Simply compare the current programs to the synopsises of shows way back when...sure back in the day they were all still SOAP OPERA, but each program had its own individual voice and feel...while yes there was a certain interchange between shows during the glory years of writers and producers going back and forth between the shows, it was in no where out of control the way it is now. Certain writers were known for their certain talents, and those talents simply were not forced upon a show whose theme and tone didn't match.

I shook my head in disappointment when recently reading the 'big' fall previews of the current soaps...the stories and characters are all so interchangable!

Having grown up as a faithful ABC viewer, I feel that that lineup's ultimate decline was hastened in the late 90's when TPTB attempted to turn the entire lineup into one long ongoing piece, having characters travelling freely between the shows and introducing one crossover story after another as Jill Farren Phelps and Megan McTavish hopped from one ABC show to the other spreading a path of destruction. Even though ONE LIFE and AMC (plus LOVING/THE CITY) were all created by Agnes Nixon, that didn't mean they were supposed to just morph into one huge suburban Philadelphia show!

Very good post, Serick. I loathed The City & Port Charles; felt that each diluted the appeal of Loving & GH, respectively. I never saw Somerset (1st AW spinoff), but hated the idea of it. Seen Texas (2nd AW spinoff), and it was a mess. Very displeased that far too many AMC characters ended up on Loving. My blood boils when Y&R characters end up on B&B. Each show NEEDS to be distinct from ALL others. To put it simply: Put an end to crossovers.

The irony, of course, is that on OLTL, Viki (and later Tessica) did not just have One Life to Live, they had many.

By the way, I don't think it is just crossovers which dilute each show's singular appeal (although that doesn't help, of course). It's like every network decided to homogenize their shows in a bid to get viewers to watch the shows as a block. Take a look at ABC's interchangeable style of opening credits, for a start. The fact that they are part of the ABC Daytime stable is more important than the individual show itself. I sometimes wish for the day when AMC will reintroduce the ancient turning of the pages in the All My Children book as an intro, just so it stands out from the others! I *often* wish for the day when OLTL comes up with a stirring, beautiful and concise opening and theme music because it has never really had one of those.

Frons also tried to impose the GH template on AMC and OLTL a few years ago. Cue Carly = Kendall, Sonny = Ryan = Antonio, and the mobular Cambias, Santi and Corinthos families.

Edited September 18, 200718 yr by Cat

Days, they don't even know right now

It's a conundrum because the viewership base is so polarised along 80's/90's lines (character-driven romance versus plot-driven camp). B&C came closest to solving the problem in that their stories were fast-paced and fun without being too "out there" (alien twins excepted) or reliant on character destruction. Hogan has failed to satisfy either group. His stories lack both the emotional depth of the 80's and the high energy drama of the 90's. IMO, his tenure is reminiscent of Higley's: pointless, tedious writing trying to pass itself off as "sophisticated".

Edited September 18, 200718 yr by Ponz

Well said Ponz.

It's baffles me that almost every show on the air looks the same. I wouldn't have said that even ten years ago, but it is so true now.

Nothing really sets one show apart from another. And the ABC Lineup is ridiculously homogenized.

Crossovers and spinoffs aren't the problem, it's those in charge of them who insist on making everything look the same. I don't really believe PC took away from GH because when PC was launched, GH had lost a lot of the hospital/medical momentum that was built during Claire Labine's tenure. Not to mention I thought the shows played well off each other during the first three/four months and then during 2000 when Karen Harris took over the writing chores. PC, at that time, was really the only ABC show with an identity.

And THE CITY was just magic...they just didn't give that show time to really be itself. And a HW change probably would have helped things too.

How would ex-daytime shows be defined (Santa Barbara, Another World, Ryan's Hope, Search For Tomorrow etc.)?

To me, Port Charles was just a GH copy-cat/knock-off/spin-off. Completely unneeded. Some goes with The City, a poor man's continuation of the superior & unjustly canned Loving.