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ALL: What are your lost soap media "holy grails" for 2025?

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I really wouldn't expect much 70's stuff to come out. It's always possible, but they were wiping stuff until the late 70's and it's likely gone. I'd expect mostly everything from 1980 on to exist in a studio vault though.

I find it interesting how poorly soaps are preserved for the most part. I'm from the wrestling world. Soaps were like 20x more popular than wrestling yet the preservation is so much worse. The NFL is maybe similar to soaps popularity wise and was also preserved much better. I think it would make for some good research to figure out why it is. My guess is because there were so many soaps that people just took them for granted and I think the male and female audiences are just different when it comes to that. Almost every guy collects something.

I'll never understand why soaps haven't been re-run as much or why they aren't on the big VOD services. You'd think they would be able to bring in some cash and would provide content.

Edited by SoapAnon

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3 minutes ago, SoapAnon said:

I really wouldn't expect much 70's stuff to come out. It's always possible, but they were wiping stuff until the late 70's and it's likely gone. I'd expect mostly everything from 1980 on to exist in a studio vault though.

I find it interesting how poorly soaps are preserved for the most part. I'm from the wrestling world. Soaps were like 20x more popular than wrestling yet the preservation is so much worse. The NFL is maybe similar to soaps popularity wise and was also preserved much better. I think it would make for some good research to figure out why it is. My guess is because there were so many soaps that people just took them for granted and I think the male and female audiences are just different when it comes to that. Almost every guy collects something.

I'll never understand why soaps haven't been re-run as much or why they aren't on the big VOD services. You'd think they would be able to bring in some cash and would provide content.

Soaps aired five days a week and were looked down on (and still are), so there was never the care or effort to keep them. And some of the moments that were kept were destroyed in fires. 

They aren't usually that successful when repeated, although Dark Shadows did well, probably due to only being on about five years and being seen as more of a horror/fantasy show. 

1 minute ago, SoapAnon said:

I really wouldn't expect much 70's stuff to come out. It's always possible, but they were wiping stuff until the late 70's and it's likely gone. I'd expect mostly everything from 1980 on to exist in a studio vault though.

What comes up is unusual. I'm aware of several that began with the Rosemary Prinz. What we hope is kinescopes & one-off video tapes now in attics will see the light of day.

The reason daytime is not streaming is that the cost is prohibitive.

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36 minutes ago, SoapAnon said:

The NFL is maybe similar to soaps popularity wise and was also preserved much better.

I agree.  IIRC, too, they even discovered (or RE-discovered) taped footage of Super Bowl I, decades after all the footage had been deemed "lost."

  • 2 weeks later...
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March gifts.

Mitch S has added some snippets from ATWT 79 and SFT 79/77 including a brief scene with Stephanie and husband Walter Pace (Jennifer's father) who I have never seen before.

Also a grainy B/W BTS of GL 1980

And Tom Lisanti's book on Texas has been released.

Edited by Paul Raven

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On 1/8/2025 at 6:55 PM, Paul Raven said:

Slightly different, but I'd like to see some actors/writers/producers from past shows actually spill some tea about what went down.

We have BTS gossip, mostly unsubstantiated. And most soap actors books have been puff pieces.

Let's hear about the BTS drama from those that were there.

Now thanks to Eric Montreal we have Megan McTavish's crazy memoir.

Edited by Paul Raven

11 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Now thanks to Eric Montreal we have Megan McTavish's crazy memoir.

Well, even if I say it myself, which apparently I must, I would just mention this. It's where I posted Friday morning offering the Mctavish pdf & began gifting it to people off & on since then. 

 

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After reading Megan McTavish's memoir, I think someone needs to upload Irna Phillips' unfinished memoir as a sort of palate cleanser, lol?

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SFT The rest of 1986

ATWT The Episodes of the DVDs in a good shape, as well as the final year or so in HD

22 minutes ago, Joseph said:

ATWT The Episodes of the DVDs in a good shape, as well as the final year or so in HD

I've still got my DVDs but I converted them to digital so they're just being stored, basically. Although a weird thing happened & I cannot find CarJack so I am sans it/them. 

Really? The last year? I began to be disenchanted when they (1) got rid of Scott Holroyd, (2) when they drastically foreshortened the umbrella story & killed off Rose, (3) Goutman threw Martha under the bus, (4) Goutman said he knew what was best for the show & he did not want or need to hear from fans. 

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19 minutes ago, Contessa Donatella said:

I've still got my DVDs but I converted them to digital so they're just being stored, basically. Although a weird thing happened & I cannot find CarJack so I am sans it/them. 

Really? The last year? I began to be disenchanted when they (1) got rid of Scott Holroyd, (2) when they drastically foreshortened the umbrella story & killed off Rose, (3) Goutman threw Martha under the bus, (4) Goutman said he knew what was best for the show & he did not want or need to hear from fans. 

Anything for me is game since I never Watched ATWT when it was originally on

But I know the final years were of inferior quality entertainment wise, but if I can bear to watch all the currents soaps as long as they're in HD I think I could do the same with ATWT

29 minutes ago, Joseph said:

Anything for me is game since I never Watched ATWT when it was originally on

But I know the final years were of inferior quality entertainment wise, but if I can bear to watch all the currents soaps as long as they're in HD I think I could do the same with ATWT

Very interesting. What is your soap history in real time? I mean, if you don't mind saying. Me, I began watching in 1970 with DAYS & AW & ATWT being my first soaps because they were my mother's soaps. When the shows expanded to an hour, we gave up ATWT & then I was a traditional full schedule NBC baby for a long time. Now I say my favorite soaps are 1-AW, 2-GL and 3-Santa Barbara with Honorable Mention to some of AMC & some of PC & GH since 1993. 

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