There are still four traditional soaps on each weekday — “Days of Our Lives,” “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “The Young and the Restless” and “General Hospital” — and three were eager to share the measures they were taking to remain vital and relevant in television’s changing landscape. (Only ABC’s “General Hospital” declined to comment.) These shows employ hundreds of people, all laboring to ensure their shows survive this most recent cultural shift. Producers are quick to point out that they’ve survived similarly dramatic shifts: radio to TV, network to cable, women leaving the home en masse for the workplace, even the O. J. Simpson trial, which pre-empted soaps for months in 1995.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/arts/television/after-some-soaps-cancellations-others-adjust.html

That bolded part really says a lot....interesting that GH chose not to particpate in the conversation. Guess it's just as well, considering as how they are likely next on the chopping block anyway.

ABC probably wouldn't let them comment. The other three soaps are family owned anyway, RC/FV really can't say they can save them. If ABC cancels it, its over but the other three are owned by outside entities.

As much as I agree with Deidre Hall's final comments, I have to admit, I think a LOT has been lost in producing these shows so...efficiently. Performances aren't nearly as good as they used to be, because there is little to no time for rehearsal, which is crucial, IMO, for actors.

I feel the same^^. The only thing I got from this article is they are telling stories faster. MAB act lik eshe been in the game for years. Glad to hear the numbers for the rest of the shows are fine. Esp Days!!

I feel the same^^. The only thing I got from this article is they are telling stories faster. MAB act lik eshe been in the game for years. Glad to hear the numbers for the rest of the shows are fine. Esp Days!!

I got a good laugh from Brad Bell and MAB, and that's more entertainment than I've gotten out of B&B or Y&R in years.

As boring as DAYS has been overall for the past 6 months, I commend them for trying their hardest to stay afloat and trying new ideas without reinventing the wheel or totally alienating their viewers.

I agree. And NBC seems to give them a fighting chance by actually promoting the show! You see promos for the show during morning tv and primetime. I love that NBC does that.

I agree as well. If only CBS had given AS THE WORLD TURNS and GUIDING LIGHT as much of a fighting chance as NBC has given DAYS....

This article is infuriating.

And a more efficient one. Maria Arena Bell, executive producer and head writer for “The Young and the Restless” on CBS, said: “Once upon a time soaps wrote to Fridays, where things would slowly build throughout the week, and Friday you’d have a stunning cliffhanger to keep your attention. I still build to Fridays, but my motto is that every day has to be a Friday.

This is the same BULL S H I T they've been feeding us for the past 10 years. And n o t h i n g has changed. I remember Hogan Sheffer saying he treated every day on ATWT like a Friday too and where is ATWT now? Dead.

“The goal is to respect the tradition of the show,” said Greg Meng, executive producer of NBC’s “Days of Our Lives,” “but tell the stories as they can be told today,” using modern dialogue in two-week or even three-day story arcs.

Bull s h i t. Days is currently the slowest most molasses speed soap opera on air without a clear plan of where it's going.

“The Bold and the Beautiful,” also on CBS but a half-hour show (the others are a full hour), has also quickened its pace to keep up with changing attention spans, and modernized in other ways. “We’re no longer the schmaltzy, fluffy romance of the ’80s,” said Bradley Bell, the show’s executive producer and head writer. (Mr. Bell and Ms. Bell are in-laws.) “Women are more independent and edgier,” he said. “The dialogue is clever and witty.”

Bull s h i t. Is that why two 20 something women have literally thrown themselves at one man for nearly a year now? Marrying him simply because his girlfriend failed to show up on time? Don't feed us lines that make you sound modern and cutting edge when the story is anything but.