Soaps

[Franz Ferdinand]

The Scissor Sisters guested on "Passions" yesterday. This is the strangest thing I've seen in a long while....
Scissor Sisters rock Passions!

[flipp525]

Of course, a lot of that has to do with outside forces--competition from 500 channels, more women in the workplace--but, I don't know if anybody else feels the way I do, but the writing on soaps has just not kept pace with the times.

This is so true, Penelope. Whatever happened to the socially-relevant, topical issue stories of yesteryear? My daily dose of "classic" episodes of Another World, circa 1991 have more groundbreaking storylines than anything airing today (Note to Y&R: the search for a missing reliquary is hardly something anyone other than Indiana Jones is interested in). Soap operas used to be cash cows for the network, bringing in tons of ad money and that coveted target audience -- the 18-49 woman. They also offered a venue for actors just starting out in the business to get their feet wet and possibly get discovered, making the transition into primetime and/or even film.

Now, budgets have been significantly slashed and the talent, for the most part, just isn't as high quality anymore. Those factors combined with writing that increasingly ignores character history, show veterans and continuity in favor of highlighting young actors with thinly-etched characters and "Hot-Topic plots" that aren't weaved into the already existing fabric of the show all blessed by inane focus groups have led many to claim that soaps are a dying genre.

I love soaps, too, and the fact that they're a dying breed now is very sad to me. I grew up on soaps. I'd come home from elementary school back in the 80's (we got off at noon on Mondays), came straight home watched Days of Our Lives, Another World and Santa Barbara while I did my homework. My parents were both big soap fans and actually named my sister and I after soap opera characters (I was named Philip after one of Erica Kane's hubands on "All My Children" and my sister was named Amanda from "Another World"). My dream job used to be to soap writer.

It's so unfortunate that a once richly-honed television genre has fallen so far down. And with all these premature pronouncements from producers such as the one about Days getting the ax in 2009, it's almost like they're going down without any sort of fight which transcends merely being sad. It becomes tragic.



Edited By flipp525 on 1189878527

[Damien]

Back in the late 60s, I lived for The Edge Of Night, which combined traditional soap opera elements with crime drama.

[Penelope]

B&B is still on; it's currently the 2nd highest rated soap on the air. Here are last week's ratings:

1. The Young and the Restless 4.4
2. The Bold & the Beautiful 3.2
3. General Hospital 2.8
4. Days of Our Lives 2.5
4. As the World Turns 2.5
4. All My Children 2.5
4. One Life to Live 2.5
8. Guiding Light 2.3
9. Passions 1.6

Passions has been cancelled and will air its final episode in August; after Passions departs, Days will be NBC's only soap, and rumor has it that it will probably get the ax by 2009.

[Reza]

Is The Bold and the Beautiful still running or has it been cancelled?

[Penelope]

They'll probably be extinct in about 20 years, and that makes me sad.

Tell me about it. It breaks my heart to think that this distinctive art form could disappear within a generation. It's humbling to realize that, 27 years ago, Love of Life was unceremonously cancelled, due to a low average rating of 3.5, while ATWT pulled in a 7.9 rating, and Y&R 8.8--last week, Y&R was the highest rated soap at 4.4 and ATWT (tying for 4th place) pulled in a 2.5.

Of course, a lot of that has to do with outside forces--competition from 500 channels, more women in the workplace--but, I don't know if anybody else feels the way I do, but the writing on soaps has just not kept pace with the times. As much as I enjoy ATWT, it's regurgitating predictable storylines over and over. Sure, the Emily/Paul/Meg triangle was a lot of fun thanks to a trio of great actors, but we've seen Emily go nuts, Paul get devious, and Meg be the misunderstood saint how many times?

ATWT's highest rated episode last year was Luke coming out to his family--that shoulda been a clue that tackling daring, original storylines (something that soaps used to do with regularity in their 60s/70s/80s heyday) would bring in an audience.

I relish my memories of watching ATWT and Search for Tomorrow and Guiding Light and Ryan's Hope and Texas and Santa Barbara when I was a kid. I wanted to write for a soap back then, even created one in high school for my creative writing class! I still dream about it today....

[Movielover]

I hadn't realized soaps were so popular on the board. That makes me happy - I am always looking for a good soap opera buddy. I worked at one, have been to the Daytime Emmys twice and now work personally with a few people on them. So I have quite a lot to talk about, and it's a dying art form. No one appreciates them anymore - although they certainly aren't what they used to be.

They'll probably be extinct in about 20 years, and that makes me sad.