General Hospital Narrowly Avoided One of the Biggest Disasters in TV History

When the Writers Guild of America announced it was going on strike in May, not many people outside the industry realized how much of an impact the strike would have. Now, a few months later, the effects are starting to show and the public has become much more tense.

With many popular TV shows being delayed or canceled altogether, and promising film productions suffering in quality, the general public is beginning to side with the writers in their demand.

Not only outsiders, but many major Hollywood stars found themselves on the side of the writers, discussing their own terms. With the Screen Actors Guild contract expiring at the end of June, the union decided to negotiate better terms as well.

Though the negotiations were moving in the right direction, the results were the same, as evidenced by the fact that they were extended for nearly two weeks.

As of Friday, July 14, 2023, the actors will go on strike, which means they will not participate in any productions or promotional events.

Of course, like many other fans, loyal viewers of daytime TV shows and soaps like General Hospital or The Bold and the Beautiful began to worry about what the strike would mean for their favorites.

Although most of the material is filmed well in advance, and theoretically there should be enough episodes filmed to cover at least some period of time, no one knows exactly how long the strike will last.

The first time joint strike between the actors and the writers happened back in 1960, General Hospital didn’t exist yet, so no one knows exactly what to expect from this one. What fans know for sure is that the longer it lasts, the more they’ll be deprived of content.

But according to two former General Hospital stars, Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson, who played Jason Morgan and Damian Spinelli, respectively, there is nothing to worry about right now.

The majority of daytime television, including not only soaps but also daytime talk shows, is working on a separate contract that does not expire until 2024.

So if daytime TV decides to strike, it will only happen then and require a separate vote.

For now, it seems that soaps in general, and General Hospital in particular, have managed to dodge the bullet that other major studio productions have not.

However, keep an eye out for more news and behind-the-scenes updates, as there has been no official confirmation from the show's production team or the ABC network.

Source: That's Awesome with Steve Burton & Bradford Anderson