What's a Soap Opera?

Some cast members of  "All My Children"

The next generation coming along will undoubtedly ask this question when their older family members are discussing the demise of “Soap Operas” and how much they miss watching them every day.

Being a student of Communications, I have seen this blow to soap opera lovers coming for a long time. Why are they going away? I’ll answer that question a little later on.

At this point, when “One Life to Live” and “All My Children” disappears within the next year or so, we will only have four soap operas left on daytime television. They are “General Hospital,” the only survivor on ABC; “Days of Our Lives,” the last of the old soaps and the sole survivor on NBC; and “Bold and the Beautiful” and Young and the Restless” on CBS. “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light” have already disappeared from view. I think these last two were my mother’s favorites.

AMC and OLTL will be replaced by live shows: “The Chew,” a food show; and “The Revolution,” a health and lifestyle show with Tim Gunn and former American Idol, Kimberly Locke.

I predict, however, that these four soaps won’t be far behind the ABC losses. They will likely be bumped as soon as network producers can find a hot new property to unleash on the daytime program lists.  The new show “The Talk” which runs opposite OLTL already has an audience. I enjoy it very much myself.  Hosts Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini, Sara Gilbert, and Holly Robinson Peete have a great camaraderie and they all make it a fun show to watch. More live talk show formats could be coming.

Don’t get me wrong. I have been a soap opera addict in the past. My addiction began with the old radio soaps like “Our Gal Sunday,” a 15 minute show I listened to with my mother in my pre-school days. When I was in college, I was addicted to “The Secret Storm.” I used to go watch it in the common room as we didn’t have TVs in our rooms. I got razed more than once for my loyalty to that show. My sister, Sara was addicted to “Dark Shadows.”

When I was working nights at the Hartford Courant in the late 60s-early 70s, my main TV viewing each day was the soaps. I watched the trinity on ABC, the two mentioned above and "General Hospital." They came on one after the other just as they do today. I usually only got to watch half of GH before I had to leave for work, but I really didn’t miss much. They dragged out story lines as much then as they do now.

So what is the legacy of the TV soaps? In spite of the fact that daytime actors and actresses have always been considered “B” players who couldn’t make it on nighttime TV, we have had some stellar performances from some of the stars who have been on these programs for years. Who can forget the split personalities of Vicki, as played by Erica Slezak on OLTL? We have grown to love Erica Kane, as played by Susan Lucci. She will marry Jack one more time before they depart from us on an eternal honeymoon.

Some of the actors and actresses have made a name for themselves in other venues and on nighttime programs. Kelly Ripa has made a name for herself on “Live with Regis and Kelly.” She and husband, Mark Consulos, who Kelly met on OLTL and married in real life, have their own program on TV. Then there is Judith Light, who has been seen on many nighttime shows. She’s one of my favorites. Rick Springfield, the rock star, also started out on GH; and Jack Wagner was also a soap star.

Why are the soaps disappearing one by one? Here’s my take on that.

Number one, the soaps stem from an oral tradition, i.e., radio. Today’s viewer wants movement, action, fast segues from one scene to another. Remember, attention spans are not what they used to be. On any given day, if you close your eyes and just listen to your favorite soap, you can follow the story quite easily. Scenes each day go from one living room, one office, to another with LOTS of dialogue. Oral, not visual.

Soaps notoriously drag a story line out to keep you tuning in. However, we aren’t as patient as we used to be in waiting for some action to play out. As far as storylines go, how many times can you tell the same story and make it believable? All the stories have been told many times over. I will commend the writers, however, for trying to focus on current social problems like the bullying storyline I saw recently on OLTL.

Some of the problem is certainly the economy. The networks can no longer afford to pay their stars the big salaries they expect. They can produce a game show or a talk show much more economically. I predict we will be seeing more of these type shows during the daytime hours. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see a revival of “Queen for a Day,” or “This is Your Life.”

Whatever happens, daytime TV will never be the same. My sister-in-law, Nat, is the biggest soap addict I know. She even subscribes to Soap Digest. She watches the ABC trinity religiously every day. She tapes them during the day and then watches them on her bedroom TV in the evening while my brother watches his ball games in the living room. What will she tape to watch now? I give her my sympathies as well as to all the other loyal fans out there. Watch “The Talk” with me if you like.

By the way, there is a campaign to keep AMC and OLTL on the air. Check out the ABC Soap site on the internet to cast your vote if you are an addict who can’t live without your soaps.

Thanks for listening.