Soaps in the 2010s: Best/Worst and Predictions for 2020s

[beebs]

+1 to this entire post, honestly.

I will say that my predictions for the coming decade are relatively bleak. I'm anticipating DAYS won't be on TV five years from now. We'll see how the app series pan out. They very likely are using the app to acclimate viewers to watching episodes via the app in preparation to move online. If they do, they'll need to shrink the cast down significantly, and episode lengths as well.

I have a feeling that the wave of annoying conservatism we see on the shows with regard to subject matter will only get worse. Recent exchanges I've had with folks on certain social media groups on Facebook confirm to me that the remaining traditional over-the-air viewership of these shows are stuck in 1962 and refuse to leave, yet complain endlessly about how boring the shows are. 

I'll venture a bet that one show will do something very innovative within the decade that will usher in a new era for soaps, and finally prove their viability online. I have a sneaky suspicion someone at one of the streaming services will attempt to package another reboot of a serial, much like Prospect Park attempted with OLTL and AMC. Or package a new serial altogether, though that seems less likely (though would also be the wisest move, IMO). It may be wishful thinking on my part, but I think there is a potential audience beyond the diehard holdouts like us out there, it just needs to be done well, and paced appropriately (ie. enough time given to character and family building, something that has been consistently sidelined in recent years for poorly-executed stunts that have no long-term impact).

Also, I expect by decade's end, we will likely be seeing two remaining TV soaps, both on CBS. Expect B&B to overtake Y&R in households at some point. Steve Kent will burn the wrong bridge and be gone when B&B overtakes Y&R, and DAYS is cancelled on NBC (this will probably happen around the same time).

Additionally, I will bet money that Dena Higley will be rehired as HW at DAYS within the next year. I would've said two years, but the timejump has tanked the ratings, and since Corday doesn't know how to read a ratings chart properly, he'll think she's the perfect replacement and the show will bore everyone to tears to the end of its TV run, and possibly be the first HW for any online variant.

God, I sound cynical.

[beebs]

It did. I think losing James Scott, Camilla Banus, Eileen Davidson, and Ali Sweeney all in very short order really caused massive problems for the momentum for TomSell. I feel they had so many plans tied to those five characters, that to lose them one by one, they didn't know what direction to go in from there. Their antipathy toward the men of Salem didn't help. Drake Hogestyn was barely on the entire time, and when he was, he was a crusty husk of his former self. You really could sense a loathing of the character of John during that period.

Jennifer was, I think, the only character of the lot to stick around long-term after the funeral, no? Maybe she was back before then, to help usher Crystal Chappell back on the show. My timelines are a bit muddled on that era. Absolutely ridiculous they didn't keep John Martin as Bill around, as I haven't heard anything but positive things about his performance, admittedly, I thought he did a good job, and fit in like a glove.

They really bunged up MarDar, and the fact Marlene McPhereson was able to tell much better stories at AMC than DAYS speaks volumes about the interference they ran into. It always felt like stories would start, then disappear for weeks, before being wrapped up within a couple episodes, never to be heard about again. EXCEPT THAT STUPID EGG BABY STORY, which, yes, MarDar wrote. I feel like they were strongarmed into that. There was absolutely a campaign to push Daniel to the forefront in that era. He was someone's pet, and I have NO idea whose, because once he was killed off, we still hear about it! Certainly no actual FAN of the show.

 

[KristinG79]

 

When it comes to B&B, I wish some one WOULD interfere because the show has been dreadful ever since BB was put in charge after his father's death. He doesn't care anything about what the fans want, he only writes for his own entertainment and that is not how you run a show. (Sadly, I don't think it's possible since the Bells own the show.) JMO.

[AbcNbc247]

Did something happen like early on in the decade or something that prompted soaps to start playing it safe? It was like around 2011-2012 that the soaps, especially GH and DAYS just started to fall back instead of moving forward. It's like every time they tried to push the envelope, the story was pulled. The 2000's weren't like that at all.

I see what you mean about Brad, but trust me, you don't someone to interfere lol. It happens once and then it just starts happening over and over until people, fans and actors alike, just get sick of it and walk away.

[KristinG79]

 

I can understand that when it comes to the other soaps, but from what I can tell a lot of long-time fans have already walked away from B&B so it probably wouldn't make much difference either way. But at least we'd get something other than the usual tripe Bell keeps shoveling. I think...

[Faulkner]

2011-2012 was when ATWT, AMC, and OLTL were all cancelled. I think in the 2000s, there was still mild investment/innovation and hope that soaps could get younger viewers to tune in.

[beebs]

I do wish there would be more widespread reporting of online viewership, because with Nielsen only reporting traditional TV ratings, it's like driving with one eye covered. We have no real idea what shows young people are watching, because everyone's moved to streaming services, and none of them are reporting their viewership, which I find bizarre.

I assume the networks have SOME idea how many viewers are watching online, but apparently that isn't factoring into their business decisions, and thus the stories are catering only the remaining TV viewers, who are apparently largely 65+ and pearl-clutch at the very thought of saying the word "gay", and it's driving everyone else away.