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| General Hospital: Night Shift | |
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| Genre | Soap opera |
| Creator(s) | Robert Guza Jr. and Elizabeth Korte |
| Senior cast member(s) | Sonya Eddy Kimberly McCullough Jason Thompson Billy Dee Williams |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 27 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Lisa de Cazotte |
| Head writer(s) | Sri Rao |
| Distributor | ABC |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | SOAPnet |
| Original run | July 12, 2007 – October 21, 2008 |
| Links | |
| General Hospital: Night Shift Official Website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
General Hospital: Night Shift is an American prime time serial that first aired on SOAPnet for a 13-episode run from July 12, 2007 to October 4, 2007. A spin-off of the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital,1 the show is SOAPnet's first original scripted drama series2 and follows the nighttime adventures of familiar and new characters around the hospital. As of March 2008, the first season of the series was "SOAPnet's most-watched series ever," with ABC Daytime and SOAPnet President Brian Frons noting that Night Shift drew more than 1 million new viewers to the channel during its first season. 3 With its reruns gaining higher ratings than those of General Hospital on SOAPnet, a second season was expected, though Frons noted that the same crew producing two shows had taken its toll.2
It was announced in May 2008 that Lisa de Cazotte would serve as Executive Producer for season two, joined by Head Writer Sri Rao [1].34 The 13 new episodes of Night Shift began taping in high-definition in June 2008, with the series airing Tuesdays at 11 p.m. and premiering on July 22, 2008.34 SOAPnet said the second season "will feature new and returning characters as well as the return of 'legacy' characters from GH. In addition, the continuity between story lines on Night Shift and GH will match." 3
Night Shift is the second spin-off series for GH, the first being the 30-minute daytime serial Port Charles, which ran on ABC from June 1997 to October 2003.1
The complete first season of Night Shift was released on DVD on February 12, 2008. Repeats of Season Two episodes are currently being broadcast on The 101 on Directv.5
Contents |
Overview
Prior to its premiere, SOAPnet had announced that Night Shift would "delve deeper into the relationships, friendships and medical cases seen at the hospital."1 It was noted that unlike General Hospital itself, the stories on Night Shift would be "self-contained and wrap up during each weekly one-hour episode," as well as being "understandable to viewers who do not watch General Hospital."1 With the goal "to attract younger viewers to both SOAPnet and General Hospital," characters would be "plucked from General Hospital's history" and "be mostly comprised of younger characters with ties to GH's core families." 1 Night Shift's storylines, however, did not directly intersect with those on General Hospital.
Cast
Ratings history
The premiere episode of Night Shift ranked as the SOAPnet's "most-viewed telecast ever" with total viewers and in its target demographic, women age 18-49.18 The show was also SOAPnet’s most-watched premiere with those groups and with women 18-34.18 According to Nielsen Media Research, the series averaged 1 million total viewers, "posting 63% audience growth over its lead-in," and ranking as "the second most-viewed cable program for the hour with women 18-49."18 Broadcasting & Cable notes the significance of this fact considering "only 64 million homes carry the network, compared to the 94 million that carry USA, the top network in the demo that night."18 Night Shift doubled SOAPnet's time-period viewership from 2006 in total viewers and the women 18-49 demographic. 3 The series averaged 833,000 viewers (and 381,000 among women 18-49) during its first season.4
Criticism
Season One
In 2007, soap opera critic Marlena De Lacroix noted the initially high ratings but called the series an "incoherently written and produced mess," going on to declare that "Night Shift's only redeeming aspect and its real legacy to daytime is its bravura casting. Casting directors Mark Teschner and Gwen Hillier introduced a group of new actors who are universally talented and interesting. No brainless hunk or hunkette models typically hired en masse."19In 2008, Ed Martin called the first season "a perfectly putrid spin-off of a soap opera that is now a mere shadow of its fantastic former self."20
Season Two
Martin called the second season "a sophomore series that embodied almost everything that was sublime about its mother-ship back in its heyday."20 Michael Logan of TV Guide wrote in October 2008 that although he did not enjoy the premiere episode of season two, "then the show got good. Really good." He ranked the spin-off above General Hospital itself, saying "it's indisputably superior to the mob-infested soap that spawned it." Logan added that "This late-night SOAPnet series is refreshingly retro, focusing as GH once did on the lives of doctors and their patients. (Imagine that!) The pleasures are many, from the frisky interplay of interns Claire and Kyle (she's straight, he's not) to the profoundly moving performances of Finola Hughes and Tristan Rogers as Anna and her cancer-stricken Robert."21
De Lacroix write that Season Two "expertly delivered traditional soap opera in a modern form while reinforcing love as the center of the medium, instead of devaluing it as so many soaps do today," adding that "All the characters on NS2 were intelligent adults, the way they used to be on soap operas before about a decade ago when most characters were rendered brainless and stupid."22
References
- ^ a b c d e "GH Spinoff Planned For SOAPnet." - SoapCentral.com February 12, 2007.
- ^ a b "Hospital Staff Too Tired to Carry On with Night Shift?". TV Guide. TVGuide.com (August 13, 2007). Retrieved on 2008-10-25.
- ^ a b c d e Nordyke, Kimberly. "SoapNet renews Night Shift." The Hollywood Reporter. May 27, 2008.
- ^ a b c Reynolds, Mike. "SoapNet Swings Into Second Night Shift." MultiChannel.com May 25, 2008.
- ^ General Hospitakl:Night Shift - DirecTV.com
- ^ a b c "Breaking News: Casting the NIGHT SHIFT" - Soap Opera Digest.com Retrieved July 8, 2008.
- ^ Logan, Michael (June 18, 2008). "Soaps News: Tristan Rogers Checks Back into GH". TV Guide. TVGuide.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-08.
- ^ Whalen, J.R. (June 17, 2008). "Soap News: Antonio Sabato, Jr. Working the GH Night Shift". TV Guide. TVGuide.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-08.
- ^ Coleridge, Daniel R. (July 16, 2008). "Night Shift's Model MD". SOAPnet.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
- ^ a b c d "General Hospital: Night Shift Spoilers For October 14, 2008!". Soaps.com (October 9, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-10-20.
- ^ GH: Night Shift #2.10, "Brothers & Sisters" - TV.com Retrieved September 24, 2008.
- ^ Coleridge, Daniel R. (August 20, 2008). "Night Shift: Meet Kyle's New BF!". SOAPnet.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
- ^ Mitovich, Matt (August 20, 2008). "Romance Prescribed for GH: Night Shift's Gay Kyle". TV Guide. TVGuide.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
- ^ Coleridge, Daniel R. (August 14, 2008). "Finola Hughes Joins Night Shift". SOAPnet.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
- ^ a b c Coleridge, Daniel R. (September 24, 2008). "Night Shift Season Finale Preview". SOAPnet.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
- ^ a b c Logan, Michael (September 18, 2008). "Night Shift Finale Prescribes Big GH Reunion". TV Guide. TVGuide.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
- ^ a b c Mitovich, Matt (October 8, 2008). "Inside Night Shift's Emotional GH Reunion". TV Guide. TVGuide.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
- ^ a b c d Becker, Anne. "SOAPnet's Night Shift Premiere Breaks Ratings Records." Broadcasting & Cable. July 13, 2007.
- ^ De Lacroix, Marlena (October 11, 2007). "Savoring Soaps: General Hospital Night Shift: Good Night and Good Riddance". JackMyers.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-25.
- ^ a b Martin, Ed (October 23, 2008). "Night Shift 2 Served Up that Old General Hospital Magic as its Sublime Second Season Came to an End". MarlenaDeLacroix.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-25.
- ^ Logan, Michael (October 20-26, 2008). "Logan Rave: Sweet Sounds on the Night Shift". TV Guide pg. 64, Issue #2903, Vol. 56, No. 42. TVGuide.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-17.
- ^ De Lacroix, Marlena (October 22, 2008). "General Hospital Night Shift 2: If They Could Bottle This Show, They’d Save Soaps". MarlenaDeLacroix.com. Retrieved on 2008-10-25.
External links
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- This page was last modified on 2 January 2009, at 16:41.
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