AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera genre

[C.E. Evans]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

All My Children and One Life To Live were actually the only soaps I was watching, so I'm officially out as a soap opera viewer. I lost Another World and Guidling Light earlier, so it's really strike four for me.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

The U.S. soap opera genre is a closed circle. It moves in cycles, repeating itself over a long period of time. The stories are the same. The characters, even when they change, are still the same basic types. The phase "the more things change, the more they stay the same" absolutely applies to soaps. The frustrating or sheer ridiculous storylines - the kidnappings, murder mysteries, evil twins, presumed dead characters returning from the grave, baby swaps, etc. - just repeat themselves. Watch any soap long enough and you'll see the trends.

Sounds like the way Hollywood has gone as far as unoriginality, only soaps, running an hour a day, every day for decades, just got to that point a lot quicker.

There are only so many plot ideas to tell stories from.

Like some "regular" shows I watch, Bones chief among them, the actors & the chemistry between them is what keeps me interested.

Like on OLTL, Viki & Dorian have always been entertaining, moreso when they're "friends" than when they're enemies.

 

[23skidoo]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

Just as an aside, I just saw this Twitter posting from Nathan Fillion:

http://daytimeconfidential.zap2it.c...n-reacts-to-old-stomping-grounds-cancellation

"A moment of silence for a disappearing genre". I wonder if he got that from the title of this thread?

Yeah. I had to call my mom and tell her! I understand they get seriously low ratings, but are the new shows that have replaced the other gone soaps done any better? Maybe daytime programming in itself is the problem?

The imminent departure of Oprah might tell the tale. My personal opinion is that within 5 years the mornings will be completely news programs, and then they'll go to infomercials in the afternoons. Or do something like rebroadcast the morning's 5-hour edition of the Today Show. Daytime TV in general has pretty much been on life-support for a number of years, and I think when the other four soaps are cancelled in 2012 (my prediction, not based on any announcement) that's the end for daytime; it'll join Saturday prime time as a non-entity. I don't have much hope for the longevity of the last network game show, Price is Right, either.

One sign I saw of this was when channels began airing shows like Ellen and Dr. Phil at 6 and 7 PM.

And again, honestly, I don't understand why they don't produce soaps to stream as original web programming. People could watch whenever they want, catch up on the past 30 years, and the networks and studios are still developing summer stock cast and crew for bigger and better things.

Made-for-web programming still isn't considered a money maker. They've tried - there was a CSI spin-off made for the web, for example. I think there was a 24 spinoff too.

The problem is soap viewer demographics skew older, and the stereotype still exists that older people don't use the Internet for things like streaming. Heck, my parents only began surfing again a couple years ago after being scared off my viruses and the like.

I don't watch soaps anymore but my thoughts more are on how this is going to effect the industry? Where will people walk on to and get started out if there are no soaps?

There simply won't be this avenue for getting started anymore. So there'll be more competition for stage play roles, and bit parts in B-movies and the like. Probably a lot more made-for-YouTube productions hiring (or using volunteer) actors. And it might mean the next Nathan Fillion ends up becoming an accountant instead of starring in the next Firefly.

I think streaming the archive would solve the no-dvd problem

Agreed there, but the industry still hasn't figured out how to handle things like royalties and fees. Odds are soap opera acting contracts of old likely had no provisions for reruns or redistribution, meaning they'd have to negotiate with every actor (and every actor's estate). It's the Batman TV series issue, multiplied by a thousand.

Man, I wish there were an 80s channel that just ran all the nighttime soap greats!

Ah, but those are just normal TV series, producing 22-30 episodes a season. You don't need a channel showing Dallas since you can just buy or Netflix the season of your choice. Ditto all the others - 90210, Dynasty, Knots Landing, etc.

Alex

 

[23skidoo]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

It won't make a lick of difference, most likely, but even as a non-soap fan I was still given some satisfaction in hearing the announcement by Hoover - the vacuum cleaner company - that it'll be pulling all its ads off ABC as a result of the cancellations:

http://daytimeconfidential.zap2it.c...abc-over-soap-cancellations-starting-april-22

Who knows? A few more of these (Johnson & Johnson? Proctor and Gamble? Wal-Mart?) and ABC might end up caving, or working out a compromise of some sorts. (Remember, neither show is stopping production right away - it'll be months before actors disperse and sets are taken down. So if there's any chance of fans pulling a Star Trek 1967 and getting the shows un-cancelled, now's the time.)

Alex

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

Maybe a weekly show instead of daily.

Then they could cut some of the more puke inducing teen oriented storylines and focus on the good stuff.

 

[Vanyel]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

Thinking about it a bit, the last high point for soaps was the 1980's. Back then the stories, were a lot sexier, today they are tame and dull. I don't mean that showing more skin is the answer, but the stories were more complicated, and even the older characters had stories that made them out to be more than just good or bad, but sexy and sexual people.

Lucinda Walsh wanted the best for daughters, and truly believed she was doing what was best. John was protecting Dusty from a man out to kill him, yet each still found love. Sonny And Solita one twin died and the other had survivors guilt which caused to become the other. Reva reveling in being the slut of Springfield. All great stories. Old Scottish castles with ghosts. Stolen children and a villain who was always one step ahead of the police, and at one point literally popping out of the dark shadows of his ex-wife apartment to let her know she could never stop him from taking her son.

I had a few surgeries, which today would be out patient and I'd be back at school two days later; but back then I was out for a few weeks. And I watched lots of soaps.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

I remember Sonni and Solita!! Michelle Forbes rocked that story.

 

[Vanyel]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

I remember Sonni and Solita!! Michelle Forbes rocked that story.

It was awesome.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

The day this was announced, our local newscast gave out the number to complain to ABC and their web information. I said to my mother that I felt sorry for the live people on the other end of the phone dealing with the angry people.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

I'm surprised people are that angry about this. It's not like it only got a couple of seasons or something, these shows have been on for decades. Did they really expect them to continue on forever??

 

[Skywalker]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

A lot of viewers quite literally grew up with soaps like AMC and OLTL. For some of them, the shows had been around longer than they had. I don't blame them at all for being upset.

 

[Vanyel]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

It's true. I watched them through High School, college and did my best to keep up with them after that.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

Thing is, if lots of people were watching, the shows would have higher ratings and they wouldn't get canceled. And there have been cancellation rumors for years.

I work at night, by myself, and watch OLTL on the ABC website, so not sure if that counts towards viewership.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

A lot of viewers quite literally grew up with soaps like AMC and OLTL. For some of them, the shows had been around longer than they had. I don't blame them at all for being upset.

I understand why they would be sad and wouldn't want to see it go, but can they really be angry that the studios kept the shows around as long as they did? It's a little less tragic when you know that the show had a good long run. They had to expect it to end at some point.

 

[bigdaddy]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

Also these shows will get endings. The shows will end in September and January, that's 100 more episodes to tie up the storylines.

 

[Aragorn]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

A lot of viewers quite literally grew up with soaps like AMC and OLTL. For some of them, the shows had been around longer than they had. I don't blame them at all for being upset.

I understand why they would be sad and wouldn't want to see it go, but can they really be angry that the studios kept the shows around as long as they did? It's a little less tragic when you know that the show had a good long run. They had to expect it to end at some point.

A lot of this feeds into the irrational soap opera viewer stereotype. If you look at all the comments on new sites regarding the cancellations, the soap opera die hards are all up in arms like someone killed their children and are threatening to boycott everything ABC-related. None of them are even acknowledging the changing landscape of daytime TV or that soaps lose money. If it's true that people called their local stations to complain about news regarding two planes flying into the World Trade Center being on instead of their soaps, then you know why that is.

But it's not like no one saw this coming. How many long-running soaps have already been canceled long before this crash on CBS and ABC? Doesn't NBC already only have one soap left?

Hoover pulling their ads from ABC to "boycott" is also beyond idiotic. Maybe they should float the bill to keep soaps on the air and see how that red ink suits them.

 

[Star Wolf]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

A lot of viewers quite literally grew up with soaps like AMC and OLTL. For some of them, the shows had been around longer than they had. I don't blame them at all for being upset.

I understand why they would be sad and wouldn't want to see it go, but can they really be angry that the studios kept the shows around as long as they did? It's a little less tragic when you know that the show had a good long run. They had to expect it to end at some point.

A lot of this feeds into the irrational soap opera viewer stereotype. If you look at all the comments on new sites regarding the cancellations, the soap opera die hards are all up in arms like someone killed their children and are threatening to boycott everything ABC-related. None of them are even acknowledging the changing landscape of daytime TV or that soaps lose money. If it's true that people called their local stations to complain about news regarding two planes flying into the World Trade Center being on instead of their soaps, then you know why that is.

I don't know about that day but during the Watergate hearings, the OJ trial, the LA RIots and other events they were.

 

[exodus]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

A lot of viewers quite literally grew up with soaps like AMC and OLTL. For some of them, the shows had been around longer than they had. I don't blame them at all for being upset.

I understand why they would be sad and wouldn't want to see it go, but can they really be angry that the studios kept the shows around as long as they did? It's a little less tragic when you know that the show had a good long run. They had to expect it to end at some point.

A lot of this feeds into the irrational soap opera viewer stereotype. If you look at all the comments on new sites regarding the cancellations, the soap opera die hards are all up in arms like someone killed their children and are threatening to boycott everything ABC-related. None of them are even acknowledging the changing landscape of daytime TV or that soaps lose money. If it's true that people called their local stations to complain about news regarding two planes flying into the World Trade Center being on instead of their soaps, then you know why that is.

But it's not like no one saw this coming. How many long-running soaps have already been canceled long before this crash on CBS and ABC? Doesn't NBC already only have one soap left?

Hoover pulling their ads from ABC to "boycott" is also beyond idiotic. Maybe they should float the bill to keep soaps on the air and see how that red ink suits them.

They don't sound much different than Trek fans or Browncoats or Jerico fans, Reaper fans, Chuck fans.....

Hoover is marketed to housewives.
Hoover is also HUGE revenue in sponsorship and as trusted a product as the name Coke or Ford is.
Soap Operas has always been the the perfect medium in which to successfully market their products to that targeted audience. It's been the one of the perfect joint marketing ventures sence before many of us were born. Why should they continue to sponser a network that just took a huge chuck out of their livelihood?

 

[Vanyel]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

Well it looks like Oprah gave the thumbs down to saving AMC & OLTL.
LINK

She does make a good point as to why even she cannot save these shows. Unfortunately the dawn of the new daytime talk shows seem to be all clones and even more predictable than a the lamest soap plot.

I wonder, how does the Nielsen ratings capture DVR'd shows? There have been some controversy regarding the way the collect data and that places, like a college common room, where several people gather to watch a show are not included. And the one thing Nielsen can't control, advertisers won't pay for time shifted shows.
LINK

 

[OsmiumJohnnycake]

Re: AMC and OLTL cancelled. A moment of silence for the soap opera gen

Off-topic, but on the page you linked to, further down there is a list of annual top-rated shows from 1950 to the present that pretty much blew my mind. Not just that certain shows dominated for years and years, but also a few shows that I never knew were that big. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, for example. I watched reruns growing up (on Nick at Nite maybe?) but had no idea it was the top ratings grabber for two consecutive years. Sure, there were fewer options to watch back then, but it still surprises me.

Back to soaps - I grew up watching a lot because my mom got me into to them, but she worked during the day. So all through the 80s, soaps were something we watched on VHS either later that day or sometimes marathon on the weekend. And yes, we fast-forwarded through the commercials. IIRC, the earliest VCR we had (fake wood paneling and a remote connected by a cord to the VCR) fast-forwarded pretty slowly, especially if you recorded in SP mode. Which meant one was still watching the commercial to a certain extent and being exposed to the advertiser's product and presence. I don't know how it works with DVRs at all since I've never used one. But I am curious about the accuracy of the Nielsens and commercial-skipping. Even when watching live TV, the commercials are when I'm getting up and leaving the room to do something or talking to whoever else is in the room.

Which is a really roundabout way of me wondering out loud how much a commercial is worth to the company paying for it and if there's really any certainty they are reaching the viewer without having something hooked up to their brain.