TV soap General Hospital celebrates its 60th anniversary

Soap operas keep transforming. There are no more tinkling teacups, no prolonged parlor chats, fewer empty moments.

But to look at the bigger changes, ponder Laura of “General Hospital,” as the show nears its 60th anniversary (April 1) and launches a multi-day celebration (starting April 3).

As a teen-ager, she was a date-rape victim … who then fell in love with her rapist. They married — drawing record ratings — and became the top couple in the soap world.

And now? “I love who she is,” Genie Francis, who plays her, told the Television Critics Association. “She was such a victim as a young woman. To see it flip around and have her be … this powerful woman who is the mayor. She doesn’t take crap from anyone.”

Francis is 60 now, the same age as the show. (She’s 10 months older.) She was 15 when she took a small role on “GH”; two years later, that exploded.

“At 17, you … do as you are told and you aim to please,” Francis said. “At 60, I don’t feel the need to defend that anymore. The (rape) story was inappropriate and I don’t condone it.”

But in a different era, Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura (Francis) caught on. A show that had been last in the soap ratings eventually reached No. 1; the Luke-and-Laura wedding was seen by 30 million viewers, a soap record.

After Francis had been on the show for five years, NBC lured her with a big-money deal. The network had little for her to do, however, except for a failed primetime soap.

She returned to ABC for Geary’s farewell episodes — he later returned for a dozen years — and for two “North and South” miniseries. She’s had regular roles on three other soaps and has returned to “GH” for two more long stays.

Along the way, soap operas have wobbled. In 1982, ABC considered eliminating all three of its soaps; it spared only “General Hospital,” which is now on the network and on Hulu.

Ratings have continued to be modest, but by some measures the quality is there. “GH” has won the past two best-daytime-drama Emmys and four of the past seven.

By now, Francis is working with people who used to catch “GH” after school.

“We grew up watching the show,” said Dan O’Connor, 36, one of the two head writers. “I still have to pinch myself a little bit sometimes, when I’m writing certain characters.”

The co-stars are fans — or not.

“I didn’t watch the show — or any other soap opera — before I came on,” said Nicholas Chavez.

He’s 23 and plays Spencer Cassadine, a prince (literally) and ex-convict who is fond of Trina Robinson, the daughter of a cop and a doctor.

“I think I’s really nice to see two young people, two interracial people who love each other (and) try to jump over the barriers,” said Tabyana Ali, who plays her.

All of this is executed quickly.

“I love the pace of the show …. I like that we work fast,” said Rebecca Herbst, 45, who’s been playing Elizabeth for 25 years.

Still, the working pace was even faster in the early days, Francis said. “I remember having to … trick the clothes so I could exit one set and rip them off as I ran to the next one.” Each scene was done quickly, preferably in one take. “There was no such thing as making a mistake.”

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