I didn't really mean the networks should do that NOW. I was basically just wondering why it was never ever tried here? There's more of an audience, IMO, in the 4pm-8pm slots.

When then-NBCU Entertainment President Jeff Zucker announced his network was basically giving up on the 11 pm slot, I thought that was a good time to do something radical and air a one-hour soap, or two half-hours, four days a week; and leave Fridays, maybe, toward special "event" programming, if necessary.

Hasn't Dallas done pretty well on DVD?

Yup...all the seasons are out and so are the movies. They sold well enough for all seasons to be released.

Soaps can be released on DVD and reran, let's not act like it's physically impossible for them to be. It's been over twenty years since they were given a fair chance on the rerun market, and all US DVD releases of daytime soaps, besides Dark Shadows (which wasn't a "traditional" soap either, but is arguably the most successful daytime soap of all time), have been chopped up pieces of sh!t. And I mean the one DVD release of daytime soaps.

Plus, none of the "big" daytime soaps have ever been reran or given a proper DVD release. Texas, Search, and Edge in the 80s, Generations and Dark Shadows in the 90s, and Passions and Another World in the 00s. But never a Y&R or a GH or a DAYS or an AMC or an ATWT. Those shows separated from the pack ages ago and have never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever been given a regular rerun slot. Ever. EVER. Unless SOAPnet aired it for the Daytime Emmys (like they did B&B and ATWT once), The Guiding Light stands as the longest-running scripted television drama in the entire universe but NOT. ONCE. has it EVER aired on ANY US network, broadcast or cable, but CBS. EVER. Ever. And besides the holiday repeats which barely count, no episodes of it have EVER. EVER. EVER. been reran. EVER.

Daytime. Ghetto.

And that's why nostalgia is SUCH an issue in the soap industry. If I start craving some 70s and 80s sitcoms, I can turn the TV on and have several opportunities throughout the day to see some 70s and 80s sitcoms. Not so for soaps. Not so at all, and never has it ever been so. The only way you can get 80s soaps is illegally through YouTube, unless, of course, you have tapes.

Hallmark's Martha block is tanking. TANKING! They need to get off their ass as soon as they legally can and talk with P&G/TeleNext about getting reruns of ATWT and GL. They would be hits on Hallmark. I know in my heart they would be.

Hasn't Dallas done pretty well on DVD?

The entire series has been released, including all of the related TV movies, so yes, it's done extremely well. 90210 and Melrose are almost finished, too.

The whole AOL experiment with the old P&G episodes was a bust though wasn't it? I saw Dark Shadows (the remake on DVD)...

I wonder why we don't get reruns...do the owners want to charge too much for rebroadcasting? We're getting more and more channels with old sitcoms and/or dramas.

I remember the Dark Shadows DVDs very well. I would pay cash money right now for the first 5 or whatever years of Ryan's Hope. Anything up to the death of Mary Ryan. It's inexcusable to me that stuff like that, or the Lemay era on AW, has not been released. Or selected stuff from OLTL in the early '90s, or the '80s, or AMC's classic stuff, or GH's. That [!@#$%^&*] would get bought.

Let's put it this way: it's 2011, and not only can we still count the number of gay characters on soaps on one hand, but it's still actually newsworthy when a(nother) one comes out of the closet.

Yep. Mhm. Exactly. Word. +1. Pretty much. This. PREACH.

But we mustn't offend the masses, Khan.

When then-NBCU Entertainment President Jeff Zucker announced his network was basically giving up on the 11 pm slot, I thought that was a good time to do something radical and air a one-hour soap, or two half-hours, four days a week; and leave Fridays, maybe, toward special "event" programming, if necessary.

Yes, and so they thought outside of the box with plans to REVOLUTIONIZE television, my friend! They thought long and hard, put in LOTS OF effort. And decided to AIR THE SAME BULLSH!T THEY WERE ALREADY AIRING 30 MINUTES LATER. NO SCRATCH THAT, 35 MINUTES LATER!!

So groundbreaking.

And I have officially lost my mind.

I hate the television business.

Edited April 17, 201115 yr by All My Shadows

We will never get any sort of scripted drama that tapes 54 weeks a years.

That's probably b/c there are only 52 weeks in a year.

The whole AOL experiment with the old P&G episodes was a bust though wasn't it? I saw Dark Shadows (the remake on DVD)...

I wonder why we don't get reruns...do the owners want to charge too much for rebroadcasting? We're getting more and more channels with old sitcoms and/or dramas.

I'm not sure how many of the episodes they chose to show were going to command a big following. AW and Search of that era weren't exactly known as thrilling viewing. If they'd chosen other P&G eras, then it might have been a different story.

When then-NBCU Entertainment President Jeff Zucker announced his network was basically giving up on the 11 pm slot, I thought that was a good time to do something radical and air a one-hour soap, or two half-hours, four days a week; and leave Fridays, maybe, toward special "event" programming, if necessary.

I thought the exact same thing. Instead of Jay Leno, they should have tried an one hour long soap or two 30 minutes ones, Monday-Thursday (since Friday night is a dead zone LOL).

That's probably b/c there are only 52 weeks in a year.

+1. Aahahahahaha.

Seriously, can we get some soap DVDs. Man would I salivate if I could get my hands on those.

Probably ABC should have canned OLTL back then, too. New shows might have brought in a new generation of viewers.

Or maybe not, since the new soaps that did premiere in the late '90's and early '00's - SUNSET BEACH, PASSIONS, PORT CHARLES - flopped.

Have you seen Oprah poll OLTL is everyone's favorite soap now

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Poll-Whats-Your-Favorite-Soap-Opera

The whole AOL experiment with the old P&G episodes was a bust though wasn't it? I saw Dark Shadows (the remake on DVD)...

I wonder why we don't get reruns...do the owners want to charge too much for rebroadcasting? We're getting more and more channels with old sitcoms and/or dramas.

The P&G soap channel shut down because AOL's whole In2TV thing went bust. IDK if P&G tried to find other outlets, but I doubt it. Even if they say they did, I doubt it.

I remember the Dark Shadows DVDs very well. I would pay cash money right now for the first 5 or whatever years of Ryan's Hope. Anything up to the death of Mary Ryan. It's inexcusable to me that stuff like that, or the Lemay era on AW, has not been released. Or selected stuff from OLTL in the early '90s, or the '80s, or AMC's classic stuff, or GH's. That [!@#$%^&*] would get bought.

But you fail to understand that any company that releases a soap opera on DVD will have to immediately file for bankruptcy. You see, merely touching the masters of a soap opera episode packs twice the intensity of viewing the tape from "The Ring."

When DAYS hit its 45th anniversary last year, a DVD set of the first week of episodes or maybe just some select episodes from throughout its run would have been awesome. But nope. The execs at Sony would have had to go on food stamps.

I just want something that airs more than the web soaps do. That's part of the reason I can't get into them as 2 hours every six months is not enough. These "shows" at this point seem to be more vanity pieces than anything else. I wouldn't except episodes on a weekly basis, but the equivalent of 13 episodes (of 30 minutes or more) each year would at least be enough to sink my teeth into now if I watch one I just go oh look its blank and don't really pay attention to the content as I can't invest.

In Catherine Hickland's defense (because I f*cking love her), Jenny McCarthy did make a kind of c*ntish and insensitive comment about soap cancellations...

Soaps are cancelled. That's ok. They reminded me of having the flu when I was little.

Are you sure it wasn't the clap?