'General Hospital' Is Not Going off the Air, but Its Schedule Has Been Disrupted

Few soap operas have had longer runs in the history of TV than General Hospital, but following some issues with the show's airing in early January of 2025, some were concerned that the show was going off the air. The end of General Hospital would be a huge deal, in part because the show has become such an institution.

As fans continue to express concern about whether General Hospital is sticking around, many are also mourning the passing of Leslie Charleson, who was the longest-tenured cast members in the show's history. Here's what we know about whether the show is going off the air.

While General Hospital did experience a few logistical and technical difficulties, the show is not going off the air. The reason some fans thought that might be the case has to do with how the show was disrupted during the week of Jan. 6. On Jan. 7, the show was pre-empted by coverage of Jimmy Carter's death and funeral that was always scheduled to air on ABC during that time.

Then, later in the week, the wildfires spreading across Los Angeles messed with the show's broadcasting signal and also affected members of the cast and crew, some of whom had homes in areas that were affected by the fire.

These disruptions were confusing to some fans who felt like the show suddenly wasn't airing when it normally would have. Thankfully, though, they were caused by external events, and the show is expected to continue on uninterrupted.

While General Hospital is expected to continue, it may have to do so without one of its stars, at least for a few weeks. Cameron Mathison, who plays Drew Quartermaine on the show, lost his home in the fires and has been posting regularly on Instagram about the fires and their aftermath.

In a recent interview, Cameron offered a message to his fellow Angelinos still recovering from the fire.

“Just a really quick check-in to say the massive amounts of love and support that you have shown our family and the thousands of people that are going through exactly the same thing, having lost everything that we own, you don’t know how much it helps. I just want to say that it makes the world of difference, and I wanna say 'thank you,'" he said in the video.

“I also want to say, and this is important, that the people that had their houses spared by these horrible fires; there’s houses in Altadena that are still standing … there’s houses some in the Palisades that are still standing," he added. “For those people, just know that for us, that has lost everything, it brings us so much joy to see that some people made it, that your houses made it.”

Cameron is just one of thousands of people affected by the fire. Now that he is without a home, it's unclear when he might be able to come back to General Hospital.