8 hours ago, Vee said:

I think the only way to revive most US soaps not named Edge of Night - AMC, OLTL, whatever - is to do them at 30 mins and yes, give them seasonal breaks of 2-4 months and make them arc-based for maybe 13-16 weeks at a time.

This was how Swedish soaps used to run - a fall season and a winter/spring season. Break for summer / Christmas, cliffhangers for each run. That was great. 

Of course it was "the little soap that could" that began to try this. If you recall when PC was cancelled, they were in a dark period but there were several months left in the can out of the 6 months worth they had last taped. 

And I would point out the example of BOLD which takes only 18 minutes to consume 1 episode! (Obviously there are no other complimentary examples of today's BOLD to point to!!!)

Edited March 2Mar 2 by Contessa Donatella

Obviously, I can speak only for myself, but a daytime soap just isn't a daytime soap to me if it doesn't runs five days a week, 50-52 weeks per year.  I mean, I could go along with taping two episodes per day, so that the team has a six-month hiatus to rest and recharge, but I still would need to know it'll be there, every Monday through Friday, uninterrupted, with no hiatuses or breaks.  Of course, YMMV.

I would love for any soap to run year-round, I just don't think it's viable for a streaming or hypothetical revival show. So I'd split the difference and do it in arcs that have a solid 13-16 weeks and reasonably short hiatus periods.

I do think it's very important to replicate the cycle of soaps celebrating holidays, etc. onscreen 'live' along with the audience - Christmas, New Year's, etc. So I would try to make sure those arcs fall along most major holidays. That's a way to sort of replicate the same ongoing connectivity to the audience as a year-round show.

On 3/1/2025 at 9:15 AM, te. said:

I think the big issue with doing a proper rural based soap is that the popularity of those Taylor Sheridan shows are as much based on plots as showing off the landscape and just small town life. I'd feel like in order to do a successful rural/small town soap you'd need to at the very least build a small town set a la Peyton Place and maybe even do location shots (not Peapack style). It would be a huge commitment that I'm not sure a network would want to do.

You are describing Emmerdale. They shoot interior scenes in Leeds and exterior scenes on the village set about 30 minutes away. Pulling off this kind of show hinges on a studio's proximity to rural areas and the ease/cost of shooting there. 

We desperately need more people like Sheila Ducksworth, who are passionate, positive, and know how to sell the value of producing daily soaps to corporate people. I will say had it not been for her, getting here would have likely not happened or would have taken much longer.

My hope is other executives like her step up - whether with networks or with streaming providers to sell through the idea of doing a new daily serial again. 

The only soap I'd love to see come back from yesteryear would be Edge of Night, but only in half hour form like it was back in the day.

You could have a close knit circle of characters that are connected to all forms of the law rather it's on the right side or the wrong side of the law.   And no ultra wealthy families like the Whitney's unless they're written as being on the wrong side of the law.

7 minutes ago, BetterForgotten said:

We desperately need more people like Sheila Ducksworth, who are passionate, positive, and know how to sell the value of producing daily soaps to corporate people. I will say had it not been for her, getting here would have likely not happened or would have taken much longer.

My hope is other executives like her step up - whether with networks or with streaming providers to sell through the idea of doing a new daily serial again. 

From your lips to God's ears. Hear, hear!

3 minutes ago, Soaplovers said:

The only soap I'd love to see come back from yesteryear would be Edge of Night, but only in half hour form like it was back in the day.

You could have a close knit circle of characters that are connected to all forms of the law rather it's on the right side or the wrong side of the law.   And no ultra wealthy families like the Whitney's unless they're written as being on the wrong side of the law.

I had started watching it... Loved it... Not only loved it... but got obsessed with it. Had a pause after binging more than 200 episodes and then just... got into other stuff. Your post is now making me think if I should restart where I left of somewhere in May 1980. And I agree that EON could work amazingly well even today in 2025. 

51 minutes ago, Maxim said:

From your lips to God's ears. Hear, hear!

I had started watching it... Loved it... Not only loved it... but got obsessed with it. Had a pause after binging more than 200 episodes and then just... got into other stuff. Your post is now making me think if I should restart where I left of somewhere in May 1980. And I agree that EON could work amazingly well even today in 2025. 

I'm loving how many of us see this in EON. Of course I'm still in awe that Stephen King posted aaking how could he watch all of it!

3 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

The only soap I'd love to see come back from yesteryear would be Edge of Night, but only in half hour form like it was back in the day.

You could have a close knit circle of characters that are connected to all forms of the law rather it's on the right side or the wrong side of the law.   And no ultra wealthy families like the Whitney's unless they're written as being on the wrong side of the law.

I agree with you about the 30 minute format and I always see people mention Edge of Night and I think that would be such a smart format to go with. They could craft a season long mystery for a set amount of episodes so if it doesn't work they can drop it, but still have resolution. 

I feel like that would be the best way for a streamer to go about it if they were to do a soap. The other one I'd consider is Dark Shadows just based on how strong it's legacy is. 

8 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

And no ultra wealthy families like the Whitney's unless they're written as being on the wrong side of the law.

Huh? So if you're rich rich you must be a criminal?

Let’s also remember that CBS isn’t paying the entire production bill for BTG. P&G and the NAACP are also chipping in. This probably made it easier for CBS to green light the show. 

This type of partnership does add more cooks in the kitchen, but I think it’s a solid way to manage costs. It would be great if ABC went to P&G or another company to see if they can produce a similar partnership for daytime soap development. 

16 hours ago, BetterForgotten said:

We desperately need more people like Sheila Ducksworth, who are passionate, positive, and know how to sell the value of producing daily soaps to corporate people. I will say had it not been for her, getting here would have likely not happened or would have taken much longer.

My hope is other executives like her step up - whether with networks or with streaming providers to sell through the idea of doing a new daily serial again. 

She, her story, choices, decisions that we are aware of, and her amazing smile and personality, she's just the whole ball of wax! More like her, bring them on!

On 3/5/2025 at 8:19 PM, Chris B said:

I agree with you about the 30 minute format and I always see people mention Edge of Night and I think that would be such a smart format to go with. They could craft a season long mystery for a set amount of episodes so if it doesn't work they can drop it, but still have resolution.

Agreed...a great format to have a twisty mystery that leads into another one (and as a viewer, if you not THAT into the current mystery, you could check in once in a while to keep up and wait for another good mastery.) They could also set it in a urban area with a mix of ethnicities and economic levels ( I think that is what BTG's is missing, a mix of different economic levels...and the setting is way too bland.  I think do think every soap needs a Spaulding or Whitney family..pulling the strings behind the scenes.. and what a great way to get rid of a problem actor or someone asking for too much money...kill em off or send them to jail. 

I would have a great idea for a new soap opera : NBC or ABC (or another network) would totally win it making a new soap opera whose action would happen...in the 80's ! Wouldn't it be fabulous and innovative for a soap in the 2020´s to use what longtime soaps fans love the most about the soaps : the kitsch aspect ! Imagine it : the characters would all be dressed up sophisticated, a lot of hair spray and strass. It would definitely be a hit IMO. Stories would use the old soap clichés of that golden era too and historical events of real life would serve sometimes.