General Hospital (UK TV series) productions to fill in the extended schedules. Among the first of these shows, which were aimed at giving advertisers access to housewives, were the long-running rural soap "Emmerdale Farm" (YTV) and the twice-weekly medical drama "General Hospital". Set in a fictional Midlands town, the series followed the romantic and professional lives of its doctors and nurses. While the location and the characters names had been changed, in most other respects "General Hospital" was almost identical to its predecessor, "Emergency – Ward 10", a deliberate attempt to recreate its success. In 1975, after 270 twice-weekly episodes, "General Hospital" was given a
Soap Opera Weekly Soap Opera Weekly Soap Opera Weekly was a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It featured onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional information. Launched in November 1989 by News Corporation with Mimi Torchin as editor-in-chief, "Weekly" began as a sister magazine to "Soap Opera Digest". News Corporation sold the magazine to K-III in 1991. K-III was renamed Primedia, and sold its magazines to Source Interlink in 2007. American Media, Inc. took over Source Interlink's soap magazines in 2011; "Soap Opera Weekly" was closed in 2012.