A closer look
When you have to churn out 250 episodes a year, interior decorating becomes a high-speed shell game. Long-running soap operas like 'General Hospital' master the art of set redressing, heavily relying on swing sets that are violently cannibalized overnight. The art department will literally wheel out a hospital bed, slap some hideous floral wallpaper over the medical charts, swap the lighting gels to a moody amber, and completely trick the viewers into believing the characters are now drinking scotch in a luxury hotel suite.
