Port Charles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the fictional city, see Port Charles (General Hospital).
| Port Charles | |
|---|---|
 This Port Charles logo was seen from July 2002 to October 2003. |
|
| Genre | soap opera |
| Running time | approx. 0:30 |
| Creator(s) | Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Wendy Riche |
| Starring | Lynn Herring Jon Robert Lindstrom Kin Shriner Julie Pinson Debbi Morgan Michael Dietz Rachel Ames Sarah Aldrich Marie-Alise Recasner Marie Wilson Kimberlin Brown Thorsten Kaye Kelly Monaco Michael Easton Kiko Ellsworth Brian Gaskill Erin Hershey Presley Ian Buchanan, et al |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | June 1, 1997–October 3, 2003 |
| No. of episodes | 1633 |
| IMDb profile | |
Port Charles was a soap opera which aired on ABC from June 1, 1997 to October 3, 2003. The show aired 1633 episodes, which included a two-hour pilot which aired in primetime to kick off the series.
The show was a spin-off of the popular General Hospital. It first featured longtime GH characters Lucy Coe, Kevin Collins, Scott Baldwin and Karen Wexler, along with several new characters, most of whom were interns in a competitive medical school program. In the infamous first episode, tenured nurse Audrey Hardy (GH's longest-running character, portrayed by Rachel Ames) was injured and an intern had to operate on her with a power drill to save her life. In the first few years, Port Charles got a reputation for focusing most of its energies on the medical school program, setting more of its main action at Port Charles's General Hospital than was seen on the parent show, General Hospital.
Over the years, Port Charles became a soap opera with complex younger characters and ended up focusing on stories filled with gothic intrigue that included: forbidden love, vampires, and resurrection to life after death. The soap opera abandoned the basic open-ended writing style used on all other daytime dramas in December 2000, instead creating thirteen-week story arcs (which were also referred to as "books"). This type of storytelling is a staple of Spanish telenovelas. This allowed the cast, crew, and writing staff to only work six months out of the year.
13 Week Arcs (“Books”)
- Port Charles: Fate (12/04/00 – 03/02/01)
- Port Charles: Time In A Bottle (03/05/01 – 06/01/01)
- Port Charles: Tainted Love (06/04/01 – 08/31/01)
- Port Charles: Tempted (09/03/01 – 11/30/01)
- Port Charles: Miracles Happen (12/03/01 – 12/31/01)
- Port Charles: Secrets (01/02/02 – 03/29/02)
- Port Charles: Superstition (04/01/02 – 06/28/02)
- Port Charles: Torn (07/01/02 – 09/27/02)
- Port Charles: Naked Eyes (09/30/02 – 12/27/02)
- Port Charles: Surrender (12/30/03 – 04/01/03)
- Port Charles: Desire (04/02/03 – 07/04/03)
- Port Charles: The Gift (07/07/03 – 10/03/03)
The show was canceled in the summer of 2003; some fans speculated that it was due to the fact that the show was nominated for Best Daytime Drama and lost at the Daytime Emmy Awards to As the World Turns.
Since the show only taped for six months out of the year, the remaining episodes were aired with the cast not allowed to return to tape resolutions to storylines. In fact, the final episode was a cliffhanger; heroine Alison (Erin Hershey Presley) didn't know who the father of her baby was and Jamal found out why the beautiful Imani was so mysterious... beacuse she was really a werewolf.
After the show was cancelled, many former cast members went on to star on another soaps. Currently on different soaps are Julie Pinson (Days of our Lives as Billie Reed), Kelly Monaco (General Hospital as Sam McCall), Thorsten Kaye (All My Children as Zach Slater), Michael Easton (One Life to Live as John McBain), Ian Buchanan (All My Children as Greg Madden), Marie Wilson (As the World Turns as Meg Snyder), Rodney Van Johnson (Passions as T.C. Russell) and Christopher Maleki (Passions as Spike Lester).
Contents |
[edit] Cast of characters
- Susan Brown as Gail Baldwin
- Peter Hansen as Lee Baldwin
- Lynn Herring as Lucy Coe Collins
- Jon Lindstrom as Kevin Collins
- Kin Shriner as Scott Baldwin (1997-2000, 2001)
- Rachel Ames as Audrey Hardy (1997-2000)
- Jay Pickett as Frank Scanlon
- Nolan North as Chris Ramsey
- Julie Pinson as Eve Lambert Collins Thornhart (1997-2002)
- Lisa Ann Hadley as Julie Devlin Ramsey (1997-2000, 2001)
- Mitch Longley as Matt Harmon (1997-2000)
- Jennifer Hammon (1997-1999) and Marie Wilson (1999-2003) as Karen Wexler
- Rib Hillis as Jake Marshak (1997-1998)
- Michael Dietz (1997-1999), David Gail (1999-2000) and Alex Mendoza (2000-2001, 2002) as Joe Scanlon
- Debbi Morgan (1997-1998) and Marie-Alise Recasner (1998-1999) as Ellen Burgess
- Renee Griffin as Danielle Ashley (1997-1998)
- Carly Schroeder as Serena Baldwin (1997-2001)
- Sarah Aldrich as Courtney Kanelos (1998-2000)
- Kelly Monaco as Olivia "Livvie" Locke Morley (1999-2003)/Tess Ramsey (2002-2003)
- Kimberlin Brown as Rachel Locke (1999-2000, 2001)
- Kiko Ellsworth as Jamal Woods (2000-2003)
- Erin Hershey Presley as Alison Barrington Kovich (2000-2003)
- Thorsten Kaye as Ian Thornhart (2000-2003)
- Ion Overman as Gabriela Garza (2000-2002)
- Brian Presley as Jack Ramsey (2000-2003)
- Michael Easton as Caleb Morley (2001, 2002-2003)/Michael Morley (2001)
- Brian Gaskill as Rafe Kovich (2001-2003)
- Jed Allan as Ed Grant (2001-2003)
- Eddie Matos as Ricky Garza (2001-2003)
- Joy Bisco as Casey Leong (2002, 2003)/Marissa Leong (2002-2003)
- Rebecca Staab as Elizabeth Barrington (2002-2003)
- Ian Buchanan as Joshua Temple (2002-2003)
- Shannon Sturges as Kate Reynolds (2002-2003)
[edit] Ratings History
Port Charles, like Loving and The City before it, never attracted strong ratings. It generally remained a stable 10th and then 9th after the cancellation of Another World but plummeted to last place in the months prior to cancellation.
[edit] Connections to Other Soaps
[edit] All My Children
- Ian Buchanan played Dr. Greg Madden from 2005-2006.
- Thorsten Kaye currently plays Zach Slater since 2004.
- Brian Gaskill previously played Bobby Warner from 1995-1997.
- Debbi Morgan previously played Angie Baxter Hubbard from 1982-1990.
[edit] As the World Turns
- Marie Wilson currently portrays Meg Snyder since 2005.
- Brian Gaskill previously played B.J. Green briefly in 2005.
- Kin Shriner previously played Keith Morrissey from 2005-2006.
[edit] The Bold and the Beautiful
- Ian Buchanan previously played Dr. James Warwick from 1993-1998.
- Brian Gaskill previously played Oscar Marone from 2003-2004.
- Kimberlin Brown previously played Sheila Carter from 1992-1998, 2002 and 2003.
- Michael Dietz previously played Mark MacClaine from 2002-2005.
[edit] Days of our Lives
- Julie Pinson currently portrays Billie Reed since 2004.
- Michael Easton previously played Tanner Scofield from 1991-1992.
- Shannon Sturges previously played Molly Brinker from 1991-1992.
- Jed Allan previously played Dr. Don Craig from 1971-1985.
[edit] General Hospital
- Kelly Monaco currently plays Sam McCall since 2003.
- Jed Allan previously portrayed Edward Quartermaine from 2004-2006.
- Ian Buchanan previously played Duke Lavery from 1986-1989.
[edit] Guiding Light
- Michael Dietz previously played Alan-Michael Spaulding in 1996.
[edit] One Life to Live
- Michael Easton currently plays John McBain since 2003.
- Kimberlin Brown previously played Dr. Paige Miller from 2004-2005.
- Thorsten Kaye previously played Patrick Thornhart, twin brother of His Port Charles character, Ian, from 1995-1997.
[edit] Passions
- Rodney Van Johnson has played T.C. Russell since 1999.
- Christopher Maleki has played Spike Lester since 2005.
- Rib Hillis substituted for Eric Martsolf as Ethan Winthrop in 2006.
- Shannon Sturges substituted for McKenzie Westmore as Sheridan Crane in 2005.
[edit] The Young and the Restless
- Kimberlin Brown previously played Sheila Carter from 1990-1992 and from 2005-2006.
- Sarah Aldrich substituted for Heather Tom as Victoria Newman in 1997.
[edit] Trivia
- Port Charles was the next-to-last (to date) half-hour soap on the air. The Bold and the Beautiful reclaimed this distinction after the cancellation.
