As of the Thursday, August 8 episode, “General Hospital” has firmly established its third head writing team this year, with Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten as head co-head writers and Cathy LePard as associate head writer.
In a statement released to Soap Opera Digest, the show’s executive producer, Frank Valentini, said of the new team, “No one knows ‘General Hospital’ and its history more than Elizabeth and Chris. Cathy joined the show in 2023, and her talent and love for the genre has been a tremendous asset to this team. We look forward to this dynamic writing combination continuing the legacy of the show and giving our fans much to look forward to.”
ABC
Valentini’s comments mark the first time since being named executive producer in 2012 that he has formally commented on changes within the show’s writer’s room in an official press statement. Meanwhile, Van Etten’s promotion to co-head writer comes after he and then-co-head writer Dan O’Connor were abruptly let go from the same position in January. The two were quietly replaced with Korte and Patrick Mulcahey. Van Etten and O’Connor’s written material aired until Thursday, March 14, while Korte and Mulcahey’s material began airing on Friday, March 15. That said, it was revealed in mid-May that Van Etten had returned to the show’s writing team as a breakdown writer/scriptwriter shortly before it was announced that Mulcahey would be exiting the series.
Observing the show’s on-air credits, it can be ascertained that Mulcahey was immediately replaced by Van Etten, considering Korte and Mulcahey’s names appeared together through the Tuesday, August 6 episode, while Van Etten’s name was added alongside Korte’s as of the Wednesday, August 7 episode.
Under Korte and Mulcahey, “General Hospital” hit a new low among TV households with a 1.2 rating and has tied its series low among rounded Women 18-49 (0.2 rating) for a record 21 consecutive weeks, according to the latest ratings figures released by Nielsen.
During the week of July 29-August 2, 2024, the show averaged less than two million viewers for the 16th consecutive week and the 21st time this season, officially making the 2023-2024 television season the worst on record for the 61-year-old series. In fact, six weeks into the third quarter of 2024, the series is tied with “The View” among Women 18-49 viewers, each averaging just 134,000 viewers within the key demographic. By comparison, “The Young and the Restless” is averaging 164,000 viewers among Women 18-49 and “The Bold and the Beautiful” is averaging 149,000 viewers in the demo.
Season-to-date, “General Hospital” is averaging exactly two million viewers (2,000,000), a 0.03 rating among Females 12-17, a 0.10 rating among Women 18-34, a 0.22 rating among Women 18-49 and a 0.37 rating among Women 25-54. Among demo viewers, just 4,000 Females 12-17 are tuning in, while only 34,000 viewers fall within the Women 18-34 age bracket. Elsewhere, 145,000 viewers are among Women 18-49 and 229,000 viewers are among Women 25-54. Thus, most of the show’s audience falls within the Women 55+ demographic. Opposite its soap competition, the ABC soap is down -28% among Women 18-49 while “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “The Young and the Restless” are down -24% and down -17%, respectively.
Hoping to turn things around with what is being called a fall reset, “General Hospital” has announced the returns of some familiar faces, including Jonathan Jackson as Lucky Spencer, Rick Hearst as Ric Lansing and Emma Samms as Holly Sutton. Of the three returnees, Jackson has signed a long-term contract, and Hearst is back for a “nice run,” according to a spokesperson for the show. Samms’ return is expected to be short. There are also plans to recast the role of Lulu Spencer, a character who last appeared on the show in 2020 and was played by Emme Rylan.
One can only hope the show can turn the tide quickly, given renewed talk of budget cuts on the horizon.