Product Details

• Actors: Adrian Alvarado, Julie Berman, Jason Gerhardt, Derk Cheetwood, Lindze Letherman
• Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: ABC Studios
• DVD Release Date: February 12, 2008
• Run Time: 530 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000YM6DNW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,155 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "General Hospital: Night Shift - The Complete First Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Spawned from the Emmy Award-winning day-time drama General Hospital, General Hospital: Night Shift ran for one season in 2007 on the cable network SOAPnet. Taking some of the young, sexy favorites from the original soap opera and adding in a few new characters, the nighttime soap focuses on Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough)--an HIV-positive physician who is impeccable at her job but troubled when it comes to love. Like many popular nighttime dramas (Melrose Place, Dynasty), Night Shift is big on deception, addictions, promiscuous behavior, and cleavage. Port Charles--another General Hospital offshoot that aired on ABC's daytime schedule--veered away from the hospital format and added in a subplot involving vampires and the occult. Night Shift sticks close to the General Hospital formula of love, lust, and a few operations thrown in for good measure. It moves at a quicker pace than its namesake, but that also may be one of the show's biggest drawbacks. Soap fans like their plot lines to move along at a languid pace. Since Night Shift aired weekly rather than daily, each episode seems more like a synopsis with too much going on. One minute Robin and her boyfriend are fine. The next, he's left her. Too much time is spent on a student nurse who may also be murdering patients, and too little is devoted to Robin's unhealthy attachment to a sick baby. As for the always debonair Billy Dee Williams, he is completely underused in his role as a sage-like janitor. (You read that right.) McCullough, who won her first Daytime Emmy at the age of 11, has literally grown up on General Hospital. Though the Night Shift plotlines are over the top even by soap standards, she shines in her role, adding levity where needed and doing a fine job of making some silly lines believable. --Jae-Ha Kim

Product Description

From the creative minds who brought you the Emmy® Award-winning daytime drama General Hospital comes the highly anticipated SOAPnet primetime spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift. If you can t get enough of the excitement, schemes and romance of Port Charles during the day, you ll get an even more steamy and intimate look on the night shift. When the sun goes down in Port Charles, matters of life and death grip the hospital. And when the sun rises the next day, nothing is ever the same as the day before not for the patients or the doctors. Featuring an all star cast, including celebrated actor Billy Dee Williams as well as Steve Burton, Kimberly McCullough and Jason Thompson, Night Shift goes to places General Hospital s never gone before. Follow the trials and tribulations of the hospital staff as they cope with drug addiction, parenthood, promiscuity and a host of other personal complications. Their conflicts are heightened by a series of unfortunate accidents at the hospital that put everyone s lives at risk. Own every episode of Season One, including a behind-the-scenes peek at your favorite daytime stars, on this 3-disc DVD set. Paging all doctors: working the Night Shift at General Hospital is not for the faint of heart.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars A letdown December 7, 2007

By Cafetasia

This was a waste of time. I went into it believing it would be about something and was left disappointed. Bob Guza (head writer) and Brian Frons (pres of ABC) basically pulled a bait and switch on fans. They said it would be about the popular couple Patrick and Robin and that this show wouldn't carry over to the original soap, General Hospital. On NS, it didn't seem like Patrick and Robin (Scrubs) even liked each other. And a lot of the stories did carry over, so that in fact it wasn't an alternative universe that was promised.

Whether you were a previous GH watcher or a new watcher all together, this series will leave you confused with its inconsistencies, bad editing, and lame writing. To be fair there were some highlights, but they didn't outweigh the bad.

The Bad:
- The non-chemistry filled "relationship" between Patrick and nurse Leyla, played by an actress with the screen presence and acting ability of a paper bag.
- The lack of screen time of the vixen you can't help but love, Maxie Jones (played brilliantly by Kristin Storms)
- The writing and editing.
- The lack of relationship development between Patrick and Robin.
- The confusing ending. Not worth it.
- The character destruction of Patrick Drake.

The Highlights:
- Actresses like Minae Noji and Kent King who were given the chance to show what they were capable of.
- New finds like the charismatic and talented Dominic Rains.
- When they highlighted Billy Dee Williams in more than just mopping the floor.
- The acting from Kimberly McCullough. There is a reason this woman is a two time Emmy award winner.... Despite the crappy writing and the obsessive baby desires of her character, you just felt for her and cried along with her when the world was crumbling before her.
- Other note worthy performances where Bradford Anderson and Steve Burton.

What promised to be a riveting series, turned out to be a complete let down. If you want to see a love story, because we are all suckers for a good love story, this is definitely not the show. You want good writing and decent storytelling. Also not the show. I would only buy this DVD if by some miracle it was a different series all together. Since it's not, save yourself the disappointment and money. Mr. Bob Guza thanks for nothing. You do not know the fans at all. Read more ›

36 of 44 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Total waste of talent and money... December 10, 2007

By Wendy C. Rigney

Last spring, Brian Frons, head of ABC Daytime, was touting an upcoming prime-time spinoff of General Hospital, called General Hospital: Night Shift. He and others were all smiles, saying as how the mob-obsessed head writer, Robert Guza, Jr., did not have the "time" to tell the story of Patrick and Robin on GH, that GH: NS would do so, focusing on their romantic relationship.

Too bad he and everyone else lied.

Instead, what the viewers got was complete character destruction and the assassination of the very couple used in the ads to draw the suckers...er, viewers...in. We had thirteen weeks of a show used to glorify the non-existent charisma of character Student Nurse Leyla Mir - a nurse whose only redeeming characteristic was looking as if she stepped out of an '80s beauty pageant - all while either killing pregnant women by neglect and managing to be rewarded for her screw ups, but I digress.

The viewers who were promised focus on the "Scrubs" (Patrick/Robin) relationship instead saw Patrick stripped of any tenderness, humor, and empathy - most especially apparent with the character of Robin - and turned into a jackass of monumental proportions. It is a testament of Jason Thompson's skill that Patrick and Robin are still root-for on GH, the main show, as had everyone seen this, I'm not so sure that would be the case. Thank God for his chemistry with Kimberly McCullough, which, naturally, made the lack of chemistry with Leyla that much more appalling. So, naturally, we had "Scrubs" break up and had the chemistry-free pairing of Patrick/Leyla dominate for about eight of the thirteen weeks. Never mind the pesky commercials promoting "Scrubs" up to the very end. Force feeding was the name of the game....

Speaking of Kimberly McCullough, she also deserves major kudos and combat pay of her own for managing to still make Robin sympathetic in the face of Bob Guza and Company trying to make her into a baby-obsessed shrew over a patient she knew for five minutes. No doubt this was done to try and make Patrick's choice to turn to the other woman sympathetic, but as much of everything else this regime tries, it failed. There is a reason Miss McCullough has two Daytime Emmys to her name, turning crap into gold.

And do not get me started on the waste of talent of Billy Dee Williams, whose character's sole mission was to mop floors while giving "sage" advice to the masses, including hitman-turned-janitor Jason Morgan.

The sole high points of the supporting cast include Kent King, Minae Noji, and Dominic Rains. If GH were still about the hospital, they would no doubt be welcome additions on a more regular basis, instead of token extras that they sadly are. (Thus showing contracts mean squat if you're not in the mob. Ask Kent King, one of the three who does have a contract. Surprised? Thought so.)

However, those few good supporting actors and the talent of Mr. Thompson (who truly got the raw end of the deal here) and Miss McCullough (that is where the one star comes in; if there was a way to put none, I would have!) was wasted on a project that gave new meaning to the term, "bait and switch". And it is a shame, as had the show delivered what it had promised - romance with Patrick/Robin and medical stories - of which there were few - this DVD may have had a chance of succeeding.

As it is, you're better off spending your money on a show that is actually entertaining and enjoyable and not some exercise in futility, frustration, disappointment, and pain. Read more ›

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Guza's folly December 10, 2007

By Filegirl

After being billed as a show case for the Patrick and Robin characters, this series completely trashed the character of Patrick, gave us the chemistry black hole that is Patrick and Leyla (an abomination that bled over to GH, unfortunately) and was generally a kick in the teeth to fans. NO WAY would I buy this. Its only due to the overall awesomeness of Jason Thompson and Kimberly McCullough that this couple was not ruined beyond the point of repair.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Money (Even on Used Copy) December 10, 2007

By K. Cluck

I totally agree with everything the previous reviewers said. This DVD is not worth your money, put you're $20.99 to better use such as having your teeth pulled without novacaine. Scrubs fans were lured into watching and supporting this show under the guise that it would revolve around the love story of General Hospital legacy character Robin Scorpio and her boyfriend Patrick Drake who have a huge fan base but receive little air time on GH so naturally Scrubs fans were salivating at the opportunity to see a series revolving around this couple rather than the same old tired GH Mob dominated storylines. Instead we discovered after the first first few episodes that talentless head writer Bob Guza duped us into watching this garbage that featured the descruction of Scrubs relationship all in the name of propping Guza's newest pet student nurse "Leyla". Thankfully Guza was made to look like a fool since even non-Scrubs fans have failed to support the character of Leyla and Guza's misguided attempt to pair her with Patrick.

The only bright spot in this horrible series is the ability of underused GH regulars Kimberly McCullough (Robin), Jason Thompson (Patrick), Kent King (Lainey) and newcomer Dominic Raines (Leo) to continue to deliver top notch acting despite the awful writing/scripts they are forced to draw from.

If you are thinking of buying this series to see Scrubs love scenes and growth of their relationship then save your money and watch the first 30 seconds of the first episode on You Tube because it's all downhill after that. If it were possible to give zero or negative stars on this review I would.