“General Hospital” Employing Temporary Writers During WGA Strike
The effects of the writer’s strike are now starting to impact on ABC’s long-running soap, “General Hospital”, who, according to Variety, are now using temporary writers to allow the show to continue filming.
“General Hospital” is one of the longest-running series, with over 15,000 episodes created since the show began in the 1960s, and because the episodes are filmed in advance, we are only just now seeing the last shows released from before the Writer’s Guild Of America went on strike in May. The WGA has gone on strike for better working conditions and better pay.
The series tells the story of the wealthy Quartermaine family, who continue to be a looming presence in the town of Port Charles, with interests in much of the city’s business. Characters come and go, but viewers can always count on at least one Quartermaine or Spencer to create havoc.
One of the show’s writers, Shannon Peace, took to Instagram to reveal the news:
“Starting next week, the show will be written exclusively by scab writers, which is heartbreaking. Daytime writers face a unique conflict during strikes. We hate to see our characters and storylines handed over to ‘writers’ who cross the picket line. But we’re also keenly aware that stopping production could spell the demise of soap operas.”
Soap Operas have been able to continue to be filmed during the writer’s strike and will also be able to continue through the SAG-AFTRA strike, since soaps, along with reality shows and game shows, fall under the National Code of Fair Practice, which covers shows for Network Television Broadcasting, or Network Code.
This isn’t the first time soap operas have used temporary writers, as the exact same thing happened in the last strike in 2007. Production was shut down for over four months during the pandemic, which resulted in classic shows being aired for a few weeks
Viewership for soap operas like “General Hosptial” have steadily declined for years, and earlier this year, NBC decided to move “Days Of Our Lives” from linear television to Peacock. And ten years ago, ABC cancelled “All My Children” and “One Life to Live”, which left “General Hospital” as the last remaining soap on the network. Disney is also going through a cost-cutting measure to reduce the amount of general entertainment content it creates, which is why Shannon references the problem the show might face if production completely stops, as Disney might use this reason as an excuse to cancel the show after years of speculation. “General Hospital” regularly pulls in around 2 million viewers per episode.
You can stream the latest episodes from season 60 of “General Hospital” on Hulu.
Roger Palmer
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