Which Daytime Dramas would be great if they had to go Live?

[DramatistDreamer]

Over the weekend, I was reading this article where the director of this new version of The Sound of Music talked about the reasons for going live and the perils of staging/filming a live show, which apparently hadn't been done since 1957 and Cinderella.

It made me think of the article about the Kennedy assassination and As The World Turns and how they taped live until the 1970s. And my mind started to wander (of course) and I wondered which daytime dramas today would be able to broadcast live successfully.

For me, I'm going to pick a show from the past--As The World, I've always felt they had some of the quickest, fleetest actors around (with a few exceptions). Many of them often did theater anyway, so it would not have been much of a transition, especially up until the late 80s/very early 90s. I have a similar feeling with Guiding Light.

What shows do you believe would flourish, if done live? Which ones would flop?

Have there been any in the past 10-15 years that have done a live broadcast?

[jo.frank88]

I argue that of the 4 remaining soaps Days would do best with a live episode.. only because the entire cast and crew is accustomed to the whole "one take and done" mentality and they rarely ever shoot a scene twice.

[jcar03]

One Life to Live did a week worth of live episodes back in 2002.

[DramatistDreamer]

I wasn't watching OLTL back then. What did you think of the episodes?

[soapsnstuds]

So epic!

Roger Howarth trying to trip up the flawless Kassie DePaiva (who not only deserved an Emmy nomination but the award itself for that particular week).

Wasn't Florencia Lozano the only actor to experience a minor goof?

[Marco Dane]

I dont think GH can handle a week of LIVE shows

[edgeofnik]

Search for Tomorrow when it was on NBC had a live episode because of a lost tape or something. It was a good publicity stunt, though, of course, they claimed it wasn't because it wasn't an important episode. It did get a lot of mainstream publicity and the ratings were up for that episode. Obviously, it wasn't enough.

ITA - ATWT would have been great live because the vast majority of actors were involved in theater. It makes me sad to think what a talented cast they show had throughout its run.

[cassadine1991]

Me either, it's a train wreck waiting to happen

[BingCherry]

I always thought Loving would really work well as a live show; the way it was plotted and structured, especially close to the end, it being live could have really had some dramatic oomph.

[SFK]

In an interview at the time, Linda Dano said that she went up on one of her lines. I wasn't really into the show at the time but I somehow recorded a part of one episode. In it, they cut to a scene in the diner and you see FL standing still outside the door for a split second waiting for her cue to enter.

As far as the question of the thread, the golden age of Another World immediately comes to mind. I think watching those explosive Rachel/Mac/Iris arguments live would have been thrilling.

The City had this smooth languid energy, they could have pulled live off nicely. I don't think it was possible though as they had one huge main loft skeleton that they redressed for the various sets in the building.

[Marco Dane]

AMC Live during one of Erica's many perils

[allmc2008]

Is it really THAT necessary for soaps to be taped? I mean could they be live if they wanted to?? I think it would be interesting for there to be a new show that aired live for the aesthetic value. It really adds a layer of caution and alertness that gives the performance a certain thrill factor.

[chicklitsandfantasies]

None of the current ones. Complaints keeps coming about how bad they are now and they still reshoot some scenes. Imagine how bad it would be if they couldn't reshoot any scenes.

[Nate4]

I think they're better taped.

[SoapDope]

I think Y&R would do well live. It was live to tape in the 70's like a stage play and if there was a minor flub they left it in. If there was a major mistake, they had to wait several hours to get the feed again to retape and that meant everyone had to reshoot the entire show.

If you watch the 1974 Y&R episode posted here you can see a couple of live taping flubs that they ignored or covered for. There is a scene where Jill is on the phone and she slips and says Mrs. Foster before correcting herself and saying Mrs. Chancellor. Later in the episode with Jill in Katherine's house for the first time the background music they are playing stops and you hear a click and another theme starts playing.