ALL: Is it really that bad?

[Sylph]

I came upon this post on MIT CMS blog:

Is it really all that bad?

Posted by Nick S. on February 19, 2008

Apparently so - “I’ve watched it for 25 years and I’m heartsick about it”, writes one poster on the As The World Turns Media Domain forum. “The show is all about plots”, writes another, bemoaning the lack of focus on characterisation (I would be interested to find out what the same person thought about the Valentine’s Day special). In a 1974 book called “TV: The Most Popular Art”, the author (now teaching at the University of Georgia) gives three plots that are a pattern of soaps, repeated ‘again and again’:

•  Women who give up their children for adoption begin to search for them

•  Good men go about their business, only to have it confounded by their scheming partners

•  Pattern of accidental death followed by trial for murder

If we look at the three main stories from last week’s As The World Turns, we find:

•  Sophie kidnapping her child from her adoptive parents

•  Chris discovering his research partner to be Dusty’s murderer

•  Sam being shot and killed, with the presumption of Parker as the murderer despite his motives and/or innocence

So I wonder - has ATWT really changed all that much, in terms of story? Certainly, the soap is moving at a much faster pace, but the same is true of the actual plots going on? I’m not so sure. Either way, I enjoyed my first week of the show, and am looking forward to next week’s (or rather, last week’s). A brief thought for my first blog post.

So something did change... What did? Your opinion.

[titan1978]

I think a big change is that the connections between characters has faded so much that it is just plot plot plot with no interaction and no movement. The same characters get through one crisis, and fall into another, with no characterization and no sense of community.

I also think plot driven is fine, but you have to have the character in the plot. Most of these people are not recognizable to me, and I have only been a casual viewer since the late 1990's. I can only imagine how people feel who have watched the show longer.

The biggest issue with ATWT for me is that any character will and can be compromised for the plot. The plots used to come from the characters, now we attach the plots to the characters TPTB want to feature over and over again. The role Lucinda played in the Evan Walsh fiasco should have been THE focal in the plot, and should be providing fallout for her. Craig was forced into the horrible Meg/Paul storyline, and should not have been forced off the show because that plot is not working.

This is not just a problem with ATWT, but those are my examples for this show.

[JackPeyton]

simple. the storylines went from things that happen to people we loves and how they deal with it along with those who they love and care about.

to plot driven storys that are told with interchangeable char's.

[leevo64]

Although the same types of stories are still being told, it's the heart that's missing. If you look at GH - in the early 1990s BJ was killed in a bus accident. It involved most of the cast and told a story about death not being in vain (Maxie got her heart), and greatly affected everyone involved. Fast forward to 2008. Michael has been shot in the head, and rather than characters acting realistically and with real emotion, it's all about guns and murder. There's no heart to the stories anymore.

Not to beat the Ron Carlivati horse dead, but I think OLTL is slowly gaining its heart back. The Marcie/Tommy/Todd story is classic soap and it felt like it, because it focused on the CHARACTERS, not the plot.

[KMan101]

OLTL is much better. DAYS has it's moments, more so than before, even with that hack writing again. Overall though, most shows have become way too plot driven.

[ian]

I think the soaps should get together a huge panel of viewers who know about the soaps who put together a course that every writer has to take... has info about the characters, the history, everything. I mean I read somewhere soaps keep like every tape of the show in case they have to go back later... they have to! Even if it means hiring research assistants to find stuff out, I'd do that for real cheap.

Also - the problem with ATWT is its just plain BORING right now, its either really good or really boring.

[Actor87]

ATWT focuses too much on trying to stay with "the times" and in essence, loses focus of what the original focus of the show was........Family!!

[Paul Raven]

Yes,the stories may be the same and that is part of the problem.

When a show has been around 50 years,it's hard to come to come up with a new twist.Viewers are likely to say"I remember that happening before and preferring it last time around"

At least the Luke story is something different.

Also,the stories have no depth-eg Sam had been around a few months only.Previously,stories built up over months,if not years,and kept building to a climax. And that was only one of a number of killings that have occurred in the past year.

Conventional wisdom these days is that viewers attention span is minimal so things have to move quickly.Yes and No.Soaps in the past could be agonisingly slow but we've gone in the opposite direction and there are so many angles and possibilities that are ignored.

The producers seem to think America will tune out if Bob and Nancy Hughes have a scene together.

Instead they should be embracing the unique opportunities soaps offer instead of blanding them out -that's why viewers are going elsewhere.

[R Sinclair]

I also seem to think people don't really know what "character driven" story is. I'll leave it at that.

[DeeeDee]

Amen.