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, the show is
SOAPnet's first original scripted drama series 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. 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.
It was announced in May 2008 that
Lisa
de Cazotte would serve as
Executive Producer for season two, joined
by
Head Writer Sri
Rao [435284]. The 14 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. 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." The second
season finished its run on October 21, 2008.
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.
The complete first season of
Night Shift was released on
DVD on February 12, 2008.
Season 2 also aired on
DirecTV's
The 101 Network in 2008.
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." 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." 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." ''Night Shift'''s storylines, however,
did not directly intersect with those on ''General Hospital''.
==Cast== {{Multicol}} ===Season one=== ====Contract cast==== {|
class="wikitable" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Actor || Character |-
|[[Bradford Anderson]] || [[Damien Spinelli]] |- |[[Amanda Baker
(actress)|Amanda Baker]] || [[Jolene Crowell]] |- |[[Nazanin
Boniadi]] || [[Leyla Mir]] |- |[[Steve Burton (actor)|Steve
Burton]] || [[Jason Morgan]] |- |[[Sonya Eddy]] || [[Epiphany
Johnson]] |- |[[Kent King]] || [[Lainey Winters|Dr. Lainey
Winters]] |- |[[Kimberly McCullough]] || [[Robin Scorpio|Dr. Robin
Scorpio]] |- |[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0577601/ Ron Melendez] ||
[[Andy Archer (GH Night Shift)|Dr. Andy Archer]] |- |[[Minae Noji]]
|| [[Kelly Lee|Dr. Kelly Lee]] |- |[[Amin Nazemzadeh|Dominic
Rains]] || [[Leo Julian|Dr. Leo Julian]] |- |[[Jason Thompson
(actor)|Jason Thompson]] || [[Patrick Drake|Dr. Patrick Drake]] |-
|[[Regina Thompson|Angel Wainwright]] || [[Regina Thompson]] |-
|[[Billy Dee Williams]] || [[Toussaint Dubois (GH Night
Shift)|Toussaint Dubois]] |} ====Notable guest cast==== {|
class="wikitable" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Actor || Character |-
|[[Adrian Alvarado (actor)|Adrian Alvarado]] || [[Cruz Rodriguez]]
|- | Rebecca Herbst || [[Elizabeth Webber]] |-
|[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0037423/ Danny Arroyo] || Pablo Garcia
|- |[[Julie Marie Berman]] || [[Lulu Spencer]] |- |[[Maurice
Benard]] || [[Sonny Corinthos]] |- |[http://www.wendybraun.com
Wendy Braun] || [[Iris Sneed]] |- |[[Kiko Ellsworth]] || [[List of
General Hospital characters#J|Stan Johnson]] |- |[[Richard Gant]]
|| [[Russell Ford (GH)|Dr. Russell Ford]] |- |[[Jason Gerhardt]] ||
[[Coop Barrett]] |- |[[Alla Korot]] || [[Stacey Sloan]] |-
|[[Lindze Letherman]] || [[Georgie Jones]] |-
|[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1466049/ Graham Shiels] || [[Cody
Paul]] |- |[[Kirsten Storms]] || [[Maxie Jones]] |- |[[Roy
Vongtama]] || Dr. Boyd |- |[[John J. York]] || [[Mac Scorpio]] |}
{{Multicol-break}} ===Season two=== ====Contract cast==== {|
class="wikitable" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Actor || Character |-
|[[Sonya Eddy]] || [[Epiphany Johnson]] |- |[[Azita
Ghanizada]][http://soapoperadigest.com/news/breaking/ "Breaking
News: Casting the NIGHT SHIFT" - Soap Opera Digest.com] Retrieved
July 8, 2008. || [[Saira Batra|Dr. Saira Batra]] |- |[[Adam
Grimes]] || [[Kyle Julian|Dr. Kyle Julian]] |- |[[Kimberly
McCullough]] || [[Robin Scorpio|Dr. Robin Scorpio]] |- |[[Ethan
Rains]] || [[Leo Julian|Dr. Leo Julian]] |- |[[Tristan
Rogers]]{{cite web
|url=http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Soaps-News/Tristan-Rogers-General/800041800
|title=Soaps News: Tristan Rogers Checks Back into ''GH''
|accessdate=2008-10-08 |author=Logan, Michael |date=June 18, 2008
|work=[[TV Guide]] |publisher=TVGuide.com}} || [[Robert Scorpio]]
|- |[[Antonio Sabàto, Jr.]]{{cite web
|url=http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Soaps-News/Antonio-Sabato-Jr/800041781
|title=Soap News: Antonio Sabato, Jr. Working the ''GH Night
Shift'' |accessdate=2008-10-08 |author=Whalen, J.R. |date=June 17,
2008 |work=[[TV Guide]] |publisher=TVGuide.com}} || [[Jagger
Cates]] |- |[[Carrie Southworth]]{{cite web| last=Coleridge
|first=Daniel R.
|url=http://soapnet.go.com/soapnet/article/path-articleNum_8389/category_shows
|title=''Night Shift'''s Model MD |publisher=SOAPnet.com |date=July
16, 2008 |accessdate=2008-10-17}}|| [[Claire Simpson (GH Night
Shift)|Dr. Claire Simpson]] |- |[[Jason Thompson (actor)|Jason
Thompson]] || [[Patrick Drake|Dr. Patrick Drake]] |- |[[Billy Dee
Williams]] || [[Toussaint Dubois (GH Night Shift)|Toussaint
Dubois]] |} ====Notable guest cast==== {| class="wikitable" |-
bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Actor || Character |- |[[John J. York]]{{cite
web|
url=http://www.soaps.com/generalhospital/news/2639/General_Hospital_Night_Shift_Spoilers_For_October_
|title=General Hospital: Night Shift Spoilers For October 14, 2008!
|publisher=Soaps.com |date=October 9, 2008 |accessdate=2008-10-20}}
|| [[Mac Scorpio]] |- |[[Kathleen
Noone]][http://www.tv.com/general-hospital-night-shift/brothers-andamp-sisters/episode/1229723/summary.html?tag=ep_guide;ep_title;9
''GH: Night Shift'' #2.10, "Brothers & Sisters" - TV.com]
Retrieved September 24, 2008. || Patricia Julian |- |[[Chad Allen
(actor)|Chad Allen]]{{cite web| last=Coleridge |first=Daniel R.
|url=http://soapnet.go.com/soapnet/article/path-articleNum_11284/category_shows
|title=''Night Shift'': Meet Kyle's New BF! |publisher=SOAPnet.com
|date=August 20, 2008|accessdate=2008-10-17}}{{cite web
|url=http://www.tvguide.com/soaps/Romance-Prescribed-GH-10081.aspx
|title=Romance Prescribed for ''GH: Night Shift'''s Gay Kyle
|accessdate=2008-10-17 |last=Mitovich |first=Matt |authorlink=
|date=August 20, 2008 |work=
TV Guide
|publisher=TVGuide.com}} || Eric Whitlow
Ratings history
The premiere episode of
Night Shiftranked as the SOAPnet's
"most-viewed telecast ever" with total viewers and in its target
demographic, women age 18-49. The show
was also SOAPnet’s most-watched premiere with those groups and with
women 18-34. 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."
Broadcasting &
Cablenotes 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."
Night Shiftdoubled SOAPnet's time-period
viewership from 2006 in total viewers and the women 18-49
demographic. The series averaged 833,000 viewers (and 381,000 among
women 18-49) during its first season.
Criticism
Season One
In 2007, soap opera critic
Marlena De
Lacroixnoted 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 Teschnerand Gwen Hillier
introduced a group of new actors who are universally talented and
interesting. No brainless hunk or hunkette models typically hired
en masse." In 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."
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."
Michael
Loganof
TV Guidewrote in
October 2008 that although he did not enjoy the premiere episode of
season two, "then the show got good.
Reallygood." He
ranked the spin-off above
General Hospitalitself, 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
GHonce 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."
Michael Fairman called Rogers' performance "poignant" and noted
that "if it could have been in
Emmycontention this year, it would stand among
the best." Rogers himself said of the season, "
Night
Shiftwas a wonderful glimpse of what was possible to do with a
daytime format and a primetime format, shot in HD, edited like a
movie, and essentially brought up to date, which was subtle. It was
written by Sri Rao, who really understood the genre. He really got
it ... I think this is an issue of what goes on with the daytime
soaps. There are not too many people out there now who want to take
what history there is, and take it and build on it. I can see why
they don’t want to do that, but on the other hand, I don’t think
there is much point in changing history for the sake of change. If
you have a really good reason to change it then do it, otherwise
use it!" De Lacroix wrote 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
NS2were
intelligent adults, the way they used to be on soap operas before
about a decade ago when most characters were rendered brainless and
stupid."
References
- General Hospital: Night Shift Season 1
episode list - TV.com
- "GH Spinoff Planned For SOAPnet." -
SoapCentral.com February 12, 2007.
- Nordyke, Kimberly. "SoapNet renews Night Shift." The
Hollywood Reporter. May 27, 2008.
- Reynolds, Mike. "SoapNet Swings Into Second Night Shift."
MultiChannel.com May 25, 2008.
- General Hospital: Night Shift Season 2
episode list - TV.com
- General Hospital: Night Shift: The
Complete First Season - Amazon.com Retrieved on February 15,
2009.
-
http://www.soaps.com/generalhospital/news/2538/General_Hospital_Night_Shift_Spoiler_(Sept_30)
- Becker, Anne. "SOAPnet's Night Shift Premiere Breaks Ratings
Records." Broadcasting & Cable. July 13,
2007.
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