So why aren't soap actors more supportive of the genre?

[JaneAusten]

I've been curious about something. There are quite a few soap actors out there and still performing who have made careers out of being an actor on a soap. Nothing wrong with that at all. But with that I am curious.

So many of them seem to be settled to the fact that the genre is going to be gone within the next so many years. I base this on comments from many of the actors.

Thorston Kaye recently commented on his leaving AMC because yet of his family ties but he also commented on the fact that he didn't see much longevity in the show so "why" make the move or commute. He didn't state it exactly that way but that was the gist of what he said. Perhaps it's because he lived through 1 soap cancellation.

Steve Burton with GH, while continuing to claim the demos are still decent, also has said the genre is in it's last years.

I believe Eric Braeden, regardless of the fact he's still at Y&R and re-signed, has made similar comments.

Now I can't speak for any of the actresses. I'm not sure any of the more "well known" actresses have made comments.

I'm wondering why these actors have not made a more concerted effort to band together to try and promote and help the shows more. Why don't they do more events? Why don't the networks sponsor more events? Why don't the big guns on these shows, the Susan Lucci's at AMC, the Steve Burton's at GH, the Eric Braeden's at Y&R, the Susan Flannery's at B&B, do more collectively to try and draw attention and promote than they do? Why not go on talk shows like Ellen or even nighttime shows like Leno or the late late nighttime talk shows.

They all just seem to be re-signed to their fate.

[DRW50]

Susan Lucci has gone on TV quite a bit to promote AMC.

Eric Braeden has probably always seen Y&R as a meal ticket and has looked down on the show. Steve Burton also clearly sees the show as a meal ticket. He left and he only went back when he was a loser outside of soaps.

Susan Flannery is not a big name outside of the soap world, so I don't think she would even really be asked on much even if she wanted to be. She is also not in the best of health.

[R Sinclair]

What, exactly, are they supposed to do? Except for Susan Lucci, people outside of the soap world have no idea who these "big guns" are. That's why they stay in the soap world... because they're big guns in a small arsenal.

[Ann_SS]

ITA. Other Susan Lucci, Eric Braeden, Cameron Mathison, Kelly Monaco and Jack Wagner, the general public do not recognize soap actors. No one has a clue who Maurice Benard and Steve Burton are, despite their popularity with soap fans. It would be near impossible for even widely known soap actors to get guest spots on the highly competitive late night talk shows. ABC will put the average soap actor on the View, but it is extremely difficult for them to get guest spots on popular syndicated shows like Oprah, Ellen, and Rachel Ray.

[DeeeDee]

*cough*DebbiMorganVictoriaRowell*cough*

[marceline]

These actors have to think about things like eating and paying their mortgages. It's not up to them to save "the genre." On the contrary if anybody can see why the genre has died, it's them. If you know your company is going out of business, your job isn't to try and save it, it's to get your ass another job.

[R Sinclair]

AMEN!

[EricMontreal22]

Victoria honestly is better known for her role on Diagnosis Murder.

I wouldn't even go that far--with my non soap watching friends Susan Lucci and arguably Eric Braeden are the ONLY ones they see as well known soap actors.

[SFK]

Hmmmm, maybe to the AARP set, but I bet most people see that face and think Drusilla. Not Victoria Rowell mind you, but Drusilla.

[SFK]

And I have on at least two occasions been watching OLTL when someone walked in the room and mistook Robin Strasser for Susan Lucci, so some people only have about half a clue.

The thing is, I don't know what it's like to NOT be a soap fan, I was just born into one of those families where watching stories was a part of life. So I don't know how non-soap fans feel when they see a soap star pop up on a late night show or wherever. Of course fans get all warm, fuzzy and excited inside, and I bet folks whose parents or grandparents watched and they have hazy memories of sorylines and faces get a little kick out of it. But you know, there are plenty of primetime shows I don't watch, movies I don't plan to see, and if I'm uninterested in a person being interviewed, I tune out or flip the channel... viewers could easily do the same with a soap actor, it's not like they don' DESERVE to be seen and interviewed more often. Problem is, soaps are treated as novelty, whenever a soap star or actor who got their start on soaps is on a talk show, they inevitably go on and on about all of the silly soapy things their character went through. i remember Erika Slezak being interviewed on Regis or Rosie, I don't remember, but they showed a clip of her chewing up scenery during the DID s/l and I felt that embarrassed feeling in my stomach because to a non-fan with absolutely no context, it looked like pure OTT cheese.

[SFK]

Remember how your mother used to say to you, "Don't make me embarrass you in public!"? I think the soaps could use a bit of that, I think they DO need the right people (i.e., the Susan Luccis, not the Forbes Marches) to call these IIC out, to speak their minds and give the press the Who What When Why and How on the slow demise of soaps. Imagine if at least one actor from every soap still on the air wrote an op-ed to the Times, or hell, People magazine. No, a lot of execs wouldn't like it, but a helluva lot of fans would, and just *maybe* it would prompt *someone* to kick his or her butt into gear and "prove us wrong." People don't like looking bad. It's that simple. Strip TPTB of their lame exuses, pin them to the wall on what soaps have been missing and fans have been asking for for the last twenty years. And if TPTB sit around on their hands until cancellation, well there you have it, no one up top was that interested in saving soaps to begin with. I'm telling you, when actors start coming out of their mouths with this stuff after cancellation, it's entirely too late and I really don't want to hear it. I can respect anyone's desire to remain employed, but it would be refreshing to see at least one person have the balls to speak out. And it's going to take a popular, intelligent, working (so they can't play the bitter actor angle), brave, and yes, financially secure actor to do so.

[marceline]

I assume they feel the way I do whenever I see people fawning all over some sports star I've never heard of (which is most of them). You know they're important to somebody but that doesn't make you care. Being a soap fan is kind of the same as being a theatre fan. Nobody I know watches the Tonys but every year there I am in front of the TV with my marked up ballot singing along with the musical numbers.

[JaneAusten]

The problem is how many think that TPTB are the problem. I think the majority probably feel the same way the showrunners do. THe names I mentioned above are all people who have spoken out in print in some fashion about the demise of soaps. None of them seem to be blaming anything or anyone other than the same things the media says, changing lifestyles, demographics, etc.

[SFK]

Right, and for me, a lot of that falls under the category of lame excuses. A lot of people dvr their primetime, or watch it online, buy dvd box sets... yes, soaps are 5x/week but if programming is good, people find a way. Soaps, for the most part, simply have not been as good as they once were and people working IN daytime are to blame for that, not the people who are not watching.

[EricMontreal22]

One thing I wish was spoken about more is soap ratings have not dropped off all that much more (percentage wise) than primetime network tv ratings within the same period. The thing is they're much easier to sacrifice when the times get tough than their prestige primetime shows.