Didn't MarkH have a chart that showed how soaps' viewership has been steadily declining since the Luke/Laura era?

Didn't MarkH have a chart that showed how soaps' viewership has been steadily declining since the Luke/Laura era?

I think the idea is that soap viewership has been declining since the 50's and nothing can stop that. I don't remember.

Here's 15-11 http://www.welovesoaps.net/2011/09/countdown-25-biggest-blunders-in.html

I definitely agree with the purge of soaps in the early 70's. I never knew that was the excuse they gave for canceling Where the Heart Is. What a joke! And the next time someone tells you young people don't want to see older characters, tell them the cast list for WTHI.

I don't really think Laura not being on GH should be so high on the list. I don't agree that Laura fit back in effortlessly - she was not the same without Leslie, and her anti-mob views were out of place on an increasingly mobbed up show. Add in that Genie Francis began taking long absences, and Laura seemed like an increasingly irrelevant character by the late 90's. I think her "stories" at the end of the decade say it all - being verbally abused by Lucky, weeping over Lucky, watching Luke have sex with a whore, wandering around the nurses' station, and having the same boring dates with Stefan, spaced out over what seemed like months, again and again and again until viewers dozed off.

It was the memory of Laura that had more power than Laura herself. That's why Guza worked so hard to destroy it.

I also don't think Iris going to TEXAS was that huge of a mistake. I believe Beverlee McKinsey would have left AW whether she got Texas or not. I do agree the writing for her was poor. I think the biggest mistake was not transferring more AW characters. I don't understand why some of their castoffs, like Willis Frame, or underused Russ Matthews, weren't moved.

IA with the Laura part. I do think her absense from the canvas has hurt Lucky and Lulu as characters or stifled them but I also don't feel she has a place anymore. I'll contend the Quartermaines all of them gone hurt more than Laura being gone. By the time Laura was written off, the Spencers as a family unit were pretty much decimated anyway, no Bobbi, lulu a non factor as was Lesley

Its nice they acknowledged the decimation in the 70s and I had forgotten how CBS sold bringing on Y&R then. lol. But I kind of liked Tattletales.

IA. Its kinda hard to avoid when you have the weeklypromo airing in the middle of the show which reveals the next week or 2 of story, actually spoiling major plot points. Or how about the SID commercials. Whats worse is when ABC has a spoiler which slashes at the bottom of the screen. Sonny shoots Dante today on GH! Now who the hell was able to avoid that?

I agree, it's hard most of the time, especially when ABC spoils big stuff in their promo, it makes you think "Why bother to watch, since they basically gave it all away"

I agree, it's hard most of the time, especially when ABC spoils big stuff in their promo, it makes you think "Why bother to watch, since they basically gave it all away"

Wait you weren't waiting on pins and needles to see WHO WILL JASON BE? I was watching Top Chef a couple of weeks ago and saw it.

Edited September 8, 201114 yr by JaneAusten

Wait you weren't waiting on pins and needles to see WHO WILL JASON BE? I was watching Top Chef a couple of weeks ago and saw it.

LOL, no not really and what a shocker, he was Jason Morgan

I think Lulu was hurt, mostly because Genie Francis might have managed to imbue JMB with a tiny bit of warmth or presence, but considering the way Guza wrote for Lucky/Lulu the first time golden boy JJ was there - Lucky trashing her and then deigning to forgive her after a period of repentance - I doubt it would have made a difference.

As long as Guza was there then there was no place for Laura. He hated that idea of the Spencers. He saw them as a fantasy, a lie, a bad joke. To him the only Luke is a Luke who procures hookers and cons people while abandoning his kids.

When Guza wasn't around, various writing teams did try to make Laura fit in, but I thought it was always a little awkward (remember Laura/Scotty redux, or Laura the cosmetics executive, or the endless Ward House stuff).

Count me in as a person that thinks Laura's absence made a huge impact on GH. But I think it has to do more with what she represents: heart and soul. GH has lost it's heart and soul and I think that's one of the reasons the ratings are so low. Does Laura fit in with today's mob-filled show? Maybe not. But maybe if GH moved away from that aspect of the show a bit, and concentrated on some more heart and soul, the show would be better. It's truly one of the things that bothers me about today's GH - it's lack of warmth and joy. I think bringing back Laura and focusing on some "good" characters would do a world of good for this show.

Count me in as a person that thinks Laura's absence made a huge impact on GH. But I think it has to do more with what she represents: heart and soul. GH has lost it's heart and soul and I think that's one of the reasons the ratings are so low. Does Laura fit in with today's mob-filled show? Maybe not. But maybe if GH moved away from that aspect of the show a bit, and concentrated on some more heart and soul, the show would be better. It's truly one of the things that bothers me about today's GH - it's lack of warmth and joy. I think bringing back Laura and focusing on some "good" characters would do a world of good for this show.

Oddly to me as dysfunctional as the Q;s were I always felt they brought humor and yes heart to the show more than Laura did. I like Laura and I'd rather see her than so many others but I still believe to this day Alan dying and subsequently AJ and Emily and even Lili hurt the show more than Laura add in Tracys family completely gone too. I am not saying losing Laura did not hurt I just dont know that that act more than anything else killed GH

Count me in as a person that thinks Laura's absence made a huge impact on GH. But I think it has to do more with what she represents: heart and soul. GH has lost it's heart and soul and I think that's one of the reasons the ratings are so low. Does Laura fit in with today's mob-filled show? Maybe not. But maybe if GH moved away from that aspect of the show a bit, and concentrated on some more heart and soul, the show would be better. It's truly one of the things that bothers me about today's GH - it's lack of warmth and joy. I think bringing back Laura and focusing on some "good" characters would do a world of good for this show.

I think Laura was a crippling loss to the show but this wasn't completely GH's fault. GF left and the show had to move on. Is it true she left because of the show and how they treated her? Yes, but they still had to move on.

They have yet to find a suitable character to replace her with. No one on the show is able to be cast as a warm matriarch, and I don't think any of the actresses on the show are good enough to front a soap. Vanessa Marcil was their best shot, but that was wasted.

^^ IA with both of you. Yes, the Qs were a huge loss to GH - probably more than Laura - but Laura is more "well-known" I guess. And yes, not having Laura on the show isn't entirely GH's fault. I guess we can all agree that not having any heart and soul on GH would be the biggest loss but I guess that doesn't translate as well on these lists.

The write-up on the early 70s soap cancellations is bullsh!t, IMO. It fails to mention that, in the summer of 1970, there were nineteen daytime soaps on the air. That's way too many, and I don't blame the networks one bit for getting rid of some of them and adding some variety to their daytime schedules with game shows. Except for Secret Storm, all of the soaps cancelled in the early 70s were relatively short-lived anyway. I highly doubt CBS thought game shows were "in" and soaps were "out." They went from 8 soaps at the beginning of 1973 to 6 at the end of 1974. Not much of a "purge," if you ask me.

Edited September 8, 201114 yr by All My Shadows

Ive always heard that Maureen's death on GL was the death of GL but never before it equated to being part of the decline of soaps in general. My question is that if she was so integral, reverered, loved and this was seen as a huge mistake, then why the heck didnt they ever bring her back? Did the show ever try and the actress refused? Was there any talks of having the character return?