This story made the front page of Yahoo!. I made sure I took a screen shot it.

Yeah, viewers talk about the heyday of soaps in the 70s and 80s, when the ratings were so high, but there were no other choices out there. Cable as we know it didn't exist. And there was no internet where viewers come to gripe and complain (and nitpick) daily (hell, hourly) about this or that. Where's the love? Where's the support? Can the soaps do anything right these days with viewers???

It's true, a lot of the soaps have lost their way, but old-fashioend soap telling hasn't. OLTL is doing some of the best of that right now, whether you like or hate the Marty/Todd stuff or not. It's classic soap writing. So is Y&R and B&B. GL, ATWT, DAYS, GH continue to think that murder and guns and kidnappings are going to save them. They won't. A steady diet of violence in the daypart is just lazy storytelling (attention Goutman and Guza!), and not what an audience wants. Times are hard, people are feeling it. More than ever soaps need to be about escaping, but mirroring the harsh realities we see every day in the news. Sweeping love stories, multigenerational storytelling and romance are what soaps do best. Get back to those. Make it over-the-top, who cares? As long as we viewers are moved and touched emotionally. (I'm sure I'll take plenty of hits for this post, but I think it needs to be said.)

Great post...you covered everything pretty well SOAPSFOREVER....I agree!

How come there has been no discussion on troubled soaps moving to a second tier network, or first run syndication?? Networks such as ION, CW, etc... all these local independent stations would probabaly kill for the numbers that DOOL and GL pulls. Might be good for struggling soaps to move to a different pool, and be a big fish in a small pond. The Passions idea of going to sattelite subscription was BAD. You need local affiliates in EVERY major market in the country (and many older viewers watch Over the air.. and not on cable.). Syndicated shows can be hugely successful, I mean, look at the Muppet show!!! That was a show ABC, CBS, and NBC all turned down, and ITC just sold it to all local station, like they did 2 years before with Space:1999.... and everyone made a BUNDLE, while the networks were biting their knuckles with jealousy.

Edited November 23, 200817 yr by alphanguy74

You know something...Candy Spelling is the one who suggested Joan Collins for 'Dynasty' and Tori Spelling has surprised me with her pluck and entrepreneurial spirit, she works hard for her money selling jewelry on HSN and has produced both SoNoTORIous and Tori & Dean...of all the Hollywood offspring...those two have impressive pedigrees.

That's exactly what I was referring to. That and Tori suggesting Emma Samms for Fallon. Of course Joan "made" Dynasty, and we're only talking about one show here opposed to an entire industry, but my point is I wish there were more influential people with eyes and hearts for the industry in high places like that (i.e., the bedroom or Daddie's heart).