What was it like to be around during the glory days of soaps? (Pre-2000's)

[Mitch64]

I LOVED the Lakeland Country Club set and the bar area...you always knew sh*t was going to hit the fan there.  But let's not even think about poor Alex, eating a hot dog in Wheeler's closet made to look like a 7-11.  But on the reverse side Raunchie had EVERYONE act like they were the Spauldings...Lillian wore designer outfits...Beth did..but really, what the hell did she do to get money???Matt was wearing ties and a jacket. He got rid of the Reardon's and put the Coopers into Company to stink up the joint, (not that I missed that diner set) but made them more middle class then blue collar. 

[titan1978]

GH used to have several levels of income on display until soaps started ignoring stuff like that. While it was common for the doctors to be at Kelly’s due to the closeness of the hospital, those characters didn’t rent a room upstairs unless they were down on their luck.

Characters like Lesley, Rick, Bobbie and Tony certainly were making good livings.  But they were not the Quartermaines, their homes reflected that.  Laura’s house was in a diverse part of town (as was Bobbie’s Brownstone and Jason’s motorcycle shop) surrounded by lower income families, compared to Sean/Tiffany and later Sonny’s penthouse.

OLTL tried to bring that feeling back with Angel Square.  They made attempts until we hit 2000 or so, then nope.

[kalbir]

It seemed every show in the 1980s chased the trends of Dallas/Dynasty influence, supercouples, action/adventure. Yes it worked on some shows but chasing trends didn't really suit many shows original identities.

[MichaelGL]

DAYS has tried to do this at times, with Victor's butler Henderson and Anne Milbauer stirring the pot at the hospital, it was a half @$$ attempt, but an attempt no less in the last few years/decade compared to other shows. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by MichaelGL

[antmunoz]

SFT's leading man even had to perm his hair, because GH's Luke Spencer had curly hair, and was receiving tons of media coverage (any idiot would understand that it was not only because of Tony Geary'sfrizzy afro).
 

Isn’t this urban legend?

 

Luke debuted in November 1978. I could swear that Travis and his curly hair (perm or not) debuted earlier that year. 

[Paul Raven]

Yes Travis preceded Luke, and Luke when he first came on didn't have the perm.

The only character I believe that was required to have the perm was Sandy on Another World and that was post Luke.

[antmunoz]

Thanks for the confirmation, Paul Raven. 
 

The new PEOPLE MAGAZINE SPECIAL about GH’s 60th anniversary even shows Luke in 1978 with a straight pageboy haircut. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Yesterday, because today is Valentine's I re-watched the AW 1992 Valentine's episode, the 1940s B&W film noir "Case of the Stolen Heart" on YouTube. I tend to think of special episodes as part of the glory days. Maybe that's just me. At any rate it did not disappoint! 

Is there any other special episode for Valentine's? I would enjoy more. 

[titan1978]

Another thing that the glory days had- for the most part we had strong writers across the board.  So you got to see even plot heavy storyline oriented shows like 80’s GH, or The Edge of Night being meticulously crafted, with attention to important beats and reveals/climaxes that had true impact.

[vetsoapfan]

As we know, Tony Geary debuted on GH with straight hair, but as his role expanded, his hair was permed, he was paired with Laura, and the cultural-media frenzy took off.

Rod Arrants had originally had straight hair on Y&R and DAYS. I may be misremembering this because of Chastain's comments in his interview, but I could have sworn Rusty began on SFT with natural locks before his afro showed up. Maybe not. My ancient memory is not what it once was, LOL!

When former PTB like Chastain complain about the higher-ups' meddling and baffling mandates (in this case, allegedly directlng  Rusty Sentell to have curly hair in homage to Luke Spencer), however, I admit that I am wont to believe them. They have to bite the bullet and remain silent during their years of employment, and I can see them finally letting loose and speaking openly after they are free of constraints.

Of course, this is just my gut sense. Whether Chastain was simply initiating an urban legend about this--or carrying on an urban legend created by other sources--I cannot say definitively.

Certain stories are easily indentifiable as urban myths, like Robin Strasser and Susan Lucci being Phyllis Diller's daughters (!!!), but the Rusty-perm situation, to me, could go either way.

 

 

So, you're sure that Travis DID have the perm when he showed up on SFT, which was before Luke showed up on GH?

Okay, I'll trust your memory. As I say, Chastain's commentary may have muddled mine.

Thanks for the clarification.

Edited February 14, 2023 by vetsoapfan

[Gray Bunny]

Nowadays, I guess we could count that one random tall dude in the background who's always sporting a bad toupee and glasses. You'd think they wouldn't have an extra walking around in a witness protection getup. 

[will81]

I agree and everything I have read suggests that from the writers strike in 1981 until spring/summer 1982 when GH lost up to 2 million viewers, was all Gloria Monty. Pat came back after the strike but walked almost immediately and Monty didn't bother hiring a new HW for several months after that. 

It was that period that had the most impact on all the other soaps. 

[Jdee43]

If you want to feel a little bit of what it was like, go watch The Doctors or Dark Shadows, daily and with no spoilers. By some miracle, runs of both shows exist and are available for viewing.

I think the golden age of soap opera, and all daytime, was 1966-1976.

For me, it's all about the writing. It's a shame that in the 1980s and 1990s, the networks didn't invest more money in the writer's room and try to lure more primetime writers to daytime. See what Rita Lakin did for The Doctors or Henry Slesar for The Edge of Night. 

Also a shame that networks interfered with the writers they did have, rarely letting them do their own thing, like the writers of the 1960s and 70s had the privilege of doing. 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Jdee43

[will81]

The other two big changes I noticed. Story over character and JER's Days and Melrose Place turned Daytime from drama or high drama to scandal. By the mid to late 90's soaps felt more like tabloids

[Contessa Donatella]

Just a little onesie thing about Gloria Monty, but it bugs me. She refused, even when people tried to tell her that she should, to put Jane Elliot up for the Daytime Emmy competition the year she withheld her father's medicine. A secretary had to take it upon herself to call Jane & fill her in & tell her that she needed to come to the office & nominate herself. (And, I believe she assisted in the process.) That's what happened Jane nominated herself & of course she won. Thank god for secretaries with spunk. Anyway to get more topical, Gloria Monty is a part of the cultural lexicon of soaps' glory years but in her own way she had negative effects, too.