABC鈥檚 鈥淕eneral Hospital鈥� marks its 60th anniversary this week, making it the longest-running scripted show currently in production on American television.
The soap is marking the milestone with a fan favorite storyline, , a gala that raises money for charity. This week the residents of the fictional city of Port Charles dress to the nines and walk a red carpet. In a guest appearance, Chandra Wilson of 鈥淕rey鈥檚 Anatomy鈥� plays fashion editor Sydney Val Jean.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a big fan of the show,鈥� said executive producer Frank Valentini of Wilson. 鈥淪he taped all the scenes on the red carpet and was working at 鈥楪rey鈥檚鈥� the same day. I鈥檓 just so crazy about her.鈥�
Valentini is pumped about this year鈥檚 musical performances too, as a number of the cast can sing and dance.
鈥淪ome of the numbers are some of the best things we鈥檝e ever done, and we鈥檝e done some really good stuff.鈥�
While viewers enjoy the ball as it plays out this week, Valentini and head writers, Dan O鈥機onnor and Chris Van Etten, are looking at storylines for the summer 鈥� and beyond. Right now, the show is scripted through the end of May, with writers outlining June.
Valentini, O鈥機onnor and Van Etten spoke to The Associated Press, sharing a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to keep 鈥淕eneral Hospital鈥� on track, crafting storylines, production, balancing veteran characters with new faces and other topics.
Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
WRITERS TAKE THE LONG GAME
VAN ETTEN: There are stories that have certain benchmarks that we want to hit. We try to say, 鈥極K, Chapter 1 may take us through September. Chapter 2 can take us into November.鈥� 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鈥檚 a weird tightrope to balance.
WRITING AND PRODUCING A SOAP OPERA IS A PUZZLE
VAN ETTEN: There鈥檚 a puzzle on a micro level and on a macro level. On a micro level, every week, we鈥檙e looking at not just the story and where we want to move the plot and characters, but there are certain economic issues. The studio can only accommodate so many sets at a time. If we put up a set on a Monday, it鈥檚 best to try to use that on a Tuesday and then even again on a Wednesday because it will save time and money. We will take these puzzle pieces of, 鈥楾hese are the stories. These are the characters. How can we move the story within the set and other economic considerations that we have?鈥�
BALANCING LEGACY PLAYERS WITH NEW FACES
When Valentini took over as executive producer in 2012, he leaned into the soap鈥檚 history and brought back several of its veteran cast. Some made appearances, others stayed on. Today, 鈥淕eneral Hospital鈥� has veteran cast members, including , Tristan Rogers, Finola Hughes, Kristina Wagner and Lynn Herring, who are very much in the mix. There鈥檚 another tier of longtime cast members 鈥� , Rebecca Herbst, Laura Wright and Chad Duell, for example 鈥� who are in front-burner stories. The soap regularly features storylines with its newer cast, including Tabyana Ali, Nicholas Chavez and Evan Hofer.
VALENTINI: When you inherit so much history and so many front-loaded characters and stories, you can鈥檛 just abandon them. Having been at 鈥極ne Life to Live鈥� for many years, EPs would come in and they would fire the whole staff. They鈥檇 fire all the writers. They would change the show and start from ground zero. I never think that鈥檚 the right thing to do. You don鈥檛 burn the ship. You turn it around. The cast is just phenomenal, and the few people that we鈥檝e added over the years, I think have really complemented and given the characters on the show storyline. You bring in people to support who you have. We introduce the new characters slowly and methodically and in a way that the audience responds to them.
STORY IS CREATED AROUND BIG SET PIECES
The writers say if a big set goes up, the locale needs to get used. An example is a hotel pool where characters catch rays.
VAN ETTEN: The is a special case because you鈥檝e got to fill a big tank of water that鈥檚 too costly to empty out and then fill back up again based on the writer鈥檚 whim. We had bugged Frank for years, 鈥榃e want a pool. We want a pool for the summer because we have a very attractive cast, and we should show them off鈥� They are wonderful actors, but they鈥檙e also beautiful.鈥� When he finally yielded to our unrelenting pressure, one of the rules about using the pool is that when it goes up, it stays up.
WHEN TO REFRESH A SET
The Quartermaines are a wealthy family in Port Charles and all live together in a big mansion. Over time it鈥檚 been upgraded with a new foyer, parlor, a solarium and even a breakfast nook.
VALENTINI: The Quartermaine living room just seemed very old (before). They are a very wealthy family鈥� People redo their living rooms and people redo their kitchens. These are places that legitimize and help to authenticate the characters in the world that they live in. And I think when the characters aren鈥檛 in the right location, it detracts, and it compromises their integrity. When you see (Benard鈥檚 character) Sonny (Corinthos) in his cool penthouse, that speaks to the character.
SOAP OPERA RAPID-AGING SYNDROME
Soap Opera Rapid-Aging Syndrome or SORAS, is a phenomenon where a young character is suddenly aged for storyline purposes. This has happened many times over the years including with Eden McCoy, who plays Josslyn Jacks, and Chavez鈥檚 character Spencer Cassadine.
O鈥機ONNOR: Usually it鈥檚 a conversation that we have, especially when certain characters move out of some generational benchmarks. Our high school characters are now college age and young adults. So that would be a discussion, 鈥楬ey, maybe there is room for an adolescent set of characters on the show.鈥� It鈥檚 based off our needs and the story and the show.
VAN ETTEN: There鈥檚 also an X factor in there. We have the best casting director in the business, Mark Teschner. He鈥檒l just unearth someone and especially if it鈥檚 a younger person, he鈥檒l bring this person to Frank鈥檚 attention. Frank may look at the canvas as a whole and say, 鈥榃e have a 6-year-old character who doesn鈥檛 necessarily fulfill a real purpose except to be this person鈥檚 child. Maybe if by aging them to 12 with this younger actor that Mark has found, we can get more story.鈥�
STAYING TRUE TO THE SHOW鈥橲 HISTORY
With 60 years of story, the writers must remember the history of the characters as best they can, including marriages, babies, and health scares.
O鈥機ONNOR: I鈥檇 say it鈥檚 a collective effort. We do have producers in charge of continuity, but as writers, we all share in that responsibility as well. And the fact that so many of us, if not most of us, were lifelong fans, that certainly helps.
VAN ETTEN: This is me speaking for me, not the writers. I personally believe you shouldn鈥檛 let adherence to continuity get in the way of a really good story. You don鈥檛 want it to be something that completely conflicts with a character鈥檚 40 years of history, but if you can find a little bit of wiggle room, if you can justify why something that happened back in 1979 might today be viewed through a different lens and therefore make a current story work, I can justify that.
CRITICS ONLINE
It鈥檚 normal for viewers to react both positively and negatively to various storylines, but nowadays with social media, they are given a megaphone to blast those thoughts to the world immediately and in large quantities. The writers appreciate the feedback but also try to not get too fixated on it.
VAN ETTEN: When I was a breakdown writer, I would read Twitter on days when my episode was on. Now that I have a much larger responsibility for the show, I鈥檓 very sensitive and I want to put out something that people like. If they don鈥檛 like it, they鈥檙e usually very, very particular about not liking it. I can鈥檛. I don鈥檛 need that in my life.
O鈥機ONNOR: Different social media platforms and audiences seem to have different opinions about certain things. So, it鈥檚 hard to say. There鈥檚 a consensus on the show as a whole or the stories when you go to, say, Twitter. (Twitter) has a different opinion than Instagram or Facebook or the message boards. So it鈥檚 hard to gauge just from that feedback which opinion represents the majority of our audience.
IS LUKE SPENCER REALLY DEAD?
O鈥機ONNOR: There鈥檚 very few deaths in Port Charles that are permanent. You never know.
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Alicia Rancilio, The Associated Press
