Soapnet Announces a Night Shift for General Hospital

Soapnet has been given the green light to produce 13 one-hour episodes of General Hospital: Night Shift. The show will be an extension of the popular daytime drama, and would be focused on the night shift at the fictional Port Charles Hospital according to Soapnet's website.

The show, which will be written by General Hospital's head writer Robert Guza, Jr., and executive produced by General Hospital executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, is said to be centered around the hospital and will go a little deeper into the storylines originally run on the base show as well as dig a little deeper into the characters' lives and relationships.

One can only wonder if they will choose to use this platform as a showcase for veteran actors and characters that have not been receiving much screen time as of late. Long time fans of the show were broken-hearted over the recent decision to kill off Dr. Alan Quatermaine, a character who has graced the show for thirty years, and many fan-based boards have clamored for the soap to turn away from the mob-driven stories and bring focus back to the hospital the show was built on. When General Hospital: Night Shift premieres, its story will be kicked off by an episode of the ABC daytime drama, and will be continued and explored deeper on The Nightshift.

Soapnet, the cable network that re-runs the same day episodes of The Young and The Restless, All My Children, One Life to Live, Days of Our Lives, and General Hospital in the evenings, and previous week's episodes over the weekend, also broadcasts episodes of now canceled soap operas as well as reality and talk shows featuring soap stars. The same press release announcing General Hospital: Night Shift also announced that the network has acquired the rights to air all four season's of The OC and One Tree Hill.

Look For General Hospital: Night Shift to premiere this summer; The OC and One Tree Hill are set to be added to the schedule April 9.