Soaps In The Time of Crisis

[AbcNbc247]

That does sound like a good idea, but I wonder if Ron or Brad or the rest of them have the capability as writers to pull something off like that. Even DAYS' time jump fizzled out after a few weeks. Luckily, it starting to rebound.

[BoldRestless]

It's funny to me that Days did that time jump, but is the only soap that probably won't take a hiatus, and all of the other soaps may have to do time jumps now.

 

Does anyone think the soaps will make big cast changes? I saw some fans on twitter saying they should replace Jason Thompson with Billy Miller when they come back (which would be mean! but not unprecedented). I also see Daniel Goddard saying he has a big announcement to make this week (God, no). Bringing back popular actors would be easier to market than improved writing (which they'll need to KEEP the viewers and I hope they get that). Imagine if they showed a bunch of Drucilla episodes, then brought Victoria Rowell back...

 

And what do you do with John McCook and Eric Braeden who are 75+? Victor is usually front burner, do they temporarily write him off or will Braeden want to be the tough guy and come to work?

Edited May 10, 2020 by BoldRestless

[Faulkner]

Y&R definitely needs a reset. There was nothing of note happening when they left off. B&B at least had the cliffhanger of Sally’s doctor friend knocking out Flo, so maybe they could resume with Flo in a coma or something.

[Chris B]

Ron’s time jump fizzled bc nothing really happened. He didn’t need a time jump for what he gave. But I’m not necessarily suggesting a huge time jump, but you could move it forward a few months to address the missing older actors and reset the stories. 

[juppiter]

 

Y&R could fire more than half the cast and I wouldn't notice.

[Fevuh]

I quit watching but tune in for some of the classics and it really shows how bad it is today. And I agree - half the cast could go.  Eric Braeden has been rallying for a Daniel Goddard return.  Didn’t know he was such good friends 

[Aback]

 

And to think that just a few months ago EB was complaining on Twitter about CNN featuring several British anchors when in the US there's plenty of American anchors. Needless to say - EB is German and has been employed on a US soap for decades. Now he's advocating for a white Australian straight man to get re-hired on the show. Hypocritical much? Time for retirement IMHO.

[BetterForgotten]

I am seriously ready for Victor to be killed off with a permanent death if Goddard ever gets rehired. 

[soapfan770]

Ewww, why even bother. TPTB fired him for good cause. I didn’t realize DG and Co. were on the same level of Michael Muhney fans. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

 

 

 

I can see from many different perspectives what the pros and cons are but like much of the systems in the U.S. and in various countries worldwide, when systems have shown their obvious weakness and propensity to break down, a complete rethink and overhaul is usually the best way to improve and I think we can all agree that Y&R, B&B, etc. needs definite improvement.

 

Soaps are not relevant to the 'real world', which whether we'd like to admit or not, is the reason why they've ultimately fallen in ratings year over year. The same ole same ole is such that a show can no longer stay stagnant or maintain, it's ratings will drop, whereas decades before there might not have much movement with storylines that were a bit stale.

 

What if soaps were to acknowledge a changed world of some sort?  As I was reading about sales at high-end beauty companies dropping due to WFH policies with less women (and men) wearing, therefore buying grooming and cosmetic products, I couldn't help but surmise that, had I been writing Y&R, I would definitely write a storyline where Jabot struggles amid dropped sales during the pandemic and how that affects the Abbotts, their relationship to consumers, their holdings in Fenmore (which would also be struggling), Lauren's relationship to the Abbotts (as Lauren now realizes that she wants full control of Fenmore's again) and other players (Billy Abbott, who thinks he can save the company yet merge it with his new company, over Lily's objections, not to mention Jill's, who seeks a separate stake in Jabot) who seek to capitalize from Jabot's struggles, a few of whom may be in precarious financial positions themselves.

It's the type of umbrella storyline that should make a soap writer lick their chops but will Y&R do it?  Unlikely. Y&R is a machine but a not so nimble one. Y&R has decided that niche is focusing on rich people who barely wrestle with minor problems that are usually solved in two weeks (unless it's a murder/pseudo murder, in which case, it lasts for months longer than it should).  I don't see this show adapting to anything, despite that fact that it desperately needs to.  Y&R's form of adaptation will likely mean doing what Sony is focused on, which is doing enough deep cleaning to get back to churning out episodes.

Also, of course, all the hotels and restaurants would suffer because guests and customers would stay away.  Perhaps the only proprietor who successfully navigates this new landscape is...wait for it, Crimson Lights, that had recently renovated, sanitized and offers pick up service, whereas the other more upscale places like Society suffer because they offer a "dining experience", rather than just focusing on the food itself, like CL.

Will Lola go back to selling out of a food truck? LOL.

[Aback]

 

That would be really great! Which of course means they'll never do it. At least not the current writers. They'll hide behind the excuse that 'viewers seek escapism'. When the real reason is that the writers themselves would not be able to write that story.

 

I read that once the OJ Simpson trial happened, soaps were so affected that they started introducing more trials and such. I wonder if that will be the case after covid-19 as well, in that maybe soaps will introduce more GH-style stories à la Contagion.

[Faulkner]

Totally. @DramatistDreamer’s idea would be great, and probably would get them lots of press, since soaps can react to things more quickly than primetime, movies, etc. But they’ll say, people don’t want to see that. It’s not true. They’re just incapable of doing it well. Just like they’re incapable of doing escapism well tbh.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Faulkner

[asafi]

I think soaps are written so bad this days... see no future. 

Watching classic episodes of Y&R of early late 80's and early 90's- the show was so good back then!!!! amazing stories, great acting, interesting and deep characters.. compared to the awful plots of today. maybe it's time to say goodbye to Y&R, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL AND GUIDING LIGHT? 

[GLATWT88]

I wish Guiding Light was still on :))

[Fevuh]

Decided to watch The Real today but how funny - before I changed the channel I see today's episode is Victor back from the dead from 1993.  How many times has he come back from the dead.