Primetime Soaps

[DRW50]

Thanks for typing up those articles, that type of thing probably takes forever.

[EricMontreal22]

Purely from Schemering's book, I get the feeling that the Shapiros tried to make Emerald a bit more "realistic". Of course, in many ways it could be argued that's what they were trying to do with their first early episodes of Dynasty too, particularly before the Pollocks came in.

[EricMontreal22]

It sucks--but I love sharing and discussing all this, so it's worth it. There's a great 10 or so page article on soaps (and specifically ATWT) from 1968 that I really wanna post on here, but I'm just not sure I can handle typing out something so ambitious (There's another great 1975 one about the "Schism dividing the traditional soap and the new relevant soap" that is almost as long and is pretty interesting how it compares and contrasts the P&G soaps--quite harshly--with the newer breed, specifically AMC, OLTL and How to Survive a Marriage). I keep tinkering around trying to find a way to print them directly to here... I'll prob find it after writing it all out.

[All My Shadows]

Yes, Emerald Point was one of the few primetime soaps of that era to debut in the fall as opposed to midseason, so it was lucky enough to last a full season of 22 episodes. The credits for Emerald Point and Berrenger's were on YouTube last year, and Emerald Point's cast was just...fantabulous. Not many HUGE names, but people who had experience or would go on to big things. Weaver, Robert Vaughn, Sela Ward, Maud Adams, Jill St. John, Richard Dean Anderson, Andrew Stevens, Robert Loggia, and even AMC's Jeff, Charles Frank, who wore the hell out of a military uniform.

Speaking of Andrew Stevens, I finished reading Hollywood Wives today, and I am just in awe at how absolutely magical the book was. I love the mini-series, always will, but I guess it's true what they say, the book is almost always better. That was my kind of book, from beginning to end. Jackie knows who were audience is, that's for sure. I'm gonna try to rewatch the mini-series on YouTube soon because it's been years since I've seen it. I want to be able to spot the similarities and differences now.

[EricMontreal22]

HAHA I know it's beyond ridiculous, but I'm still kinda snobby about books--more than TV. I've read Peyton Place of course and even Valley of the Dolls (as a snobby, irony loving teenager ) but I don't know if I could ever pick up a book with Jackie Collins on the cover. I did see her last week, by chance, on The Wendy Williams Show forher new bookand was amusedby the interview, although Jackie's claim was she basically wasn't even an author, she just wrote down what sheoverheard at parties...

Aww I'd love seeing a young Sela Ward in Emerald Point Big fan--she was always too good for Sisters (a show I did NOT like--ironic that the creators went on to make my much hated American adaptation of Queer as Folk), so it was great wehn Herskovitz/Zwick finally used her talent in Once and Again.

[SFK]

Emerald Point N.A.S. boasted two bitches with Sela and Jill St. John. Have you ever seen the *groundbreaking* telefilm An Early Frost? It was the first fictional TV show about AIDS, ever. We Netflixed it a while back and while listening to the creators (along with Aiden Quinn) do the commentary did I realize that they (Cowen and Lipman) were also responsible for Sisters (my mom watched it EVERY Saturday night, it replaced Hunter) and QAF.

[SFK]

Have you guys read Scruples? My mom had it and I read bits and pieces back in high school after I saw some program about it. I mostly laughed at the graphic accounts of sexuality.

[EricMontreal22]

And thelame Showtime flop(post QAF) Leap Years I thinkti was.

I have seen An Early Frost--for a network tv movie I found it very brave--my main probs with Cowen and Lipman is their cliched and facile take on major issues (plus I just think QAF destroyed nearly everything I found so brilliant in the UK original. Of course I think I still saw nearly every episode And maybe it's not all C and L's fault--the stroy editor on the later seasons was Gay Canadian playwright Brad Fraser whoseplaysI think are sometimes even brilliant--yet the quality of the show didn't really improve).

Edited February 19, 2010 by EricMontreal22

[EricMontreal22]

It's pretty awful,though the miniseries is a guilty pleasure (kim Catrall and Connie Stevens!) It also was piloted as a prime time soap in the early 80s.

[All My Shadows]

I thought it was intended to be a daytime soap? Or maybe both somewhere along the line.

I never watched all of Scruples. WeTV was showing it pretty frequently around the same time they were showing Hollywood Wives and Bare Essence a lot. They ran them part-by-part on Monday nights and then showed the complete story on Saturday. Sins, starring Queen Joan, was one of my favorites. Besides Joan, you also had the colossal diva talents of Lauren Hutton and Capucine, who I like to think I am a reincarnated version of (she died two weeks before I was born). Also, Catherine Mary Stewart, who would have been absolutely perfect on Dynasty and/or The Colbys.

[DRW50]

I loved Sela Ward on Sisters, at least the first few seasons. Leather jacket, bitter Teddy, rebel with the heart of gold? Loved her. I still have that scene in my head where she protested when an art exhibited was going to be closed -- "I don't want to take a trip on the SS censorship."

Even with the cliched writing and ridiculous stories (Alex's husband being a crossdresser for like three episodes, never to be mentioned again) I think the first few seasons of that show were very entertaining. I have very fond memories of them. The episode where Georgie went back to her old family house for Thanksgiving especially. And they managed to make the conceit work of the scenes of the sisters as kids/teens, the visions of the past talking to the present characters.

It went to hell when it started taking itself too seriously. Georgie's oldest son going bad + the story where Georgie had an evil psychiatrist who lusted after her and made her think her father had molested her (and this man was played by Patricia Kalember's real life husband!) were enough to drive me away from the show for good.

[EricMontreal22]

New York Times again (typos all my own )

Feb 1, 1981

The Formula's the Thing on 'Soaps'

By John J. O'Connor

The scene is set in what appears to be a dank, secluded patch of woodland. Two persons in elegant evening attire, emerged from a large, gas-guzzling automobile. The attractive young woman is anxious to get financial support for her oil-rich but cash-poor father. The middle-aged man with a British accent will agree to marry his nephew, whom he describes as "a Denver version of the Prince of Wales." Scheming Fallon Carrington would prefer to marry the ruthless uncle, Cecil Colby (names are often the most creative element in this enterprise), but he is far too sophisticated to be entrapped by a passing affair. "Passion dies, power remains," he tells her. As if that's not enough, he confesses that "at my age, vengeance is as sweet as sex." Poor bitchy Fallon is overwhelmed by such profundities but still manages to agree to marry Cecil's harmless nephew. In other words, dear viewer, we are smack-dab in the middle of soap opera territory.

At least a year ago, commenting on the growing popularity of CBS' "Dallas," this column predicted, with little fear of contradiction, that the daytime staple of soap opera would become the next dominant trend in prime-time programming. In television, success breeds imitations that, within necessary legal limits, venture close to outright duplications. "Dallas" quickly produced its own spin-off for CBS: "Knots Landing," which has been a bit sluggish in the audience ratings but, with booster shots from periodic guest appearances by Larry Hagman as the notorious J.R. Ewing, is surviving.

On the other hand, the standard format of soaps has no guarantee of automatic acceptance. CBS has already canceled "Secrets of Midland Heights," which dropped to the bottom of the weekly ratings list despite enough sexual entanglements to give pause perhaps even to Judith Krantz. But the trend remains unchecked. In the past month, two new weekly series have donned the sex-and-power mantle of soap opera with an almost shameless determination. NBC's "Flamingo Road," advertised as being from the people who brought you "Dallas" (Lorimar Productions), is on Tuesday evenings at 10. ABC's "Dynasty" -- the source of that scene described above -- ison Monday evenings at 9.

* * *

Starting as a 1942 novel by Robert Wilder, "Flamingo Road" has gone through several adaptations, including a 1949 movie that starred Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott and Sydney Greenstreet. The original offered an insight into Florida politics during the Prohibition. The updated television version isobviously more concerned with sexual shenanigans in the Permissiveness Era. The locale remains Truro, Florida, and major characters are the same, at least in name and general reltionships. Lane Ballou (Christina Raines), on the lam from a mysterious past, moves into a local brothel run by Lute May (Stella Stevens). Anotherpermanent resident is Sam Curtis (John Beck), struggling to advance in business and in his wobbly affair with Lane. Despite their address, these three characters are among the good guys and gals.

The villains ofthe piece areprovided by the town's establishment, particularly the corrupt police chief, Titus Semple (Howard Duff), and the greedy millionaire, Claude Weldon (Kevin McCarthy), who wants "everything the law allows -- and then some." Shuttling between extremes of heroism and villainy are the young politician Fielding Carlisle (Mark Harmon) and his dizzy wife Constance (Morgan Fairchild). Needless to say, Fielding is lusting for Lane, who, while going off temporarily with Fielding, is really hankering for Sam. Understandably confused, Sam tells Lane: "I'd love to stick around to see how you work things out, but I can only take so many cold showers."

In the episode I caught on air recently, Chief Semple was busy bugging all the rooms in Lute May's establishment in an effort to expand his blackmailing activities. In addition to recording a revealing conversation between Lane and Fielding, he discovered that Lane was willing to pay $5,000 to keep a visiting scoundrel from exposing her past. At episode's end, Semple was ominously muttering, "Lane Ballou, you just made your first mistake."

Meanwhile, between crises, Lane be found in the house's cocktail lounge singing songs out of the currently trendy country-and-Western catalog. Clearly, "Flamingo Road" has been designed to be seductively sultry or, at the very least, steamy. But with dumb scripts and dialog, poor productions and anemic performances, the result is merely damp, generating vague discomfort more than anything else.

* * *

Although the scene has been shifted to Denver, "Dynasty" remains very much in "Dallas" territory. In this case, as concoted by writers Richard and Esther Shapiro, the big oli-rich family in town is headed by Blake Carrington (John Forsythe), whocan be suave or vicious, tender or unscrupulous, as the occasion demands. On the phone to Washington after hearing about a leftist coup at one of his Third World oil sources, he shouts, "What does the State Department expect me to do -- invade the damn place?" Blake's new wife is Krystal (Linda Evans), many years his junior, resented by his scheming daughter Fallon (Pamela Sue Martin) and cowed by the family's haughty butler. Changing the menu from duck to squab becomes an act of unusual courage. Krystal once had an affair with Matthew Blaisdell (Bo Hopkins), who is now giving Blake some competition as a wildcat explorer. Matthew's wife Claudia (Pamela Bellwood), is a bit emotionally disturbed, but Matthew is generally protective, although he sometimes reminds her that "I don't like being married to a mental patient any more than you enjoy being one." Meanwhile, Blake's young and handsome son, Steve (Al Corley), wnats to strike out as his own as an assistant to Matthew. Steve may be a homosexual, but his initial tender and innocent moments with Claudia indicate that as "Tea and Sympathy" resolution may be in the offing.

* * *

Again, the ingredients for endless plot permutations in "Dynasty" have clearly been assembled with painstaking calculation. As with "Flamingo Road," the script may be slight, the production values noticeably cheap (but higher than "Flamingo"'s) and some of the performances little more than two-dimensional sketches. Yet, the same criticisms can be made of "Dallas." For all of its popularity, that CBS series offers decidedly second-rate drama. For reasons best left to the speculation of sociologists, the single character of J.R. captured the public imagination and "Dallas" reeps the rewards of blockbuster ratings. So, be prepared for even more sex-and-power exploitations. Indeed, the standard ploys can be fascinating. When in "Dynasty," for instance, Matthew and Claudia have an ordinary end-of-the-day conversation, it takes place in the bedroom with him wearing only a bath towel several inches below the navel. Or when Krystal worries about adapting to her new husband's posh life style, she is solemnly told that "the rich are different." A dav of nitty-gritty, a touch of fajntasy-- the formula is demonstratably enduring.

[EricMontreal22]

I did like Sela on the show. I think the cast often saved it. I have to admit I'm being too hard on it--and haven't seen it in years. I think my problem was that it did take itself too seriously--it wanted to be a 'real' drama liek thirtysomething but really should have embraced its pure prime time OTT soap element. (They had this same prob with much of Queer as Folk--claiming they were a realistic, relatable series, when the storylines got so over thetop and even kinda oddly mean spirited--like having the ugly character become an instant drug addict and be raped while passedout on the drug, whielthe pretty gay lead is shown doing drugs every night--in a weird way that kinda storytelling remindsme of the later years of Sisters).

I had almost forgotten completely about the "past characters" conceit--C and L had a similar one in Leap Years which never worked.

HAHA The reincarnation, hey?

I dunno, it doesn't seem like it would work at all as a daytime soap to me but wouldbe perfect for primetime--so I could be projecting.

[DRW50]

The first few seasons of Sisters were more lighthearted. John Whitzig, singing in his bathrobe, all that. It did become much too serious later on, and I got sick of it. The same happened with QAF. The first season was pure campy trash, sleazy and loving it. The stories that tried to be more issue oriented, like Emmett's attempt to become straight, did not work, and were half-hearted at best. Then they started wanting to become "serious" and it just didn't work. I stuck with the show, mostly because of some of the cast. Sharon Gless, Hal Sparks, Robert Gant (no comment on Brian/Justin -- they seemed to repeat the same scenes for five years). Emmett and Ted had their moments, although I agree they seemed to enjoy degrading Ted. And poor Vic.

Leap Years was a mess. The only part I enjoyed was when they'd find reasons to strip off their leading men (robbers are at the party, everyone has to strip!). Aside from always boring Bruno Campos, who never wanted to show anything. One of the guys probably got a show out of that exposure (it was called Naked Josh, and he did get naked a few times).

It's a shame Michelle Hurd has never had more luck in TV.

[EricMontreal22]

Naked Josh was a Canadian show (you prob know that--but there was hype and some controversy about the government helping to fund it) though I forgot it got US cable exposure too.

I actually can agree with everything yous ay above. My problems with QAF is partly that the Uk series (which I saw when it first aired and Iw as over there--and was still a teen) was unliek anything I had ever seen before, and I loved it. To see the US (well US/Canadian) version first as a more watered down version with less guts, worse acting (though I grew to like all the actors you singled out), and more sub MTV sex scenes that somehow still managed to be less erotic, really just emphasised all my worse fears. Yet, I have to admit you're right that early on it was still fun in a cheezy way. I guess Cowen/Lipman really falter when they try to take themselves seriously. (Which was another prob for me with the remake--they actually said they wanted to make the show something all gays AND lesbians could relate and identify with... That's a big problem--espexially when Davies structured the original, and it was groundbreaking because of this, so that it was only about a specific group of people and in no way was trying to say that all gays are like this or to have a character everyone could identify with--that was also why he didn't do another full season as the network wanted, because he said there was no more way he thougth he could tell his story with the same character still all friends--they simply wouldn't be, his story was over. Yet the US series tried to repeat Brian/Justin endlessly, when Davies said the point fo the characters in his--the equivalent two--was that it was an infatuation, etc, but once the kid grows up and has had his first seuxal encounter with the older guy there's no reason to make it some great love--that's that. Which is much more realistic in my experience). So I guess they're too ambitious and don't have the talent to pull it off.

And yeah I remember the gratuitous male nudity in Leap Years (which I guess was a massive flop, I've never heard anyone even mention it lol). It doesn't even seem to have an online presence/following like many other recent flop shows have had (such as Williamson's Wastelands). I liked Hurd in it (I believe she's still had a lot of theatre success), and appreciated they had a fairly fluid take on sexuality, but it just wasn't very good (the flashback and flashforward conceit never really seemed to have a real purpose to it IMHO).

Edited February 19, 2010 by EricMontreal22