We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but General Hospital is not airing a new episode on Thursday, July 4. While the soap won't be absent completely from its daytime slot on TV, as a rerun will be airing in its place, viewers will have to wait until Friday, July 5, to see what happens next with current storylines.
As far as the reasoning behind the break in the General Hospital schedule, it looks like we have Independence Day to thank. Every now and then, soaps will opt not to air a new episode on a special holiday, and ABC is choosing the summer celebration as one of these special days. This means fans of the series won't have to fear missing out on a new episode if they opt to go to the pool or venture to a barbecue to commemorate America's birthday.
Now the break in the rollout of new episodes comes at a time when things are heating up with a number of characters on the General Hospital canvas. For example, Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) and Anna (Finola Hughes) are caught in a cat-and-mouse game over Pikeman, and it's not clear yet who will come out on top. Will Valentin be able to divert Anna off his trail or will she put her feelings for him aside to see his Pikeman dreams crumble?
Then there's Jason (Steve Burton) and Carly (Laura Wright). The besties are hoping to soon be free of the FBI and John Cates (Adam J. Harrington), but the path to freedom may not be a smooth one. Carly is itching to turn herself into authorities to stop the FBI from blackmailing Jason further, and Jason is desperate to stop her, not wanting his two-plus years of sacrifice to be in vain. Will Carly sit still and do nothing, which isn't her strong suit? Or will she complicate things for Jason and make matters worse?
And with Bryan Craig back on the soap canvas in August for a one-day stint as Morgan, and Jonathan Jackson on tap to reprise his role as Lucky for a longer period, the next few weeks of episodes should prove rather important to watch to see how and why the popular actors and their characters are returning.
Some entertaining drama is in the foreseeable future in Port Charles and you don't want to miss a thing.
New episodes of General Hospital air on weekdays on ABC. If you miss an episode, you can catch up on Hulu.
