ALL: End of an Era: Are Daytime Soaps Washing Away?

[asafi]

The soap opera world's been shrinking for years, and 2025 might be the final curtain call for the last four.

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TV's changed big time – we've got streaming, social media, you name it. Who's got time to watch a show every single day anymore? Plus, with tight budgets, the networks might be thinking it's time to pull the plug.

But hey, soaps have survived tough times before. Maybe they'll find a way to keep the drama going, just in a new format. What do you think? Ready to say goodbye to soaps, or hoping they'll stick around somehow? vs

[Troppo]

Yes I hope they stick around. But I also hope they can adapt to ever changing viewing habits. Stop dragging them out. Make them run shorter. I can barely get through a 20 minute show. I don't know how people can commit themselves to one hour. The writing would have to be excellent.

That’s my 2 cents anyway

Edited September 3, 2024 by Troppo

[te.]

Odd topic to start given we're about to see the launch of the first daytime soap in the quarter of a century. 

[Vee]

A great topic for the year 2012.

[robbwolff]

Was thinking the same thing. Plus, The Young and the Restless was renewed in February of this year for another four seasons.

[te.]

It's funny that people try to point to streaming as an issue for soaps - if anything I think it's helped, especially with the advent of the FAST model. You have a format that makes people check in your platform regularly and on top of that is cheap to produce compared to those expensive 8 episode seasons that drop every two years.

 

There's a reason why DAYS have somehow managed to survive for three years on Peacock, Neighbours got picked up by FreeVee and The Gates got picked up. 

[Maxim]

Have you heard of a show called "The Gates"? 

[Khan]

Score!

And one with a predominantly Black cast at that. 

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[te.]

Black people will reject THE GATES due to not being able to snark about white people. Mark my words, cancelled within six months on air!

[DRW50]

I think the concerns are still valid - many of us have spoken this year, repeatedly, about how much longer DAYS and GH will be on. And internationally the situation is also dire, with shows like Shortland Street and Hollyoaks hanging on by their fingernails, with reduced episode orders. Neighbours also has not been given a renewal as of yet. 

 I do feel like we've said most of what we can say on the topic. 

I will say again that I wish they would go back to creating 15 minute soaps just to see what the public response might be.

Edited September 3, 2024 by DRW50

[Vee]

Dude, no.

[te.]

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sorry, dumbass joke.

But if we're being serious, the investment in THE GATES is very obviously based on the African-American audience and their potential to be monetized, if we're putting it in very blunt terms. "STAR" on Fox had a high viewership but couldn't be monetized for prime time because it came largely from "low-earning households" (aka the pay disparity between AA households and non-AA households became an issue). In daytime, this doesn't matter.

 

It would be interesting to see how this disparity figures into FAST models on streaming. I suspect for FAST shows, minorities might come into importance with how their shows are developed.

[Melroser]

I grew up finding salvation in soaps as an outlet to "escape". I will never give up on the genre. It definitely needs to reinvent itself though. The current state isn't working. Having the same writers bounce from show to show that are left isn't helping. As others have said, the genre needs new writing talent and paired with someone that understands the breakdowns of soaps to help fit into the faster pace of episodes. 

Personally, I'd trim the casts and write for fewer people. I'd narrow the number of stories to one A story with a couple of minor B and C stories only sprinkled in so when the A story ends the B or C then becomes the A story.  Would make it easier for viewers to tune in. 

Unfortunately, the whole structure of actor guarantees would have to end so the writer could write for who they want when they want. No longer shoving in X and Y to a scene that makes no sense for them to be there just to have a guarantee fulfilled. Plus, if a story is rocking they can keep it in the forefront instead of a couple days a week without worrying about the guarantees. Maybe instead of per episode pay, do it as a salary with the understanding some weeks will be balls out while other weeks will be "lying in a coma" (lol) and actors can still rely on a steady paycheck each week. Recurring characters are fine if you can get reliable actors that are still committed in a way. Wally Kurth, for instance. 

I'd allow for longer scenes at times. I hate these 20/30 second clips when there's a major confrontation between characters. Bring the drama back. If it's done well, viewers will stay engaged for longer scenes. 

Sadly, I think the writers of today's shows are tied down a lot. Too much interference and thinks out of control. If the genre is going to come back around, there needs to be great writing talent like that of the past. Harding Lemay. Bill Bell. Doug Marland. Writers who were, for the most part, allowed to write. 

[allmc2008]

I feel that the storylines should be slower, if they are well-written. Umbrella stories like Bill Bell and Doug Marland did. Even JER. Part of the logic is that people can stop watching for a bit but then easily catch up. I have an interview with Lin Bolen where she said that expanding to an hour,  by doubling the scene length, in conjunction with slow baked storytelling, makes it easier for the working mother.

[soapfan770]

I hope the only curtain call we see in 2025 will be on the writing careers of Josh Griffith and Thudley.