and kills multiple patrons. Accolades and recognition General Hospital cast and crew have won many awards since 1974 when the Daytime Emmy Awards were created. In 2012, the Creative Arts Emmy Awards were created. General Hospital has won 14 Daytime Emmys for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. In June 2009, TV Guide ranked "Luke and Laura's Wedding" #45 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. Broadcast During the 1960s, General Hospital earned decent ratings against the likes of To Tell the Truth and The Secret Storm on CBS, but there was a decline as the 1970s came, especially when NBC's Another World became highly popular. For two years, it also faced CBS's The Price Is Right, already a major hit. After continued mediocrity in the Nielsen ratings, ABC was prepared to cancel General Hospital, but decided to give it a second chance in 1978 when it expanded the show from an experimental 45 minutes to a full hour. However, the expansion came with an ultimatum to the producers that they had six months to improve the show's ratings. Gloria Monty was hired as the new executive producer, and on her first day, she spent an extra $100,000 re-taping four episodes. A miracle occurred thanks to Monty and head writer Douglas Marland; the show became the most-watched daytime drama by 1979, marking a rare instance of a daytime serial's comeback from near-extinction. During the wedding of Luke and Laura on November 17, 1981, about 30 million people tuned in to watch them exchange vows and be cursed by Elizabeth Taylor's Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers). From 1979 to 1988, General Hospital remained number one in the ratings, competing against two game shows and two low-rated soaps on NBC—Texas and Santa Barbara—and Guiding Light on CBS (although Guiding Light experienced a renaissance for a brief period in the middle of 1984, and became the #1-rated soap, briefly dethroning General Hospital from the top ratings spot). For the most part, however, General Hospital continued to triumph, even after the departure of popular actors Anthony Geary and Genie Francis in the mid-1980s. Although The Young and the Restless took General Hospital's place as the highest-rated serial in 1989, General Hospital continued to maintain excellent ratings. Even at its peak in the 1980s, General Hospital had been pre-empted in at least two markets in the United States. With the show still number one