General Hospital News: Soap May Delay Its Return to Production By a Week

Previous reports indicated that General Hospital was going to resume production in the middle of July. There’s good news and bad news: The plan has been put on hold, but the show is still on track to return, according to published reports.

General Hospital Delayed

Deadline reports that GH had been looking to return in mid-July but is now planning to return to production the following week on or around Monday, July 20. One possible reason for the delay? Coronavirus infections have increased in Los Angeles where the show is produced.

The Bold and the Beautiful was the first show to get back to the studio and implement new taping procedures, which include, but are not limited to, using spouses of contract actors in order to simulate scenes involving more intimacy.

The Young and the Restless is reportedly set to start taping again on or around Tuesday, July 14 — if safety measures are in place.

Days of Our Lives is set to return to production on Tuesday, September 1. DAYS is the only soap that still has original episodes due to the NBC serial being so far ahead of schedule. The other three soaps have been airing reruns to fill the shows’ timeslots.

Over the next two weeks, GH was set to air the 10 episodes that were broadcast before the show aired its most recent original program on May 21. That led some to believe that GH would return with new episodes on Monday, July 27. No word yet on if the reported new start date will affect (if it does) how ABC will roll out the next few weeks.

Soap Hub will keep viewers updated as news becomes available. However, if things proceed as tentatively planned GH, BB, and YR will join DAYS in airing original episodes later this summer. Frank Valentini is GH’s executive producer. Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor are GH’s head writers. General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC. Check local listings for air times.