History of the National Health Service Emergency Ward 10 was first broadcast in 1957 on ITV and ran until 1967 and followed the life and loves of the staff and patients of the fictionalised Oxbridge General. ITV later followed this up with General Hospital which borrowed much from Emergency Ward 10 in terms of its themes and focus. The idea of a medical hospital as a suitable and popular setting for a soap opera continued to take root in the 1980s. Casualty, set in an A&E department, was first broadcast in 1986 and has since become the longest running medical drama in the world. At a
Franco (General Hospital) "General Hospital" and the soap opera genre. In 2009, James Franco sought out a soap opera role. Sharing the same agent as Steve Burton, who played Jason Morgan on "General Hospital", he went to that series for his request. Franco signed on for a series of 20 episodes that he filmed in three days. He was credited as a special guest star, and first appeared on November 19, 2009. His scenes aired through February 2010. He returned on June 30, 2010 for a summer-long storyline. He next appeared on February 25 and February 28, 2011, bookending his co-hosting job of