SOW: Night Shift Reveals Daytime's True Colours

[d_wsb]

move this is need be.

Night Shift Reveals Daytime's True Colours

Every other soap opera literally pales in comparison to GH:NS - including GH. And, while the nighttime series is a veritable rainbow of opportunity for diverse actors and viewers, it is also a disturbing commentary on daytime.

With two actors of Iranian descent, six African Americans and a Japanese American on the front burner, as well as a handful of recurring Latino characters, this edgy spin-off is definitely "racier." And GH - indeed, all of daytime - needs to get up to speed.

Consider Kent King, who has been on contract on GH as Lainey for more than a year and a half. She had more story in three weeks on NS than during her entire tenure in the afternoon. When not being thrown at Justus and Stan - garnering her about .06 seconds of airtime - Lainey languished. But at night, her sparks with crazy white war veteran Cody are off the medical charts. In addition, there are fiery conversations between Stan and Epiphany, Nurse Regina, Dr. Ford and the mysterious Toussaint. African Americans who have comprised the bulk of episodes (What is this, Generations?) at night barely rate a few minutes per week in the afternoon.

After dark, ob/gyn Kelly gratuitously steamed up in the shower with Stan, and Dr. Julian had an entire conversation with someone while shirtless - the same as any other exploitable soap hunk. But Leo is always fully dressed during the day, and Stan and Kelly soaped it up over a month after their daytime connection at Jake's.

Is the problem a fear that Dominic Rains and Nazanin Boniadi (Leo and Leyla) won't play in Peoria? That nobody wants to see Stan, Lainey and Kelly develop beyond one-dimensional pals of Patrick and Robin?

GH is hardly the only soap blinded by the white. Trotting out AMC's Derek or GL's remy and Mel for token appearances doesn't exactly warrant an NAACP Image Award. As for DOOL, stealing Abe's sight isn't what we meant by "colorblind."

"We have no room for more story" won't fly as an excuse, either - not when GH manages to find time for Max and Milo's blunderings and Sonny's Parade of Girlfriends.

Still, at least GH makes room for the minorities somewhere, unlike the lily-white Los Angeles on B&B or wherever the residents of As the White People Turn live. (Paging Jessica Griffin and Lien Hughes!)

Hey, daytime: It doesn't have to get dark for your cast to be darker.

So see the light!

[Southofnowhere]

AWESOME article!

[d_wsb]

i thought it was a very good written article too.

[TKknows]

It brings up alot of the very thoughts that I have had about ABC Daytime. Who is the author of this article? It was written very well and is so on target and true.

TK

[JackPeyton]

this was an amazing article.

and idk whats wrong with daytime. why wont they put more diverse people on. and when they do does it ened to be about race? why cant they just tell stories as they would for white char's but with other races?

GH NS is a great show and i hope for a second season of it