Gothamist cannot shy away from admitting we're fans of General Hospital. We just can't. It's a great, rerun-free, low-rent amalgam of ER, the Sopranos and Desperate Housewives (though much older than any of those shows). However, it seems we're sitting down an hour too late. Anyone who's anyone is getting on board with ABC's earlier soap, One Life to Live. A daytime staple since 1968, OLTL is filmed right here in NYC and has launched the careers of many actors, including the questionably talented Yasmin Bleeth and the actually talented Ryan Phillippe.
Author, David Sedaris has lauded the show's epic story-telling, even describing how he used it to teach a writing class, in his essay "The Learning Curve" from Me Talk Pretty One Day. Extolling the dramatic abilities of OLTL's Erika Slezak, Sedaris copped to taping the show every day for later viewing. In the New York Observer, Rebecca Dana proclaimed it the soap of choice among Manhattan's elite, having hosted such guests as the McCourt brothers, Chip Kidd and horror novelist Peter Straub. Gothamist was even further impressed when we tuned in Friday to see Alan Muraoka in a small speaking roll. Who's that you ask? Alan from Sesame Street! Gothamist baby got a little chuckle from seeing Alan so far from Hooper's Store.
So, next time you're on a sickie, settle down at 2pm and give it a shot, or just set Tivo to record it for you. Oh, and for the newbies, a single (run-on) sentence synopsis:
The multiple personality rife Buchanan family runs the town newspaper, police force and hospital while fending off vengeful deceptions by the equally mentally unstable Kramers, Trumans, Mannings, etc. all while attending nightly happy hours at oddly stylish clubs in rural Pennsylvania that often feature somewhat popular boy bands.
Wikipedia's OLTL entry is pretty explicit, too.
