Soaps:- Cigarettes

[Juliajms]

I do think it's ridiculous that so many characters drink, but smoking isn't allowed. I mean, alcohol can ruin your life a lot faster than smoking, not that smoking won't get the job done in the long run. Still, it is kind of ironic the way turning to alcohol after a rough day is considered fit for TV when smoking isn't. I'm not a smoker if it matters.

Oh, and Gus on GL smoked recently and he was sort of a hero. Didn't Bonnie and Billie on Days as well. I suppose they were both bad girls though.

[XxTaraXx]

I'm more concerned with thrusting actually being able to be shown in love scenes than I am with nasty ciggys. Though both do contribute to a "real" feel for the show.

[DeeeDee]

She quit. lol

[Cheyenne]

I agree. I'm very pleased that we're seeing so little of it on our soaps.

[Dan]

Meh, it doesn't bother me one way or another. If TPTB want to increase a show's credibility (lack of credibility being a major problem in daytime these days IMO), there are other much more important places to start.

[DaysFanatic777]

Like the post said, I know Princess Gina, Bonnie, and Stefano smoked, but all of those were villans, or borderline villans. The Gwen storyline on ATWT was a melodramatic way of approaching tobacco use, and kinda preachy.

I smoke. I like to smoke. It's stupid, wrong, and will kill me if I don't stop. It seems like smoking is more pervasive in the deep south (were I'm living right now...). I don't think smoking is a smart choice, but I hate the way it's demonized by some. Like "only let a villan smoke" or "If the character smokes, make them pay for it..", that mindset is just......well kinda preachy and not at all realistic. Now show someone die from lung cancer thats smoked for decades...that may be a good and realistic, character driven story. That would be an interesting way to approach it.

[JAYJAY]

Gus on GL was a smoker. On his death bed he said he wanted a cigarette.

[brimike]

I *DISTINCTLY* remember Jagger on GH lighting up in his first few weeks on GH. I believe it was on the docks. I remember being younger, and shocked that a leading man on a TV show was portrayed as a smoker.

I don't remember it except for one episode. And I'm pretty sure I didn't make it up.

[Sinny]

I would think smoking on the set is against the smoking laws... being a work place and all.

[Cat]

I remember GL's Jonathan (Tom Pelphrey) smoking a number of times in scenes -- both as bad boy and as love-lorn young lead.

As a smoker myself -- I hate it. I hate myself for smoking (even though I only have 1-2 cigs a day, after dinner, on my balcony) because all the brushing and gargling and flossing in the world cannot get rid of that Touch o' Ashtray Mouth I get in the morning. Watching Marlene Deitrich and Bette Davis smoke in old movies looks very glamourous. But watching people smoking on TV? Just reminds me of that Touch o' Ashtray taste. I don't particularly need or want to see it, unless it is in character (like William Devane's cigar-smoking in Knots Landing -- or the cast of Mad Men, which is set in 1960).

[Sylph]

Then why do you smoke?!

[marceline]

Plus add in the damage smoke does to walls, curtains, etc... It's tough enough to keep the sets in good condition without having to replace furniture because some stray ash fell on it. Then consider what would happen if a non-smoking actor was asked to smoke for a role. That's essentially asking someone to take an addictive chemical for the sake of "reality." You can fake booze, not smoking.

There's also the other actors and crew to consider. No way everybody is going to sit around in a room filled with second hand smoke without somebody calling OSHA. And what happens when somebody gets cancer? Now the shows get to defend themselves against a lawsuit.

It's too much trouble. Why bother for something that adds no dramatic value?

[JackPeyton]

oh yes you can

[marceline]

Now I'm intrigued. How? How do you fake lighting a cigarette, inhaling and exhaling smoke? If you can tell me that you will help me with a practical joke I have been wanting to play on my boss for years.

[JackPeyton]

fake cig. they take the stuff inside out and replace it, i forget with what.

but thats what a lot of non smokers use when filming a smoking scene.