IMO: Bring back the 30 minute soap

[Matt]

I'm just got give a little editoral for a moment. I wish the networks would return to presenting soap operas in the 30 minute format. IMO, :30 soaps have a tighter feel. They'd have smaller budgets because of fewer cast members (face it, folks, a lot of the shows have the cast of a :30 soap right now even though they're an hour). Also, more :30 soaps would allow for *more* soap operas. And :30 soaps are *much* easier to repurpose. An omnibus of a :30 AMC on SoapNet on Saturday would only take up 2.5 hours. Sell reruns of a :30 ATWT & GL to Lifetime for an overnight hour of soap opera. And in this day an age of people on the go-go-go, it's much easier to squeeze :30 of your favorite soap opera into your schedule than :60. I want :30 soaps to make a comeback.

[Josh]

I've missed your thought out and logical posts!!!!!!!

[Mason]

As a last ditch resort to save the genre, I could actually see execs shortening their shows to half an hour. Especially the ABC soaps for some reason

[Darn]

30 minute soap, 3 days a week. Stronger stories, better production and less time for the viewers to dedicate to watching.

[Mason]

That's what I think the MyNetworkTV telenovelas should have done, instead of a two hour block Monday-Friday. I was burnt out after Fashion House, so I couldn't keep up with both Watch Over Me and Wicked, Wicked Games every night. And I could see it being beneficial to soaps too, except for the fact that they'd all have to trim their casts, which leads to the issue of who to cut.

[billyjill]

I was thinking of fewer days a week also. I think might like shows to try that if they need to.

[Darn]

What I suggested is what the Brit method used to be (somewhat). I really like it, it means the writers won't be so burnt out, the actors will have time to gather themselves between episodes and really consider their performances, the editing would improve drastically and also with less cast members and half the production time the budget would go down dramatically. I really think this should be the new model. It would save the genre without sacrificing quality.

Of course it's not as simple as that but something has to be done and firing strong actors for newbies is clearly not working, using the same writers over and over is not working, cutting the budget is not working, makes you wonder why they continue to do things that don't work.

[jfung79]

Yeah, I think a 30-minute soap for either the whole week or three episodes a week would be great, and yes that's much like the British approach which has worked so well.

[Cat]

Interesting idea, and one that I support, especially the part about having more soaps filling up 2 or 3 hour slots.

From watching B&B, I've noticed that the show itself is actually 22 minutes excluding ads. 22 minutes, 5 times a week is something I'd be more than happy with. I'm surprised MyNetworkTV didn't go this route with Wicked Wicked Games (which I *loved*) because the cast list looked smaller than B&B's.

Speaking of B&B, I don't think the show utilizes its half-hour format well enough from a pacing and SL standpoint. It used to be brilliant back in the early days. Right now, though, the show uses too few of its cast while conversely rushing its SLs. The show sometimes feels like a 1-hour soap chopped into two parts. From what I recall, Loving was better at balancing 3 acts in 30 minutes.

[sheilaforever]

According to Variety FOX is having a 30 minute MINI (!????) soap in development - helmed by some British producers.

[JamesF]

I'm totally in favour of this. The 60 minute soaps may have worked with the vast budgets and locations of the 80s but now it just seems bloated with not enough substance to fill the extra time. Instead of stories naturally playing out and being gripping viewing, there is a sense of writers desperately trying to fill the extra time with exposition.

The other difference of the 30 minute soap model in the UK and Aus is that things don't seem so theatrical and artificial. Scenes play out to their natural end (a la primetime) before moving on to the next order of business with characters drifting in and out of other settings. Many of the 60 minute soaps these days with three story strands comprising of two people talking at one another are basically very lazy forms of storytelling.

[WTGH]

With a half hour format I expect ALL action and no filler. Scenes go to the point and no redunant dialogue.

[sheilaforever]

This is kinda like LML tries to do Y&R.

It doesn't work at all though. THe writers tend to skip the built-up and instead drag the not note-worthy...

B&B used to be really good at pacing. However it was not during the Bill Bell years but in the mid and late 90s where stories had an interesting built-up, great development and satisfying pay-off - all the right length, not too short but also not too long. Today, Brad Bell has reduced the built-up close to zero because he - like most writers these days - think they bore viewers and are redundant. A huge mistake. At least B&B still knows how to deliver and is a class of its own at climaxing - Y&R could be so much more watchable if LML knew anything about pacing. Even Guza at GH knows how to it - like during the hostage crisis at Metro Court!?

PS: @ Cat: B&B is no longer 22 minutes long. Similar like Y&R or GH which are instead of 40 just 36 or 37 minutes, B&B has been reduced to 18-19 minutes. I'm currently preserving classic B&B on DVD and in 2000 (CJ! Throoke! Kimberly Queen of Stalking Fairchild! Sigh!!!) episodes still were often 20 minutes or longer...

[danthig]

When I rented Dark Shadows on DVD from Netflix,the shows seemed to play a lot faster minus commercials and most of the episode seemed like 20 to 22 minutes long.Then the show is over before you know it.

[JamesF]

The way to stop 30 minute soaps becoming plot lead messes is to have real *characters*. Ones that have friendships and family ties so that when they're discussing something, there's a point to it -- it's essentially gossip. We as viewers should lap up knowing Martha's reaction to Jack and Dorothy's illicit affair even if she's not involved because characters know each other. What we currently get, more often than not, is bland characters discussing things to fill viewers in and that gets old.

As for B&B, it is very very short these days. I've noticed the same thing sheilaforever with decreasing times when burning to DVD. GL is usually around the 35 minute mark but I think Y&R is around 38.

Interestingly though, while EastEnders is a half hour show it doesn't have commercials so actually runs for about 28 minutes. Corrie on the other hand is around 24 and the Aussie shows like Neighbours and H&A, around 22.

ETA: Soaps as guilty pleasures or even slices of escapism should be about leaving viewers panting for more. 60 minutes ain't compatible with that. Instead viewers wonder how to squeeze them in without feeling guilty.