It seems daytime soap operas have been producing fewer new episodes for the past several years. Nowadays, we get a rerun of nearly every soap opera on all major holidays, plus Beyond the Gates recently broadcast an entire week of reruns in early July (for no apparent reason, and with no explanation). Does anyone think perhaps TPTB in daytime are preparing the audience for even fewer new episodes per year in the future? Is it possible in the future, daytime soaps might cut-down to four episodes per week (Monday through Thursday)? Or perhaps going even further -- start taking a three-month hiatus and show reruns during the entire summer -- similar to primetime dramas?
And is the fairly recent use of the term "seasons" in regard to daytime soaps meaningful or important in any way? Less than a decade ago in television, the term "seasons" was used almost exclusively for prime time shows. And nearly all daytime shows used the term "years." But now, all the soaps are referring to "seasons" rather than years. Just a couple of examples: In 2024 or 2025, the soap press reported Days of Our Lives was renewed for a new season on Peacock. And Beyond the Gates was recently given the green-light for a second season on CBS. Just a few years ago, in both of those cases (and many others), the term "year(s)" would have been used rather than "season(s)." This might not be a big deal or important in the least, but the pushing of the term "seasons" onto daytime does seem deliberate to me, and not just a simple evolving of the language. Not sure it is meaningful but certainly noticeable.
So these are a couple of topics to think about in this new discussion thread, where we can speculate on the future of successful daytime soap operas. I'd enjoy hearing the opinions and speculations of other soap opera fans. Since everything here will be speculation (educated speculation, I hope), there can be no right or wrong.
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It seems daytime soap operas have been producing fewer new episodes for the past several years. Nowadays, we get a rerun of nearly every soap opera on all major holidays, plus Beyond the Gates recently broadcast an entire week of reruns in early July (for no apparent reason, and with no explanation). Does anyone think perhaps TPTB in daytime are preparing the audience for even fewer new episodes per year in the future? Is it possible in the future, daytime soaps might cut-down to four episodes per week (Monday through Thursday)? Or perhaps going even further -- start taking a three-month hiatus and show reruns during the entire summer -- similar to primetime dramas?
And is the fairly recent use of the term "seasons" in regard to daytime soaps meaningful or important in any way? Less than a decade ago in television, the term "seasons" was used almost exclusively for prime time shows. And nearly all daytime shows used the term "years." But now, all the soaps are referring to "seasons" rather than years. Just a couple of examples: In 2024 or 2025, the soap press reported Days of Our Lives was renewed for a new season on Peacock. And Beyond the Gates was recently given the green-light for a second season on CBS. Just a few years ago, in both of those cases (and many others), the term "year(s)" would have been used rather than "season(s)." This might not be a big deal or important in the least, but the pushing of the term "seasons" onto daytime does seem deliberate to me, and not just a simple evolving of the language. Not sure it is meaningful but certainly noticeable.
So these are a couple of topics to think about in this new discussion thread, where we can speculate on the future of successful daytime soap operas. I'd enjoy hearing the opinions and speculations of other soap opera fans. Since everything here will be speculation (educated speculation, I hope), there can be no right or wrong.
Edited by Tisy-Lish