Explainers

Why is General Hospital a repeat and when do new episodes return?

Kin Shriner as Scott Baldwin on General Hospital.
Scott is front and center in this General Hospital episode. Pic credit: ABC

General Hospital fans may be wondering why there is an encore episode airing today instead of a new one.

This is going to be a trend for the coming weeks as the coronavirus pandemic shut down production of General Hospital.

There were several episodes filmed ahead of time, but to preserve the length of time fans will get new shows, the executives decided to add some throwback episodes in the mix.

Why are we seeing reruns of General Hospital?

Earlier this week, General Hospital announced that starting today, they would be airing encore episodes every Friday through May 22.

They have enough episodes to air new shows four days a week and then end with a throwback show.

The coronavirus pandemic has General Hospital completely shut down.

Initially, it was believed that taping would resume next week. With the guidelines changing and social distancing in effect until April 30, production is ceased until at least the end of the month.

So for now, expect encore episodes for the next several Fridays when General Hospital airs.

Which episodes of General Hospital will be seen?

At this point, General Hospital has only announced what today’s episode will be. The reading of Gail Baldwin’s will coincided with the actress’ real-life passing, something the show honored beautifully.

Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos) introduced the episode today.

Other presenters have not been mentioned yet. The announcement that came earlier this week only laid out the plans for today’s episode and nothing beyond that.

Future episodes have not been named, but they will continue to air every Friday through May 22. General Hospital fans hope the show will include classic episodes with some of the super couples of times past.

What happens after May for General Hospital?

As of now, General Hospital plans to air reruns if they cannot resume filming before the new episodes run out.

If they are allowed to resume production at the beginning of May, by the end of the month, they should be back on track.

These are unprecedented times, and General Hospital executives are just going with the flow. No one knows when this will end and how things will be after the pandemic subsides.

As the next few weeks pass, there should be a better idea of how things will go and what will be next for the show.

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.

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Joyce
Joyce
4 years ago

My husband and I love watching General Hospital. My understanding after reading this is that you will be running new episodes Monday – Thursday and a rerun on Friday until the new episodes are gone. Am I right? We tried watching yesterday, April 6th but nothing was on. We tape our shows to watch in the evenings. Thanks for your help.
Joyce

Sheri
Sheri
4 years ago

I would enjoy seeing an old episode with Emily, Robbin and Jason when they were teenagers.
Or maybe when Bobbie can to town.

dennis rostis
dennis rostis
4 years ago

this is 6-8-20 when are you going to resume reg shows fan for 60 years get busy hate go to rivers casino and hit the big one?