ALL: Oprah-Are You The Biggest Soap Opera Fan?

[marceline]

No! Really? ZOMG! Congratulations Oprah, you've done the impossible, you've kicked me right back into full fangurl mode!

[All My Shadows]

Yeah, I can respect TP for giving his people what they want. I remember reading him say something along the lines of his stuff speaking to an audience that isn't really spoken to anymore on TV, and I agree with that. A lot of my older family members watch the procedurals and what-not, but as far as first-run comedy goes, it's just the TP shows on TBS. So I respect that, and I think he does comedy well.

Lawd knowwwwsss I want a more radically diverse lineup of soaps on TV. Especially that rural soap, damn it.

[Mr. Vixen]

It was me. But, I was specifically talking about "The Family that Preys", largely in part to the phenomenal performances of Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates.

[marceline]

Agreed. The Family the Preys had everything that a good soap should contain. If Perry were to move into the soap genre, TFTP would be the best place for him to start. It would essentially be Generations 2.0 but IMO, that's better than Peyton Place 10.2.

[Jonathan]

Count Andrassy. I loved the Budapest storyline.

[Marco Dane]

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[SFK]

Nader? Wow. DaytimeFan brought him up the other day and I half kicked myself for half paying attention to his Larry King interview a few years back. Remember when they said he was joining GL as Roger against Joan's Alexisandra?

[SFK]

I know there was the business with the recast and assorted bad storytelling, but Dimitri over Jack ANY day. "Dimitri only one time enough for Urrica."[/Ma] I miss him, and I'd also like to add Gillian over Greenlee and/or Kendall any day too.

[Dr Neil Curtis]

Oh ok, I am very familiar with his work, actually have every movie & play on dvd. I like his elements and it would be great to see him do a soap. I don't mind the preaching, its good to be preach too. I don't see what's wrong with it. Btw: For Colored Girls was superb!

[Marley]

A poster on TWOP who attended the filming said that all of Erica's husbands were brought out as a surprise.

David Canary back on tv

[JackPeyton]

they asked days stars, booked bo and hope, and they they dropped out.

[Sylph]

But even that one was accused of "sermonizing", "tired jokes", ridiculous plot twists that resolve matters in two seconds, of being "painfully unsophisticated" and needing a script doctor.

[dragonflies]

DId they drop out? Cause my impression is that the Oprah thing for Peter & Kristian didn't work out

[marceline]

All of that is true but that's what Perry does and his audience knows that. A TP soap wouldn't appeal to everyone but NO soap appeals to everyone. Unfortunately the six remaining ones are appealing to fewer and fewer people by the minute. You know if you watch Perry you're going to get a healthy dose of sermonizing just like if you watch Whedon you get 100lb anorexic women who fight like Green Berets.

I say let Tyler Perry take a shot at a soap. He can't do any worse than what we've got right now.

[Sylph]

Sure, sure. That is all true.

However, the question remains: are soaps dead as a genre in any of its current or past forms (daytime & primetime dramas which we know as soap operas) and can only exist in the future as an amalgam of "soapy elements" taken from those TV series and various innovations or can they live but updated (stories which makes sense and are enjoyable to watch, improved productions values etc., basically, everything that doesn't work weeded out)?