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 Digest and Ritterman earned a handful of Daytime Emmy Award nominations, with Dick Clark Productions, for co executive producing the "Soap Opera Digest" Awards. "Soap Opera Digest" coined the term and popularized the use of "soap speak," in which show names are abbreviated as acronyms to save space. These abbreviations have come into more extensive use outside the magazine with the advent of internet chat rooms and message boards. For example, current soap operas and their acronyms include "General Hospital" ("GH"), "The Bold and the Beautiful" ("B&B"), and "The Young and the Restless" ("Y&R"). "Days of Our Lives" is referred to