July 27-31, 2009

[chyti]

When I talk about star power I mean do they have any influence with the hollywood crowd, do they know any of the top hollywood players or go to star events, are they considered soap actors only. I'm asking because I have never heard any one talking about any actor on OLTL in my personal life besides those invested in the soaps, whereas people I know who have never watched a day of soaps can recognize certain actors from certain shows.

If you were to ask non-soap watchers to name a soap AMC,GH and Y&R are sure to be named, when the industry dies out those three will always be remembered because of who starred on them rather than the storylines told. And I'm not talking about Cameron and Kelly and regardless of past glory or not till this day the most recognize name in soaps are Luke and Laura and in the black community it is probably Angie and Jesse.

[DRW50]

Those characters will always have some prominence, although Luke and Laura are done for good, but if we're talking about current status, I don't think AMC has that much brand value. They have Susan Lucci and that's it.

As for non-soap watchers, I think the three soaps you mentioned would be prominent, but unfortunately when I talk to non-soap watchers the reaction I get is more often than not, "Are soaps still on?"

[Doyen]

I think the whole "OLTL is the redheaded stepchild of ABC" is a concept that is greatly exaggerated and, for the most part, exists in viewers heads.  For the last 15-20 years, soap fans (and press) have been cynically pondering OLTL's value at ABC compared to its sister soaps and predicting its demise, but I haven't seen ABC act in any way to proves that the show is as lowly regarded internally as people make it out to be.  To let viewers tell it, OLTL should have been cancelled before the dawn of the millennium, but it's still here.  Ultimately, I think ABC is pretty equally indifferent to all three of their soaps.  They care most about the bottom line: budget and revenue.  I doubt that brand name value or mainstream recognition is significantly factored in.   The soap that they cancel first will be the one that isn't turning enough of a profit.  Not the one who has a star actor, or couple, who may have been so notorious at one point that they appeared on the cover of People back in the 80s.

[Ann_SS]

I was reading the NY Times Sports section late last year and stumbled across the strangest article. It featured Thorsten Kaye's devotion to his favorite hockey team, the Red Wings. His dressing room in the studio as well as rooms in his homes are full of Red Wings paraphenelia. The article was so surreal, but I can see how ABC likes this kind of publicity in the main stream media. AMC has actors who are able to bring this publicity. Kelly Monaco is the only one who has done this for GH recently. Tony Geary's buzz as Luke has definitely faded.

Scary even. LOL! I am not sure that it is good for our society that Victor is worshiped by so many men. Eric Braeden was on ESPNews talking football during the last World Cup and the anchor was serious about getting his opinions.

[marceline]

There's an old episode of This American Life where they interview a group of men who watch soaps on the job and the one they watch is Y&R. They are all about Victor. I can't think of another soap male that's had half his reach. For better or worse, he's the sole soap ambassador to straight males. I suspect Frons wishes Sonny could fill that role. Or Zach. Or John.

[Ann_SS]

LOL! You made me go and look for this Sports Illustrated article about professional athletes' unnatural love of Victor Newman. I remember laughing hysterically as I read the article. I was lucky to find the link. Notice that Susan Lucci is the only non-Victor soap reference. Here it is: http://sportsillustr...06895/index.htm

[sacha]

Who was saying a few weeks ago that Days was about to beat B&B?

[Carolyn1980]

It is a fact, though, that ABC was ready to cut OLTL to a half hour in the late 90's and move it to Port Charles' timeslot in order to pick up DAYS. Michael Logan reported this in TV Guide at the time. But ultimately, NBC gave in to Sony's demands for the licensing fee (back when those fees were going up, not down, lol). Had that happened, OLTL would surely be gone by now.