Why No Daytime Soap Set in the South?

[te.]

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).

[Faulkner]

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.

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

 

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

[teplin]

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.

[Faulkner]

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. 

[All My Shadows]

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.

 

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.

[DynamiteKiddo]

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.

[All My Shadows]

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.

[Soaplovers]

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.