As previously mentioned, General Hospital submitted its powerful anniversary episode in many of this year's Emmy categories. The episode was also one of two submitted in the Outstanding Drama Series category.
When asked to explain why the episode was so powerful, GH executive producer Frank Valentini credited the show's writers.
"For the anniversary, when the breakdown came out, it was written by a young man named Daniel O'Connor, who's so brilliant, and he wrote it with Ron Carlivati. And Ron, who's so incredibly passionate about the show and knows the history of the show so well, was able to launch us backward in time so we could honor the original episode and the original moments of General Hospital for all those fans who go 52 years back," Valentini explained. "And also to wrap up the Luke/Fluke story, which was a great ending to that story, and also to establish some other new stories. There was so much going on in that episode, and I think people just responded to it. I think it'll be one of those episodes that people talk about for years to come."
This marked Valentini's first win as executive producer and he admitted that he was incredibly nervous upon taking the stage to collect his Emmy.
"I think the evolution of coming in [as executive producer] almost four years ago, four years and two months... We were looking to reinvigorate the show and get fans excited about it again. And [former head writer] Ron Carlivati did an amazing job of writing to the future but also honoring the past. [Winning the award] feels great. I was shocked, and I'm sure my speech came across garbled and very nervous, but it's a first time for me, so it's very exciting."
While this is Valentini's first win at the helm of General Hospital, it is the twelfth win for the ABC series -- the most of any soap opera in history. The show's first win came in 1981. Between 1995 and 2000, GH won top honors all but one year.
