The Story of Soaps Primetime Special

[j swift]

I miss the talking-head style of cultural history specials like I Love the 90's.  So, I hope this is a return to that format which seems simple to produce during the lockdown and nostalgia is always a welcome distraction.

[KMan101]

 

I've seen a few here and there on Twitter saying it's "been 10 years and on DAYS ... so and so is still ..." so I do think there's a good chance. But at the same time, it's hard to invest in a soap these days so do they really ... keep who they lure back?

 

And I do think the special is ultimately a good idea and you bring up some good points about it. Hopefully it's a starting point.

 

I mean, folks parody soaps so they know there's an audience for them. Hallmark has how many former soap stars doing things on their network? They know.

Edited April 24, 2020 by KMan101

[All My Shadows]

 

As blase as it sounds, for me personally, I think I would be fine with nothing lol I refuse to completely judge it before it airs, but I just have a feeling there won't be anything really new here. I think it was maybe VH1 that did a special on soaps somewhere in maybe 2002 or 2003, and the promo for this reminds me of that special. The fact that it's a two-hour thing does make me more interested.

 

I'll stop being a negative little b-word about it and just wait and see lol

 

I think your question about them keeping who they lure back is really it, and are they even really luring anyone back? I feel as though it's similar to when people who work 98% of the time from Monday-Friday find themselves in a doctor's office on a Wednesday afternoon. They like the novelty of checking in on a soap that they used to watch years and years and years ago, but they go into it knowing that this is not something that they're going to keep watching once things go back to "normal."

 

Hallmark, I think, gets it and they know, but they're already providing for that audience in their own way, and it's probably the only way that it would really work. Five-a-week scripted programming just is not successful anymore, and I doubt it ever will be again. But Hallmark has taken those soap tropes, polished them up, put them in movie form, also put them in the occasional original series form, and that's their contribution to the game. 

[KMan101]

 

Bingo on both. 

 

Agreed that folks will like checking back in but at some point their normal routine will return. Soaps just aren't able to truly pull new people in or lure in folks who gave them up. If they were peak form, sure, but we all know they aren't, LOL.

 

And people want to see familiar faces, not turn on the soap and say "who is this?" so for some it may work better than others. Like the DAYS tweet I saw was about Jarlena still battling Stefano and that person hadn't tuned in over like 10 years. It was a draw. But I doubt they kept that person invested.

 

Hallmark has really carved out a niche for themselves in movies. Kudos to them, truly.

[Vee]

They're interviewing Erika S. and I saw the modern Llanfair set in that promo. I'll watch but I don't expect much. As for any revival, my model is still the 30-minute streaming shows from 2013. That's the future.

 

Bryan Cranston and Alec Baldwin have been classy re: their daytime work, at least in recent years. I know Kim Zimmer still counts Baldwin as a close family friend.

[antmunoz]

Andy Cohen is a huge soap fan. To have Jane Krakowski on his talk show and discuss her role as TR on SFT and show clips...well, I love him for that. 

[All My Shadows]

Are we watching and live posting?

[Faulkner]

Oof. I guess you couldn’t expect much better, but the quality of the video clips...

[DemetriKane]

The unsung heroes of television. 

[AbcNbc247]

I wonder what actor Erika Slezak was talking about.

[All My Shadows]

I KNOW!! If they were clips from the 50s-70s, okay, but these are clips for which the masters absolutely exist and could have been pulled.

 

And how heartbreaking that they processed the hell out of those Loving clips.” - scratch that, all of the daytime clips look terrible.

 

”In daytime, there are no rules!” They should’ve made some damn rules at some point.

Edited May 20, 2020 by All My Shadows

[Faulkner]

It’s like they pulled them off YouTube. Hell there are soap clips from the ‘70s on YouTube that are clearer, even watched on my full flatscreen. Even that Annie/Erica bitchslap clip was a mess and that was less than 15 years ago.

[YRfan23]

Why are the clips such poor quality?? Damn! Stuff I recognize from a year ago looks like it’s 50 years old! 
 

I hate to say but Erika Slezak doesn’t look too good.

[GLATWT88]

They're already super disrespectful with those poor quality clips and they better not spend a large amount of time talking about reality shows.

[All My Shadows]

The comparison of soaps’ longevity to sports teams’ longevity is legit. I’ve never thought about it that way.

She looks a lot thinner, but I think she still looks healthy.

 

Baby, why are we showing the late 80s GL opening in grainy black and white?