Shelly Altman Named Co-Head Writer Of GENERAL HOSPITAL, Hopes Soaps Survive

Shelly Altman has been named co-head writer of GENERAL HOSPITAL, effective immediately, according to a new report by soapoperadigest.com. She will work alongside current head writer Garin Wolf.

Altman previous wrote for ANOTHER WORLD and ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Right after starting at AW, her first daytime experience, she wrote the murder of Ryan Harrison.

In her WGA blog last year, she wrote about the most comment question she is asked, "Will soap operas survive?"

"When I started writing for daytime, doom and gloomers told me soap operas would be dead in five years," Altman wrote. "That was fifteen years ago."

"Granted, there are far fewer soaps now than there were then," she continued. "Women are out working, the target audience isn’t home during the day, and with a DVR, it’s no longer necessary to be home when a show airs. There’s competition from hundreds of cable channels. It’s a rough time for the daytime industry. But the numerous blogs and websites devoted to soaps, the magazines for daytime viewers and the fan mail we get tell me people still love their shows. They want continued drama. They want soap operas."

"But that doesn’t answer the question. When people ask if soaps will survive, I can only say, 'I sincerely hope so.'"

We hope so too!

What do you think about GH adding Altman to the writing team? Was it necessary? Are you a fan of her writing from the past? Happy with Garin Wolf's work as head writer? Weigh in below in our Comments section.