General Hospital Off the Air for Two Days This Week — Here’s What’s Replacing It
MLB postseason wild card games are benching General Hospital for two days this week — and if the series go long, the soap could be sidelined even longer — just as Port Charles hits a fever pitch.
Heads up, Port Charles faithful: General Hospital is getting shoved off the schedule for baseball. Again. It is what it is, but the timing could not be messier given everything currently exploding on the show.
When GH is off the air
ABC is airing Major League Baseball postseason wild card games at 2 p.m. ET, which means GH is preempted on Tuesday, September 30, and Wednesday, October 1. This is the start of MLB's postseason slate, and live sports usually leapfrog daytime programming.
How long the detour could last
The National League wild-card series is San Diego Padres vs. Chicago Cubs, a best-of-three. If they split the first two games, a decisive game happens on Thursday, October 2. Translation: GH could be bumped a third day. If one team wins both early, there is no third game and GH returns as normal.
Because these are planned preemptions for live events, there will be no new General Hospital episodes on those days, and nothing new will pop up on ABC.com or Hulu either. No sneaky early uploads—just a pause.
Why this stings right now
The show is in full chaos mode and we are being forced to tap the brakes. Here is what is currently simmering:
- Tensions are spiking between Britt and Elizabeth
- Tracy runs into a mysterious stranger in the Quartermaine crypt
- Nina drops a bombshell
- Nathan makes an unexpected return from the dead
- Rick is still trapped in a basement, with Alexis, Ava, and Kristina holding the keys
It is very 'only in soaps' that a best-of-three series might put the brakes on a week like this. Inside baseball note (literally): that format is why GH could lose two days or three, depending on how fast the Padres or Cubs close it out.
One small consolation: no matter how the series goes, we still get at least one GH episode this week. Not the binge we wanted, but it is something.