Passions: CANCELLED by DirecTV

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Passions, in comparison to other soaps, has never really been stable in terms of quality. True to itself for the most part? Yes! However, I would never go as far as to say the show had a creative renaissance or golden era, it was just way too inconsistent, even when for the most part it was good. I've never held Passions to the same standard that I've held the other 8 soaps to, but that formula doesn't correlate at all with what Passions is and what the show's target audience wants. Passions, like it or not, has its devoted cult following that will follow and support it no matter what, they really don't care about the standards non-fans hold it to and they shouldn't either.

All soaps right now could be better, but they're not. Passions fans deserve to like their show without ridicule.

[Sylph]

OK, people, I'm not talking about other soaps! Passion!! Passions! Leave the others alone for the moment!

[daysfan]

I don't think anyone is acting like Passions is the only pitiful soap on the air right now or compared to the past few years of all the soaps.

[bellcurve]

Hehehe.

Yikes. Have you even SEEN SB before?

I mean, I've yet to watch it on a continual basis, but I got some tapes through a trading ring and it looks fun and interesting. I'd have to watch way more before I can make a judgement on whether or not it was overrated.

And I figure you of all people could appreciate SB, if not for anything else, what it contributed to the genre. A lot of what you like and watch on GH(and shows like BEACH and even to a certain degree, GAMES) is rehashed, corporate-driven, poorly copycatted SB.

[Soapsuds]

Preach it Shawn! Seriously...put this soap to rest. It was a joke!

[Sylph]

[Tishy]

Every soap in some way has given something to the genre. Be it a pregnant hermaphrodite or an Emmy winning preformance where a housewife reveals her life as a call girl. I personally would love to see Santa Barbara and Another World back.

Every soap entertains someone. Just some more than others.

[bellcurve]

Should we just stop hoping? Should we just accept the status quo and just "get over it"?

PASSIONS can't even hold itself to its own standard! In the first few years and even now, PASSIONS has suffered from this identity crisis...do they want to be taken as serious soap(i.e. Theresa/Ethan/Gwen) or do they want to be considered a parody(i.e. Hell In a Closet, Vincerie, Tabitha)? I think Jimmy Reilly assumed he could balance the two and you can't do that in soaps.

One of the reasons(for me), why his DAYS(first cycle) worked so well was because, yes, they DID have funny moments on that show, but through it all, we were laughing WITH the characters, not AT them. Or, maybe some of you were laughing at them.

Reilly created the show, but I honestly don't think even he knows what he wants or to expect from his own show.

PASSIONS did try to tell more realistic stories, but it was still with this flippant attitude toward soaps.

Again, I think Reilly is a decent writer, but he's also the fat kid with ADD who needs LOTS of supervision in the candy store.

[Khan]

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light..."

I won't pretend that keeping PASSIONS alive and on the air in its present state will benefit the soap genre as a whole. If the future of soaps rests on PASSIONS's shoulders, then this industry deserves exactly whatever it gets.

I'm sorry, Toups. I know how much you admire James E. Reilly. I, myself, feel the same about Douglas Marland and Patrick Mulcahey. But, perhaps if Jimmy had realized much earlier that his peculiar brand of storytelling wasn't clicking with America, PASSIONS fans wouldn't be on the verge of attempting to save the show for the second time in less than twelve months.

Word, bellcurve. A soap opera cannot be all things to all people. It's either character-driven, or it's plot-driven. Either you take the characters and their predicaments seriously, or you regard it all as a complete farce or parody. It just doesn't work both ways.

IMO, PASSIONS tried initially to be unique - and they were noble for doing so. However, at a certain point, JER needed to acknowledge that, unless he wanted his show to stay a cult favorite (and in the ratings basement), he must make the show more traditional. After all, that's what I think hurt SANTA BARBARA in the long run.

[Graciecat]

ITA. I mean, soaps are generally considered by the rest of society to be one of the lowest forms of entertainment. We know this. We know that most soaps are pretty terrible. And yet, we watch. Are viewers of the other eight soaps really in any position to judge? I don't think Passions fans take their show seriously at all. They know it's bizarre. But they like it, and they're entitled to like it. For them, and for the future of soap operas, I hope Passions finds a way to survive.

I'm not a Passions fan at all. I watched it for a little while back in 2003, and eventually stopped because I couldn't handle the way that secrets that a single conversation about Eve and her sister lasted multiple weeks.

HOWEVER, the show definitely had it's good points. It was nice to see a soap that didn't take itself seriously, and that was willing to employ a chimpanzee as a nurse for an elderly woman. It was seriously cracked out, but I did it enjoy sometimes.

And now I really want Passions to keep going.

I know it sounds weird to say that Passions holds the future of the soap genre in its hands, and that is a bit of an overstatement, but it is carving a path that could be an indication about the future of the other soaps. The move to cable was pioneering, and now we're just going to have to wait and see what happens next, and whether it is salvaable for another network.

[Khan]

I don't criticize PASSIONS fans for enjoying their show.

(beat)

Okay, maybe I do a little.

But it's all in good fun.

[Sylph]

One trap that many beginning writers encounter - especially those who’ve read some of the more notorious screenwriting books - is taking the truism "character-driven story" too literally. Yes, the most successful and engaging movies are those where the characters seem to be in control of their own destiny, where every turn of the plot seems to derive from an element of their personality.

But it’s naïve to think that all a writer has to do is come up with amazing characters and watch them go to work. The truth is, great characters are useless unless we see them doing interesting things - and coming up with those things is the screenwriter’s job. Don’t start writing until you know both who your characters are and what they’ll be doing.

—John August

[Khan]

Well, I guess I done got told, huh?

[Sylph]

[bellcurve]

/\

I don't think so. I think Sylph was just playing devil's advocate and making an interesting point in the process.

The key is finding the balance of the two.

The plot matters, because that's what keeps us intrigued. But you can have a GREAT idea and still have a crap show if the characters are making unrealistic choices just for the sake of the plot.