General Hospital: Night Shift - Complete First Season DVD Credits:

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General Hospital: Night Shift - Complete First Season DVD Release Date: 12th February 2008

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General Hospital: Night Shift - Complete First Season DVD Review:

I learned something very interesting about the nature of soap operas in one of my Film Production classes earlier this semester. In the class we were discussing how to write realistic dialogue for characters that is interesting and subtextual. In writing a high-quality, character-driven film, one strives to create characters that are multi-dimensional and complex human beings. Real people often have hidden agendas and while they might be saying one thing, they could mean something entirely different. These are the elements that most writers try to instill in their characters in order to make them real.

To offer up a contrast, our professor mentioned the nature of soap operas. In soap operas, characters always say exactly what they mean and wear their feelings on their sleeves. If they want to cry, they cry by the bucketful. If they want to get angry with someone, they scream their heads off. If they want to have sex with someone…well, you get the picture. The point is that soap operas are made to be as obvious as possible, and while this may seem counter to everything good films strive for, there’s a reason for it. Soap Operas were originally created for stay at home moms and housewives. They were meant to provide breezy entertainment for the women while they did the laundry or cleaned up around the house. This way, they were able to multitask while still keeping up with the story thanks to the straightforward characterizations and plot points.

It was with this long-winded introduction in mind that I approached General Hospital: Night Shift – Complete First Season. To my mind, soap operas have always represented the worst in television because of the reasons I mentioned previously. However, now knowing that the things I’ve always complained about are actually deliberately engrained in a soap opera’s infrastructure makes me rethink my prior judgments. After all, how can one really complain too seriously about a certain element that has a perfectly legitimate reason for existing in the first place?

The cover of General Hospital: Night Shift – Complete First Season is as blatant as the show itself. It features a naked woman standing in front of an X-Ray machine and has the following text shameless placed front and center: “more drama, more sex, more soap, more story.” If a show is that unashamed of what it is, then who am I to judge it?

General Hospital: Night Shift is a recent spin-off of the revered soap opera General Hospital. The original incarnation of the show chronicled the drama that ensued during the day at a hospital. Obviously the show didn’t simply delve into medical drama (though it played a large part), as relationships among the doctors and patients played an important role as well. The show was wildly popular among the soap opera crowd for a number of seasons, but it started to lose its luster after awhile. It seems that the creators thought that a spin-off of the show might inject new life into the idea, so they created General Hospital: Night Shift.

This new incarnation is meant to act as a parallel storyline to the original show. The original show takes place during the day, whereas this new version takes place during, you guessed it, the night shift. As such, one could feasibly watch the new episode of General Hospital and then hop directly onward to the new episode of General Hospital: Night shift to see what ensues with the alternate staff that same evening. It should be noted that this doesn’t always work as seamlessly as it should though. Sometimes events that occur on Night Shift don’t jive with those that transpired earlier on that day in General Hospital. Still, it’s a cool idea if and when it works.

Although I’ve never seen the original General Hospital, it sounds like jaded fans who have lost their faith in the original show are responding strongly to Night Shift. Whereas the original series was starting to recycle old stories and twists, Night Shift provides fresh ideas and characters that help revitalize the stale premise. It’s interesting that both shows are created and written by the same staff, yet somehow Night Shift manages to be a vastly improved series. I guess sometimes all you need is a fresh take on something to find new unexplored territory.

The only extra on the DVD is a fluffy behind-the-scenes look at the show called “On the Set at Night Shift.” It’s not very entertaining or informative, but unfortunately, it’s all you get.

General Hospital: Night Shift is far from what I would call great entertainment, but then it’s not really meant to be, and I just can’t wholly condemn a show for succeeding at what its sets out to be. Furthermore, even if soap operas may not be my preferred form of entertainment, it sounds like fans have been taken by the first season of General Hospital: Night Shift. So stop listening to me and ask yourself if you enjoy soap operas. If the answer is yes, then General Hospital: Night Shift – Complete First Season just might provide some brainless entertainment for you.

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General Hospital: Night Shift - Complete First Season DVD review written by: Anthony Berk