Unpopular opinions: cancelled soaps edition

[DramatistDreamer]

Also, I can't remember the last time a daytime soap truly blazed a trail, rather than followed a trend. You could argue that Port Charles got out ahead of the vampire craze, although the Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Dark Shadows people would probably have a bone to pick with you there. There's a saying that "there is nothing new under the sun", which is an apt saying because it does bear a bit of truth.

JMO but I really haven't seen daytime soaps (in the U.S.) have true innovation in a very long time.

[DramatistDreamer]

Sorry, I missed your post.

One basic idea that I think of is the aspect of the switch from 15 minutes to 30 minutes to 60 minutes. All major innovations, as was the change from radio to television. It was obvious since the 90s (even before another world was cancelled) that the one hour format was doing a disserve to many of the remaining serials, but there was this stubborn persistence that it could only be one hour for any soap that was already one hour, even if scaling back could be a better use of resources, better storytelling. Others have mentioned incorporating 13 week arc, similar to a telenovela type of storytelling. I am of the frame of mind that you need a more nuanced form of this, since most daytime serials have storyline arcs within the concept of continuing stories, so an abrupt end won't necessarily work, but you can cycle in various groups of characters and storylines and rotate and interweave these, so that you're not committing that atrocious mistake that so many daytime soaps do, which is overusing some characters, while practically ignoring others. Ancillary shows like Days are now just beginning to experiment with online streaming and good for them. Soaps have been unbelievably poor at embracing technology, which is sad, considering Irna Phillips brought Guiding Light to television pretty much at the dawn of television.

That's a thumbnail sketch of the type of innovation of which I speak. I have other ideas but this post is already lengthy. 

 

On last thing, I was reading an Op-ed article by a technology writer, Farhad Manjoo, who stated in his article that the tech business hasn't had a significant breakthrough in innovation in years... that's right...in years! I thought about it and wondered how this was possible, until he explained what the likes of Facebook, Google and the like had been up to in the last several years and you know what? I had to agree with him. True innovation is not just superficial tinkering around the margins. True innovation is great change which is sometimes even disruptive. If the tech industry hasn't been doing this, I know for sure the daytime industry hasn't been doing this either.

[amybrickwallace]

Exactly.

[DramatistDreamer]

Anyone who is interested in reading the article that I am talking about, I found a link that should (I think) bypass the dreaded paywall.

 

[namkcuR]

AMC tried some things in the early/mid 00s. 

The Bianca coming out storyline was a big deal, a first for daytime, even though it had already been done in primetime with Ellen/Will & Grace, etc.

Then there was the Zarf/Zoe storyline in 06/07, which I think(not sure) is still the only transgender storyline ever done in soaps.  I gather that there was some criticism that they essentially created a throwaway character to do it with instead of doing it with an established character, but at least they tried.

[yrfan1983]

The first trans character I’m aware of was Azure on The City (Loving spin-off) circa ‘96

https://abc-daytime.fandom.com/wiki/The_City

Later was Maya on BnB

[Frank2803]

Soaps can be innovative to an extent but you have to remember that network tv constraints can be tough to work around 

 

[Soaplovers]

My late mom (a boomer) saw the Maya story..and she said the following:

1) loved the actress, but wondered why a trans performer wasn't playing the part.

2) thought it odd everyone seemed accepting including hot head Rick.  And said shouldn't there be pushback?  Soaps and conflict go hand and hand.

and she was a somewhat left leaning boomer.

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Which is truly strange, given the fact that network television often spearheaded innovation at one time. Like I said, the transition from radio to television, the transition from live television to taped shows (with or without a studio audience). Three camera filming technique, which Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball pioneered took place on television, which daytime soap opera would eventually utilize. The transition away from organ music, which came decades after Irna Phillips had wanted to get rid of it. 

From what I have read,  it appears that the advertisers have had too much control over the direction of these shows. Even Phillips complained about it in her day, and it's only gotten worse, clearly. I think this has stifled innovation in daytime, to a certain extent.

I think when I speak of innovation, I speak mostly of the technical  and programming issues, rather than basic content and subject.

[Paul Raven]

On the production side, soaps never found away to incorporate regular outdoor scenes into the weekly mix.

British and Australian shows have always done this but the US shows stuck to the indoor format even when there had been technological advances that made it cheaper and easier.

Days had Salem Mall on the lot for a while and of course GL had Peapack, but we never got to see a park, outdoor cafe etc.

I recall at one point in the early 80's P&G were going to move to a production center in New York for all their shows.Maybe that complex could have included an outdoor taping facility?

[amybrickwallace]

Yeah, whatever happened to Salem Place?

[Liberty City]

I completely agree, which is why when TOLN began producing All My Children I was hella impressed. The sex trafficking storyline was BRILLIANT. And then The Young and the Restless did it a bit of time later, and it lacked the spark and originality that TOLN did with their production.

[DramatistDreamer]

Yes, such a good example! Thank you.

The TOLN soaps, while unfortunately being saddled with some less than ethical producers, produced a soap that was at the very intersection of technology and storytelling innovation.

Some complained about the sex trafficking storyline, which seemed to suggest that it was too gritty for them but I thought it was exactly the type of story that could be told when you have the freedom of an online medium in which to tell these stories, unfettered by a network. Why would you squander it by telling the types of milquetoast stories that got these shows cancelled in the first place? Those fans seemed to want a return to the type of show that saw its ratings drop and then hung by a slim thread in a march to cancellation. Why would anyone want this?

Yes, the language could be gratuitously strong at times, but that was a minor issue that could easily have been resolved had it gotten a second season. Those shows didn't need to be relentlessly mocked the way they were. Sal Stowers, for one impressed the heck out of me, as I had only identified her by her stint on ANTM. Clearly, others were impressed as she was snapped up by Days. And not just the casting directors were watching...

I remember half-watching Y&R's attempt at concocting a story about sex trafficking and thinking "These folks really think they did something here". It used characters that were so new to the canvas and so poorly drawn as characters that few people cared about what happened to them, so there were no stakes. And in typical daytime soap fashion, Y&R glamorized the guy committing the crime. It was bad.

It's too bad that the TOLN soaps collapsed under the weight of poor business practices by the production company, because it was a great synthesis between an emerging technology coming together with storytelling that was actually relevant to the times we are living in.

[Vee]

I will continue to think the PP model is the future of the medium, which is probably why it has no future as of now; thus far the networks have rejected it, with the exception of the Beyond Salem experiment which was far from perfect.

[Liberty City]

I agree. Well-intentioned, but poorly executed is how I would describe TOLN and those behind the company, production-wise. Not to mention, in looking back, their production mirrored that of Hollyoaks, also on Hulu. They could've really rode this and it's a shame they did not.

It was the type of story that could and should be told without the confinements of network daytime television, and its sponsors. Again, case in point: The Young and the Restless' trafficking storyline with Sharon and some rando-guest character felt empty. Extremely empty. While All My Children hit all of the right notes no matter how uncomfortable they might have been. And I can only imagine how they would have been touched in the now-canceled second season. I think people wanted an immediate pick up from the ABC finale and not a five-year time jump, which actually helped drive storyline and create something interesting, all while explaining why [some] characters were not in town (likely due to the limited time to gather cast).

If I recall, the swearing on All My Children was much more limited in comparison to One Life to Live, and it was the latter's fan base that complained more than the former. I completely agree to all points: these rebooted shows did not deserve to be mocked in the way they were, nor should they be ignored at this point. They were brilliantly done, in limited time constraint, and sure things could've been smoothed out by the second season, but they did a great job bringing both soaps back (even if I enjoyed one more than the other). As for Sal Stowers, I completely agree! Having not been impressed by her on Top Model, I was surprised by how amazing as was in the trafficking storyline, especially against someone like Debbi Morgan. She held her own, and the material still shows that.

I think, had TOLN and Prospect Park taken the time to actually push these soaps off the ground, and not rush the beginning of production, they genuinely could have done something wonderful. They were ahead of their time. Now? I could see them both being huge success stories.

Beyond Salem, in comparison to what TOLN did, was amateur.