2008 BRITISH Soap Awards Montage

[DaytimeFan]

Well...it's clear that they do things quite differently across the pond.

Even Y&R, the most visually appealing of them all, can't touch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCEdx7Sc9Ys...feature=related

[MTSRocks]

Very well done. Is it just me, or does the guy at 1:37 look a bit like Greg Rikaart (Kevin Fisher, Y&R)?

I loved at 1:29

"I don't trust anything that vibrates."

"That's a shame, because with your looks that's a major disadvantage." I'd love to see more of her!

[XxTaraXx]

Wow.

I want one of their EPs on my shows!

[TC]

Thank you Daytimefan!

[JackPeyton]

Memo to GL: If THIS is the look you were going for, with a dash of 'The Hills' - you fail.

[Toups]

That was a great montage!

I really like the catergories at the BSA's: Best Storyline (how is this judged?), Best Single Episode, Most Spectacular Scene, Best Comedy Performance, Best Exit, Best Onscreen Partnership, Villain of the Year.

Are the BSA's the only awards for soaps?

[EricMontreal22]

The thing is UK soaps are just SO different. I don't see them as the same genre except they're serials.

[LondonScribe]

It's strange because we over here lament our own soaps for being 'too real' and boring. So it's funny to see how much you over there love our soaps. Although, Hollyoaks and Eastenders are the most popular soaps at the moment.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

It's voted on by a panel of judges comprised or critics and representatives from each soap. Best Comedy Performance, Best Dramatic Performance, Hero of the Year, Spectacular Scene of the Year, Best Single Episode, Best On-Screen Partnership, Best Newcomer, Best Exit, and the Special Achievement Award are also decided that way.

The other acting categories, Sexiest Male and Female, Villian of the Year, and Best British Soap are all voted on by the fans.

It's the major one in Britian that's televised I believe, there's other lesser awards solely dedicated to soaps though that aren't televised.

The Digital Spy Soap Awards launched this year and was televised, but it doesn't have the same popularity as the BSA's.

There's also the Inside Soap Awards, but that isn't televised. That's kind of similar to what the SOD awards were, as its presented by Inside Soap Magazine.

[brimike]

Now THAT'S how you do a soap montage!!

Forgetting the differences between American and British soaps for a second, just think about the Best Show "montages" at our Emmys the other night. (If you can call them that), and then look at THIS.

Man, I'm moving over to Cardiff. I hear their soaps kick ass, and there's some crazy space-time riff I need to check out.

[Aaron]

British soaps do everything American soaps USED to do well. It truly is a different genre completely. EastEnders keeps me on the edge of my seat and the acting is infinitely better than anything we've seen in years.

[MarkH]

I'm not disputing differences here but...

...we could make a montage JUST AS GOOD as this--from bellaclava covered criminals to weeping men and women to kisses to dramatic falls--from the US soaps currently on air.

Montages are deceptive because they are stylized, and they are put together from 1-2 second clips.

Honestly, this Youtube clip provides no basis for comparison. Again, I'll fully admit that if you watch the British shows, the differences are obvious. But that is different from this.

I think this speaks, again, to the US appetite for the daily serial format (which is dying). BBC America quickly cancelled Hollyoaks. We see no attempt to bring EastEnders or Coronation Street to the US (although the latter flourishes in Canada).

Americans predated the rest of the western world in women in the workplace (I'm not counting the former Communist countries), in fast food, and in the demise of communal activities (like bowling leages). It's go-go-go. It's work interfering with family time. It is parents and children not eating dinner together. It's microwave food.

Into that climate, there is NO WAY to slip in a daily soap or two. Most families--AND ESPECIALLY THE TARGET WOMEN--simply have ZERO capacity.

The rest of the world still has a higher proportion of at-home women (the social systems still encourage stay-at-home moms), there still less of a culture of Macdonalds and its' ilk, plus many of these shows are broadcast at more congenial times of the day.

Today's listings say that Eastenders will appear on BBC1 at 8 pm! PrimeTime.

ITV1 shows Corrie at 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm. This is preceded by Emmerdale at 7 pm.

Channel 4 shows Hollyoaks at 6:30 pm.

Channel 5 shows Neighbors at 5:30 pm followed by Home and Away at 6 pm.

Look at the implications of this. FIRST, you can watch the full lineup after the work day (ignoring time shifting). This encourages intergenerational soap watching in real time. Basically, in the "pre-watershed" time periods, families can watch soaps together.

But look too at how the channels basically work together to make sure the soap viewer can watch an unbroken series of programs from 5:30 pm on WITHOUT COMPETITION.

5:30 - Neighbors

6:00 - Home and Away

6:30 - Hollyoaks

7:00 - Emmerdale

7:30 - Coronation Street

8:00 - Eastenders

8:30 - Coronation Street

Not only do I believe the culture allows this (families are still more home-based, there is still more intergenerational residence), but the scheduling supports this.

Now, let's switch to Germany.

11:15 am, ZDF, Reich und Schoen (Bold and Beautiful)

5:30 pm, RTL, Unter uns

6 pm, ARD - Verbotene Liebe

6:25 pm, ARD, Marienhof

7:05 pm, RTL, Alles was zaehlt (rebroadcast the next morning)

7:40 pm, RTL, Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (rebroadcast the next morning)

2:25 am, ZDF, Schatten der Leidenschaft (Young and the Restless).

Germany is still even more ingrained in the woman-at-home culture. Still, they schedule their Bell soaps for "off hours" (and the ratings ain't great), but their core shows are in that early-evening slot.

Hmmmm...lessons to be taken?

Well, what about Canada. That shares a border with the US. What do they do?? Let's focus on the biggest market, Toronto:

1 pm, A-Channel, All My Chidren

1 pm, Global, Days of Our Lives

1:30 pm, CTV, Bold and the Beautiful

2:00 pm, Global, As the World Turns

2 pm, A-Channel, One Life to Live

3 pm, CTV, General Hospital

3 pm, Global, Guiding Light

4:30 pm, Global, The Young and the Restless

And, guess what the number one show is?? Y&R! Hmmmm...could timeslot matter? Could absence of timeslot competition matter.

This is all so obvious to me. But there is a misogyny in US programming that has resisted migrating these shows to primetime. And we see the consequence....

[Aaron]

There's definitely an appetite for ongoing serial dramas in the US. The problem, as I see it, is a combination of stubborn networks who look at the programming with contempt, advertisers who continue to seek the WRONG demographics, and writers/producers who refuse to study their craft.

Add these things together and you've got a rapidly decreasing audience.

It's been said ad nauseum, but bears repeating: Daytime, as we have known it for the last 70 years, is dead. It's not going to be resurrected. It has to be reinvented, that's the only way we're going to change these problems. (And I don't mean reinventing the wheel, like Ellen Wheeler is trying to do, I mean reinventing the entire GENRE.)

It won't happen until all the current shows are gone and about 10 years goes by and some enterprising network exec says "Hey, remember the daytime dramas? Let's see if we can make that work again..." and produces something new, but nostalgic. Retro, but clever and endearing.

[Faulkner]

HBO's "In Treatment" was an interesting experiment in having a "daily" serial. Of course, it was on a premium channel, but they are bringing it back, which means it was somewhat successful.

I could see an "Edge of Night" type show working in primetime for a U.S. network. Not something like any of the current daytime dramas or any of the now-cancelled MyNetwork shows. But something hip and masculine.

[MarkH]

+1...I totally agree.

I don't think 5-days a week will ever come back, I don't think it will be on in the middle of the day. I'm not even sure it will be on "TV" as we know it.

I do think the European 5-day-a-week in the early evening concept COULD work....but I'm not sure. It would require a patient network giving it (like they used to, up till the mid-70s) five years to work. I don't really see that either.

But I do think all 8 of our dinosaurs, sadly, need to be laid to rest, and we need a waiting period.

Like Star Trek...the franchise needs a break. Hunger must be restored.

I found that HBO show unwatchable. I haven't really enjoyed HBO since they failed to give the amazing (IMO) John from Cincinnati a chance. That said, I wrote about Edge of Night elsewhere yesterday. I think you're on to something there...I'd see it as a serialized version of "Wire in the Blood" (BBC). Edgy. Crime stories that bring that fanbase back night after night. Psychological backstories for the investigators that bring that fanbase back night after night. Some graphic sex and violence because--yep--there is an audience for that. The mysteries must be GOOD. I'm talking "I see dead people" good. No spoilers EVER.

Then, keep it at 30 minutes a night, same time, same channel, and let it build viral buzz. It really DOES need 5 years to build. Promote the heck out of it for 5 years. Repurpose it on at least one cable network, and put it online (but always a day or two later or a week later, so that you build "appointment TV").

If that doesn't do it, nothing will.