Fox was set to premiere 13 Bourbon St. set in New Orleans in early 1997 and they even got as far to film a pilot and had allegedly committed to 65 episodes to air at 11PM (supposedly they were going to pick up filming in October 1996). Then nothing came from it - I can't help to think that Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210's declining ratings made them nix the project fast.

 

I'd also assume that they're hesitant to set a soap in the South due to the actors having to do Southern accents and there's been some pretty bad examples of that (aforementioned Melrose Place and Amy Locane's Sandy Harling as an example).

4 hours ago, te. said:

Fox was set to premiere 13 Bourbon St. set in New Orleans in early 1997 and they even got as far to film a pilot and had allegedly committed to 65 episodes to air at 11PM (supposedly they were going to pick up filming in October 1996). Then nothing came from it - I can't help to think that Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210's declining ratings made them nix the project fast.

 

I'd also assume that they're hesitant to set a soap in the South due to the actors having to do Southern accents and there's been some pretty bad examples of that (aforementioned Melrose Place and Amy Locane's Sandy Harling as an example).

I also wonder if the cultural specificities would make a Southern soap harder to write, especially when writers just cycle through shows? Even getting the language right could be challenging. We’ve certainly had some esteemed soap writers from the South: Pam Long and Nancy Curlee, just to name a couple off the top of my head.

6 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

For the record, Louisiana is very different from the rest of the south in many, many ways, and I have yet to see any soap or soap-like show truly portray us (or any portion of our society) as real people outside of shallow stereotypes centered on voodoo or "Nawlins" (and that includes Katrina - there's more to us than that, y'all!). AMC did a random as hell Mardi Gras ball complete with the expected early 2000s soap disaster in around 2005 or 2006, and I love Agnes's baby, but I just remember rolling my eyes the entire time. And then a few years later, Angie made a comment about making "shrimp gumbo," which is fine, Angie, and I love you girl, but I'm not eating gumbo made in Pine Valley, PENNSYL-DAMN-VANIA.

Ahem.

When I was a kid creating soap characters and storylines for fun, I always focused on soapy locales like the Midwest, but when I dabble back in it these days (just for fun - it really exists more in my head than it does on paper or computer screen), every single one of my show ideas is set in Louisiana because there are so many stories that just haven't been told, and you don't have to bend yourself in all kinds of crazy directions to tell them. A simple teen soap set in Louisiana about real Louisiana teens would be amazing. Do "Coronation Street" in a Louisiana trailer park - ridiculously fun stuff. Do something set at a small-town commuter college (which I think was the original premise of LOVING, right?). If you want to focus on the wealthy, you got tons of "relatively rich" people down here who think they run everything but they really ain't sht, and they're two or three degrees of separation away from that Coronation Street trailer park. We're a good time

A Louisiana soap would be SO interesting. Did you watch Treme? If so, what did you think of it?

 

5 hours ago, GLATWT88 said:

I have several friends who have all moved down South within the last decade for varying reasons. I think the South has such a unique identity from the other regions of the US, yet it hasn't been fully explored on TV. The cultural identity itself, and the everyday dynamics of race, religion and gender in the South.

 

I just remembered "The Haves and the Have Nots" is also based in the South if I remember correctly. I've only watched a few episodes, but I found the premise an interesting one that could work well on a soap. Race and class disparity between two families whose worlds traverse because one woman is a maid for the other. The haves hiding a multitude of scandals and secrets behind their pristine facade.

HAHN had such an interesting premise. Shame Tyler Perry didn’t let a competent person write it.

I would submit that OWN's Queen Sugar is as close to an old-style soap as anything on the air right now, and its Louisiana setting is an integral element of its storytelling.

1 hour ago, teplin said:

I would submit that OWN's Queen Sugar is as close to an old-style soap as anything on the air right now, and its Louisiana setting is an integral element of its storytelling.

Totally forgot about Queen Sugar (which is on my list to watch). They also film on location, which lends a lot of authenticity that a soap filmed on a NYC/LA soundstage wouldn’t have. Primetime and streaming have really made up for a lot of the gaps in recent years with the explosion in content from different perspectives. 

5 hours ago, Faulkner said:

A Louisiana soap would be SO interesting. Did you watch Treme? If so, what did you think of it?

I've only seen bits and pieces, and it seemed like they did a good job at capturing that segment of New Orleans culture. It's almost cliche, but so much of the culture centers on food and music, and they hit that on the nose.

My thing, I guess, is that if you look at series set in a place like NYC or LA, you have examples running the gamut of societies, cultures, locales, etc. within those cities. You have series about the wealthy, the poverty-stricken, younger people, older people, families, police departments, hospitals, and on and on. I'm all for more rural-set series in general, but I would love to see rural America explored in those more generic terms but with all of the regional trappings of the specific areas. A show set in Louisiana shouldn't have to be a show about Louisiana. Get out of New Orleans, get off of the Mississippi River, and venture into the bayou communities.

 

I find television in the UK has always done a good job of exploring settings outside of urban areas, but I guess the country being much, much smaller makes it a more plausible idea.

 

4 hours ago, teplin said:

I would submit that OWN's Queen Sugar is as close to an old-style soap as anything on the air right now, and its Louisiana setting is an integral element of its storytelling.

I haven't watched QS, but it's always intrigued me because it does seem to get a lot of things right, even though their North Louisiana setting is a different world from where I'm at in South Louisiana.

So, just talking about daytime soaps, when there were like 10ish on from the 80's-00's... to be compltely and plainly frank, I think they didn't do this because there were sooo many ways to step in $h!t here.  We've already talked about speech and some bad cultural stereotypes, then there's all the other thick $h!t in the air... there are a million ways to get this wrong.  The show doesn't have to be ABOUT the setting, but when the setting has SUCH rich cultural and historical identities (depending on your p.o.v.), it has to inform the content... if not, just don't bother to have such a setting.

 

But a daytime soap set in the South writes itself--really great setting that lends itself perfectly to the classic soap motifs.

 

In 2020, they should absolutely be doing this for nighttime or streaming... and really DO IT.  Art should have a very strong point of view and make an equally strong expression.  I'm not into those OWN soaps, but maybe I should check out QS if it's actually making use of its amazing setting.

1 hour ago, DynamiteKiddo said:

So, just talking about daytime soaps, when there were like 10ish on from the 80's-00's... to be compltely and plainly frank, I think they didn't do this because there were sooo many ways to step in $h!t here.  We've already talked about speech and some bad cultural stereotypes, then there's all the other thick $h!t in the air... there are a million ways to get this wrong.  The show doesn't have to be ABOUT the setting, but when the setting has SUCH rich cultural and historical identities (depending on your p.o.v.), it has to inform the content... if not, just don't bother to have such a setting.

 

But a daytime soap set in the South writes itself--really great setting that lends itself perfectly to the classic soap motifs.

 

In 2020, they should absolutely be doing this for nighttime or streaming... and really DO IT.  Art should have a very strong point of view and make an equally strong expression.  I'm not into those OWN soaps, but maybe I should check out QS if it's actually making use of its amazing setting.

I completely agree with you. The most effective way to really tap into those regional cultures and do them justice is by giving a platform to writers who lived that life. I'm thinking of how John Waters set most of his stuff in the Baltimore area because that was really all he knew and wanted to write about.

I remember years ago, maybe around the time "GCB" aired, there was discussion on what if Robert Harling had written a Steel Magnolias-inspired primetime series (maybe not a full-fledged soap but touching on soapy issues) in the height of that early 90s rural revival. That could have been fantastic.

I think that's why Texas didn't work..because it was filmed in NY..plus most of the writers didn't understand the Texas vibe....Houston is completely different than Dallas.