B&B: The 30/60 minute debacle

[JamesF]

That's the thing. For it's first decade on air, B&B had no problem balancing many different characters. There's just no reason for it to go to an hour.

Bradley's pacing problem is that he zips through plots but on an episode to episode basis, he has the repetition of a 60 minute show because he won't write for all the characters and do multiple stories to keep it fresh. The ability to intertwine stories and characters on a canvas while driving the show forward is a skill. And unfortunately it's one that Brad either doesn't have or chooses not to use.

[ReddFoxx]

The 30 minute format works for B&B, I don't think it would work well at 60 minutes. It would really slow down the pace and potentially bring too many other characters on canvas and B&B has had a small cast with mainly the same set of characters for years now, it would really sort of change the overall tone of the show.

[Limenade]

The comment on how feasible it is for the current crop of writers fill up enough SLs and characters for 60 minutes is quite on the mark. It may be safe to say that there is no one currently on par of someone like Doug Marland who can populate a soap town with Dickensian range of characters and intersecting stories, or the richness of characterization of Harding Lemay. Both writers made 60 min fascinating to watch FWIW, I'd like to throw in a bit of a historical perspective...

Unfortunately I longer remember the source, but I recall reading somewhere that Bill Bell resisted expanding YR to 60 minutes until much later. In fact, YR might have been the last soap to be expanded to 60 minutes. Here's what I found from Wikipedia on when some soaps switched to 60 minutes:

-Another World: Jan 6, 1975

-ATWT: Dec 1, 1975

-AMC: April 77 (but apparently AMC had experimented with the 60 min format for 1 week in July 75 when RH debuted)

-Guiding Light: Nov 7, 1977

-I didn't find exact the month and date, but GH and OLTL appeared to have been expanded to 45 min ('76) then 60 min by the end of '78

-Y&R: Feb 4, 1980

It's been years since I read Harding Lemay's 8 Years on Another World. I know for sure that he wanted to expand AW from 60 min to 90 min, which didn't last long. I can't say for sure if AW was the first soap, then under his pen, to be expanded from 30 to 60 min. Of course, ATWT started off as the 1st 30 min soap under Irna Phillips.

[EricMontreal22]

The hour shows are being canceled instead of being brought to a half hour is because those networks still need the time slot filled and it's much cheaper to have one hour show than to have two half hour shows. So while they still have to fill the timeslot it doesn't make sense--though I know the affilitates would love to have the time...

I dunno, the Emmy's did ignore Loving/The City for acting as well but I always thought that was because it was so low rated--unlike B&B. I don't actively follow B&B but I admit I'd be more likely to add a 30 minute soap to my daily viewing (20 mins if you zap thru the commercials) than another hour--and Loving/City was appealing to me partly for that reason.

Agnes Nixon really resisted expanding AMC to an hour and I believe the experiment, while it was parlty to get people used to watching the time slot where Ryan's Hope would premier, was for her to see if it would work. I know certain actors left because they didn't want the longer acting hours (isn't this why Francesca James left? Of course she later asked to come back as her double and then was EP so...)... And yeah OLTL was 45 mins for a couple of years (I didn't know that GH was but that would make sense)

Lemay himself, and he's not a humble man (albeit he is great and his book 8 Yearsin Another World is fab) admitted that 90 mins was just too much, scenes would be stretched even longer than Lemay liked to the point that filler material was being written, people were worn out, audience were... back then when you had to watch everything live, devoting 90 mins to one show EVERY day was quite a commitment

[kentville]

"Bradley Bell could not handle 60 minutes. He can't even do 30 minutes right. "

And there's the problem in a nutshell.

[Sylph]

Again with the Brad bashing. I'll let him know next time I see him.

[All My Shadows]

I'd be estatic is soaps went back to 30 minutes. Now, I don't necessarily think that going to 60 minutes was a bad thing, but once the shows started losing their focus and identities, that's when each show just became an hour full of cliches and BS. Hourlong soaps would work only if there were completely competent PTB in charge. Hourlong soaps would be absolutely awesome if the extra time was used for more in-depth character study and such.

Personally, I'd probably never miss an episode or fast forward through episodes of a 30 minute soap. Whenever I watch B&B regularly, rarely do I skip out on it or anything. The 30 minute format is just enough to keep you interested without dragging on.

[ian]

OK, you do that. Also tell him the truth hurts and he should learn from it.

[sheilaforever]

...and she was overlooked for two of her best stories ever, Stephanie being homeless and the Mercury poisoning. The first one being Susan Flannery's personal favorite story ever in all those years since 1987...