The past two decades were rough on Luke and Laura Spencer. She was kidnapped, he got caught up in organized crime, each was accused of murder at least once, and their daughter became deathly ill. Eventually the two divorced and Laura went into an off-screen catatonic state after killing her stepfather.

But two weeks ago a miracle occurred. A new doctor found a cure for Laura’s mental condition, and now she and Luke have reunited, and just in time, as daughter Lulu is becoming increasingly reckless after her recent abortion. One senses an intervention in the offing.

That in a nutshell is what’s been happening on ABC’s “General Hospital,” and it’s driving big ratings increases. The return of Genie Francis, the actress who plays Laura, for the first time since 2002 helped the show regain the No. 1 slot in daytime among women 18-49 for the first time in six months.

For the week ended Oct. 29, “Hospital” averaged a 2.0 rating and 12 share in the demographic, its best average since May. “Hospital” bettered “Young and the Restless” on CBS and “Days of Our Lives” on NBC by 2 and 18 percent respectively, and was up 8 percent over the same week last year, from a 1.8.

The show also gained week to week among women 18-34 and total viewers.

Soap operas tend to rotate new and old characters through their casts endlessly. But Laura remains one of the most beloved characters in daytime drama history.

Francis left four years ago after a dispute with producers over vacation time. Her return is being billed as a limited engagement, which means, yet again, things may not end happily for Luke and Laura.

But the ratings uptick may last for a few more weeks, as ABC is doing a lot to promote the 25th anniversary of its most well-known daytime couple. Tomorrow Francis and Tony Geary, who plays Luke, will make a rare joint appearance at Walt Disney World’s Disney-MGM Studios to promote a special commemorative “Hospital” episode airing next Thursday, on Luke and Laura’s 25th wedding anniversary. That’s when the now-divorced twosome are getting remarried.

SOAPnet, the Disney-owned cable network, will replay the original 1981 wedding episode on Nov. 24 during a five-hour “Hospital” marathon, including a new special with Geary and Francis entitled “Luke and Laura 25: Something Old, Something New.”

“Hospital’s” big numbers helped ABC stay on top in women 18-49 for the week ended Oct. 29, averaging a 1.7 rating in daytime dramas. That was well ahead of NBC and CBS, which tied with a 1.5. ABC also led in full daytime with a 1.6, followed by NBC’s 1.5 and CBS’s 1.4.

CBS stayed on top in total viewers for soaps with 4.03 million, followed by ABC at 3.04 million and NBC at 2.51 million. In full daytime, CBS led with 4.28 million, followed by ABC at 3.05 million and NBC at 2.51 million.

Meanwhile, in other daypart ratings for the week ended Oct. 29, with the midterm elections coming up, ratings for the Sunday morning political talk shows were strong. “Meet the Press” on NBC led with 3.95 million total viewers, followed by CBS’s “Face the Nation” at 2.97 million and ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” at 2.59 million. Fox’s “News Sunday” averaged 1.36 million total viewers.

Though NBC’s entire late-night lineup was in reruns, it still dominated the competition. “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” averaged 5 million total viewers to “Late Show with David Letterman’s” 4.3 million on CBS. And Conan O’Brien’s “Late Night” averaged 2.3 million, ahead of 1.9 million for CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and 1.7 million for ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which was also in repeats.

In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” kept its advantage, drawing an average 5.7 million viewers, 800,000 ahead of ABC’s “Good Morning America.” CBS’s “Early Show” was third at 2.4 million.

And for the week ended Nov. 5, viewership was up for all three network newscasts week to week. NBC’s “Nightly News” maintained its lead with 9.34 million, followed by ABC’s “World News” at 8.98 million. Both posted their best viewership since the week ended March 20. CBS’s “Evening News” averaged 7.74 million viewers.

The syndication chart was delayed by Nielsen. It will be posted if and when it becomes available.