I just read this article that says “All My Children” and “One Life To Live” will continue online, which doesn’t surprise me. I’ve been telling Ronn for the past few years that I believe television will soon be a thing of the past and will merge with the Internet. Networks are really behind and stuck in the 20th century. The fact that they keep soaps separated from the rest of television is a joke. Many huge stars were once soap stars and no longer is it a man’s world. The days when women stayed home and men were the only bread winners are long gone. Women are in the work force and both sexes need to work to make ends meet. So there is an audience for soaps and long and faithful one, but they aren’t watching their shows during the day anymore. They tape them and watch them at night or on the Internet. It really is silly to continue to separate daytime actors. They work harder than other actors who do film and prime time shows and those actors get paid way more! When you work on a film or prime time show there are numerous takes to make the actor look good and only a few pages of dialogue to memorize. Daytime actors have sometimes up to 40-50 pages of dialogue to memorize and only one or two takes to get it right. It’s so not fair and networks are just stupid. They believe most people watch TV at night, but are ignoring the power of the Internet and loyalty of Daytime fans. I think this move to put soaps on the Internet will be a good one and could start to change television completely. How cool would it be to have a huge television screen that is also your computer? The problem with television is that they are not open to the fast changing pace of the 21st century. I remember when film actors didn’t do television and now you see many film actors on TV. You also see actors from hit TV shows merge into major films, but soap actors are still stuck in the 1950s regarding their status within the industry. I call that discrimination. There has been talk of SAG merging with AFTRA which is much needed for the actors. It’s very stupid as I’ve said before to separate Daytime Emmys from The Emmys. They should be one as it’s all television. So perhaps with this noted change from television to the Internet, the soaps can take a life of their own and thrive even more, as more people are on the Internet anyway. So I say to television, you will be a extinct soon enough, so wake up and get into the 21st century!!!
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Morning Devin, My daughter and I couldn’t agree with you more. Our only salvation, with the exception of B&B and a few others which are still on TV, will be the internet. My kid’s getting a new monitor for her computer which rivals most regular sized TV sets so all her favorite soaps will be watched on it if this happens.
Considering I’ve had to listen to a full-blown cussing out of whoever ended the shows that are over, anything will be a blessing.
Well, like all concepts, if this takes off, I’m sure it will snowball with other innovation and maybe the networks will come up to speed. They’re already showing full episodes of most everything on the internet for quite some time.
You’re right about the rest of it, too. Not all women are fortunate to work from home and have to record what they miss. When it comes to male/female providers, I don’t even want to go there, it would take a long page.
As far as splitting the Emmy’s in two, I never understood that, and neither does anyone I know that watches them. Perhaps the public can give their input in some way to have them include all daytime programs in one award ceremony since they’re the ones watching. Tell “I’m so bad, I’m good” we always root for him and his show, hahaha!
All the best, Lilian
I don’t think so. I think people are getting more sophisticated and the old soap formula just isn’t working. Look at B&B–same old same old. Brooke/Ridge/Taylor has been going on for HOW MANY years? It isn’t even true to the story anymore.
More moms are out working now. Why DVR them? There’s better stuff to watch at night than Brooke and Ridge in bed yet again or Stephanie plotting how she is going to break them up this time. My mom was home ironing when she watched Guiding Light and As the World Turns. I used to watch soaps all day when I was home with my kids, but they lost interest for me and lots of my friends too (not my kids, the shows! LOL). The writing has become pretty bad–even bizzare. You can see the frustration by the way people are commenting on the various soap boards. Beloved characters are hardly recognizable any more. Unfortunately, it is a genre that has “been here, done that, got the T-shirt.” I loved B&B, Y&R, DOOL and watched them for years (like 40). Now it is only B&B and that is on occasion. I only watch that for Taylor, waiting for her to get a backbone and throw her ex under the bus where he belongs. The character of Ridge has become an egotistical dolt (the character, not the actor), Taylor is becoming a shadow of the woman she once was, and Brooke is still having those “whoops” moments (well, I guess some things don’t change). Lame and cheesy–all of it. My four grown daughters say, “Mom, WHY are you still watching that stuff?” Today my husband was laughing hysterically when I was trying to explain a story plot! It DID sound a bit far-fetched I admit. Kinda like I Love Lucy on steroids.
I hope the internet thing works out for you gals–really I do. But these shows need sponsors to pay for the actors, etc. Unless the writing and the storylines get way better, I don’t see it.
thanks and God bless
Beverly
I get what you are saying, but I don’t think that is entirely correct. Many women used to work years ago too but ratings for soaps were a lot better then because the writing for soaps used to be a lot better back then. Many people are currently unemployed now, so more people stay at home longer…ratings are not better though, they are worse.People do watch TV, but usually prefer to watch something other than soaps. Again, because of the bad writing. DVD recording is counted, but many people opt not to tape soaps but something else instead. Overall, soaps being a dying genre has mostly to do with the badwriting more than anything else. The online option is not bad, but I don’t think it is going to be very successful in the long run. Online streaming means much lower budget, lower pay, no health insurance… Better than nothing of course but that does not make it an ideal choice.
Beverly, I have to disagree with you. Brooke and Ridge are the show’s supercouple from day one and their fans are what basically keeps the show still on air. Not even Brooke and Ridge can do miracles though when Brooke is bashed for global warming or when Stephanie and Taylor try to break them up. Taylor and Stephanie are the same bitter bitches they always were by the way, only more desperate than before, because their old tricks no longer work the way they used to. It is comforting though that Brooke and Ridge manage to stay together more for a long while now and work out their problems in a more mature way. That has been a really positive change.
The writing for daytime overall, and that goes for all soaps, is bad. Brad Bell will never write like his father Bill Bell used to write. Maria Arena Bell will never write like Bill Bell used to write. The legendary daytime writers are no longer with us.
I laugh when I hear people saying that Taylor has changed. Sorry, Taylor has always been that way. A hypocritical, nasty witch. She is just more desperate now. And Ridge never loved her the way he always loved Brooke. He is just more mature now than he was years ago and does not leave Brooke when things get tough.Which is good. It would be a lot better if Taylor got her own life though. I know many viewers who could at least tolerate Taylor, if she stopped trying to break up Brooke and Ridge.
About soap opera boards…I believe no one is naive enough to take them too seriously. The same 50 people post on all soap opera boards. Most people do not have the time or the interest to post on those boards. They are tired of discussing the same things or fight with strangers online.
Back to the topic…I assume it will be difficult to find sponsors for strictly online streaming. I also assume actors will get paid considerably less. Considering that most of them have already accepted paycuts, I don’t know how acceptable that would be.