Port Charles (commonly abbreviated as PC) is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from June 1, 1997, to October 3, 2003.

[5] It started in its regular 12:30 p.m. Eastern timeslot the following day, replacing The City, a continuation of the previously cancelled Loving that ended its 17-month run on March 28.

)[6] The series also featured the return of General Hospital characters Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner), and Karen Wexler (Jennifer Hammon).

"[8] In the first episode, tenured nurse Audrey Hardy (General Hospital's longest-running character, portrayed by Rachel Ames) was injured and an intern had to operate on her with a power drill to save her life.

Despite low ratings, Port Charles celebrated its first anniversary on June 1, 1998, as the series slowly continued to establish its own audience and improve in its time slot.

As it evolved, it turned its focus to stories with gothic intrigue that included themes such as forbidden love, vampires, and life after death (somewhat similar to the earlier series Dark Shadows, which also aired on ABC in the late 1960s and early 1970s).

In December 1999, Julie Hanan Carruthers was promoted to executive producer after Wendy Riche decided to step down from day-to-day oversight of the show to focus on General Hospital.

In December 2000, it was announced that Port Charles would abandon the traditional open-ended style of storytelling in favor of 13-week story arcs similar to Latin telenovelas.

[12] ABC's head of daytime, Angela Shapiro said of format change, "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey, still, we need to come up with [quicker] stories that have a beginning, middle, and end.

After Port Charles, the characters of Scott Baldwin and Audrey Hardy returned to General Hospital, and many of the other actors from Port Charles moved on to play roles on other dramas, including a few who took on new roles on General Hospital, such as actors Kelly Monaco, Kiko Ellsworth, Eddie Matos, Kent King, and Jay Pickett.

The most significant impact occurred in the New York television market, where the cancellation created an opening on network flagship station WABC-TV.

[18] This situation arose after WCBS picked up syndication rights to The People's Court for the 2003–04 season when WNBC, which had aired the program since it was revived in 1997, dropped it from its lineup.

[19] Millionaire continued to air in that time slot until September 2014, when it was moved to 2:00 p.m. (where it would remain until its withdrawal from syndication in 2019, apart from the 2015–16 season) in order to accommodate an extension of the station's noon newscast as a result of the cancellation of Katie.

Popular characters such as Lucy Coe, Kevin Collins, and Scott Baldwin moved from General Hospital to Port Charles at the start of the series.

These interns included brothers Joe (Michael Dietz) and Frank Scanlon (Jay Pickett), wheelchair user Matt Harmon (Mitch Longley), Julie Morris-Devlin (Lisa Ann Hadley), Eve Lambert (Julie Pinson), Karen Wexler (Jennifer Hammon), Chris Ramsey (Nolan North), Jake Marshak (Rib Hillis).

These characters proved to be popular with fans and critics, mainly Alison Barrington (Erin Hershey Presley), Caleb Morley (Michael Easton), Livvie Locke (Kelly Monaco), and Rafe Kovich (Brian Gaskill).

In a review of the early months, The Tuscaloosa News compared the series favorably to General Hospital, "But all in all, this was quite an auspicious start for a new show.

[31]Zap2it included the series on its list of The Best and Worst TV Spinoffs since 1990, noting, ""Port Charles" never got the traction that its venerable parent show did, despite attempts to introduce the supernatural and a change in production to tell more contained story arcs.

"[32] Entertainment Weekly included the series on their list of "15 Soap Operas We've Loved, Lost", noting, "What started off as a simple spin-off of General Hospital ended up venturing way out there, with vampires and werewolves stalking around Port Charles.

Having GH folks like Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) and Scotty Baldwin (Kin Shriner) leading the show made for an instant audience base.