Product Review

"General Hospital" at The Paley Center for Media on April 12, 2013. "General Hospital" celebrated its golden anniversary in 2013. As the popular genre reimagines itself for the twenty-first century with some soaps turning to the web for new life, the television ratings for "GH" have soared as some of its most popular iconic actors return to Port Charles to mark its fifty years on the air.

This PALEYLIVE event celebrates "General Hospital," the daytime serial drama centering on the professional and private lives of the doctors and nurses at General Hospital in Port Charles, now in its fiftieth year on television.

Will Keck (senior editor, TV Guide Magazine) moderates the following panelists: executive producer Frank Valentini; head writer Ron Carlivati; and cast members Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer), Genie Francis (Laura Spencer), Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos), Finola Hughes (Anna Devane), Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie Spencer), Jane Elliot (Tracy Quartermaine), John J. York (Mac Scorpio), Kirsten Storms (Maxie Jones), Jason Thompson (Dr. Patrick Drake), Kimberly McCullough (Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake), and Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos Jacks).

The panelists touch on such topics as: Valentini and Carlivati's decision to rehire many of the show's "veteran actors" to mark its 50th anniversary; effects of the groundbreaking 1990s storyline involving HIV; and the experience of Storms in replacing a character previously portrayed by a fan favorite.

Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics among others: Valentini and Carlivati's changes to the show's tone and pacing over the last year; the cast's memories of working with Elizabeth Taylor, who portrayed arch villainess Helena Cassadine; and the decision to bring a character back from the dead and the importance of having some deaths "stick."

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