General Hospital Night Shift began in 2007 as a three-month prime time spin off of the daytime soap opera General Hospital airing on Soap Net. Night Shift returned in the fall of 2008 for its second thirteen episode season. Popular characters for the second season included Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), Patrick Drake (Jason Thompson), Jagger Cates (Antonia Sabato Jr,), Epiphany Johnson (Sonya Eddy), and General Hospital veterans Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) and Anna Devane (Finola Hughes).
Return to the Hospital Setting
Unlike its daytime parent show which has focused more on mob action than hospital events in recent years, General Hospital Night Shift focuses almost exclusively on actions that take place within General Hospital itself and on relationships between doctors, nurses and patients.
Two major story lines of the season involved the diagnosis of Jagger Cates son Stone with Autism and Robin Scorpio's hero father Robert Scorpio's life-and-death battle with colon cancer.
The relationship between General Hospital favorites Robin and Patrick was also shown in a softer and more emotionally based light. Viewers were able to gain real insight into their love. Robin's struggles with being an expectant mother with HIV was touched upon briefly as she discussed her frustrations over having to take so many pills throughout the day and with not being able to breastfeed her child after it is born.
Action Packed Drama
Much like season one, season two of General Hospital Night Shift was full of suspense and action. The season started with a car driving through the ER and killing the chief-of-staff and it ended with an explosion caused by a white supremacy group that injured a few doctors.
Return of Old Friends
The second season of General Hospital Night Shift saw the return of old General Hospital characters from long ago. Most exciting was the reunion of Robert Scorpio and Anna Devane as they declared their never ending love for one another when dealing with Robert's illness. Though their jobs may have kept them apart we see that they never stopped caring for each other and truly were each other's great loves. Many fans were left hoping to see these characters cross over to General Hospital at some point.
Other veterans who have not been seen on screen for a long time appeared in a dream sequence. These included Sean Donnelly (John Reilly) and Tiffany Hill (Sharon Wyatt).
Prime Time Benefits
A major beneficial factor in a daytime soap that has a prime time spin off is the spin off has a bit more content freedom. Night Shift aired at night on a cable channel and did not censored to as much censorship as a daytime show that airs when children may be watching. Hence Night Shifts scenes and dialogue were of a somewhat more intimate nature among characters involved in romantic relationships. This added a more realistic and comical element to the show.
Season two of General Hospital Night Shift was another season of success that has left fans hoping to see a third season in the future.
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