Do You Think Soaps Will Return To The Glamour Style Of The 80's?

[SoapDope]

After looking at that pic of the NuBilly on the Y&R set and that strange get up he had on, do you think soaps will ever return to the glamour look like in the 80's ? Like big splashy parties, women in fancy gowns & Furs, guys in tux, polo shirts, sweaters.

[OldGHFan]

Nope. Soaps don't have the money they did in the 80s.

[KMan101]

B&B is the only current soap I'd even consider "glam" (to a certain degree). But probably not. The budget just isn't there for that. I think all of the current soaps could vastly improve their lighting, wardrobe and set design. They all look really cheap (except for B&. Even Y&R's production values have gone downhill, which is somewhat surprising under Jill, who often makes bad decisions in a lot of things, but the shows she runs usually LOOK good visually.

[allmc2008]

Nah. I think they should go back to the down-to-earth feel of the 70s. Part of the reason why daytime is crashing and burning is because they suddenly realized they were not making the money to be glam so they had to make budget cuts but the budget cuts. But instead of scaling back the production values they back burned and fired the vets and started using scab writers not realizing that it is story people want and characters they can relate to.

EDIT: I forgot to point out, like the others were saying, they simply don't have the money. If they did why not use it to bring back the vets and train new writers who have a passion for serialized story telling instead of recycling the same burned out ones?

[beebs]

Trouble is, these shows are often set in elite societies and industries. Yet everyone looks like they shop at K-Mart. They need to change the focuses to something relatable or at least make the shows look believable. You can't go back to the look of the 70s when most of those working and middle-class families were decimated in favour of the glamourous families of the 80s, unfortunately.

[NothinButAttitude]

I doubt it. As most mentioned, style has changed, but I doubt (too) we'll see another stellar gala on soaps. Y&R throws them occasionally but the build up isn't like what it used to be in the 80s and 90s. Nowadays, they just use them for sweeps to showcase half-assed stories with no real repercussions.

[allmc2008]

All the shows have to do is dust of there original bibles and go back to the roots.

Y&R can bring back the Fosters or a family tied into the Fosters that are working class and they can bring back the Brooks.

GH can focus the show around the HOSPITAL.

[Cheap21]

GH does focus on the hospital. The problem is the characters and the stories simply arent compelling enough for anyone to care.

[allmc2008]

True.

[Gray Bunny]

In all honesty, B&B's real-life outdoor location shoots, even around L.A., are plenty glamorous.

Hi Def now makes glossy soap parties look cheap & cheesy anyhow.

[Vee]

Sure they will. You got a credit card they can borrow?

[Khan]

Same.

[Paul Raven]

The focus on the uber wealthy was one of the factors in the downturn of soaps.

They didn't have the budget to showcase the lifestyle and it was hard to relate long term to their problems.

Soaps were more successful when the rich folks in town were moderately wealthy and not supposed to be Rupert Murdoch.

[SFK]

I think it's more a matter of taste than budget. B&B, like Capitol and Santa Barbara before it, was conceptualized as a glamour soap in an era when glitz was all the rage. B&B remains true to its roots despite changing tastes, and the backdrop of the fashion industry in Los Angeles certainly makes that easy. These people work in fashion and they work in the office, they should always be dressed fabulously. They are rich and they live in L.A., their homes have to be exquisite. Talented and resourceful set and costume designers can create the illusion of expense. It's the lavish remotes where I see the real dollar signs. And viewers may not always be wowed by wardrobe on a less glamorous soap, but that doesn't mean that those "plain" pieces aren't coming from high end department stores and boutiques. Liam might look dashing in a suit and haberdashery from H&M, while JJ looks like an average teen in a Calvin Klein henley from Neiman Marcus.

There are pockets of life in this world where people will always be glamorous, it's just their way of life. Set a soap in the south of France, hell, the south of Florida (Palm Beach, Jupiter Island, Miami), or Vegas, or even in a black mega church, the clothes, the cars, the homes should accurately reflect glamour. A show set in SaIem or Genoa City doesn't require any of that and the wealth we do see is all rooted in the early '80s when wealthy characters and their huge corporations set up shop in these small towns. Sure, the '70s brought us Kay Chancellor, but the rich society bitch is a soap archetype that goes way back, existing among several other not so well-heeled characters.

You could easily do an epic gala event by renting a bunch of tuxes for the guys (or buying cheap black suits), getting some reasonably priced cocktail dresses for the women, and cramming the cast into a ballroom for two weeks' worth of story told in real time and not spend more money than you would on a normal couple of weeks.

[Khan]

Remember when Y&R staged that uber-lavish costume ball at the climax of the David Kimble story? I think that was the last time (or one of 'em) when you could see a show putting a ton of money on-screen, as it were. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, it was just so incredible to watch.