General Hospital October Spotlight: Remembering “Port Charles” — The Supernatural Spinoff That Haunts Us

Diehard General Hospital fans still have a longing to know what might have happened to the residents of Port Charles had the namesake spin-off been allowed to continue. Port Charles, the half-hour series, launched in 1997 and gave fans an extra thirty minutes of soapy goodness every weekday afternoon for six wonderful years.

General Hospital Spoilers — It Was Out Of This World

The PC spinoff brought a whole new level of fiction to daytime television. What began as a series showcasing the personal and professional lives of General Hospital interns. But a couple years into the series, things shifted dramatically. The writers took a chance on experimenting with an otherworldly realm of storylines, and it proved fruitful. We went from watching interns punching time cards to watching them time travel. Beloved characters became vampires and angels, and cheating and murder were wrapped up in love spells and witchcraft.

Later on, the series made yet another transition — going from a traditional soap storyline that could drag out one plot for six months without losing fan interest, to a story-arc system that told a new tale every 13 weeks. Yes, 13. It was that on the nose. The love for the series grew to be short-lived, and it wrapped up in 2003 after being canceled by the network due to decreasing numbers of viewers.

GH Spoilers — Port Charles Favorites Who’ve Crossed Over

No, not that kind of crossing over. They’re still with us. In fact, many of the actors we love in Port Charles today started on the Port Charles spin-off. For instance, Dr. Hamilton Finn (Michael Easton) — known for also previously playing Silas Clay on GH, and John McBain on One Life to Live — was Caleb Morley, a vampire. Yes, a vampire. His long and winding love story with Livvie Locke — who was played by Kelly Monaco (GH’s Sam McCall) — kept fans hanging on to the supernatural plotline for years. There were also crossover characters, such as Dr. Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom), Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner), and Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring).

General Hospital Spoilers – Indicates Daytime Fans Are Ready For A Gothic Repeat

Vampire culture has been all the rage for more than a decade. In fact, some might say Port Charles was early to that party — back before the Twilight era. Could fans handle this kind of venture into the supernatural today? Is it too new age, or would people of all faiths take interest in a crafty storyline that blends life and death in a supernatural way? For now, it looks like the closest thing we’re getting to it is awaiting Jason Morgan’s (Steve Burton) gazillionth return, but it won’t stop longtime fans from wishing we could see Finn and Sam as Caleb and Livvie one more time. Were you a Port Charles spin-off fan? Who were your fave characters?

Let us know, and keep coming back for more GH news, updates, and spoilers.