Soaps In The Summertime

[DramatistDreamer]

When you see/hear the phrase “Soaps In The Summertime” what comes to mind?

Are there memories of watching on school holidays?
Are there any specific storylines on certain shows that spring to mind?

Does a certain soap/network promo that aired during the summer live rent-free in your brain?

Or do you have thoughts/critiques concerning summertime storylines on today’s soaps?

You’re welcome to share your thoughts on what soaps in the summertime mean to you.

[AbcNbc247]

Summer 2001

When I started watching Days full time. And eventually, Passions

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The Salem High crew was on some kind of trip to an island. And on that same island was where Alice’s stolen necklace was hidden and Shawn was determined to find it. Nicole’s pervy father wanted the necklace too and disguised himself as a chaperone or something. And he ended up raping Jan and getting her pregnant. 

[kalbir]

Yes, so much sneak watching on school breaks.

Y&R summers 1986-1993: Social issue storylines that usually featured Cricket plus a cringey Danny concert in many of those summers.

Y&R summer 1990: Early Dru plus Sheila's reign of terror beginning.

B&B summer 1990: Caroline's death. I cried so much after her final episode. Thankfully school didn't start for another few weeks.

GL summer 1991: Alexandra exposing Roger at the country club.

GL summer 1992: Blackout

Y&R summer 1994: Frat party started

 

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[Faulkner]

GL summer 1993: Kat/David with David accidentally killing Vinnie and going on the run, all the Macaulay West stuff with Joe Lando

OLTL summer 1993: the aftermath of Marty’s rape

[kalbir]

Also GL summer 1993: Roger/Holly become involved and Roger's crashes Ed's party at the country club (the episode that got Michael Zaslow his long-awaited for Lead Actor Emmy.)

Forgot to mention in my previous post

B&B summer 1992: Sheila's new reign of terror.

B&B summer 1993: Battle for Belief. Bill Bell's last hurrah before passing the reigns to Bradley.

Edited July 1, 2023 by kalbir

[Faulkner]

Summer 1993 was also the summer of SMG’s Kendall appearing and wreaking havoc on Erica on AMC. For me, that was the last really good summer for soaps (as 1993 was the last really strong year for soaps in general).

[kalbir]

Agree.

Non-storyline summer events that had an impact on soaps.

Summer 1987: Iran-Contra hearings. The first big summer pre-emption I remember.

Summer 1988: Writer's strike. So many shows felt off.

Summer 1994: OJ. Soaps weren't the same in the aftermath of OJ.

[j swift]

For me, it starts with Draper's prison escape story on Edge of Night.  If memory serves, it was 1980, a year before Luke & Laura went on the run, and it set the standard for a summer based adventure. The mystery of Draper loosing his memory, Emily and the odd household who took him in, and April's growing relationship with Logan while she thought Draper was dead filled weeks worth of story.  And then the climax at the circus (or was it a carnival?) was so reminiscent of the finale of The Fugitive, along with the breathless ABC promos, that it was must watch TV.

My favorite would be 1982, Jessie/Jenny escape to NYC on AMC, while Erica becomes a supermodel, and Silver sets up the All About Eve drama (ABC soaps had a thing for movie "inspired" stories).  Jessie and Jenny trying to beat the heat on their fire escape.  Erica being photographed at Lincoln Center, looking like Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face.  Silver and her trench coat, scheming away.  It was a perfect summer fantasy of freedom and fashion in the city.

But, I'd always tune into Y&R for Independence Day because there was invariably a speedo filled pool party.  Newman, Abbott, or Chancellor, Brad always packed his trunks for the occasion.  David's homage to that time on OLTL was fun, but nothing compared to the CBS pool parties.

That's why it is so shocking to see soaps go on hiatus during the summer, because those months were usually the highlight of the year. 

Edited July 1, 2023 by j swift

[All My Shadows]

Throughout the 90s, I spent most weekdays with a cousin at our grandmother’s house, and I will never forget the way she would say “Oh, no, y’all can’t change the channel until 3:00,” which was when the CBS soap lineup ended for the day.

Later on, summer in my tween/teen years meant waking up, waiting an hour or two for a classic 4-minute scene to download on WoST, watching it just before AMC started, tuning in to that, and then channel surfing between the three networks for two hours following, looking to see which soaps were putting out a good episode that day.

[Pine Charles]

Summer 1991:

All My Children 

Janet's introduction and "Natalie in the Well"

[kalbir]

Two more CBS summer promo songs that I remember.

1986

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1987

A Summer 1986 promo for all four soaps was online once but I can't find it anymore and I haven't been able to find any Summer 1987 promos.

[DramatistDreamer]

^^ Those promos were fire!

[kalbir]

@DramatistDreamer CBS had the best promos BITD.

[YRfan23]

It was Summer 2000 I started watching Passions, with the Prom Boat Disaster. I always use to think Passions was the definite summertime Soap, along with Days. Sadly it's kind of a thing in the past now for the soaps to draw in younger viewers during the Summer. 

[Darn]

For me this is the definitive summertime daytime promo:

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Popular couple, great song, no cheesy "it's hot and sunny and it's SUMMER TIME EVERYBODY" vibe, just sex without being overtly sexual. It's just so good.