Why General Hospital is not new today, January 7

If you’re a General Hospital fan who witnessed the surprise explosion at the end of the episode that aired on January 6, then you’re probably eagerly waiting to see what Michael’s (Chad Duell) fate is on the soap. Well, ABC is calling on you to exercise a bit of patience and wait a little longer than usual as no new episode of General Hospital is airing on January 7. The powers that be made the official announcement via X (formerly Twitter).

Back on December 29, 2024, Former President Jimmy Carter passed away at 100 years old. Now in the new year, the nation continues to mourn his loss in a series of homegoing events that kicked off in his home state of Georgia on January 4. Today on January 7, the former president will arrive in Washington, DC to begin three days of ceremonies and services, concluding with the official state funeral on January 9. The planned events for today in particular are as follows:

2:15 pm ET
Special Air Mission 39 arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, where President Carter’s body will be transferred to a hearse.

2:45 pm ET
The family and President Carter’s body travel by motorcade to the U.S. Navy Memorial.

3:30 pm ET
President Carter’s body is moved from the hearse to a horse-drawn caisson for a procession to the U.S. Capitol.

4:30 pm ET
Members of Congress pay their respects during a service in the Rotunda.

6 pm-midnight
President Carter lies in state while the military maintains a guard of honor. The public is invited to pay their respects.

As of now, we aren’t completely sure if the events from January 8th and January 9th will impact the airing of new episodes of General Hospital as well, but should planned schedule interruptions be announced, we’ll pass along the updates.

So again, General Hospital fans will have to exercise patience to see what’s in store for Michael. While portrayer Duell was scheduled to part ways with the character at the top of this year and show executive producer Frank Valentini stated there were no plans to immediately recast Michael, viewers will have to wait and see if him being caught in an explosion means the end of the road for the Corinthos/Quartermaine/Spencer heir, or if he is exiting the canvas to receive some needed medical treatment. To add, we can only imagine the fallout that’s about to occur across Port Charles, especially with an angry Carly (Laura Wright) and an angry Sonny (Maurice Benard).

New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.