Why are soap fans so averse to online streaming?

[Vee]

Criterion leaving Hulu was absolutely heartbreaking for me. I never got over it, and FilmStruck utterly failing to accommodate me didn't help.

 

For people looking to get more into classic film, I highly recommend Kanopy - they have a decent and growing selection, and all you need is a local library card which you can obtain and use entirely online via most public libraries' websites. I did in ten minutes.

[DramatistDreamer]

The only problem with Kanopy is that it isn't available to every and all public libraries.  Hoopla Digital, which is probably available in more public libraries, is very limited in classic titles.

[Faulkner]

Guillermo has spoken!

 

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

That's great.  I do wish that the daytime dramatic genre had a well known and well regarded advocate to at least, help preserve what's been done, especially during the Golden Ages.

[Faulkner]

A good piece on FilmStruck that covers many of our discussion points:

 

 

 

[Faulkner]

YAAAAAY!!!

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2018 by Costello

[j swift]

I watched the Amazon Prime season of The Bay this week and found it hard to focus.  As an 80's soap fan, it is missing the pacing of a daytime soap, (and it looks too cheap to be a nightime soap).  Without the commercials, scenes with heightened emotions get oddly transitioned into scenes that have a different tone.  The episodic cliffhangers aren't as captivating because they are resolved as soon as the next episode buffers.  Overall, I think it is like eating too much cake, it is tempting but it gets quickly sickening.   Watching characters that are barely more than just hunks, bitches, and ingenues indulge in over the top acting is fun in small doses but it does not translate well into a medium of binge watching.  The same is true for the network soaps, I would never watch the on-demand episodes back-to-back because the repetition involved in each episode would become too boring to follow.  So, I guess that explains my aversion. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Sounds like you have an aversion to bad writing, which is not in short supply on network too.  I can see where a binge-method of presenting string of On Demand episodes might not be a good fit for a lot of continuing drama but even Netflix is beginning to present series that present episodes one at a time.

 

I've had a ball binge-watching classic ATWT on You Tube and many of those episodes have no commercials.  I think the biggest thing is that a lot of the websoaps of today just happen to be poorly written.  The production values have improved but the scripts, by and large, haven't.

[Khan]

 

Agree.  One feels the love for the genre that writers put into their websoaps.  But, like the song says, sometimes love just ain't enough.

Edited November 18, 2018 by Khan

[Vee]

Very glad Criterion will get its own service.

[Faulkner]

Not to make this thread a catch-all for all news about streaming services, but...

 

[Chris B]

Dallas and Neighbours have been added to Amazon’s new ad supported channel FreeDive. I hope that’s a step towards at least more prime time soaps streaming. 

 

It amazes me a company like PGP hasn’t put their soaps up somewhere. Even if only the recent years. It’s a shame they gave up on streaming Another World. 

[John]

This launches in 2020 and Days is renewed til 2020. Could Days move to streaming only? Thoughts?

[DramatistDreamer]

 

PGP is very stupid and obstinate.  They're too busy infighting and engaging in their intra-company 'cold war' to recognize a genuine revenue stream.  Even if they streamed these shows for 'free' with their own ads like Crakle, FreeDive and so many others do, there would be no virtual downside for PGP.

Then again, PGP never did see the true value of their entertainment properties, even when their shows were financing practically half of their business ventures.

 

Like I said, stupid and obstinate.

 

[Chris B]

@DramatistDreamer That’s very true. Their stupid decisions is why Another World tanked in the 80s and also what killed Search For Tomorrow and Edge. They could’ve built an empire if they were smart. Hell, even with Hallmark they could be doing ATWT and GL movies but instead we get nothing. I still don’t get why they stopped the Hulu deal.