Lapsed Viewers: What Would Lure You Back In?

[vetsoapfan]

Tell me about it. One time, I was in negotiations with a trader who had the 90-minute ABC premiere of THE EDGE OF NIGHT, as well as the 90-minute premiere of HOW TO SURVIVE A MARRIAGE, from the 1970s. He played me portions of the audio over the phone, and sent me screen snapshots, to prove he was legit. In return, he wanted me to send him some very rare episodes from my own collection; episodes he had not been able to find anywhere else. I was happy to arrange such a deal, because...this was the point. You preserve ultra-rare material in hopes that you can use it as barter to trade for someone else's ultra-rare, prized material.

 

To make a long story short, a third trader, who had gotten some great stuff from me, but who had reneged on his end of the deal (i.e., he ripped me off and never sent me anything in return) SOLD "my" material to the TEON/HTSAM guy for a nice profit. The TEON/HTSAM trader then told me that he had no reason to let me have copies of his EDGE and SURVIVE videos, now that he already had what he was looking for. So both the EDGE/MARRIAGE guy and the rip-off guy got what they wanted (rare videos and/or cash), and all *I* got was...screwed.

 

Floating around the internet and in trading circles, there's a 60-minute edit of Ross' and Carrie's wedding from TGL, which originated from me. The very first person I "traded" it to ripped me off, too. In "trade", he sent me a broken, sleeveless VHS tape in the mail, with only half the material he had promised on it. Then, contrary to what he had expressly promised, he started trading and selling the Ross/Carrie wedding tape to other traders, thereby circumventing my ability to use the material as trading fodder. He just laughed it off when I reminded him of his promise. He said he felt "a little guilty" about it, just not guilty enough to cut it out. It was like, thanks, Mike, you know, LOL?

 

On the other hand, I did meet some wonderful, fair, honest, and generous traders as well, but in the end, the aggravation was not worth it.

 

I hope I don't sound too much like a curmudgeon! 

[NothinButAttitude]

No! Not at all. I'd be pissed if people were profiting off something I traded with them. That's just up. You have every right to be pissed.

[All My Shadows]

Exactly. I'd rather see my show receive a dignified cancellation notice than watch it mutate into something it was never meant to be or something completely opposite from what I'd grown to love.

[vetsoapfan]

When the heinously stupid Ice Princess saga attracted so much media attention for GH in the early 1980s, I knew it would signify the beginning of the end.

 

I was right, alas.

Well, to be fair, it's not like I held the copyright to the actual episodes. But there is an etiquette to be followed in the trading community, and certain rip-off artists are wont to break it.

[NothinButAttitude]

True but as you said, it's basic etiquette and courtesy not to do that. Plus, it prevents others from seeing these classic clips and enjoying them. 

 

As a seasoned soap viewer (and this open to anyone who have watched soaps for many years), do you not like sensationalized, over-the-top adventure stories like this that aren't rooted in realism? Do you mind adventure stories at all?

[DramatistDreamer]

Growing up on P&G soaps and Bell soaps, I can tolerate, even enjoy a suspension of believe (e.g. identical twin cousins?  Sure why not if the acting and the writing is convincing) but I have no taste for "oh we need to save the earth from freezing" type storylines.  

I don't judge people who enjoy those types of stories but for me, personally, I found those type of stories were an insult to my intelligence

[vetsoapfan]

I firmly believe that you should not make a sow's ear out of a silk purse.

 

In the 1970s, many of the soaps were at their zenith. We had master writers like Agnes Nixon, William J. Bell, Pat Falken Smith, Claire Labine, Henry Slesar, Douglas Marland, the Dobsons, Gordon Russell & Sam Hall, etc., turning out stellar work. We did not need mad scientists freezing the world, or clones, or devil possessions, or spaceships flying our heroines to heaven. We had intelligent, adult, character-driven drama, and it kept the audience enthralled.

 

Then some misguided PTB decided to reinvent the wheel, and to defecate on a genre that had been thriving, in order to appeal to a broader audience of cartoon-lovers, kids, and fantasy enthusiasts. It temporarily attracted a great deal of attention to daytime TV, much of it from sources that did not understand or appreciate the soap opera medium to begin with, but once the novelty of space aliens, witches, and time traveling wore off, the fly-by-night newbie viewers disappeared. Fantasy and sci-fi lovers headed back to other media that could better serve their craving for that kind of entertainment. Sadly, by then, the daytime dramas which had pandered to such an audience, and which had bastardized themselves in order to make a splash, were in tatters.

 

So, in short: I loathe, loathe, loathe the painfully cretinous forays into science fiction and fantasy artificially grafted onto this genre. It has destroyed the form.

 

I enjoy THE WALKING DEAD, GAME OF THRONES, and STAR TREK as much as anyone, but I do not want to see a zombie apocalypse wiping out the Ingalls family on LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, or dragons and mystical creatures floating around DOWNTON ABBEY, or vulcans and tribbles working at WJM on THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. Everything in its place, you know? How would fans of THE WALKING DEAD react if new showrunners decided to "broaden the show's appeal" by having the zombie apocalypse turn out to be merely a bad dream, brought on by Carl's gas? Would loyal TWD enthusiasts react kindly to the show being turned into a domestic drama, featuring miscarriages, unplanned pregnancies, and doomed romance? And would any PTB be stupid enough to do this? 

 

 

[NothinButAttitude]

@vetsoapfan Understandable but did you like something along the lines of Nola and Quint looking for the Golden Cradle, which could be considered realistic and not too farfetched? 

 

I understand people hating stories that consisted of magic, but would an adventure story about an ancient artifact worth millions, etc.--stories like that bother you? Do you think those stories bastardized the genre?

[vetsoapfan]

It all depends on how a story is presented. Phillips, Bell, Nixon, Slesar, Falken Smith, Lemay, and others of their ilk knew how and where to draw the line. They based their material on characterization and human emotions which were recognizable and true enough that we could easily suspend disbelief to a certain degree, as long as the shows did not completely shatter their "reality bubble," so to speak. TPTB who foisted most of the science-fiction and fantasy onto the soaps in the 1980s...well, let's just say they were not in the masters' league.

Usually, TGL presented Nola's fantasies as fantasies, which was great. She daydreamed about classic movies and about attaining a more colorful life, which most folks do. No problem there. Looking for ancient artifacts, which researchers do every day in real life, also falls within the realm of possibility, so I have no problem with that sort of material. Now, if the Great Gazoo had suddenly appeared and flown Quint and Nola to Peru on his spaceship, I would have howled like a banshee, LOL.

[All My Shadows]

I grew up watching soaps alongside older family members in the 90s then watched on my own for about 15 years, steadily gravitating towards watching older stuff online until about a year ago, I just plain gave up on trying to regularly watch any of the current soaps at all.

I think anything can and should have a place in daytime drama, even comedy. I don't believe in the monolithic view of soaps as always having to be about family and relationships, but I do believe that a show that was created to be about the domestic issues of a family should always strive to be about that. Likewise, if it was a soap that was created to be a moody, suspense story like Dark Shadows, then that's what it always needs to be. That's what makes each soap, or made each soap, unique. When the genre became so trend-oriented, every soap was trying to hook into the same look/feel, and they all became copies of each other, and look at what's happened.

At this point, and I absolutely hate to say it, but all of our favorite soaps like ATWT, GL, OLTL, AMC, even the ones still on the air, they probably all should be gone and should've been gone for a while now. But the genre itself should be alive and well, just with different titles, maybe a slew of familiar faces, but giving us something new so as not to taint the old. Idk how successful anything could possibly be airing in the daytime these days, but I digress.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Not the Great Gazoo! 

 

Good to know as long as the adventure are in the realm of possibility, you are fine with it. I was worried that you didn't like Nola/Quint/Silas arc, which I have fallen in love with over the years.  I am not a big fan of magic and reality being bent for soaps, but I do love a good adventure story when I know it can be possible. Having watched the Ice Princess story or Three Prisms story (DAYS), I enjoyed them too but I can see how people who watched soaps at their height (the 70s) be frustrated with how cheapened they got. 

 

Seeing as you are a big P&G fan, I've always wanted to ask what you felt about the Mr. Big story on ATWT. It's a story I've always wanted to see but I know many have said they loathed the story. 

[vetsoapfan]

Oh, I agree. Comedy definitely has a place on the soaps. It's part of the human experience. Who does NOT laugh and find themselves in comedic situations with their families and other relationships, from time to time?

 

During soaps' halcyon years, different shows had different identities. THE EDGE OF NIGHT, with its larger-than-life, noble heroes and flavorful villains, was very different than ALL MY CHILDREN, with its folksy, down-home charm. In turn, AMC was very different from the conservative, sloooooooow-moving AS THE WORLD TURNS. It did not matter what kind of soap it was, however, fans gravitated to all of them, finding interest in the different colors each show provided.

 

Once the soaps all became carbon copies of each other, and lost their unique identities, blandness set in.

[zanereed]

Concerning "Guiding Light", once they started going into the realms of "The Dreaming Death" storyline, that was about it for me.

[vetsoapfan]

UGH!

 

Double UGH!!!!

 

I hated the STOOPID Mr. Big storyline with every fiber of my being. This was the story that made me realize I could live without watching my beloved ATWT.

 

It ranks right down there with my most-loathed stories ever presented on daytime TV. (Don't get me started, LOL!)

[NothinButAttitude]

 

 

But couldn't it be rooted it realism? From what I've seen of the story, I liked it. 

 

 

I just knew you probably hated that story. Most longtime viewers I've come across have. I just wanna see the episode when Tom and Margo are held in the castle by Mr. Big and have to solve all those riddles. It sounds interesting to watch.