General Hospital is getting a revamp behind the scenes.
It’s been a decade of the same on the ABC soap, with only a few minor changes to the writing and producing team.
Small increments didn’t seem to work for some of the long-time viewers, who have complained about the writing for some of the legacy characters and the rewriting of history to fit the narratives of their current favorites.
Soap Opera Digest broke the news about the head co-writers, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor, being out at General Hospital.
The duo has worked together since 2019, but Chris has been in a co-writing position since 2017. He worked with Shelly Altman after her partner, Jean Passanante, retired. Dan joined Chris in 2019 when Shelly retired.
Chris and Dan worked with Frank Valentini on One Life to Live and moved to General Hospital with him and former head writer Ron Carlivati in 2012.
Who are the new General Hospital head co-writers?
The new writing team at General Hospital isn’t new to the scene.
Patrick Mulcahey and Elizabeth Korte will take over the reins from Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor.
Both have connections to GH, and Elizabeth has served on the writing team for the ABC soap since 1994 in some capacity.
She took on a co-head writing position in 2001. Elizabeth co-created the General Hospital spinoff, General Hospital: Night Shift, and was the co-head writer for both seasons.
Patrick has a long career in the soap-writing world. It began in 1979, and he’s worked on various soaps, including Guiding Light, Loving, Search For Tomorrow, The Bold and the Beautiful, and General Hospital.
His stint on GH was from 1996 through 1999, and his last dabble with writing for soaps ended in 2019.
General Hospital fans weigh in on writing team changes
General Hospital viewers aren’t always going to get what they want from the soap. Some love certain things and characters, while others dislike some things and different characters.
However, the news of new co-writers coming onto the scene, especially those with experience and knowledge of the soap’s history and supercouples, have some viewers hopeful the soap will be spearheaded appropriately.
One viewer took to X (formerly Twitter) to praise the decision.
Another viewer was happy to learn that Patrick Mulcahey has experience writing for Black families on the soap.
While there are some hopeful viewers, the scripts written by Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor will air through sometime in March.
That means that February Sweeps are already penned, and what happens will happen. Let’s hope things aren’t too over-the-top.
General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.