I like breakup of segments. I took notes during the program and came up with this to have started it off:

 

Some clips, narration about soaps' importance over footage of fans picketing cancellations and/or  Days after fans believed Marlena was killed by the Strangler. Melody Thomas Scott's quote about her fanmail being 100% positive with an unwed pregnancy in 1981 was really strong.

 

2 minutes ago, Alan said:

I wasn't expecting much, but this "documentary" was so scattershot. There was no sense of chronology or coherence - it was disorienting to watch. This wasn't helped by the zoomed-in 4:3 ratio clips, many of them apparently ripped from youtube.

 

...

 

What if the producers imposed some narrative and chronology on this special:
 

 

7 minutes ago, All My Shadows said:

Bryan Cranston was enjoyable in this, for sure. I told y’all Andy Cohen was gonna be annoying. Run me my coins.

 

So many important people and things were glossed over while still being present, and it left a weird feeling. There was a great b/w Charita Bauer clip in there but no real discussion of Guiding Light. Santa Barbara was not mentioned - not even Passions when it came time to talk about soaps getting crazier. Dark Shadows was shown a few times, but nothing was said about it and its significance.

 

Idk. It was more thematic than chronological, but the themes they focused on were so weak and then poorly developed. There was a lot of talk about things and lots of butt-ugly clips without actually name-dropping specific soaps and characters outside of special features on Luke/Laura and Who Shot JR?

Are we going to blame JFP for the bad points of this special too? I went in that thread and I was thrown by how everyone was dragging that woman for everything. I don't know writers that well and I have never really paid attention to who's writing when and I don't have that encyclopedic knowledge of soaps like some members on here, but people have very strong opinions about her and I noticed she was on the special.

Edited May 20, 20205 yr by GLATWT88

I know people have problems with her, but she has a point..
 

 

15 minutes ago, GLATWT88 said:

Are we going to blame JFP for the bad points of this special too? I went in that thread and I was thrown by how everyone was dragging that woman for everything. I don't know writers that well and I have never really paid attention to who's writing when and I don't have that encyclopedic knowledge of soaps like some members on here, but people have very strong opinions about her and I noticed she was on the special.

Why did you quote my post in order to ask that? I don’t think anyone here is blaming JFP for anything related to this...

1 minute ago, YRfan23 said:

I know people have problems with her, but she has a point..
 

 

I absolutely agree with her assessment of Real Housewives as replacement soaps. They might tap into a part of the soap formula, but they don’t have all of the things that made good soaps what they were.

11 minutes ago, YRfan23 said:

I know people have problems with her, but she has a point..
 

 

Sad that soaps forgot this too. The “heroes” on soaps are mobsters, rapists, and serial killers.

Judging from everyone's comments, I'm glad I made the choice not to watch.

1 hour ago, All My Shadows said:

Why did you quote my post in order to ask that? I don’t think anyone here is blaming JFP for anything related to this...

I was joking. I just thought it was funny that she was on the special and members on here were reading her in the other thread for destroying their favorite soap/character and while I have heard the name before I wasnt really aware of the strong feelings surrounding her so when I noticed her on the  special I was like uh oh and then when everyone was making comments about the special I just decided to make a joke wasnt insinuating you were blaming here for this special or anyone else if it came across that way. 

have you got a link for download the documentary please ?

4 hours ago, AbcNbc247 said:

I wonder what actor Erika Slezak was talking about.

Farley Granger as Will Vernon. 

While I do think the Real Housewives shows share an audience with those who used to watch soaps, Andy Cohen trying to compare them is a very bad idea. The soap genre lasted for 70 years, whereas thanks to his poor decisions and his need to push himself above all else, the Housewives shows have struggled to scrape through for a good while now. Cohen also represents much of the misogyny, racism, and self-loathing homophobia that stunted the progress of the soap genre. When I look at him I'm reminded of so many writers and producers and journalists who drove my soaps into the ground. 

 

I'm glad I didn't watch. The only thing I have even bothered with recently on ABC is The Conners, and I've pretty much fallen out of that as well.

2 hours ago, YRfan23 said:

I will say I love how much Bryan Cranston is supportive of the genre. He’s someone that seems like they’d be happy to do a guest stint on one of the 4 at some point.

 

Bryan Cranston = Class Act. An actor's actor. One of the good guys. His Emmy tribute to Doug Hayes spoke volumes.

 

2 hours ago, Faulkner said:

Susan Sullivan?

 

Aside from her years on AW and Falcon Crest, her 90s and 2000s successes have all been on ABC, so I suppose she was an easy interview to get. I like her. Like Bryan Cranston she's a class act.

 

2 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

Bryan Cranston was enjoyable in this, for sure. I told y’all Andy Cohen was gonna be annoying. Run me my coins.

 

Lord he was annoying.

 

2 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

I mean, she’s been on nearly every day for weeks now lol

 

Jeanne Cooper forever.

 

1 hour ago, Titus Andronicus said:

Melody Thomas Scott's quote about her fanmail being 100% positive with an unwed pregnancy in 1981 was really strong.

 

That impressed me too. I know MTS can sometimes come across as ice cold, but I really felt for her and enjoyed her candour. 

 

Otherwise, the special sucked.

Sounds like I didn't miss much!!

Man I only heard about this just yesterday when I saw Susan Lucci promo'd it on her Instagram lol. Had to set it to record immediately! It was a bit of a discombobulated mess, and they clearly took NO time to go back into the tape/video archives & render clips out appropriately. That was the most glaring - everything looked awful when it didn't have to! Seriously the GH/AMC stuff from 2008-2011 had me cringing. The clip of Jane & Erica looked so bad WHY???

 

But not gonna lie I had a smile on my face pretty much the whole time. I loved it. Love the memories and everyone reflecting back especially Cranston, Stamos, Slezak, all the writers, producers and executives, etc.. I'm a sucker for that. Always enjoy all the BTS footage as well. Even though there wasn't a clear theme or through-line, the editing was very well done & a lot of love clearly went into it the whole program!

 

PS loved the soaps/sports durability comparison and how they recognized the male demographic that tune(d) in in droves as well😊

4 hours ago, antmunoz said:

Farley Granger as Will Vernon. 

 

I did not get to see the special. What did Slezak say about Granger?

 

Does anyone know if this has been uploaded anywhere on the internet? I'm prepared to be annoyed, LOL, but I want to see it anyway.

4 hours ago, DRW50 said:

The only thing I have even bothered with recently on ABC is The Conners, and I've pretty much fallen out of that as well.

 

We can both catch up!