Get your own Free Home PagePort Charles made it's debut with a two hour primetime special on (Sunday) June 1, 1997. Port Charles is a spinoff of the popular daytime drama, General Hospital.
The soap is set in fictional Port Charles, New York which is located in upper state New York.
Port Charles is taped in Hollywood and airs weekdays on the ABC Television Network at 12:30-1:00pm Eastern.
Wendy Riche: Executive Producer (June 1997-Present)
Richard & Carolyn Culliton: Headwriters (June 1997-August 1997)
Lynn Marie Latham: Headwriter (August 1997-March 1999)
Scott M. Hamner: Headwriter (March 1999-Present); Co-Headwriter (August 1997-March 1999)
The new group of interns arrived at General Hospital prepared to attend a reception in their honor, but it soon turned into a night they would never forget. The group of future doctors included Joe Scanlon, Karen Wexler Cates, Julie Morris Devlin, Matt Harmon, Chris Ramsey, Jake Marshak and Eve Lambert. The group also included one very disgruntled intern who hadn't made the grade, Greg Cooper.
When the interns arrived at the reception, they realized it wasn't a reception at all. Cooper had lured them to a part of the hospital that was under construction and held them all at gunpoint. Cooper thought that he deserved to be in the internship program and he threatened to expose all the secrets of those who had been accepted. Violence soon erupted when Cooper heard Audrey Hardy and Dr. Faulk approaching. Cooper fired his gun and killed Dr. Faulk and seriously wounded Audrey.
Audrey suffered a severe head wound and Joe Scanlon took immediate action. Joe used a power drill to operate on Audrey and he saved her life, although he did later face a review board hearing for his actions. In the end, the interns were rescued and Cooper was captured, mostly due to the efforts of Joe's brother, paramedic Frank Scanlon.
Scott Baldwin arrived from Canada where he had been living with his young daughter, Serena. Lucy Coe had always felt a very strong attachment to Serena because she had given birth to the child after the fertilized egg from Scott's late wife, Dominique, had been implanted in her. Scott, however, didn't return to Port Charles under happy circumstances. He returned because Serena had been kidnapped and Scott mistakenly thought that Lucy was responsible for this evil act.
Scott quickly realized that Lucy was innocent and they teamed up to get Serena back. Lucy wanted to let her boyfriend, Dr. Kevin Collins, in on their plan but Scott swore her to secrecy. The person who was really holding Serena was Rex Stanton, a man who would later claim to be Dominique's uncle. Rex had his sights set on getting control of Serena's huge trust fund for himself. Rex's unwitting pawn in this scheme was Danielle Ashley, Dominque's long-lost half-sister. Danielle was also the girlfriend of intern Jake Marshak and she feared what Rex would do to Jake if she didn't go along with his scheme.
As the annual Nurses Ball approached, the kidnapper's made their demand. As per the kidnapper's request, Scott refused to enlist the help of the authorities and he and Lucy planned on handling the situation themselves. Scott pulled together five million dollars in counterfeit money in order to keep the authorities from realizing his and Lucy's true agenda. As instructed, Scott then purchased five million dollars in jewels and had them sewn onto a ball gown. On the night of the Nurses Ball, Lucy dropped the bejeweled gown into a dumpster and a disguised Danielle retrieved it. Serena's ransom had been paid and she and Scott were quickly reunited.
Scott's problems were far from over, however, as he still didn't know who had kidnapped Serena. Shortly thereafter, Rex engineered a meeting with Lucy where he admitted that he was Dominique and Serena's uncle. Rex also told Lucy that Danielle was Dominique's half-sister. This news overjoyed Lucy, who was still suffering from her recent miscarriage. Scott, however, wasn't so eager to accept Rex or Danielle as family but he kept his suspicions to himself. Soon, Lucy, Kevin and Scott all began to have serious doubts about Rex and what he was really up to, although they were certain Danielle was a unwilling accomplice in his dastardly game.
Rex then set his evil scheme in full motion. Using fabricated evidence, Rex secretly framed Scott and made it look as though Scott had kidnapped Serena. To make matters worse, Rex secretly drugged Scott to make him appear as an unfit father. After Scott was arrested for kidnapping Serena, Rex and a reluctant Danielle moved to gain custody of the young child.
Released on bail awaiting his trial, Scott was only allowed supervised visits with Serena, who was placed in the care of her grandparents, Lee and Gail Baldwin. Being separated tore both Scott and Serena apart and Scott vowed to prove his innocence.
Danielle was desperate to come forward with the truth, but feared retaliation from Rex on both herself and Jake. Finally, Danielle gathered her courage and confessed to Scott. Before Scott could get Danielle to tell her story to the authorities, she was mysteriously killed in a car accident. Scott was back to square one with his trial set to begin in a matter of days.
Without any hard evidence to use against Rex, the trio of Scott, Kevin and Lucy formed their own plan. Lucy and Kevin would convince everyone that they had broken up and Lucy would try to work her way into Rex's confidence. Scott's kidnapping trial began and Rex's fabricated evidence was stacked against him. Lucy's scheme to get closer to Rex continued and seemed to be working by year's end. Scott's fate, however, was still being decided in court.
As his trial progressed, Scott found himself appealing to his late wife Dominique for help. Although he didn't realize it at the time, Scott's pleas had brought Dominque's spirit back to him and Serena. Dominique comforted her loved ones and promised to always watch over them before she departed again.
Julie Morris Devlin and Frank Scanlon quickly found themselves attracted to each other. Frank was a salt-of-the-earth type of man, decent, honest and hard working. Julie was attracted to these qualities in Frank but she feared their budding relationship would be ruined once Frank found out the truth about her. Julie was actually the very privileged daughter of a very wealthy surgeon, Dr. Bennett Devlin. Julie had kept her true identity a secret because she wanted to be judged on her own merits and not her father's fame. Soon, however, Julie's secret became public knowledge when Bennett Devlin took a position at General Hospital. Frank was taken aback to learn the truth about Julie, but he never stopped loving her.
Julie's secret was out in the open but Bennett was still keeping a secret of his own. Bennett had once had an affair with Julie's fellow intern, Eve Lambert. Eve herself was none too happy when Bennettt arrived in town because she had put that part of her life behind her after their affair ended badly. Eve did her best to steer clear of Bennett and focus on her career at General Hospital but Bennett made her life difficult. Finally, Bennettt seemed to come to a new understanding and Eve no longer felt threatened by him. Julie, however, found out about the affair and became livid at both her father and Eve. Eve quickly moved out of the apartment she shared with Julie in the Scanlon's basement and moved in with fellow intern Chris Ramsey. The arrival of Julie's mother, Nicole, just made an already complicated situation worse. Nicole learned about Eve and Bennett's affair and demanded a divorce. To further get back at Bennett, Nicole slept with Chris and made sure that Bennett found out about it. Nicole left town intent on getting a divorce and Bennett became intent on making Chris' life a living hell.
Cooper's terrorization was far from over and the interns where shocked when he arrived in the emergency room one night. Cooper had been injured during a car accident while being moved from one facility to another by the police. Cooper then set out to get revenge on everyone he felt had wronged him. First, Cooper made it appear as though Dr. Ellen Burgess had deliberately tried to kill him. Cooper faked being in a coma and Ellen worked to clear her name, which she did with the help of intern Matt Harmon.
Cooper continued to try and sabotage the interns careers as he faked being comatose. Cooper's revenge then turned deadly when he killed a priest and set off an explosion at the facility where he was being held. Cooper walked away unharmed in the priest's clothes, but Kevin was seriously injured in the blast and taken to General Hospital. Cooper secretly returned to General Hospital as well and he tampered with Kevin's IV and made it seem as though Karen Cates had been negligent in her care of Kevin. Karen and Joe then set out to vindicate her name.
Cooper's final act of terror came when he kidnapped Julie and held her hostage in the basement of his family's now empty home. After enduring several terrifying days in which Cooper threatened to perform ghoulish plastic surgery on her, Julie was rescued unharmed by Frank and Chris. The nightmare of Greg Cooper finally seemed to be over.
Joe Scanlon and Karen Wexler Cates had been childhood friends in Port Charles. Although Karen was now married to Jagger Cates, a police officer stationed in San Francisco, she was still attracted to Joe. And Joe was attracted to Karen! Karen's marriage to Jagger was on shaky ground but she wanted to make it work. Although they constantly found themselves in close situations, Karen and Joe resisted their impulses as Karen tried to stay faithful to her husband. Afraid of her feelings for Joe and needing to see Jagger, Karen went to San Francisco. While there, Karen learned that Jagger had been having an affair and that their marriage was truly over. Karen returned to Port Charles and her friendship with Joe grew. In a short time, Joe and Karen began dating.
Dr. Ellen Burgess put on a tough facade for the world, but some felt that just belied a softer interior. One of these people was Matt Harmon, who constantly tried to break through Ellen's hard exterior. Ellen truly liked Matt and respected this young intern who refused to let the fact that he was in a wheelchair stand in the way of his becoming a successful surgeon. Matt had to overcome a lot of prejudice from several of the surgeons at the hospital who didn't want Matt in their operating room, especially Dr. Boardman. With Ellen always lending Matt her support, he successfully managed to make most everyone at the hospital view him as an equal. Matt had beaten one obstacle in his path and his friendship with Ellen continued to grow.
(From ABC Daytime)
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