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dwmckim
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Ok, even though this is a huge fandom of mine, i almost never talk about this in non-soap boards since listening to a soap fan talk about soaps can be much like someone not into sports listening to a fanatic ramble on about his favorite teams. But right now there's a major shift going on and after encourgaing others on soap boards to spread the word and drum up support, i figured i should put my money where my mouth is. And since this forum has a "general discussion" section, i guess it's not too out of place here since those who are totally not interested won't read.
As a genre and a long-standing American tradition (though not limited to the US), the daytime drama (or "soap opera") is on the endangered species list. For well over a decade, there's typically been roughly ten network soaps on the air. With Guiding Light's recent cancellation, the number is now down to seven. It's very likely that number could be down to five within the next year and completely gone within five to ten.
Like the rest of the television landscape, reality shows have woven its curse. The programmers of daytime blocks are not blind to how much cheaper it is to put on "reality" shows (or similar fare like talk shows) than to spend so much on programs that have full crews of actors, directors, writers, elaborate sets, and on and on.
Now soaps have kind of a bad name which is really a shame since for one thing, they carry on a rich tradition that has existed long before the advent of television of serialized storytelling. In fact they're one of the few forms that exist today (aside from perhaps comics) that draw on decades of history. Primetime dramas have been influenced by them (it's almost hard to imagine now but even drama series were much like sitcoms in that episodes were largely self-contained and were generally resolved in an hour instead of carrying story arcs into multiple episodes.) Soap actors are often at the bottom of the totem pole - and admittedly there is some merit here in that casting directors often hire models and Bodies over acting talent. But despite the presence of such "hair models", the actors that take the craft seriously (and there are thankfully many of them) are among the hardest working and most talented actors out there doing not only emotional roles that carry decades of character history but also doing so on the dizzying production schedule of five new episodes a week with rare reruns or downtime. For all the jokes made at their expense, the daytime serial drama is an incredible artform, mired in tradition that is an incredible collaboration of truly dedicated artists and craftspeople.
So why am i going on about this here? Remember i said that it's likely we may see the landscape lose two more next year? As the World Turns has long had a target on its back and is expected to end in 2010. But last week, shock waves rocked the industry when TV Guide's Nelson Branco broke the news that a network insider revealed to him that ABC's One Life to Live came dangerously close to being taken off the air this year (it was saved by Aisha's talk show having tested poorly) and "pending a ratings miracle" is expected to get the axe in 2010.
At a time when soaps are fighting to exist, why was the news about a possible OLTL cancellation next year so earthshattering to the industry? Because its largely felt by fans and critics that the show is among the current landscape's best. It's not the highest rated (Young & Restless tends to hold that spot) but in terms of overall quality, it's viewed by soapsters as a model.
ABC actually has a strong daytime bloc with three back-to-back soaps - All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital. That ABC is even thinking of breaking up their trifecta is pretty scary. But even though many feel that AMC and GH are in many ways a mess, OLTL is seen as the most disposable only due to branding issues - the other two have some kind of "name recognition" to those who never watch soaps since the average person knows All My Children has Erica Kane/Susan Lucci and General Hospital had the insane Luke and Laura craze sweeping the country in the early 80s.
But that's really the only reason ABC sees OLTL as the easiest target despite its being the stronger quality overall and often has held its own or topped the other two ABC soaps in the ratings this year (AMC has largely been on the bottom of the three throughout 2009). It also is the only one of the three that consistently manages to stay under budget despite having the smallest budget of the trio (the other two constantly go over budget).
This latest news is a rallying call for supporters of the daytime drama in general and OLTL fans in particular to do what they can to keep these shows on the air. That's why i'm writing here - i've been drumming up the troops on OLTL boards to keep watching and encourgae others to do so, so i may as well do my part here.
Even though i support the industry, i've never really been a "soap watcher" myself. But i first tuned in during 1992 when i had seen various entertainment news reports about how the show was taking huge steps to go beyond what was considered the standard of the time by having an executive producer from the film industry (Linda Gottlieb), a headwriter who was an acclaimed novelist (Michael Malone) and doing several socially relevant storylines. I tuned it and i was hooked. I saw some absolutely electric actors/actresses, not to mention quite a few who didn't look like the typical Ken and Barbie soap types. As a just coming out college student i was captivated by the very-daring-for-1992 gay teen storyline starring a then-unknown Ryan Philippe. But as much as that drew me in, i kept coming back to see the Buchanan family craziness, Blair Cramer, Alex Olinov, and Tina Lord carry out their nutty schemes, the New Agey Luna Moony capturing grounded Max Holden's heart, Dorian Lord doing everything she could to make her enemies miserable, and the landmark powerful college date rape story that focused on Marty Saybrooke and Todd Manning.
A guy who i never thought in a million years would be a soap fan found myself anxiously tuning in each day and hunting down magazines that summerized the show's previous history and storylines (this was a few years before i would be online) To my disbelief, this was fast becoming one of my favorite shows.
Eventually Malone and Gottlieb left and after a few writing regime changes, i started to ween myself off my addiction by taking it off my vcr timer in the late 90s. However in 2001 when the show won its first daytime Emmy for Best Show and was airing an entire week of shows live, i tuned in again and fell in love all over again (the show obviously was much improved). After getting back into a daily viewing habit again, i was rewarded with the news in Feb 2003 that Michael Malone would be returning as head writer!
In the years since Malone was later replaced by worst-headwriter-ever Dena Higley (though i still stuck with the show) and thankfully replaced by current HW Ron Carlivati. This man was a total godsend to the show since he had been on the writing staff for 11 years and was a major fan of the show prior. The guy loves both the show's history and the artform of soap writing and it shows. Although it's not perfect, OLTL is at an incredible high point with top notch writing, directing, acting, storytelling...this is a show that often rivals primetime dramas with its overall quality and deserves a long life. I encourage others to check it out and/or support it. There's lots to love!
I won't lie - like my Muppet fandom, i'll be the first to be honest about what's great and what's not working. There are some horrendously bad "hair model" non-actors (Crystal Hunt's Stacy) on there but by and large the actors are top-notch - not only do you have such rare breeds like the Soap Hunks who can also actually ACT and turn out multi-layered performances (Mark Lawson's Brody Lovett, Brett Claywell's Kyle Lewis) but you also have veteran POWERHOUSES like recent Emmy winner (and Sesame fan) Susan Haskell's Marty Saybrooks, Hillary B. Smith's Nora Gannon, Kassie DePaiva's Blair Cramer, and SUPERTALENTS Robin Strasser as Dorian Lord and record-setting six-time Emmy winner Erika Slezak as Viki Banks (Dorian vs Viki is one of the show's legendary feuds as currently the two are running against each other for Mayor of Llanview!)
The show has such memorable characters like the alcholic phrase-mangling salon owner Roxy Balsom, the scheming materialistic David Vickers (Tuc Watkins who also is seen regularly on Desperate Housewives) and even stage and screen veteran Brian Kerwin as Viki's current husband.
What would Hensonites find interesting? Well, even though some Muppeteers or other people of interest have popped up on soaps, OLTL hasn't had a huge share of them (though cast members included Jessica Walker who voiced Fran Sinclair on Dinosaurs, Darlene Vogel who played Crichton's ex-fiancee on Farscape and Broadway actress Kerry Butler - wife of Joey Mazzarino). But there are a lot of interesting parallels with Sesame Street! OLTL is one year older, debuting in 1968 and much like SST's debut was a major turning point in terms of representing diversity. Creator Agnes Nixon's vision was for it to represent different races, backgrounds, and social classes and feature socially relevant stories. Just as Sesame presented African American actors as an equal and normal part of the neighborhood, Nixon not only included a Black doctor and a maid, but leading character Carla Grey turned out to be a light-skinned black woman passing herself off as white to advance her acting career - a very shocking (for the time) story where the reveal was made only after the audience got to know and care for the character. Today it proudly carries that tradition (just as SST has over its forty decades) by not only including a large number of African-Americans, Hispanics, and gay characters - but all of these are three-dimensional important parts of the show instead of coming across as "tokan" characters (a refreshing change from Higley's writing regime). Even though other soaps have taken long overdue strides in including gay and lesbian characters this last year, OLTL's Kyle/Fish story is multi-layered, complex, non-stereotypical and each character is a strong enough character and part of the overall fabric on their own.
Also, like the Muppets OLTL has both lots of heart and HUMOR - it's not all big Serious Kleenex-eating weepers (though it does often make me cry) but it's also one of the FUNNIEST shows on the air (not just for soaps but even better than actual comedy shows). It strikes an excellent balance between humor, drama, and heart that Muppet/Henson fans might appreciate or identify with.
Check it out - whether you're an old viewer that stopped, a new one, or (like me at one time) one of those people who never thought they'd be a soap-watcher. The show can be seen both on ABC in the afternoon and on Soapnet at night (A footnote... OLTL did get some wonderful news a couple of days after the cancellation rumor broke in that the Nielson Ratings report for third quarter 2009 mentioned that OLTL brought in the cable networks HIGHEST EVER RATINGS this last quarter for rebroadcasts of daily soaps - with a doule digit increase over the previous year). And of course you can also do the whole Youtube/net exploring too!
Support the dying genre and one of its best programs - OLTL deserves to be one of the last soaps left standing; not the next to go. I know this was a long empassioned post but i'm firmly in its corner and am doing my part to drum up interest. If anyone here does check it out and wants me to answer questions about characters/stories, i'm happy to do so (i also maintain a huge tape collection for trades just as i do with Henson/Muppets)
As a genre and a long-standing American tradition (though not limited to the US), the daytime drama (or "soap opera") is on the endangered species list. For well over a decade, there's typically been roughly ten network soaps on the air. With Guiding Light's recent cancellation, the number is now down to seven. It's very likely that number could be down to five within the next year and completely gone within five to ten.
Like the rest of the television landscape, reality shows have woven its curse. The programmers of daytime blocks are not blind to how much cheaper it is to put on "reality" shows (or similar fare like talk shows) than to spend so much on programs that have full crews of actors, directors, writers, elaborate sets, and on and on.
Now soaps have kind of a bad name which is really a shame since for one thing, they carry on a rich tradition that has existed long before the advent of television of serialized storytelling. In fact they're one of the few forms that exist today (aside from perhaps comics) that draw on decades of history. Primetime dramas have been influenced by them (it's almost hard to imagine now but even drama series were much like sitcoms in that episodes were largely self-contained and were generally resolved in an hour instead of carrying story arcs into multiple episodes.) Soap actors are often at the bottom of the totem pole - and admittedly there is some merit here in that casting directors often hire models and Bodies over acting talent. But despite the presence of such "hair models", the actors that take the craft seriously (and there are thankfully many of them) are among the hardest working and most talented actors out there doing not only emotional roles that carry decades of character history but also doing so on the dizzying production schedule of five new episodes a week with rare reruns or downtime. For all the jokes made at their expense, the daytime serial drama is an incredible artform, mired in tradition that is an incredible collaboration of truly dedicated artists and craftspeople.
So why am i going on about this here? Remember i said that it's likely we may see the landscape lose two more next year? As the World Turns has long had a target on its back and is expected to end in 2010. But last week, shock waves rocked the industry when TV Guide's Nelson Branco broke the news that a network insider revealed to him that ABC's One Life to Live came dangerously close to being taken off the air this year (it was saved by Aisha's talk show having tested poorly) and "pending a ratings miracle" is expected to get the axe in 2010.
At a time when soaps are fighting to exist, why was the news about a possible OLTL cancellation next year so earthshattering to the industry? Because its largely felt by fans and critics that the show is among the current landscape's best. It's not the highest rated (Young & Restless tends to hold that spot) but in terms of overall quality, it's viewed by soapsters as a model.
ABC actually has a strong daytime bloc with three back-to-back soaps - All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital. That ABC is even thinking of breaking up their trifecta is pretty scary. But even though many feel that AMC and GH are in many ways a mess, OLTL is seen as the most disposable only due to branding issues - the other two have some kind of "name recognition" to those who never watch soaps since the average person knows All My Children has Erica Kane/Susan Lucci and General Hospital had the insane Luke and Laura craze sweeping the country in the early 80s.
But that's really the only reason ABC sees OLTL as the easiest target despite its being the stronger quality overall and often has held its own or topped the other two ABC soaps in the ratings this year (AMC has largely been on the bottom of the three throughout 2009). It also is the only one of the three that consistently manages to stay under budget despite having the smallest budget of the trio (the other two constantly go over budget).
This latest news is a rallying call for supporters of the daytime drama in general and OLTL fans in particular to do what they can to keep these shows on the air. That's why i'm writing here - i've been drumming up the troops on OLTL boards to keep watching and encourgae others to do so, so i may as well do my part here.
Even though i support the industry, i've never really been a "soap watcher" myself. But i first tuned in during 1992 when i had seen various entertainment news reports about how the show was taking huge steps to go beyond what was considered the standard of the time by having an executive producer from the film industry (Linda Gottlieb), a headwriter who was an acclaimed novelist (Michael Malone) and doing several socially relevant storylines. I tuned it and i was hooked. I saw some absolutely electric actors/actresses, not to mention quite a few who didn't look like the typical Ken and Barbie soap types. As a just coming out college student i was captivated by the very-daring-for-1992 gay teen storyline starring a then-unknown Ryan Philippe. But as much as that drew me in, i kept coming back to see the Buchanan family craziness, Blair Cramer, Alex Olinov, and Tina Lord carry out their nutty schemes, the New Agey Luna Moony capturing grounded Max Holden's heart, Dorian Lord doing everything she could to make her enemies miserable, and the landmark powerful college date rape story that focused on Marty Saybrooke and Todd Manning.
A guy who i never thought in a million years would be a soap fan found myself anxiously tuning in each day and hunting down magazines that summerized the show's previous history and storylines (this was a few years before i would be online) To my disbelief, this was fast becoming one of my favorite shows.
Eventually Malone and Gottlieb left and after a few writing regime changes, i started to ween myself off my addiction by taking it off my vcr timer in the late 90s. However in 2001 when the show won its first daytime Emmy for Best Show and was airing an entire week of shows live, i tuned in again and fell in love all over again (the show obviously was much improved). After getting back into a daily viewing habit again, i was rewarded with the news in Feb 2003 that Michael Malone would be returning as head writer!
In the years since Malone was later replaced by worst-headwriter-ever Dena Higley (though i still stuck with the show) and thankfully replaced by current HW Ron Carlivati. This man was a total godsend to the show since he had been on the writing staff for 11 years and was a major fan of the show prior. The guy loves both the show's history and the artform of soap writing and it shows. Although it's not perfect, OLTL is at an incredible high point with top notch writing, directing, acting, storytelling...this is a show that often rivals primetime dramas with its overall quality and deserves a long life. I encourage others to check it out and/or support it. There's lots to love!
I won't lie - like my Muppet fandom, i'll be the first to be honest about what's great and what's not working. There are some horrendously bad "hair model" non-actors (Crystal Hunt's Stacy) on there but by and large the actors are top-notch - not only do you have such rare breeds like the Soap Hunks who can also actually ACT and turn out multi-layered performances (Mark Lawson's Brody Lovett, Brett Claywell's Kyle Lewis) but you also have veteran POWERHOUSES like recent Emmy winner (and Sesame fan) Susan Haskell's Marty Saybrooks, Hillary B. Smith's Nora Gannon, Kassie DePaiva's Blair Cramer, and SUPERTALENTS Robin Strasser as Dorian Lord and record-setting six-time Emmy winner Erika Slezak as Viki Banks (Dorian vs Viki is one of the show's legendary feuds as currently the two are running against each other for Mayor of Llanview!)
The show has such memorable characters like the alcholic phrase-mangling salon owner Roxy Balsom, the scheming materialistic David Vickers (Tuc Watkins who also is seen regularly on Desperate Housewives) and even stage and screen veteran Brian Kerwin as Viki's current husband.
What would Hensonites find interesting? Well, even though some Muppeteers or other people of interest have popped up on soaps, OLTL hasn't had a huge share of them (though cast members included Jessica Walker who voiced Fran Sinclair on Dinosaurs, Darlene Vogel who played Crichton's ex-fiancee on Farscape and Broadway actress Kerry Butler - wife of Joey Mazzarino). But there are a lot of interesting parallels with Sesame Street! OLTL is one year older, debuting in 1968 and much like SST's debut was a major turning point in terms of representing diversity. Creator Agnes Nixon's vision was for it to represent different races, backgrounds, and social classes and feature socially relevant stories. Just as Sesame presented African American actors as an equal and normal part of the neighborhood, Nixon not only included a Black doctor and a maid, but leading character Carla Grey turned out to be a light-skinned black woman passing herself off as white to advance her acting career - a very shocking (for the time) story where the reveal was made only after the audience got to know and care for the character. Today it proudly carries that tradition (just as SST has over its forty decades) by not only including a large number of African-Americans, Hispanics, and gay characters - but all of these are three-dimensional important parts of the show instead of coming across as "tokan" characters (a refreshing change from Higley's writing regime). Even though other soaps have taken long overdue strides in including gay and lesbian characters this last year, OLTL's Kyle/Fish story is multi-layered, complex, non-stereotypical and each character is a strong enough character and part of the overall fabric on their own.
Also, like the Muppets OLTL has both lots of heart and HUMOR - it's not all big Serious Kleenex-eating weepers (though it does often make me cry) but it's also one of the FUNNIEST shows on the air (not just for soaps but even better than actual comedy shows). It strikes an excellent balance between humor, drama, and heart that Muppet/Henson fans might appreciate or identify with.
Check it out - whether you're an old viewer that stopped, a new one, or (like me at one time) one of those people who never thought they'd be a soap-watcher. The show can be seen both on ABC in the afternoon and on Soapnet at night (A footnote... OLTL did get some wonderful news a couple of days after the cancellation rumor broke in that the Nielson Ratings report for third quarter 2009 mentioned that OLTL brought in the cable networks HIGHEST EVER RATINGS this last quarter for rebroadcasts of daily soaps - with a doule digit increase over the previous year). And of course you can also do the whole Youtube/net exploring too!
Support the dying genre and one of its best programs - OLTL deserves to be one of the last soaps left standing; not the next to go. I know this was a long empassioned post but i'm firmly in its corner and am doing my part to drum up interest. If anyone here does check it out and wants me to answer questions about characters/stories, i'm happy to do so (i also maintain a huge tape collection for trades just as i do with Henson/Muppets)
