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The Story of Soaps (ABC) - General Discussion


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I must be the only person who enjoyed this.   Was it perfect?  No.  It was two hours.  But it focused on what made soaps so much fun and ultimately what ended them.    I was a huge fan of both All My Children and One Life To Live and liked that this touched on the Billy Douglas story.   Yes the show could have gone wider with more shows but there was only two hours to tell a story and that was ultimately the point.  Soaps had forever to tell a story so people came back for more sometime over generations.   This only had two hours.

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Carolyn Hinsey of Soap Opera Digest tweeted this morning that she was disappointed in the ending of the Special and that she didn't need to see Andy Cohen bragging that Real Housewives replaced the Soaps. 

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I will say that if CBS had done a special about the soaps, I would've expected the same thing: lots of Y&R/B&B/ATWT/GL at the expense of everyone else. That said, in the case of ATWT & GL, they DID cancel both shows and never owned them, so who knows? (OTOH, P&G was ready to get out of the business of producing daytime soaps by that time, too, so it was kind of two way thing once they went off the air.)

NBC, of course, would never do a special on soaps. They spent DECADES cancelling them left and right until DAYS was the only soap left. GH may be ABC's only soap left, but they don't have the same reputation, not by a long shot (but if you had told me a decade ago that ABC had the chance of becoming the first broadcast network without any daytime soaps and not NBC, I would've looked at you like you were from Mars). 

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(edited)

One more thing I forgot to mention last night:

The ratings of Days of our Lives actually went UP during the OJ trial. Granted, that was during Marlena's demonic possession storyline, so it may have been perverse fascination more than anything else, but that show (along with long time ratings leader Y&R) was the only one to show a significant INCREASE in the ratings during the long year of the OJ trial (1994-1995), while the ratings of every other soap went down. That, along with what I said last night about certain soaps having a glory period in the late 90's AFTER OJ, is proof that, while that trial obviously impacted the future of soaps going forward, it was by no means the ONLY factor.

Also, for those Jill Farren Phelps haters here (Google her history, folks, it's not pretty), here's this blast from the past from the 2005 Daytime Emmys. I will say that her hair last night didn't look like a cat died on her head and was left out in a rainstorm afterwards, so that's an improvement, I guess.

 

Edited by UYI
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I kind of wish they just did a special on ABC soaps (even though they were clearly favored by the special), but that's just because it's my mom's network of choice, so that's what I grew up on. They only sort of skimmed the surface on a lot of my favorite story lines. I would have also liked if they did segments on the following:

  • Recasts
  • SORAS-ing
  • Camp (although they kind of did that, but I would have loved a shot of Ford v Chandalier and Duke's cheese fondue face)

Also, what was Jon "Just Happy to be Here" Hamm doing on the special? At least Bryan Cranston did a couple of soaps, I couldn't find any on Jon's IMDB page. I'm not mad that he was there, I'm just wondering what brought him there? Is he just REALLY into soaps?

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(edited)

The Real World/AIDs discussion was the only reality part I liked being tied in. Though it highlighted how far Reality has fallen but it did matter in the discussion about social issues, specifically AIDs on TV. The tone at the end was as if we don't want soaps anymore which is obviously not true. 

 

I'm pretty surprised Kelly Rippa wasn't on. 

 

Edited by Gigi43
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15 minutes ago, Mario500 said:

?

SORAS: Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome, or when a kid who was born 3 years ago somehow turns up today as a 16 year old (played by a 23 year old).

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The rarer equivalent, of course, being De-SORASING, where a character is inexplicably aged down for no reason (see: Mike Horton on DAYS, Susan/Daisy Lemay on Guiding Light). 

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(edited)

The SORAS character can also show up with completely different hair and/or eye color than the child who previously played them. I'll never forget when a teenage Victoria Newman first showed up on Y&R.

Edited by Snow Apple
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(edited)

some random observations (in no particular order):

i wasn’t expecting much, and i wasn’t disappointed. less than a minute in and there were the bitch slaps and catfights. pretty much set the superficial tone for what followed. despite the focus on hyped-up, over-the-top drama, for a lot of viewers, the real pleasure of soaps is watching (and listening to) a couple of characters just having a conversation. 

i mentioned earlier the shameful absence of the p&g soaps. i knew the focus would be on the abc shows, but the reality is that soaps’ breakout into mainstream was built upon the that of the p&g soaps (‘as the world turn,’ in particular) in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

and for all the focus on luke and laura’s wedding, it’s worth noting that soap’s first super couple was atwt’s jeff and penny. while no movie stars asked to attend, their 1959 wedding was a taste of what would come 20 years down the road.  

but, at least they did acknowledge irna phillips (but not ted corday). sad to say, my expectations were so low i wouldn’t have been surprised (though i would have been pissed) if they didn’t. 

i want to know who the blond diva with the white boa from atwt was. i’m guessing eileen fulton, but they cut to susan lucci before becker could say.

maurice bernard: ‘even if the show’s not good, they (fans) think it’s great.’ while there are fans who stick with their show come what may, there are also fans who don’t. and the attitude that there are no rules and that writers can make up any shit they please and fans will simply follow along is part (how big a part i can’t say), but of why soap viewership has declined.

as noted above: ‘dallas’ was not the first prime time soap. peyton place was — on abc, no less. and irna phillips was story consultant.

why was jon hamm there when it would have been so much more interesting to hear from matthew weiner, who often talked about the soap troupes he used in ‘mad men.’ of course, that would have required the show have some structure... and maybe a proper introduction of the interviewees — and what expertise they brought to the conversation. and it would have been nice if their comments were relating to a larger point being made. as it was, so many of the comments seemed random and unrelated — and repetitious.   

not to pile onto andy cohen, but his observation that soaps are no longer necessary was, well, self-serving?

glad they included jill farren phelps’s observation that reality shows and cheaper and easier to produce than scripted shows, because that’s been a huge driver.

finally: i don’t recall who said ‘how can you keep up with ‘general hospital’ when you’re binge-watching ‘orange is the new black,’ but there’s a real cognitive dissonance in abc doing a show ostensibility celebrating soaps where the explicit message is that the daytime soaps are not necessary.  

eta: for all the talk about social issues, cannot believe that ‘one life to life’ was ignored. the first show to include race, class, and ethnicity: beyond the groundbreaking carla gray passing as white story, there was her african-american mother sadie, head of housekeeping at the local hospital; the trainors, an upper class black mother and son; the polish-american, working class wolecks, the interfaith marriage of patricia riley and dave siegel, 

Edited by wonderwoman
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2 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

maurice bernard: ‘even if the show’s not good, they (fans) think it’s great.’

Seriously, dude, way to disrespect the people who keep your semi-talented (being generous) butt employed. If the show isn't good, try looking in the mirror and working on upping your game rather than mumbling and stuttering through your scenes and collecting your paycheck.

2 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

not to pile onto andy cohen, but his observation that soaps are no longer necessary was, well, self-serving?

Couldn't have said it better myself. His smug little snippets made me want to slap him harder than any of his Real Housewives famewhores have ever done on their shows. Maybe he'll have earned the right to gloat after one of his shows has been on for half a century, but for now he can have a seat and be grateful that the repetitive pablum he's dishing out still has some fans.

Carol Burnett is a national treasure, and that story about getting the telegram filled with All My Children updates during her trip to Como was a classic. I can just imagine the turmoil that poor clueless front desk clerk was going through bringing such tragic news to the big American television star, only to have her burst into hysterical laughter upon reading it.

I wanted a 2-hour respectful retrospective on soaps, not a detailed reminder of how badly the OJ debacle hurt the genre, nor a look at the dime-store-budget reality dregs that have proliferated. That should have all been cut, and replaced with far more extensive and varied coverage of the soap glory days. There are so many classic soaps that deserved far more airtime - not only the CBS and NBC soaps, but ABC groundbreaking stalwarts like Edge of Night, Dark Shadows, Ryan's Hope, The City, Port Charles, GH: Night Shift, etc. were barely glimpsed or referenced, if at all. So disappointing.

By the end of the show, I felt like the message being pushed was "classic soaps were great while they lasted, but these new, lesser versions are the future of the genre - get over the past and catch up!" Which is a hard pass from me, thanks. There are enough remnants available online to remind me of how good these shows once were, and with the right talented creative team, could be again.

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On 5/19/2020 at 7:58 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many memories so far!

And STFU, Andy Cohen.Why is HE even on?

They bettah show Robin and Stone! I want to hear from Kimberly McCullough and Michael Sutton!

Carol Burnett!!!!!!

Alec Baldwin is actually...humble.

Don't care to see the recent shootings or recent soaps. I want the HISTORY!

Really? Genie Francis is only credited with being on General Hospital? She was also on Days and All My Children!

They also only credited Laura Wright with General Hospital when she was on Loving, the City and Guiding Light too. 

I really wish it had been better. We really didn't need an hour long focus on reality shows. They bounced around a lot. It would have been fun having them talk about more then just Luke & Laura when it came to supercouples. There were others that I wish they had mention. Erica wasn't really a villain. She was could be terrible at times and selfish. It was great to see many of the soap actors. They did mention very briefly Erica's abortion. I wish they had gone more into it since not only was it one of the firsts but also she didn't want to have a kid. We can't even get abortion stories for that now. I wish they had mention some of the crazier storylines and of course SORAS since their so famous for that. I liked that they bought up Stone's AIDS that was such a good story, and revisiting Luke raping Laura. 

I love how they still blame OJ for the decline of soaps and not decline in stories or favorite actors leaving or moving the same writers around. I started watching soaps way after the trial. I quit GH after finally giving up that it wasn't going to go back to the show it was when I started and had become the Sonny-Carly-Jason show and watching them twist characters, storylines and dropping things to fit around them. I quit GL a few years before it ended it felt like the quality characters and storylines had declined.

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13 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

i want to know who the blond diva with the white boa from atwt was. i’m guessing eileen fulton, but they cut to susan lucci before becker could say.

 

It sounded like Elizabeth Hubbard (Lucinda) to me. She did an interview with Alan Locher a few weeks ago, as part of his series of online soap reunions, and she looked AMAZING.

 

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48 minutes ago, UYI said:

 

14 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

i want to know who the blond diva with the white boa from atwt was. i’m guessing eileen fulton, but they cut to susan lucci before becker could say.

 

It sounded like Elizabeth Hubbard (Lucinda) to me. She did an interview with Alan Locher a few weeks ago, as part of his series of online soap reunions, and she looked AMAZING.

 

possibly. but having met both women, i’d still go with eileen (who was blond for many years before she became a redhead). in person, she’s very much the diva; meeting eileen is meeting lisa. while lucinda would certainly wear a boa, i doubt elizabeth would.

she did look amazing in the locher interview. there were a few times when she or martha would say, ‘back in the day.’ i so hoped locher would say, ‘talk about “back in the day.”’ but he’s a publicist, so that wasn’t going to happen. the last 15 years of ‘world turns were a train wreck. would love to hear her thoughts — martha, too. 

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I used to watched ATWT during my teen years and then early 20s before losing interest. They had a bunch of interesting story lines around the time I was watching (the castle with the secret passages, Hal dying, Carly and Jack, Holdan losing his memory, etc) but I would have loved a mention of when Margo was raped. I thought that was such a powerful story line and it deserved to be addressed.

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On 4/24/2020 at 10:56 PM, UYI said:

Meanwhile, DAYS' batshit insane, eight months in advance taping schedule suddenly looks like the smartest plan of all! Who would've EVER thought that even two months ago?

It worked years ago when Krista Allen was pregnant. Thanks to a gazillion pre-taped scenes, you would never have known the actress was off on maternity leave.

It still has to be absolutely ridiculous filming holiday episodes so far in advance.

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13 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

love how they still blame OJ for the decline of soaps and not decline in stories or favorite actors leaving or moving the same writers around

I always called bullshit on blaming OJ. The early-to-mid-90's were, IMO, absolutely the glory years of soap operas, particularly the ABC ones. I admit I'm biased, because that's when I started watching them, and the ABC ones were always my favorite. My guess is the writers decided to step up their because of competition from the trial. And in my case, it worked.

But indeed, come 1996, to me, there was a noticeable drop on quality because of the above-mentioned factors--writers/actors quitting, storylines changing, characters changing, etc.

What capped it off for me was two major events--9/11 and my sister's death two years later--that made me realize how vapid and ridiculous this all was. Plus, she had gotten me into watching them and it wasn't fun without her to gossip to anymore.

Edited by Camille
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(edited)

Someone is salty about not being included. I guess Melody said nothing worthwhile? I think I like the show more just for annoying him.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Gigi43
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21 hours ago, wonderwoman said:

maurice bernard: ‘even if the show’s not good, they (fans) think it’s great.’

There were moments in the special that annoyed me (namely anytime Andy Cohen's smug mug was on screen), but this is the only one that made me mad because it's so blatantly and verifiably untrue.

When Maurice Bernard started on All My Children in 1987, there were 12 soaps and the lowest rated (Ryan's Hope) stood at 2.8.

Now there's 4 and the highest rated (Y&R) in 2019 stood at... 2.8.

People will leave if the show isn't good. People have left because the shows aren't good. And programs like this can lay the blame on the OJ trial but the fact remains that at the end of the 90's, the genre was still viable enough that networks were willing to take a chance on launching a new one. That's not happening now and it's not because people suddenly prefer reality television to scripted television. It's because of the sharp decline in quality of the soaps.

Speaking personally, I stopped watching around 2006 or 2007. My reason for doing so was that I realized that the focus of every show had seemed to shift so that they centered on some dude who just went around yelling at women for being dumb and being treated like studs for being walking embodiments of misogyny.  I don't know who the audience for that was, but it wasn't me.  I've been working from home since March and tried to get back into soaps, but what's on now is just so poorly done that I couldn't get into it and have instead been watching soaps from the 80s and 90s.

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26 minutes ago, Gigi43 said:

Someone is salty about not being included. I guess Melody said nothing worthwhile? I think I like the show more just for annoying him.

 

 

 

 

He's not wrong. They kept and have kept slashing the budgets on soaps which has made it harder for them to run and keep actors and actresses. They still could be a money maker or make decent money and ratings for the networks. But they don't care. They want cheap and instant ratings. 

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2 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

 

He's not wrong. They kept and have kept slashing the budgets on soaps which has made it harder for them to run and keep actors and actresses. They still could be a money maker or make decent money and ratings for the networks. But they don't care. They want cheap and instant ratings. 

 

He's pissy about not being included. That was a good point but it wasn't the only good point and it dismisses his costar who talked about a personal experience. I have issues with show but to the point of ABC favoritism... they did produce this. I doubt CBS -which has 2 soaps on not 1- would have been more generous. 

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38 minutes ago, Camille said:

I always called bullshit on blaming OJ. The early-to-mid-90's were, IMO, absolutely the glory years of soap operas, particularly the ABC ones. I admit I'm biased, because that's when I started watching them, and the ABC ones were always my favorite. My guess is the writers decided to step up their because of competition from the trial. And in my case, it worked.

But indeed, come 1996, to me, there was a noticeable drop on quality because of the above-mentioned factors--writers/actors quitting, storylines changing, characters changing, etc.

What capped it off for me was two major events--9/11 and my sister's death two years later--that made me realize how vapid and ridiculous this all was. Plus, she had gotten me into watching them and it wasn't fun without her to gossip to anymore.

I've never known anyone who was into soaps stopped because of OJ. Those that watched before continued watching afterwards. When they stopped it was either work hours that made it harder to keep up or due to the show. Changing storylines, favorite actors leaving the show or favorite characters changed. My friends and I started mid 90s and quit mid 00s and I hated GH for years before I finally quit because I had watched it for so long and kept hoping it would go back to what it was or try to hang in for the characters I did liked. But it never did and I couldn't take anymore of the Sonny-Carly-Jason crap and characters I liked either were cut from the show, changed or completely sideline. They can't blame OJ for us quitting. We each had our favorites and loved the romance and fun of a soap. Oh, look who's back from the dead. Lily suddenly has a twin, loved following Bianca's coming out story and looking for love, and the fun and crazy storylines. I know they love to talk about Elizabeth Taylor playing Helena Cassadine. But Constance Towers was awesome as Helena. She was definitely a villain horrible, crazy and somehow always managed to find younger hot henchmen to bed. They fun and you got hooked. They stopped being fun and I always wish I had quit GH sooner.

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3 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I've never known anyone who was into soaps stopped because of OJ.

Same here. 

I was never a "soaps" fan; I actually rather disliked the genre as a whole, but I loved Guiding Light (and would sometimes also watch As The World Turns if I was home and bored).  I recorded GL daily for several years in the late '80s through late '90s, so the Simpson trial was right smack in the middle of that.  I just switched to recording in the wee hours when the show was aired, and for the week of "lost" episodes before my market started doing overnight airings of the preempted episodes, I found someone online (which, back then, was the GL bulletin board on Prodigy) whose market had aired them to send me a tape.

Whatever their soap(s), everyone I know who was into it/them kept with it.  Maybe because we were all recording?  None of us were home to watch TV during the day to begin with, whether the soaps or the trial were airing, so it was not at all a hardship to change the programming on the VCR.

I didn't even bother with this show; it was clearly going to be heavily focused on ABC soaps (and, yes, any other network would have done the same).  But I was curious enough to come read reaction to it.  It's disappointing, even given my expectations, to hear how many shows weren't covered at all (they really never even mentioned GL, the soap that lasted the longest?! [or maybe now GH has surpassed it, I'm too lazy to look, but still - legend]) and all the time wasted on the "trial of the century" and reality TV.  Bleh.

But I'm glad it seems to have examined with at least some semblance of honesty the utter piece of shit that was the Luke & Laura storyline and audience reaction to it (people seriously stayed home from work and school to watch a woman marry her rapist). 

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(edited)
33 minutes ago, Bastet said:

But I'm glad it seems to have examined with at least some semblance of honesty the utter piece of shit that was the Luke & Laura storyline and audience reaction to it (people seriously stayed home from work and school to watch a woman marry her rapist

I was an infant during their heyday, but I got hooked on GH roughly a year before they returned and I knew of their history. I could never watch a single one of their lovey-dovey scenes without cringing. And after a summer that saw three of the four ABC soaps tackle rape storylines, including OLTL's legendary gang rape story, the timing couldn't have been worse.

And to think that they weren't even the first, nor only example of such a sickening type of story. I am certain that their success is one of the reasons OLTL'S Todd was redeemed and turned into a romantic hero, though he mercifully didn't hook up with his victim--and he would have has both actors not made it clear to the head writer that they'd quit.

And I'm equally certain that it's why even as late as 2002, soaps were still turning out a handful of "romanticizing rape" storylines--Y&R's Paul essentially raped his ex-wife Christine--he even confessed as such to his brother--yet she forgave him and they eventually reconciled.

Edited by Camille
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2 minutes ago, Camille said:

I was an infant during their heyday, but I got hooked on GH roughly a year before they returned and I knew of their history. I could never watch a single one of their lovey-dovey scenes without cringing. And after a summer that saw three of the four ABC soaps tackle rape storylines, including OLTL's legendary gang rape story, the timing couldn't have been worse.

And to think that they weren't even the first, nor only example of such a sickening type of story. I am certain that their success is one of the reasons OLTL'S Todd was redeemed and turned into a romantic hero, though he mercifully didn't hook up with his victim--and he would have has both actors not made it clear to the head writer that they'd quit.

No but they did have Marty return to testify for Todd during another rape trial saying how much he's changed. Plus I've learned on these threads their kids married each other so their in-laws. How fun. Who doesn't want their rapist for an in-law. Or testify for him.

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(edited)
47 minutes ago, Camille said:

I am certain that their success is one of the reasons OLTL'S Todd was redeemed and turned into a romantic hero, though he mercifully didn't hook up with his victim--and he would have has both actors not made it clear to the head writer that they'd quit.

When Trevor St. John was playing him, they did hook up when Marty had amnesia.  Or at least came close to hooking up.  Thankfully, that Todd was retconned as not the real Todd but they went there.  And the couple in the original format did have fans which baffles me but the show did constantly flirt with it. 

I see Luke and Todd as two similar but almost separate steps with an interesting in-between. I can almost understand GH's dilemma.  They had Luke rape Laura when he was still a throwaway character and they didn't realize how much they'd like the character/actor.  But the lasting effect of his popularity and the audiences' willingness to forgive his "crime of passion" led to a casualness of other soaps willing to have characters they knew were part of their show's long term plans commit the act. 

Todd was a new step, though, in that his wasn't a crime of passion. It was a calculated, extremely violent coordination. And like Luke, he was mean to be a temporary character. And it feels like after that, there wasn't anything beyond the pale. (*waves to serial killer romantic hero on DOOL*)

I guess I would have preferred a closer examination of things like that of how the popularity of certain things influenced narrative storytelling on other shows and even into prime time.

Edited by Irlandesa
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On 5/19/2020 at 9:04 PM, BuckeyeLou said:

Loved the Carol Burnett story about receiving the telegram 🙂  And one of the most emotional storylines I ever watched was Robin & Stone.   

I also loved that Carol Burnett is still pissed AMC got cancelled.  She’s not wrong.  

On 5/20/2020 at 7:19 AM, Chaos Theory said:

I must be the only person who enjoyed this.   Was it perfect?  No.  It was two hours.  But it focused on what made soaps so much fun and ultimately what ended them.    I was a huge fan of both All My Children and One Life To Live and liked that this touched on the Billy Douglas story.   Yes the show could have gone wider with more shows but there was only two hours to tell a story and that was ultimately the point.  Soaps had forever to tell a story so people came back for more sometime over generations.   This only had two hours.

Nope.  I very much enjoyed this.  I love old clips, I love the anecdotes, and I love the soap genre.  I am clinging for dear life to the 4 that are still left.  A world without daytime network soaps is not a world that I want.

 

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9 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I see Luke and Todd as two similar but almost separate steps with an interesting in-between. I can almost understand GH's dilemma.  They had Luke rape Laura when he was still a throwaway character and they didn't realize how much they'd like the character/actor. 

Luke was supposed to be killed off after 13 weeks. And yes, after he'd raped Laura. But Monty liked the character/actor and the chemistry between Genie and Anthony was off the charts, so they tried to change it. Because they had written themselves into a corner.  I didn't start watching until the middle of the Ice Princess story, but I have gone back to watch on youtube, and shortly after the rape, Luke called what he did rape. That the writers had Genie/Laura say that they had "made love" was beyond gross. Between that scene and whatever happened after, it got changed to "seduction"

I'm not trying to justify it--just stating what I've read and seen in interviews about the clusterfuck.

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(edited)
2 hours ago, geauxaway said:

I also loved that Carol Burnett is still pissed AMC got cancelled.  She’s not wrong.  

Nope.  I very much enjoyed this.  I love old clips, I love the anecdotes, and I love the soap genre.  I am clinging for dear life to the 4 that are still left.  A world without daytime network soaps is not a world that I want.

 

I actually talked to my mother about this.   She never watched soaps in large part because she always worked and then raised  three kids.    That being said both me and my sister watched soaps although different ones.   I watched All My Children and One Life To Live and occasionally General Hospital but I never really got attached to that one.   My sister watches Days of Our Lives.   I tried to watch that once  I think because commercials were fronting a Merlena Evans storyline that look interesting  but I got tired of the show pretty quickly,   
 

I still remember the Bianca Montgomery coming out story on AMC and thought it was one of the most well plotted stories ever done.   Even though people hated it; the only reason I hated Bianca’s rape story was that it ended her relationship with Lena and it got her pregnant but the mystery of who killed the dude who raped her was one of the things soaps do well.   I always loved “The man everyone wanted dead” murder mysteries.  
 

I also really loved the many faces of Victoria Lord.  Some of my favorite storylines on OLTL was watching Erika Slezak play one of Vicky’s multiple personalities.

But yeah I get it.   Soaps lost a lot of their viewership when women started to work in droves.    And talk shows, game shows and reality tv just got cheaper to make and Prime Time was just a better time slot.   Desperate Housewives was kinda awesome when it was at its prime.    
 

 

Edited by Chaos Theory
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1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

I always loved “The man everyone wanted dead” murder mysteries.  

Even though I'd started watching roughly a year before, "Who Killed Will?" was the story that got me hooked on AMC.

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

Soaps lost a lot of their viewership when women started to work in droves.    And talk shows, game shows and reality tv j

Not to mention cable's popularity increased. It went from something only a few and/or wealthy people had to something everyone has. 

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

watched All My Children and One Life To Live and occasionally General Hospital but I never really got attached to that one

It was sort of the opposite for me. I got home from school in time to catch half of AMC, and from then on, it was easy to get into OLTL and GH, but even though I didn't particularly dislike it, I could never really get into Loving.

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

My sister watches Days of Our Lives.   I tried to watch that once  I think because commercials were fronting a Merlena Evans storyline that look interesting  but I got tired of the show pretty quickly,   
 

I loved the ABC soaps, liked the CBS ones, but could never get into the NBC ones.

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I was a long-time soap watcher many years ago (AW, GL, Days, GH, OLTL). I haven't seen a soap since GL went off the air. It was very nice to see the old clips of the shows and particularly to see Erika Slezak - who looked great. I missed seeing Judith Light's iconic courtroom scene; I was sure it would be included given her success since then. I also missed seeing interviews with some of the leading daytime soap stars in favor of Jon Hamm and Bryan Cranston. (I get the name recognition but this was supposed to be about soaps.) Lovely to see Carol Burnett, whose devotion to AMC is legendary. 

I fast-forwarded through all of the Prime Time and reality parts - zero interest. 

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I watched DOOL years ago when Marlena, John, Kayla and Patch(?) were the most popular characters. During this lockdown, I tried to watch it again. Marlena and the Patch person were locked in a room and John was locked in somewhere with a Hope doppelgänger. It was so bad, there are no words. Marlena could hardly talk with her bad false teeth, Patch couldn’t remember his lines nor could John and Hope Doppelgänger was so overacting it was laughable. What a letdown of a show that used to be great.

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For All My Children fans, Entertainment Weekly has a series of interviews online with old-school and newer actors talking about behind the scenes stuff and their experiences on the show. I watched about half of the first one (I think it was 40 minutes long and had a lot of Kelly Ripa, who was clinging rather oddly to Mark Consuelos the whole time) but I'll probably go back to watch at least parts of the others.

https://ew.com/tv/tv-reunions/watch-all-my-children-cast-reunion/

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