PORT CHARLES

'''Port Charles''' was a soap opera which aired on ABC from June 1, 1997 to October 3, 2003. It was a spin-off of the popular soap opera ''General Hospital'', which has been running since 1963 and takes place in the fictional New York city of Port Charles. The new show featured longtime ''General Hospital'' characters Lucy Coe, Kevin Collins, Scott Baldwin and Karen Wexler, along with several new characters, most of whom were interns in a competitive medical school program. In the first episode, tenured nurse Audrey Hardy (''General Hospital's'' longest-running character, portrayed by Rachel Ames) was injured and an intern had to operate on her with a power drill to save her life.
In the first few years, ''Port Charles'' got a reputation for focusing most of its energies on the medical school program, setting more of its main action at Port Charles's General Hospital than was seen on the parent show, ''General Hospital''. As it evolved, it turned its focus to stories with gothic intrigue that included themes such as forbidden love, vampires, and life after death. It also abandoned the basic open-ended writing style used on all other daytime dramas in December 2000, instead creating thirteen-week story arcs (which were also referred to as "books"). This type of storytelling is a staple of Spanish ''telenovelas''. It also allowed the cast, crew, and writing staff to only work six months out of the year.
''Port Charles'', like the spinoffs ''Loving'' and ''The City'' before it, never attracted strong ratings. It generally remained a stable 10th and then 9th after the cancellation of ''Another World'' but plummeted to last place in the months prior to its cancellation in the summer of 2003. Since it taped for only six months out of the year, the remaining episodes were aired with the cast not allowed to return to tape resolutions to storylines. This left the final episode as a cliffhanger; heroine Alison (Erin Hershey Presley) didn't know who the father of her baby was and Jamal found out why the beautiful Imani was so mysterious... because she was really a werewolf.
After ''Port Charles,'' the characters of Scott Baldwin and Audrey Hardy returned to ''General Hospital'', and many of the other actors from ''Port Charles'' moved on to play roles on other soaps, including a few who took on new roles in ''General Hospital'', such as actress Kelly Monaco and Kiko Ellsworth.

Contents

Story arcs

Cast of characters

Connections to other soaps

See also

References

Story arcs

13 Week Arcs (“Books”)

★ Port Charles: 'Fate' (12/04/00 – 03/02/01)

★ Port Charles: 'Time In A Bottle' (03/05/01 – 06/01/01)

★ Port Charles: 'Tainted Love' (06/04/01 – 08/31/01)

★ Port Charles: 'Tempted' (09/03/01 – 11/30/01)

★ Port Charles: 'Miracles Happen' (12/03/01 – 12/31/01)

★ Port Charles: 'Secrets' (01/02/02 – 03/29/02)

★ Port Charles: 'Superstition' (04/01/02 – 06/28/02)

★ Port Charles: 'Torn' (07/01/02 – 09/27/02)

★ Port Charles: 'Naked Eyes' (09/30/02 – 12/27/02) - Showing in repeats in May 2007, on SOAPnet

★ Port Charles: 'Surrender' (12/30/02 – 04/01/03)

★ Port Charles: 'Desire' (04/02/03 – 07/04/03)

★ Port Charles: 'The Gift' (07/07/03 – 10/03/03)

Cast of characters

Actor	Role	Status
Susan Brown	Gail Baldwin	1997-1999; 2003 (recurring)
Peter Hansen	Lee Baldwin	1997-2003 (recurring)
Lynn Herring	Lucy Coe	1997-2003
Jon Lindstrom	Kevin Collins	1997-2003
Kin Shriner	Scott Baldwin	1997-2000, 2001
Rachel Ames	Audrey Hardy	1997-2000
Jay Pickett	Frank Scanlon	1997-2003
Nolan North	Chris Ramsey	1997-2003
Nicholas Pryor	Victor Collins	1997-2003
Julie Pinson	Eve Lambert Collins Thornhart	1997-2002
Lisa Ann Hadley	Julie Morris-Devlin Ramsey	1997-2000, 2001
Mitch Longley	Matt Harmon	1997-2000
Jennifer Hammon Marie Wilson	Karen Wexler (#2) Karen Wexler (#3)	1997-1999 1999-2003
Patricia Crowley	Mary Scanlon Collins	1997-2003
Michael Dietz David Gail Alex Mendoza	Joe Scanlon (#1) Joe Scanlon(#2) Joe Scanlon (#3)	1997-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001, 2002
Debbi Morgan Marie-Alise Recasner	Ellen Morgan Burgess (#1) Ellen Morgan Burgess (#2)	1997-1998 1998-1999
Renee Griffin	Danielle Ashley	1997-1998
Carly Schroeder	Serena Baldwin	1997-2001
Sarah Aldrich	Courtney Kanelos	1998-2000
Kelly Monaco	Olivia "Livvie" Locke Morley Tess Ramsey	1999-2003 2002-2003
Kimberlin Brown	Rachel Locke	1999-2000, 2001
Kiko Ellsworth	Jamal Woods	2000-2003
Erin Hershey Presley	Alison Barrington Kovich	2000-2003
Thorsten Kaye	Ian Thornhart	2000-2003
Ion Overman	Gabriela Garza	2000-2002
Brian Presley	Jack Ramsey	2000-2003
Michael Easton	Caleb Morley Michael Morley Stephen Clay	2001, 2002-2003 2001 2002-2003
Brian Gaskill	Rafe Kovich	2001-2003
Jed Allan	Ed Grant	2001-2003
Eddie Matos	Ricardo "Ricky" Garza	2001-2003
Joy Bisco	Casey Leong Marissa Leong	2002, 2003 2002-2003
Rebecca Staab	Elizabeth Barrington	2002-2003
Ian Buchanan	Joshua Temple	2002-2003
Shannon Sturges	Kate Reynolds	2002-2003
George Alvarez Eddie Velez	Det. Alexander 'Alex' Garcia (#1) Det. Alexander 'Alex' Garcia (#2)	1997-1999 1999-2001
Vanessa Branch	Mary Margaret 'Paige' Barrington Smith Rebecca 'Becca' Barrington	2002 1999-2001
Opal Anchel	Arianna Shapour Thornhart	2001

Connections to other soaps

===All My Children===

★ Ian Buchanan played Dr. Greg Madden from 2005-2006.

★ Thorsten Kaye currently plays Zach Slater since 2004.

★ Brian Gaskill previously played Bobby Warner from 1995-1997.

★ Debbi Morgan previously played Angie Baxter Hubbard from 1982-1990.
===As the World Turns===

★ Marie Wilson currently portrays Meg Snyder since 2005.

★ Brian Gaskill previously played B.J. Green briefly in 2005.

★ Kin Shriner previously played Keith Morrissey from 2005-2006.
===The Bold and the Beautiful===

★ Ian Buchanan previously played Dr. James Warwick from 1993-1999 and 2004.

★ Brian Gaskill previously played Oscar Marone from 2003-2004.

★ Kimberlin Brown previously played Sheila Carter from 1992-1998, 2002 and 2003.

★ Michael Dietz previously played Dr. Mark MacClaine from 2002-2005.

★ Kin Shriner previously played Dr. Brian Carey from 1995-1996.
===Days of our Lives===

★ Julie Pinson currently portrays Billie Reed since 2004.

★ Michael Easton previously played Tanner Scofield from 1991-1992.

★ Shannon Sturges previously played Molly Brinker from 1991-1992.

★ Jed Allan previously played Dr. Don Craig from 1971-1985.

★ Joy Bisco currently portrays Gabby since 2007.

★ Lynn Herring previously played Lisanne Gardner 1992.
===General Hospital===

★ Rachel Ames contines to play the role of Audrey Hardy

★ Kelly Monaco moved on to play regular character Sam McCall, starting in 2003

★ Eddie Matos moved on to play recurring character Pete Marquez, from 2006-2007.

★ Jed Allan previously portrayed Edward Quartermaine from 2004-2006

★ Ian Buchanan previously played Duke Lavery from 1986-1989

★ Kiko Ellsworth moved on to play regular character Stan Johnson, starting in 2007

★ Lynn Herring played the role of Lucy Coe until 1997 with appearances until 2001 for the Nurses Ball and in 2004 for the funeral of Lila Quartermaine.

★ Anne Jeffries briefly returned as Amanda Barrington in July 2004.

★ Jon Robert Lindstrom briefly reprised the role of Kevin Collins in July 2001. Also played Dr. Ryan Chamberlain from 1992-1996.

★ Kent Masters-King moved on to play recurring then contract character Dr. Lainey Winters in 2005.

★ Kin Shriner continues to play the role of Scott Baldwin

★ Julie Pinson made a cross over appearance as Eve Lambert for the 1997 & 1998 Nurses Ball.

★ Jay Pickett made a crossover appearance as Frank Scanlon for the 1997 Nurses Ball.

★ Carly Schroeder made a crossover appearance as Serena Baldwin on Thanksgiving 2001.
===Guiding Light===

★ Michael Dietz previously played Alan-Michael Spaulding in 1996.

★ Brian Gaskill portrays Dylan Lewis since 2007.
===One Life to Live===

★ Michael Easton currently plays John McBain since 2003.

★ Kimberlin Brown previously played Dr. Paige Miller from 2004-2005.

★ Thorsten Kaye previously played Patrick Thornhart, twin brother of His ''Port Charles'' character, Ian, from 1995-1997.
===Passions===

★ Rodney Van Johnson has played T.C. Russell since 1999.

★ Christopher Maleki has played Spike Lester since 2005.

★ Rib Hillis substituted for Eric Martsolf as Ethan Winthrop in 2006.

★ Shannon Sturges substituted for McKenzie Westmore as Sheridan Crane in 2005.
===The Young and the Restless===

★ Kimberlin Brown previously played Sheila Carter from 1990-1992 and from 2005-2006.

★ Sarah Aldrich substituted for Heather Tom as Victoria Newman in 1997.

See also

★ - a new ''General Hospital'' spinoff, scheduled to start in July 2007

References

★ SOAPnet PC Page

★ Port Charles @ soapcentral.com Page

★ Official Kelly Monaco Site

★ SOAPnet PC Episode Summary Page

★ Port Charles - SoapZone