Missouri State University - Ozarko Yearbook (Springfield, MO)

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AMERIC'A'S FAVORITE SWEET- HEARTS Luke and Laura fAnthany Geary and Genie Francisj finally became husband and wife Tuesday, Nov. 171 on General Hospital. Thou- Students hooked on Monday through Friday the television sets came on at 2:00 p.m. All types of people sat in hushed rooms with eyes glued to the tube. They all had one thing in common - they were General Hospital fans, better known as GI-I fanatics. The average soap opera attracts 900,000 daily viewers. GH became the highest rated daytime show in television history with percent of this audience fell into the 18-34 age category. The fact that GH was in tune with SMSU students was obvious. Luke and Laura were hot topics of discussion, and on their wedding day, the TV sets in Springfield were on for the big event. Some called it an addiction, others a habit, but many students admitted to being hooked on soap operas. Some even went so far as to One student who did just that, Sharon Patterson, a junior from Kansas City, said she was, embarrassed by it, kind of. Patterson misses her soaps only during the summer when I have an B-to-5 job, she said. Sandy Downes, a freshman from Columbia, said she used to skip study hall in high school every day just tc go home and watch GH, but sands of students witnessed the blessed event on TV more than 14 followers. An ab, schedule their classes around soaps. ' 0 if' fi' l if if as if since I've been in college, I haven't had too much time 'S

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q9! ,WW fABOVEj JENNY CRAMER, assistant professor of English, holds her develop- mental reading class 's atten tion. THE EXCITEMENT OF TENT THEATER begins as students work hard to erect the green and orange tent outside of Craig Hall.

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General Hospital so watch. Soap operas move at such slow pace that it isn't ifficult to keep up by watching as little as one show a week. Karen Masterson, a freshman from Kennett, said, I watch them whenever I pan. I wouldn't skip a class bust to watch a soap, though. t Soap operas are attractive to students because the characters deal with real life situations such as drugs, sex, divorce and human relationships as a whole. This makes the characters easy to identify with. Soap opera characters face the same problems in soaps as students are forced to face daily. Shelly Sanders, a sophomore from Republic, said I think they're fun. They make me think my problems are smaller in relation to everything else. Soap operas are not difficult to get hooked on. Accidentally sitting down for one show with the right people is enough to familiarize a person with every character on a show, and each of their deep dark secrets from the past. Lee Bodenhausen, a junior from Plattsburg, started watching GH because of his roommates. At 2:00, you either watch that, QGI-IJ, or 9' if .. -, sim'-www if 'rs nothing at all, he said. The GH syndrome is wide spread and it is being capitalized on. There are 'I Love Luke and Laura' and 'General Hospital Fanatic' t-shirts, General Hospital happy hours at bars, and even a new song' out entitled 'General Hospi-Talel' What's in the future for General Hospital? Will Luke and Laura remain happily married forever after? Will Noah Drake ever settle down and be satisfied with only Bobbie? Will Alan and Monica really divorce? Tune in, weekdays at 2:00. THE SOAP OPERA WEDDING of the year brings tears to many eyes on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 16-17. Students gathered in the Bears Den to watch the event on the giant screen TV. THE WIDESPREAD POPULARITY oi' General Hospital spread to Nick Franke, a sophomore from Springfield. He wears a scrub shirt bearing the name of the newest heart throb of the soap, Dr. Noah Drake, also known as rock star Rick Springfield.