Surprising Truth Behind General Hospital's Generic Title 

At the moment, General Hospital is a true phenomenon not only among other daytime soaps but among television productions in general.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary this April, the soap continues to move forward, still captivating viewers and managing to stay relevant and just as exciting as it has been all these years.

Although the majority of the fandom knows the show's deepest lows as well as its highest highs, not many have actually delved deep enough into General Hospital's history to figure out its origins.

And if they did, they'd be surprised to find out that the show was supposed to air under a different title.

It's no secret that General Hospital began under the direction of married soap writers Frank and Doris Hursley, who previously worked on the CBS drama Search for Tomorrow but decided to strike out on their own.

What's interesting about them is that the Hursley legacy continued not only through General Hospital, which is still on the air but also through their bloodline. Their daughter, Bridget, went on to create another fan-favorite soap, Santa Barbara.

The Hursleys managed to keep the original idea for the soap almost untouched by the network, but some changes came naturally along the way. The title was one of them. The original title was “Emergency Hospital,” which many thought was too hard to pronounce and too intense for the plot. However, that title was used in a pilot.

Later on, although there were no real changes to the premise, the title was changed to something very similar but simpler, General Hospital. The name that sat better with fans and was part of what made it possible for the show itself to stick around for so many years.

Now, after the 60th anniversary of the series, there is no doubt that change was the only correct decision.

If you want to see what's going on in a Port Charles hospital now, you can go ahead and check out all the ongoing General Hospital episodes on ABC Monday through Friday.