316-330. Assesses how changing party preferences
contributed to the gender gap.
Barbara E. JohnsonSee also Conservatism in U.S. politics; Bush,
George H. W.; Dukakis, Michael; Elections in the
United States, midterm; Elections in the United
States, 1980; Elections in the United States, 1984;
Elections in the United States, 1988; Ferraro, Geral-
dine; Liberalism in U.S. politics; Mondale, Walter;
Reagan, Ronald; Reagan Democrats; Reagan Revo-
lution; Reaganomics.
General Hospital
Identification American soap opera
Date: Premiered April 1, 1963
Once struggling in the ratings,General Hospitalintro-
duced innovative characters and plotlines during the late
1970’s and early 1980’s that made it the most popular
American soap opera. Its newfound success made the show
influential as well, as competitors began to copy its winning
formula.
Created by Frank Hursley and Doris Hursley,General
Hospitaldebuted on the American Broadcasting
Company (ABC) television network on April 1, 1963.
Set in the fictional town of Port Charles, New York,
the show was scheduled as a half-hour daytime drama.
Initially, most of the story lines took place at the
Port Charles Hospital and focused on the lives of
Dr. Steve Hardy (John Beradino) and Nurse Jessie
Brewer (Emily McLaughlin). Only marginally suc-
cessful, the show was threatened with cancellation by
network executives in 1978.
In an attempt to save the struggling soap opera,
ABC executives hired Gloria Monty as its new execu-
tive producer in 1978. That same year, the show was
expanded to an hour-long format. Under Monty’s
guidance and with the writing leadership of Douglas
Marland, the characters of Laura Webber (Genie
Francis) and Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) were in-
troduced toGeneral Hospitalfans. Luke and Laura’s
subsequent romance became enormously popular
with viewers. The couple’s wedding on November 16,
1981, was watched by approximately 30 million peo-
ple, and the episode continues to hold the distinction
of being the highest-rated episode in American soap
opera history. The phenomenal success of Luke and
Laura’s romance caused a neologism to be coined to
describe them: “supercouple.” Other supercouples
onGeneral Hospitalthat became extremely popular
with fans during the 1980’s were Robert Scorpio
(Tristan Rogers) and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms),
Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) and Anna Devane
(Finola Hughes), and Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner)
and Felicia Cummings (Kristina Wagner).
Along with these power couples, the writers also
introduced adventure plots into the show, which had
previously been a medical drama. Many of the char-
acters’ story lines began to revolve around spy mys-
teries. In fact, the characters of Scorpio and Devane
were introduced to viewers as international spies for
the fictional organization, the World Security Bu-
reau (WSB). This combination of the supercouple
and the action/adventure story line madeGeneral
Hospitalthe number-one-rated soap opera between
1979 and 1988. The series also won seven DaytimeThe Eighties in America General Hospital 405
Anthony Geary and Genie Francis as Luke and Laura inGen-
eral Hospital.(AP/Wide World Photos)