How General Hospital Conquered The American TV With This 30M Viewers Episode

Although it's no secret that General Hospital has always been extremely popular among soap fans, not everyone understands just how popular. If you first heard about it in the '00s, when it was facing a decline in ratings, you might not even understand the hype surrounding it.

Those who stumbled upon General Hospital a tad bit earlier, however, remember the show's greatest years. Throughout the '70s and into the '90s, the show had what the majority of its hardcore fans believed to be the best storylines and the best couples to portray them.

That culminated, of course, in 1981 with the episode that changed American television and drew 30 million viewers to their screens. The wedding of Laura and Luke, one of the most beloved couples on the show, became a huge hit and a truly legendary moment that has yet to be replicated on General Hospital or outside of it.

The key to its success was relatively simple: General Hospital found the perfect formula for a couple so controversial, yet so loving to each other, that people would not only silently root for them, but discuss them with their friends and co-workers.

Although it's hard to believe that the relationship that began with a drunken rape found its way into the hearts of so many viewers, people were happy to be Luke and Laura's guests. Perhaps this has something to do with the ethical and cultural differences between '80s television and today's, but ABC received no backlash for this decision.

If anything, the network received and continues to receive constant praise for the episode, as it became the highest-rated soap opera episode in American daytime television history, and remains unbeaten.

“There had never been a more influential soap opera moment than Luke and Laura's wedding. There never will be again. You could walk down the hallway and talk to anyone on our daytime staff, and they could tell you where they were when Luke and Laura got married,” the former president of ABC Daytime, Brian Frons, commented on the event.

Although it's easy to believe that there won't be another day as successful and widely discussed in the history of General Hospital, the show could even do with half of the ratings like this in 2023. Hopefully, the 60th anniversary will bring the soap back the audience it deserves.

Tune in to ABC Monday through Friday to not miss any new episodes of General Hospital.

Source: The Washington Post