22 replies to this topic

[VirginiaHamilton]

Hello, all:

 

If you wanted to introduce a viewer to a soap, which (past or present) storyline(s) would you use to lure them over?  

 

Furthermore, what is/was it about that/those storyline(s) that you'd swear would make them a believer in that soap?

 

(Past and present soaps, as well as telenovelas and international soaps, are welcome)

 

[Days22]

The Salem Slasher and the coronation shooting has worked and sucked people in to Days for me.

 

I believe its the intrigue of the slasher and the mass chaos of the shooting that worked.

Edited by Days22, 20 February 2013 - 10:06 PM.

[Marco Dane]

I think the Music Box Killer bought in some viewers to OLTL

 

Plus the Salem Stalker threw me in LOL

 

[Soapsuds]

A bi male deciding over whether to be with another man or woman. A triangle......

[allmc2008]

I know the return of Jesse on AMC tuned be in! I think any popular return, weather the character is dead or not, and done correctly can bring in new viewers. I think GH missed out for not promoting the Hell out of GF returning! They could have done prime time promos with the ice princess stuff.

[Mr. Vixen]

Angie/Jesse brought me back to AMC after some time away, so if I'm going after long term viewers I'd do something like that.

 

If I'm targeting new viewers, I need to  think on it

[VirginiaHamilton]

AMC: Janet From Another Planet arrives to take over her sister, Natalie's, life. From locking Natalie down a well to conceiving Amanda with Trevor, that storyline was soapy goodness at its finest (as well as one of the reasons why I got sucked into the show).  Add the fact that Kate Collins knocked it out of the park and the open ending gave way to a successful recast (as well as my introduction to the equally great Robin Mattson) and you've got an engrossing storyline that'll make you want to stick around in Pine Valley past the storyline's end.

[allmc2008]

AMC: Janet From Another Planet arrives to take over her sister, Natalie's, life. From locking Natalie down a well to conceiving Amanda with Trevor, that storyline was soapy goodness at its finest (as well as one of the reasons why I got sucked into the show).  Add the fact that Kate Collins knocked it out of the park and the open ending gave way to a successful recast (as well as my introduction to the equally great Robin Mattson) and you've got an engrossing storyline that'll make you want to stick around in Pine Valley past the storyline's end.

There has been a lot of people that were brought in thanks to Janet! I was born the week after Janet/Trevor married while Nat was still in the well so I don't remember a lot of what happened then.

 

My dad taped my mother when she went into labor at the hospital and AMC was playing on the TV across from her! I love watching the tape because you can see the old closing credits on the TV in the background.

 

The reason why the doctors weren't delivering me is another story. Just know I could have been a day older!

Angie/Jesse brought me back to AMC after some time away, so if I'm going after long term viewers I'd do something like that.

 

If I'm targeting new viewers, I need to  think on it

It brought me in granted AMC is in my blood (Read what I said to VirginiaHamilton above).

[Mr. Vixen]

I had watched AMC for a long time, but was on a break. When I heard about Angie and Jesse, I had to tune back in.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Being an NBC soap watcher VIA Great-Gran, I got hooked on others when we finally got Cable.

I got hooked on Y&R during the Alex Bladeson/Mari Jo Story and got hooked, not much of a watcher now, just for occassional returns like Phillip III return from the dead.

 

B&B got me hooked with Lauren crossover, I am a fan of crossovers/spin-offs

 

GL was during the blackout of  1993 and Monti Sharp

 

ATWT it was something with Lily and Andy Dixon and babyswitching and A stenbeck

 

OLTL was the Georgie Murder

 

AMC, Finola Hughes debut, and i seen bits and pieces of the Skye/Erica/Janet stuff

 

GH- Rosalind Cash Debut, may she rest in peace.

 

A good storyline or a known actor from another soap and/or another genre can reel in new viewers....and promos, especially at night.

[DRW50]

I've gotten someone into Edge of Night with the Mansion of the Damned/Nola Madison opus.

[SoapDope]

I think the GL Roger/Holly marriage and his rape of her was a storyline that made people tune in.

[allmc2008]

I've gotten someone into Edge of Night with the Mansion of the Damned/Nola Madison opus.

I found a lot of Mansion of the Damned on YT. Which one is the first of the story?

[#1_Bitch_Boy]

AMC: Janet From Another Planet arrives to take over her sister, Natalie's, life. From locking Natalie down a well to conceiving Amanda with Trevor, that storyline was soapy goodness at its finest (as well as one of the reasons why I got sucked into the show).  Add the fact that Kate Collins knocked it out of the park and the open ending gave way to a successful recast (as well as my introduction to the equally great Robin Mattson) and you've got an engrossing storyline that'll make you want to stick around in Pine Valley past the storyline's end.

 

Robin Mattson never receiving one single Emmy nomination during her entire six-and-a-half-year run on that show has to go down as the biggest daytime Emmy oversight ever.  Hell, she should have won the Lead Actress prize for the amazing job she did in either 1994 or 1995.  All My Children practically handed the store over to her back then.

[Nothin'ButAttitude]

Well going down the line and remembering stories that hooked me:

 

GL: The first soap to have me hooked and the story was Maureen's death and her aftermath. And Roger/Blake/Holly's family dynamic drew me in too. Chaotic yet good. 

 

Y&R: Keesha's AIDS story

 

B&B: The Sheila saga 

 

ATWT: Damien/Holden/Lily 1.0 

 

AW: Iris shooting Carl (thanks to Evan Frame) 

 

DAYS: I think the story was the coronation 

 

OLTL: I think the beginnings of Jessica and Antonio I think. I saw them and rooted for them even though I liked Keri too. And I floved them till the end. 

 

AMC: The Proteus story. Many people hated it but I loved it. Loved Vanessa Cortlandt too. 

 

GH: GQ and Journey. Yes, I liked Journey and Kung Fu Barbie. Plus, she was my Alli Fowler, so. . .  And GQ was (and still is) my fave GH couple. D*mn Lulu's sleazy a** to h*ll for ruining them, and Guza for killing Georgie! 

 

British Soaps

 

Eastenders: Who Killed Archie

Corrie: The Tram Crash/Anniversary episodes 

Emmerdale: Around the time Tom Wylde was murdered

 

Going off what I had, some form of good murder mystery, or sweep stunts will bring in new viewers; I'm a firm believer too that stories that a pulled from the headlines that are scandalous gets people tuned in; however, endearing character during those stories is what's gonna keep them in the long haul. At least that's what happened with me. . . 

Edited by Nothin'ButAttitude, 21 February 2013 - 11:08 PM.

[jfung79]

I would use Luke coming out on ATWT (not Luke's later story), or Will/Sonny on DAYS, because of the relatability, their not being stereotypical soap "back from the dead"/twin/affair-type stories, and their good character-based writing. 

 

Both stories also effectively use pacing and emotional cliffhangers to make you "tune in tomorrow." And, both stories involve lots of interaction with other characers on the show from core families, so the viewer would grow to care about these other characters and want to watch the show as a whole, not just that story.

Edited by jfung79, 22 February 2013 - 06:31 AM.

[DRW50]

I found a lot of Mansion of the Damned on YT. Which one is the first of the story?

 

First available on YT is this.

 

 

There are a few episodes not on that channel, but on another one. They start here.

 

[RavenWhitney]

Josh Griffith had a golden opportunity to present a cutting age teen story with Fen, Summer and Jaimie.  The basis of the animus between the boys should have been a drunken bisexual one night stand with Jaime bi and Fen gay and Summer caught in the middle.  Add the bullying and throw in that Jaimie is Paul's grandson and it would have been a powerhouse story with classic and contemporary elements. 

[DRW50]

Josh Griffith had a golden opportunity to present a cutting age teen story with Fen, Summer and Jaimie.  The basis of the animus between the boys should have been a drunken bisexual one night stand with Jaime bi and Fen gay and Summer caught in the middle.  Add the bullying and throw in that Jaimie is Paul's grandson and it would have been a powerhouse story with classic and contemporary elements. 

 

I don't think that will ever happen on Y&R. You saw their last gay stories.

[jfung79]

AMC: The Proteus story. Many people hated it but I loved it. Loved Vanessa Cortlandt too. 

I loved the Proteus story too on AMC.  It really spanned the show.  I think it is the kind of story that could make an existing soap viewer like a new soap, moreso than one that would pull new viewers to soaps. 

 

On GH, I think the stuff with Mary Mae Ward could draw in new viewers.  The power of the character and the thought behind the Ward family, as well as the social-activist, environmental-justice content of the toxic waste incinerator story, would appeal to a more politically conscious kind of viewer.  

 

Also on GH, the stuff in 1996 when Nikolas was first introduced as Laura's long-lost son, complete with mysterious Stefan Cassadine, was addictive.  I think that is something that could draw an existing soap viewer to a new soap, not draw in new viewers to soaps entirely.  I was already familiar with GH before Nikolas, but once that story started, I couldn't stop watching after the summer, unlike in years past when I stopped after school started.

 

Generally a story needs to have good cliffhangers (emotional, not plot so much, cliffhangers) to draw me in.

Edited by jfung79, 24 February 2013 - 02:00 AM.