Members Chris B Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 Soaps aren't that expensive, I think that is a myth. I'm sure The View costs more than General Hospital based on the salaries alone. I think the smarter thing wouldn't be to cancel these soaps, but tell them they have the same budget as a talk show and see what happens. I would love to see a new soap with a talk show budget and see if it could attract viewers. All you'd have to do is have a smaller cast. Plus with a new soap they could film it in a more modern, cost effective way. I think a soap similar to the British soaps could work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 Agreed. If I want to watch a bunch of dysfunctional people make bad decisions, I need go no further than my family, friends and neighbors. I like stories and storytelling. That said, I refuse to entertain the "bring back AMC and OLTL" madness. Those shows are gone. Either start fresh or don't bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 You certainly have a point. There's something to be said for the fact that I'm a little miffed when I miss Maury but could care less (for the most part) when I didn't catch the day's episode of DOOL, Y&R, B&B, or GH. I enjoy the insta-reveas of lie detector tests and truly passionate human beings who air their dirty [!@#$%^&*] on national television. And yet, I sit there and watch them deliver these obviously scripted strident monologues on Maury setting the scene for the ensuing drama, and I don't seem to mind that fictional element. Maybe because I know that what I'm hearing, while scripted, is steeped in truth. The writers have merely encapsulated a real-life dramatic situation into a flashy scripted diatribe At their best, the soaps did this: real life played out under extraordinary circumstances with heightened dialogue. Hell, CHEKHOV and SHAKESPEARE did that! WE do that in the Cocktail Lounge and we are riveted by each other's stories because they are the real deal and they prove time and time again that real life is stranger and more entertaining than fiction. No aliens, no underground cities, just juicy, dirty, authentic ass life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 I agreed at one time, but reality shows have become so openly false in recent years, and that's not good. Everything has become *too* aware. It's meta on meta on meta. You have had most of the Housewives admitting the drama is fake and a lie. So you're unraveling layers of lies and trying to find the truth. You can feel morally superior, because you're watching losers, and you're watching liars on top of that. That's why you now have "reality" shows like Breaking Amish which end with the host calling everyone con artists and desperately trying to pretend TLC wasn't in on the con. That's not what soaps should be about. I think they should be about pure emotional connection. They started being ashamed of this and that was their downfall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 This exact sentiment probably could have been made about soaps in the 70s. One of the buzz phrases that people have always used to praise soaps is that "they're like watching real people." The less real people on soaps became, the more viewers flocked to actual "real" people on TV. This isn't to say that we can't have over-the-top fantastical Dynasty-esque drama and melodrama, but, and I believe this might be one of those Marland rules, people want to believe that the characters are real. Doesn't matter if the leading lady is a resurrected mummy from the Middle Ages who's in love with the anchorman on the six o'clock news. Make me believe she's real and has real feelings, and I'm in for whatever ride we're going on. ITA. Whether soaps are expensive or not, they don't have to be expensive. The salary cuts were lazy and ineffective. More could have been done to .........soaps? EXACTLY!! When I sit down and watch The Jeremy Kyle Show, I know I'm gonna get knee-deep in some real, human drama. It's almost guaranteed. Soaps don't offer that guarantee anymore and haven't in an extremely long time, so what am I supposed to do? Pretend to be interested in whatever clusterfuck two-dimensional mess is going on in Salem or Port Charles? Don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 Soaps used to offer more than that. They used to be about telling stories. They same way movies tell stories and books tell stories. Stories that included narrative, character development, structure (exposition, climax, resolution, etc..) I don't find narcissistic losers making spectacles of themselves on camera (or Facebook or Twitter) remotely entertaining. Reality TV rewards people for being their smallest, worst selves and it rewards people for exploiting that. That isn't storytelling, that's voyeurism. Certainly there's an audience for that. Always has been, always will be. Remember the show Queen for a Day? Where various depressed housewives competed for prizes by telling the world how pathetic their lives were? That's all reality TV is. There's room for talk shows, reality shows, cooking shows, and soaps but the idea that reality TV and daytime drama are interchangeable doesn't work for me. That's like saying football and swimming are interchangeable because they're both sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 I don't think soaps and reality TV are interchangeable, but I can say that most of the people that I know who used to talk at length about what was going on on their favorite soaps now talk about what's happening on their favorite reality shows. They're different animals in many ways, but I think it's ignorant of soaps to not pay attention to why people are really watching those shows. Not because of fights and screaming matches and bad behavior, but for what's underneath all of that. I think seeing people at their worst gives us an opportunity to observe such behavior from an outside perspective and see the bigger picture of what's going on. And I'd say there's definitely a narrative line in most reality shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 I'll have to take your word for that because I don't watch reality shows and I never will. The last reality show I watched was the first season of Survivor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 I think there's a narrative on some reality shows. Survivor, at its best, has that. TAR used to, back when the show was not a piece of desperate crap. Now there's a little more focus on conflict and hooting and hollering, which does get viewers, but eventually eats itself alive. RHONJ gets big viewers yet online I rarely hear a good word about the show. So I guess while I can see that this does get a following, I wonder if soaps are too far gone to be able to wade into that type of format (essentially endlessly dripping fangs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members teplin Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 Reality shows celebrate the worst of human behavior. Soaps have done that, too, throughout their existence -- but soaps in their heyday also glorified love, family bonds and community. Those elements are trashed or ridiculed or observed ironically from a distance in most reality shows today. I hope reality shows one day run their course and sink into oblivion. Of course, I've been hoping the same for the Maury-Jerry ilk of talk show for two decades now, and you see how that's worked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted November 26, 2012 Members Share Posted November 26, 2012 Exactly. Reality shows like The Hills, The Real Housewives, and Keeping up with the Kardashians excel where soaps have failed. The trials and tribulations of growing up, friendship, relationships, heartbreak, social climbing, life changing events, and family dynamics are why people watch these shows. The shows are beautifully shot and full of charismatic and interesting people. No soap has had a young set anywhere near as good as that of The Hills in at least 15 years. No soap has a family with the dynamic and love and devotion that we can see on the Kardashians. They just do not. Soaps have tried to rip off and mock reality shows when what they should do is look at why people are watching them. Ask the people who watch them, not the ones who dont because they will say people watch for a trainwreck, and its really not the case (tho that is a element of the Real Housewive shows) Its all interesting to note that The Real Housewives came about after the popularity of Desperate Housewives and Laguna Beach/The Hills out of the popularity of The OC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KMan101 Posted November 26, 2012 Members Share Posted November 26, 2012 Couldn't have said it better myself about reality shows compared to soaps. I don't watch a lot of them but I can see why they're popular and why viewers are drawn to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted January 17, 2013 Members Share Posted January 17, 2013 Ugh, I got a lot of extra spending cash for Xmas--much more than I expected--and wanted to try to complete my collection of their DVD releases, but no luck--they seem to have completely sold out every possible place (frustrating because I stupidly thought I'd wait to buy most of them when I had finally some free money from Xmas...) Anyway--anyone see the oddness that their site has become? http://soapclassics.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dragonflies Posted January 17, 2013 Members Share Posted January 17, 2013 Same here, I'm pissed that this happened. I was going to wait till I had more money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chris B Posted January 17, 2013 Members Share Posted January 17, 2013 I wonder if they're actually looking into licensing any other soaps. They have the same problem as Prospect Park, which is a lack of proper PR. Instead of letting everybody else announce new cast members, Prospect Park should be blowing that up on Twitter, Facebook and on their official site with press releases. Start getting traffic over there. Same with Soap Classics. They were so vague about everything, then we'd randomly get a release throw together and have to spread word of mouth. I'm thankful for the DVDs, but dayum. It's like people want to fail because social media is FREE. If Steve Kent has time to tweet, then so do they. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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