General Hospital’s Shelly Altman will retire this week, leaving behind a treasure trove of epic daytime storylines and plots.
According to TV Insider, General Hospital head writer Shelly Altman is retiring, and her last day is reported to be August 2.
Altman’s material will still be in evidence throughout the coming months. Her spot will be filled by current co-head writer, Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor, the current breakdown writer.
Shelly Altman is a soap writing veteran whose daytime credits go back over two decades. She has also worked on One Life to Live, Another World, The Young and the Restless, and Kate and Allie.
The talented scribe won a Daytime Emmy for Writing at Y&R in 2014, and she took home the same prize in 2008 when she was at OLTL. Also, she has two Writers Guild of America Awards for her work on General Hospital for 2018 and 2019.
Both Van Etten and O’Connor have been on the GH writing team since 2011. Before joining GH both writers worked on OLTL, and they were with the show when it was canceled in 2011.
What changes might viewers see now that Altman has left, taking with her her signature writing style? It’s impossible to guess the direction or flavor that may be incorporated. Van Etten has held the position with Altman so there may be little change in focus seeing as how they were a team.
Then again, you never know what may be in store on your favorite daytime drama. For now, we congratulate Shelly Altman on a stellar career and wish her all the best in the future.
We also look forward to the exciting stories and plot lines that Van Etten and O’Connor craft for GH viewers in the months and years to come.
General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.