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
General Hospital former cable channel SoapNet, with a marathon on Saturday and classic episodes at 4 A.M. EST and 5 A.M. (3.AM, 4 A.M. CST). ABC stations in the Mountain and Pacific time zones, and in Alaska and Hawaii follow a Central time zone schedule for daytime programming; thus, "General Hospital" is scheduled by the network to air at 1:00 pm in these areas. "For historical ratings information, see List of U.S. daytime soap opera ratings" The popularity of "General Hospital" has gained it many parodies and references in other mainstream programs. For example: "General Hospital" has many famous fans, including: The