1980s Trends

[Contessa Donatella]

Of course ABC tried to do a teen soap well before the 1980s & it was wall-to-wall pop music. It was a flop & that might have been because it was ahead of its time. I'm speaking of Never Too Young. Off the top of my head some performers were Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Marvin Gaye, Johnny Rivers & I know there were more. I've only watched the premiere episode but I found it quite good. Dark Shadows took its timeslot as soon as it was canceled & proved a good time for teens to watch soaps. This was 1965. 

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges
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[vetsoapfan]

Don't ask me about any of the tedious subjects I endured throughout high school; they are completely wiped from the hard drive of my memory. But when it comes to minutiae of soap opera's halcyon years, certain facts are simply engraved in stone and will remain with me forever.

This reminds me: I have (or at least had) an episode of Y&R on audiotape in which Janice Lynde (as Leslie) sings If in its entirety. I also have (or, again, had) an episode of AW from 1973, in which Steve and Alice hashed out their issues after a long, painful separation. Only Jacquie Courtney and George Reinholt appeared that day, since the original script had been revised at the last minute in order to eliminate other actors' involvement. TPTB chose to maximize the lovers' important reunion instead of having it diluted by other actors' scenes being included. Certain fans reject the idea that this episode ended up featuring only Courtney and Reinholt, based on the existence of the original, pre-revised script. Digging up that audiotape may be beneficial for historical accuracy.

I've had so many audio and videotapes in storage for decades, going back to at least the early 1970s, I should get off my duff and see what has been saved (after multiple moves), and what is still in playable condition. I know that various tapes disintegrated into dust eons ago, alas.

Edited November 22, 2023 by vetsoapfan

[Soaplovers]

Problem with using pop music in the 80s and thereafter is that there are so many loopholes to jump through with the royalities for the songs and also royalities to the performers that have to be paid.

[Contessa Donatella]

It was my understanding that their being dubious was because in the final scene there are 3-4 other players, not because of the existence of the presumed original script. I mean, the original script is a part of the story of what happened that day. There's no "Aha" moment in the fact that the original script is different! 

I know what it feels like when fan memories are not believed & it is a wholly uncomfortable feeling. I found your relating of it to be compelling. 

[kalbir]

Foreign divas I'd say were a side effect of Dynasty influence. 

Foreign spies/secret agents I'd say were a side effect of action/adventure.

Technically Eric Braeden (Y&R debut February 8, 1980) precedes Tristan Rogers (General Hospital debut December 2, 1980) in the foreign accent game.

For whatever reason, Bill Bell didn't have Eric adopt an American accent but he also didn't factor in Eric's German heritage into Victor's back story.

Edited November 22, 2023 by kalbir

[vetsoapfan]

I have been told directly that other characters and their scenes being included in the original, pre-revised script "proves" the inclusion of additional actors other than Reinholt and Courtney in that specific episode.

The "final scene" (the aftermath of Steve and Alice's reunion), with other characters, took place on the same day in Bay City time, but was broadcast in the NEXT episode, the following day, in real life.

 

Edited November 23, 2023 by vetsoapfan

[Khan]

I don't understand his reluctance either.  It wasn't as if we wouldn't care about Victor if he were German.

[Contessa Donatella]

That's just not what Eddie said to me in email. So I reported one thing & someone else reported another thing & he'd been in contact with Mike. 

I understand completely that this is what you said happened. But, you can't tell that from the clip. From the clip it appears to be the same day. And, I believe that is where the problem is. 

Anyway, there was the excitement of finding out about a two-person episode from your fan memories & an article referring to it & that devolved into this utter mess. 

[vetsoapfan]

The clips that people refer to are from a compilation reel of various Jacquie Courtney scenes throughout the year for JC to submit for Emmy consideration. Any scenes being grouped together on such reels should not be assumed to be from a single episode. In fact, from watching all the material available, it's clear that the clips are not only from one day's broadcast.

Ultimately, it's not worth rehashing a debate about something which cannot be proven to newer viewers. I would like the truth confirmed for historical accuracy, but with the passing of 50 years, few surviving individuals are left to corroborate the facts.

Even printed verification, magazine articles published back in the day, are mostly lost to history.

To those who never saw the show live, this will make no difference whatsoever. To those who did, we know what we saw, and again...nothing whatsoever will change.

So c'est la vie, as the old saying goes.

[Paul Raven]

Another trend that began in the 80's was the Serial Killer story.

Maybe a reflection of the serial killer gaining attention in the media.

Previously there had been murders, but not (seemingly) randon killings.

Even Edge of night had not gone down that route I think.

I believe Pat Falken Smith began it on Days of Our Lives with the Salem Strangler.

It was attention getting, well written and suspenseful. 

But then other shows jumped on the bandwagon. Days itself followed up soon after with the Salem slasher , Another World had the Sin Stalker and Santa Barbara the Carnation Killer. 

It became a quick go to to create suspense and kill off a few unwanted characters.

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, that was my immediate thought, isn't this clip a compilation, and if so, then, we cannot say when Actual Day One ended, etc. 

 

You're right of course. 

[Khan]

I'd love to know more about that story's origins, not only because of how it impacted DAYS, which had been flailing for the past 3-4 years, but also because that story, along w/ Luke & Laura, helped set the tone for the genre in the '80's: less introspective, psychological drama; more thrills, more chills, more jaw-dropping twists and turns.

According to an old SOD article, I think, Gary Tomlin and Michelle Poteet Lisanti initiated it, but when PFS returned, she expanded upon it.  I wonder if Tomlin/Lisanti just had Marlena's talk-radio show, with the mysterious caller who was threatening her, but PFS decided expanding it into a serial killer tale be a good way to trim the cast and bring some excitement back to the show.

Of course, the problem I have with serial killer stories on daytime - aside from their extremely gruesome and exploitative natures - is that most clearly begin with no idea who the culprit will be; and that when TPTB do decide upon a culprit - which is usually at the halfway point, if not later - the writers tie themselves into knots trying to explain/justify how and why that character would kill so many others, to the point of making it all so darn convoluted, and leaving more questions for the viewers than answers.

Moreover, rarely do these kind of stories employ actual pathology.  IRL, serial killers have a certain type of individual that they target.  It might be that they prefer to kill members of one gender or another; or they may prefer a certain body type; or hair or eye color; or even members of a certain profession (like how Jack the Ripper supposedly targeted prostitutes) or of a certain neighborhood or socioeconomic class.  On daytime, however, serial killer victims tend to look arbitrary, with no connections that you can spot right away; and if there is a connection, it's a flimsy and preposterous one.  ("She killed everyone in Corinth because they all were in so much pain."  Yeah, as if the Zodiac killer worried over their victims' emotional issues, lol.)

Years ago, when the citizens of AMC's Pine Valley were still in the grips of the Satin Slayer, I think, Amanda Dillon and another character (blanking on who atm) visited her mother, Janet "From Another Planet" Green, at the sanitarium where she had been confined to (after nearly wiping out half the town with a gas valve explosion at the Mardi Gras ball) in order to get some ideas on who the SS might be.  "First of all," I said, as I watched those scenes, "neither one of you is a trained psychologist or criminologist, so it's ridiculous how you're attempting to get this information.  Second, a person who kills someone with a crowbar (Janet, ICYMI, off Will Cortlandt years before) and rigs an explosion that kills another is not a serial killer.  The pathologies are entirely different."

[j swift]

I would argue that they knew who that the Salem Strangler would be Jake from the first murder, because it was foreshadowed from the start.

However, in Salem they went back to that well far too often.  For example, wasn't Renee's murder and the feather clue like a year later?  I forget if that's when Andre was impersonating Roman? But then we got Harper Deveraux as a serial killer.  Serial Killers were a dime, a dozen down by the docks.

[Contessa Donatella]

Wasn't Margaret DePriest HW during at least part of that time? She's known for liking to do multiple serial killers, basically back to back. She did it that way on DAYs & later did it that way on AW. 

[Soaplovers]

female serial killers tend to have different motivations, different array of victims, and sometimes less messy methods for disposing of their victims.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201906/the-unique-motives-female-serial-killers

So the motivation of the Loving murders, types of methods used to kill the victims, and the variety of victims match.