.Created byStarringCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal language(s)EnglishNo. Of seasons6No. Of episodes1,537ProductionRunning time30 minutesReleaseOriginal networkOriginal releaseJune 1, 1997 ( 1997-06-01) –October 3, 2003 ( 2003-10-03)ChronologyRelated showsPort Charles (commonly abbreviated as PC) is an American that aired on from June 1, 1997 to October 3, 2003.
It was a of the serial, which has been running since 1963 and takes place in the fictional city of,. The new show features longtime General Hospital characters, and, along with several new characters, most of whom were interns in a competitive medical school program. In its later years, the program shifted more towards supernatural themes and stories, with a reduced emphasis on the original hospital setting. Contents.History 1997–2000 Plans to spin off General Hospital were announced in December 1996. ABC had previously passed on the idea of a GH spin off proposed by former head writer,. Tentatively titled GH2, the series was set to revolve around interns at the medical school across from General Hospital., executive producer of General Hospital, was hired to fill the same role for the new series. Riche said of the new show, 'This will be a multigenerational show, which is the kind of drama we've always done at GH'.
It was later announced that the series would be titled Port Charles, after the fictional city the series are set, and would star and, playing their roles from GH. The series premiered with a two-hour special, that aired on June 1, 1997. It started in its regular timeslot the following day, replacing the canceled, whose timeslot had been filled by classic episodes of, and General Hospital since April of that year. Slender man movie.
The series also featured the return of General Hospital characters , and. After the series premiered, it was unclear if Lindstrom, Herring, and Shriner would remain with the series. It was later confirmed the actors would stay on the show.Riche later recalled the creation process by saying, 'We knew that The City was probably not going to last. I was having lunch with Pat Fili-Krushel at some event.
We were talking about The City and what to do with that timeslot. I said, 'If I were a programmer, I would start the ABC lineup with a half hour of the west wing of General Hospital with the interns in a learning hospital, and cap the day off with General Hospital. I would interface the characters in Port Charles with both wings of General Hospital.' Pat thought that was a great idea. She thought about it for a few hours, ran it by upper management, and told me to write it up. I sat down, wrote down some characters and storylines, sent her back some pages, and created the show. That was a natural bridge as a programmer.
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I had worked as a programmer at ABC and so my head also thinks in those terms. We wanted to bring continuity to the show, which was Lucy, Kevin, and Scotty.' In the first episode, tenured nurse ( General Hospital's longest-running character, portrayed by ) was injured and an intern had to operate on her with a power drill to save her life. Despite low ratings, Port Charles celebrated its first anniversary on June 1, 1998, as the series slowly continued to establish its own audience and improve in its time slot.In its first few years, Port Charles developed a reputation for focusing most of its energies on the medical school program, setting more of its main action at Port Charles' General Hospital than was seen on the parent show, General Hospital.
As it evolved, it turned its focus to stories with gothic intrigue that included themes such as forbidden love, and life after death (somewhat similar to the earlier series, which also aired on ABC in the late 1960s).In December 1999, Julie Hanan Carruthers was promoted to executive producer after Wendy Riche wanted to step down to focus on General Hospital. Carruthers was the senior supervising producer of Port Charles, while serving the same role on General Hospital at the inception of Port Charles.2000–2003 In December 2000, it was announced that Port Charles would abandon the traditional open-ended style of storytelling, in favor of 13-week story arcs, similar to Latin. Each arc is referred to as a 'book', and has its own plot line. The approach was designed to attract more younger viewers, with shorter format being easier for many viewers to keep up with. ABC's head of daytime, Angela Shapiro said of format change, 'It's not about the destination, it's about the journey, still, we need to come up with quicker stories that have a beginning, middle, and end.' The new production model allowed the cast, crew, and writing staff to only work six months out of the year.Cancellation In June 2003, Port Charles was cancelled by ABC after six years due to low ratings. The final episode aired on October 3, 2003.
Said of the decision to cancel the relatively young series, 'This was an extremely difficult decision, we were very pleased with the creative execution of the show, but the 30 minute format in this time period posed significant financial challenges, which ultimately led to this decision.' Since the program taped for only six months out of the year, the remaining episodes were aired with the cast not allowed to return to tape resolutions to storylines.
This left the final episode as a cliffhanger; Caleb told Olivia that Alison was pregnant with his baby because of the wish that she (Olivia) made on his ring and it was revealed that Imani was a werewolf. ABC returned the 12:30 p.m. See also:Popular characters such as, and moved from General Hospital to Port Charles at the start of the series.
New characters were introduced as doctors and interns at the local medical school. These interns included brothers, Joe (Michael Dietz) and Frank Scanlon , wheelchair-bound Matt Harmon (Mitch Longley), Julie Morris-Devlin (Lisa Ann Hadley), (Julie Pinson), (Jennifer Hammon), Chris Ramsey , Jake Marshak (Rib Hillis). Portrayed the resident in charge of the new interns, Dr. Ellen Burgess.
Morgan was widely known for her portrayal of on, and The City. The actress described her character, which was seen as a departure for Morgan, whose Angie was known as a generally nice character, by saying 'She's everything I abhor in doctors-their abruptness, the lack of bedside manners that so many of them have. She's a talented doctor and brilliant at what she does. Her bedside manner just sucks!'
.As the series progressed, the storylines became less centered around the interns, and as a result, many actors ended up leaving the series. Port Charles then started to introduce new, younger characters as a part of the supernatural storylines. These characters proved to be popular with fans and critics, mainly , , , and.When the series ended in 2003, Shriner returned to General Hospital, while Herring was not offered a place back on the show.
The actress stated, 'That was very disheartening. It never occurred to me that Lucy wouldn't still have a place in town if PC didn't work out. But you know what?
Even knowing what I know now, I would still go off to do PC. I would not trade that fabulous experience for anything!'
Several of the younger actors took roles on different shows, including Easton, who was cast as on. Monaco transferred over to General Hospital, but in the newly created role of. It was said that the supernatural elements of the storyline would have made it difficult for the writers to integrate Livvie into the series. Story arcs. This section does not any. Unsourced material may be challenged and.Find sources: – ( April 2017) Each 13-week arc of the story was referred to as a 'book'. There were a total of twelve books after the series switched to that format.
In order, they were:BookDurationFateDecember 4, 2000 – March 2, 2001Time in a BottleMarch 5 – June 1, 2001Tainted LoveJune 4 – August 31, 2001TemptedSeptember 3 – November 30, 2001Miracles HappenDecember 3 – 31, 2001SecretsJanuary 2 – March 29, 2002SuperstitionApril 1 – June 28, 2002TornJuly 1 – September 27, 2002Naked EyesSeptember 30 – December 27, 2002SurrenderDecember 30, 2002 – April 1, 2003DesireApril 2 – July 4, 2003The GiftJuly 7 – October 3, 2003Crews. This section does not any. Unsourced material may be challenged and.Find sources: – ( April 2017) Head writers DurationNameJune 1997–December 1997January 1998–early 1999early 1999–December 1999January 2000–March 2000Jonathon EstrinMarch 2000–May 2000Karen HarrisMay 2000–November 2000Karen HarrisNovember 2000–October 2003Executive producers DurationNameJune 1997–December 1999December 1999–October 2003Reception The series received mostly positive reviews from critics. In a review of the early months, compared the series favorably to General Hospital, 'But all in all, this was quite an auspicious start for a new show.
When Port Charles was conceived, this spin off was a companion piece to the highly successful General Hospital. Since then, General Hospital has lost not only its headwriter, but its direction.' During the early days, many critics felt the series wouldn't make it, but it later proved to be a critical success.
The series received particular acclaim during the vampire storylines. Wrote in a review of the 'Tainted Love' arc, 'Its well-placed edginess always underscores the danger. It was riveting. So was this story. We did not want it to end.' The fast-paced style of storytelling has also been called 'Edgy, unpredictable and extreme.'
Described the change in the series by saying, 'The series clipped along at an amazing pace and viewers became intrigued as more fantasy elements such as time travel and vampires were to the mix. The show became the Dark Shadows of its time, and although the ratings were low, it continued to grow.' 's list of 100 Greatest Daytime Couples included at number 92, and Caleb and Livvie at number 34.In 2003, the series was nominated for a. Included the series on its list of The Best and Worst TV Spinoffs since 1990, noting, ' 'Port Charles' never got the traction that its venerable parent show did, despite attempts to introduce the supernatural and a change in production to tell more contained story arcs. It lasted six years, and after its cancellation a few characters eventually returned to General Hospital.' Included the series on their list of '15 Soap Operas We've Loved, Lost', noting, 'What started off as a simple spin-off of General Hospital ended up venturing way out there, with vampires and werewolves stalking around Port Charles.
Having GH folks like Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) and Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner) leading the show made for an instant audience base. Some viewers couldn't get behind all the supernatural happenings (a vampire/human baby conceived by a wish upon a ring?), but hey, we got Kelly Monaco out of the deal.'
See also.References. Retrieved 2013-06-24. ^.
Retrieved 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
Rice, Lynette (2000-03-17). Retrieved 2013-06-24. The Hollywood Reporter. September 2, 2003.
Archived from on September 7, 2003. The Hollywood Reporter. Highbeam Business. December 2, 2002. Archived from on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
August 18, 2014. Archived from on August 19, 2014. Retrieved 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2013-08-19. Archived from on 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
West, Abby (2011-04-17). Retrieved 2013-08-19.External links. on. at. Port Charles @ soapcentral.com Page.