Members SoapDope Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 I was scrounging around on ebay and came across several old Soap Opera Digest mainly late 70's and 80's. The thing that I noticed was how certain soaps dominated the covers/features and others were thrown a few scraps or for the majority ignored. What soaps do you feel the soap press doted on (or still dotes on) and ones they pretty much ignored (still ignores) most of the time. General Hospital is an obvious case of the soap press going ga ga over for decades, especially Luke/Laura/Scotty. I noticed too that Deidre Hall and Wayne Northrop got a lot of soap press shortly after being paired and were on several covers within weeks. Compare that to Y&R. The Nikki/Victor pairing exploded in late 1981 through 1982, but they never made the cover of SOD during that period. Melody didn't make the cover till 1983 and even then it was with Christopher Holder who played Kevin Bancroft. He was off the show by 84. It would be interesting alone to count how many times Genie Francis/Tony Geary were on the cover between 1978-1984. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 LOVING Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members katie_9918 Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 I always felt the ABC soaps always got too much attention. GL was firing on all cylinders from 1989 till about mid-1995 and I never felt they got their due during that period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members beebs Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 I feel like ABC just ate everything alive during the early 80s, and, with the exception of Loving, was thoroughly overhyped. GH continues that to this date, and while I don't feel like Y&R was ignored in the 90s when I got into the soaps and soap mags, definitely the P&G soaps got overlooked a LOT by the soap press. It tended to be Y&R, DAYS, and ESPECIALLY GH and AMC dominating the covers back in the day, with everyone else sort of getting a sprinkling of attention here and there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 The early days of soap magazines tried to be balanced. I think Daytime TV and Soap Opera Weekly both tended to be more balanced than SOD, for a number of years. Even back in the late 70s, there was a certain hierarchy, with the more popular magazines getting more meaty material from top shows. I have a magazine called Soap Opera Beat from the late 70s, and they had advertised scoops like an "exclusive interview" with Deborah Courtney on when she's return to daytime. And, while I know she was a popular actress on Love of Life, I don't think SOD would have ran with this as a big scoop. The early 80s really were when you started seeing that huge tip toward DAYS, and the push for certain soaps to always be most prominent. The interesting thing for me is that even though GH was the #1 soap for most of the 80s, I don't feel like most of the SOD issues of that era are all that heavy on GH focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members quartermainefan Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 The ABC soaps in the early 80s were resonating with the public at large in a way no soaps were before or since. The audience size for Luke and Laura pretty much tells the story, especially considering where GH was pre-Monty. Of course the soap press was going to pay attention, and the entire network lineup got pulled along for the ride. It can't be coincidence that Susan Lucci on the same network became the most famous soap actor of all during the same period playing the most famous soap character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NothinButAttitude Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 Well I didn't start reading/looking soap mags till about '94-'95-ish when my Gram would buy them, read then give them to me (I was 7 and had begun watching soaps three yrs earlier at the age of four). I can remember being peeved as a child that GH, DAYS, and AMC (I wasn't watching @ the time) and YR (CBS soaps was what I raised on) being doted on heavily. Getting great review, getting all the covers. . . It annoyed me because I felt that AW, ATWT, or especially GL didn't get the recognition I felt at the time they deserved. Even though it was a bit before my time (but I got to see reruns on BET), Generations, which was ahead of it's time and well written didn't get the recognition it deserved from the press. Though they seem like they got some love (going off the articles posted in the classic soap section), I feel had the press shown more love, the show might've lasted longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ~bl~ Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 DRW50 aka Carl, have you ever shared anything from Soap Opera Beat. I've never heard of that. I'd love to see the cover. Was it a monthly magazine? I like how the Sterling magazines (like Daytime TV) covered the soaps. While it was a black and white publication for the most part in their regular issues things were pretty even when it came to content. They would produce yearly show-biased issues. When it comes to covers, SOD wasn't equal-handed and depending on the time frame there would be more or less covers of certain shows. The soap press I feel pretty much ignored Loving seldom giving them covers. The 90s Soap Opera magazine actually gave them one once in awhile which was surprising. Soap Opera Magazine and Soap Opera Weekly actually had more coverage of certain shows than SOD did in the 90s. (Once Torchin was gone from SOW, the GL coverage got a lot more sparse.) DRW50 aka Carl, have you ever shared anything from Soap Opera Beat. I've never heard of that. I'd love to see the cover. Was it a monthly magazine? I like how the Sterling magazines (like Daytime TV) covered the soaps. While it was a black and white publication for the most part in their regular issues things were pretty even when it came to content. They would produce yearly show-biased issues. When it comes to covers, SOD wasn't equal-handed and depending on the time frame there would be more or less covers of certain shows. The soap press I feel pretty much ignored Loving seldom giving them covers. The 90s Soap Opera magazine actually gave them one once in awhile which was surprising. Soap Opera Magazine and Soap Opera Weekly actually had more coverage of certain shows than SOD ever did in the 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Melroser Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 I'm admittedly biased because AW was always my show so with that said, after the show's heyday in the 70's did they ever get much attention? I remember Anne Heche as being one of the shows actors that got coverage when she was on as Vicky but I don't remember many others. I remember covers for the double wedding of Mac/Rachel and Sandy/Blaine, 25th anniversary cover, and the Who Shot Jake storylines but were their many others? I think Ryan/Vicky/Jake each got bits of the cover often but I'm not sure the show had full covers. Linda Dano alone should have had a full cover for her alcoholism story...especially since she won the emmy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members frequentsoapfan Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 GH to this day is still overhyped in everything from acting to writing to casting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Soaplovers Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 Looking at some old Soap Opera Digests my mom kept in the mid-80s through the late 80s.. there are very few AW ones. There are quite a few ATWT/GL ones though. Especially of Philip/Beth, Rick/Mindy & Rick/Roxie... plus even one of India/Alan. The few AW covers were of Sally/Caitlin, Kathleen/Cass, Jake/marley, and one of Dean/Jenna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 I think the double wedding and 25th anniversary were their last solo covers until the 30th anniversary. Anne Heche was on the cover with Beth Ehlers and Charlotte Ross. Sandra Ferguson was on the cover with Lisa Peluso and someone else. That's just SOD. Soap Opera Weekly gave them more coverage, and covers, as they wanted to be fair. They had several covers with Cass and Frankie (the best was the "His Favorite Wife" cover with Kathleen). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cassadine1991 Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 Now it's to an even higher level because the "sainted ones" are at the helm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Winchester91 Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 To be fair, Cartini's OLTL was good until the Writers' Strike and didn't truly bottom out until Jared's death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Skin Posted October 20, 2013 Members Share Posted October 20, 2013 Y&R and GH, in my experience as a viewer from '97-present. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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