Why are soap operas STILL on the air?

[ClassyCo]

I stumbled upon this video on YouTube when I typed in "the history of the soap opera" in the website's search engine. I actually liked this little video. It is well-written and well-produced, and it gave me a few little tidbits that I had never thought about before.

What say you?

Why are they STILL making daytime soap operas? Are they really in demand?

 

[DallasFanForever]

I have no idea why they’re still making them to be honest. They’ve become so horrible in recent years that they are almost unbearable to watch. Yet for some reason I still record them and I watch them at my leisure and I’m not even sure why. I guess for me it’s for nostalgic reasons more than anything because my grandparents were daytime junkies and I started watching because of them. So I guess the only reason I still watch is because it makes me still feel connected to them, if that makes any sense. But they would never watch the daytime shows now. There’s no way.

 

[Emelee]

Why hate on the soaps? What's the purpose of any TV series? Take The Simpsons for example. Over 30 years, it's not meant to end and the characters never evolve, heck they don't even age. Lots of advertising breaks there as well. Why not ask why they still produce The Simpsons? Why target the soaps?

No one watching the soaps today pay attention to the advertising. Who even watches the commercial breaks?

And if they cancelled all soaps, what would they replace them with? More daytime talk shows? More reality shows?

Snobs with their distaste for soaps.

 

[Angela Channing]

Why are they STILL making daytime soap operas?

Because they are relatively cheap to make and they attract relatively large audiences.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Because they are relatively cheap to make and they attract relatively large audiences.

They’re definitely pretty cheap to make but I am surprised that they still pull in large audiences for the most part. When so many of them started falling by the wayside over the last decade I thought the genre was dying out. There’s only four left but they all seem to still be pulling in decent ratings.

 

[Angela Channing]

Although the ratings are down compared with 20 years ago the same is true for other daytime shows. Daytime soaps still do well in the ratings charts with The Young and The Restless, The Bold and The Beautiful, General Hospital and Days of Our Lives all in the top 10 highest viewed daytime shows.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Serialized storytelling has been around forever. I mean, Homer's epics were told around the campfire in the "....and then, you'll never guess what happens next!" format. It will never really "go away" since it's human nature to be curious about "what happens next".

Soaps airing in daytime became popular among TV networks because they were cheap to produce and made boatloads of money. Those same execs seemed to move on from soaps toward talk shows and news-ish "infotainment" shows because they were even cheaper to produce than soaps, while also attracting viewers to watch those commercials. The overall drift of viewers away from watching daytime in general meant they had to "do more with less" to fill those hours. But one only has to look at the primetime schedule across network, cable, and streaming to see that serialized storytelling is still very popular and draws in many viewers. Producers can shrink away from the label, but many of them produce soap operas in all but name.

The four soaps that remain on network daytime TV are obviously the strongest of the bunch, the survivors from when there were more than a dozen of them airing daily. Perhaps this is the appropriate number of soaps for the current daytime landscape--enough choices for the shrunken fan base. These four seem to have stabilized, ratings-wise and though there are plenty of production challenges (lowered budgets, smaller ad budgets, etc.) one has to remember that soaps, historically, have always been low-budget, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of productions. That relatively brief period in the 1980s and early 1990s when they had big budgets and tried to rival nighttime in production values and storytelling was not the normal way of doing things. I think that if the story is compelling and the actors have proper charisma and talent, they could still attract some audience--I mean, the UK still has radio soaps that pull decent ratings!

It's simply frustrating when these remaining soaps use their diminished budgets as an excuse to put out terrible product at times. They say, "You fight the war with the army you have, not the army you want." If diminished budgets drive away your best and brightest, then you're left with the sub-par folks who can only turn out sub-par work.

 

[Grant Jennings]

What would be the alternative?
• Brad wants a home that's close to work and doesn't mind having a few DIY projects but Stacey wants something move-in-ready and open-concept.
• The next Meghan McCain/Sharon Osborne sharing her opinions.
• Another of Oprah's "Drs" hawking "miracle cures".
• Your honor, those scratches weren't there before Destiny borrowed my car.
• A "newscast" that's actually an anchor stating their opinions.
• And when you take it out of the oven it should look like this (press "applause" button).

I can think of two reasons why we need soap operas. First: they are a great training-ground for young actors. Think of all of the successful actors in prime-time and movies who got their start in soaps. Actors have to learn a new script every day. They have experienced actors to mentor them and act as role models. Second: experienced actors who never "made the big time" continue to work. I support anything that keeps actors like David Canary and Larry Bryggman employed.

 

[Monzo]

One fact this video overlooks is that primetime also lost viewers. There are some network primetime shows with fewer viewers than daytime soaps, so networks have bigger problems right now. I doubt that soaps are very big when it comes to streaming, but they bring viewers on network's streaming services on a daily basis, which means that those viewers could discover other shows there, which is more important in off-season.

The video mentioned foreign soaps. Of course, they are better, because they got better timeslots and a younger audience thanks to that. US soap viewers don't want foreign influence, which was proven a few years ago when this British soap expert ran Y&R. Fans hated it, they want the American way.

Networks shouldn't change their way with soaps. It could be even worse in ratings than it is right now compared to the other stuff on daytime and primetime.

 

[ClassyCo]

I know daytime soap operas are cheaper than other scripted television shows to produce. I mean, they have to be cheaper, otherwise they probably wouldn't last for 50+ years on the air, even if they were bringing in big numbers. Sooner or later, someone would want to pull in the strings on the budget, even with big ratings.

I do think the daytime soap genre is certainly in a dry spot. My first exposure to the genre was through my maternal grandmother. When I would stay with her during the day (which wasn't terribly often), the world would stop at 1:00 when ALL MY CHILDREN came on. She didn't care what we watched the rest of the day (if the TV was on at all really), but we all had to be quiet and "find a seat on the couch" when AMC would come on. I don't remember anything about the show, because I was far too young, and I don't know anything more about it now really. The only thing that I know about AMC is that Susan Lucci played Erica Kane, one of the most popular soap opera characters there's ever been.
​

When I was out from school one summer, I remember my mother and I both getting hooked on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. I often joked that B&B was my favorite because it was still a half-hour show. Speaking of B&B, I loved Stephanie and Sally's scenes together, and I seem to remember practically the entire story line where Stephanie faked her heart attack. She told her family the truth and Bridget's wedding, and then Eric decides to leave her. I recently watched a few of those episodes again on YouTube for ole times sake. I remember less about Y&R, although I do remember when they recast the character Lillie (if that's how she spells her name). I believe there was a guy named Ryan she was involved with, and I remember there being several sequences of them on the beach together. But my memory concerning Y&R is very fuzzy.
​

In saying all that, I couldn't care less about watching any of these shows now. I remember a few years ago being at my grandmother's and catching tidbits of Y&R and B&B before my grandfather flipped the channel to GUNSMOKE. I remember there being some nudist scandal thingy (a good-looking young guy was caught in the nude on national TV or something) on Y&R and the "new" Sally Spectra on B&B was preparing her breakthrough fashion show. It was all somewhat boring and very, very drawn out.

I just don't really have the patience for the daytime soap operas anymore, nor do I have the time to watch them really. It takes too long for stuff to "happen" because the narrative has to be stretched so much to fill-up the schedule and time slots. In saying that, I am somewhat intrigued to maybe watch some early B&B episodes on YouTube. I found the first episode yesterday and I'm planning to watch it either today or tomorrow.... hopefully.

I want to make my position clear: I love watching soap operas. As much as I ride them and give them a hard time, I enjoy watching them, if mainly the clips of episode highlights. The thing that made me like the video that I attached in the original post was the way the guy spoke about the origins of the soap opera genre. I knew that the genre had gotten its name from soap products that advertisers sold during the commercial breaks, but I hadn't ever thought about the fact that soaps were shows formed around products, and not the other way around. Likewise, I like how he gave kudos to daytime soap actors and actresses for being able to film 50+ pages on a daily basis. It was just an interesting little video that I felt would initiate a good discussion.​

 

[AndyB2008]

They’re definitely pretty cheap to make but I am surprised that they still pull in large audiences for the most part. When so many of them started falling by the wayside over the last decade I thought the genre was dying out. There’s only four left but they all seem to still be pulling in decent ratings.

The four daytime soaps still on the air to add all tape in Los Angeles. Previously it was a mix between LA and New York City.

Apparently it's cheaper to film them in LA, hence why All My Children moved production there before it ended. Agnes Nixon had mentioned from an article I read that it was costly taping All My Children in NYC, because the sets had to be trucked into the Manhattan studios from storage in Queens and Brooklyn.

 

[AndyB2008]

Why hate on the soaps? What's the purpose of any TV series? Take The Simpsons for example. Over 30 years, it's not meant to end and the characters never evolve, heck they don't even age. Lots of advertising breaks there as well. Why not ask why they still produce The Simpsons? Why target the soaps?

No one watching the soaps today pay attention to the advertising. Who even watches the commercial breaks?

And if they cancelled all soaps, what would they replace them with? More daytime talk shows? More reality shows?

Snobs with their distaste for soaps.

The case of the Simpsons - it's a cash cow for Fox\Disney because of the amount of episodes, hence syndication profits, as well as merchandising.

It's the only production Gracie Films has currently running at the moment.

And in the cases of Dan and Yeardley mainly, it's probably their roles what they are best known for nowadays, given the former has a producer credit and writes for the show.

 

[AndyB2008]

And for all the groans about Jill Farren Phelps ruining soaps as an executive producer, Amy Freisleben must be cursed when she gets an executive producer role on Judy Sheindlin's shows.

She becomes the co-executive producer on Judge Judy, and then it ends (during her reign, the theme was cut to 5 seconds). She is also an executive producer on Hot Bench, and CBS demotes the show for Drew Barrymore.

Now she's an executive producer on Judy Justice, and one of her changes is having no Petri Hawkins Byrd, although he was actually up for it. Add to that CBS scheduling reruns of Judge Judy (with Byrd) against Judy Justice.

 

[ClassyCo]

Why hate on the soaps? What's the purpose of any TV series? Take The Simpsons for example. Over 30 years, it's not meant to end and the characters never evolve, heck they don't even age. Lots of advertising breaks there as well. Why not ask why they still produce The Simpsons? Why target the soaps?

I think the commentator of the video was inquiring because he believes the daytime soap opera genre to be "dying" and therefore living on borrowed time.

I've often wondered why THE SIMPSONS are still being produced. I've never liked that show, but I found the movie funny.​

No one watching the soaps today pay attention to the advertising. Who even watches the commercial breaks?

The older audiences not familiar with newer DVR techniques still watch the commercials. When I still occasionally watched B&B, I'd record it on my DVR and zoom right pass the commercials. I could watch an entire episode in less than 20 minutes. It was a good right-before-bed treat.​

And if they cancelled all soaps, what would they replace them with? More daytime talk shows? More reality shows?

That would be the biggest downfall. If all the soaps were canceled, what would take their place? I cannot stand most reality shows or talk shows, so if those types of shows filled the vacant time slots, I'd be mad. Even if soaps aren't everyone's cup-of-tea, we can at least all agree that we can get caught up in the story lines.​

Snobs with their distaste for soaps.

I hope I wasn't coming across as a snob. I like watching soap operas, even the daytime ones. I used to watch Y&R and B&B all the time. I just haven't watched in years and I've lost interest in them.​

 

[Angela Channing]

I can think of two reasons why we need soap operas. First: they are a great training-ground for young actors. Think of all of the successful actors in prime-time and movies who got their start in soaps. Actors have to learn a new script every day. They have experienced actors to mentor them and act as role models. Second: experienced actors who never "made the big time" continue to work. I support anything that keeps actors like David Canary and Larry Bryggman employed.

And thirdly, soap operas have a strong female following so they are attractive to advertisers who want to target products towards women.

 

[Daniel Avery]

The four daytime soaps still on the air to add all tape in Los Angeles. Previously it was a mix between LA and New York City.

Apparently it's cheaper to film them in LA, hence why All My Children moved production there before it ended. Agnes Nixon had mentioned from an article I read that it was costly taping All My Children in NYC, because the sets had to be trucked into the Manhattan studios from storage in Queens and Brooklyn.

From what I understand, the various crew unions had much more influence/power in New York City, and basically killed the goose that was laying the golden egg by making it too expensive to continue taping in NYC. The sets being stored off-site was only part of the problem. In some cases, the set construction crews, the set decorators, etc. had to tear down all the sets after that day's filming, then return the next morning to re-construct them, and then tear them down that night, etc. Very few "permanent sets" were allowed to remain up for any period of time. Obviously the crew members got lots of steady work if the sets had to be up and down all the time, which was why the unions negotiated this into their contracts, but it was a massive drag on the time-constrained world of soaps. The LA branches of the same unions were never able to impose the same types of rules on production companies, so LA was obviously viewed favorably by producers wanting to save money. The trade-off of course was that the network executives were usually headquartered in LA also, so there was a lot more micro-management.

And if they cancelled all soaps, what would they replace them with? More daytime talk shows? More reality shows?

That's what they thought they could do, in most cases. The last time a network cancelled a soap opera to bring in a soap replacement was when Another World was cancelled to make way for Passions---in 1999! And the highest Nielsen rating Passions ever earned was never higher than the lowest rating AW ever earned. In other words, the replacement was less successful than what they replaced. Some shows like The Talk (which replaced As The World Turns) became a ratings success over time, though it was nothing more than a rip-off of The View. NBC just gave the time back to the affiliates to let them air whatever they wanted rather than try to compete.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I am somewhat intrigued to maybe watch some early B&B episodes on YouTube. I found the first episode yesterday and I'm planning to watch it either today or tomorrow.... hopefully.

You won’t be disappointed. Early B&B is quite good. I wasn’t watching when it debuted in ‘87 but I’m watching them now on YouTube. These episodes are terrific!

 

[AndyB2008]

I think the commentator of the video was inquiring because he believes the daytime soap opera genre to be "dying" and therefore living on borrowed time.

I've often wondered why THE SIMPSONS are still being produced. I've never liked that show, but I found the movie funny.

The older audiences not familiar with newer DVR techniques still watch the commercials. When I still occasionally watched B&B, I'd record it on my DVR and zoom right pass the commercials. I could watch an entire episode in less than 20 minutes. It was a good right-before-bed treat.

That would be the biggest downfall. If all the soaps were canceled, what would take their place? I cannot stand most reality shows or talk shows, so if those types of shows filled the vacant time slots, I'd be mad. Even if soaps aren't everyone's cup-of-tea, we can at least all agree that we can get caught up in the story lines.

I hope I wasn't coming across as a snob. I like watching soap operas, even the daytime ones. I used to watch Y&R and B&B all the time. I just haven't watched in years and I've lost interest in them.​

From what I understand, the various crew unions had much more influence/power in New York City, and basically killed the goose that was laying the golden egg by making it too expensive to continue taping in NYC. The sets being stored off-site was only part of the problem. In some cases, the set construction crews, the set decorators, etc. had to tear down all the sets after that day's filming, then return the next morning to re-construct them, and then tear them down that night, etc. Very few "permanent sets" were allowed to remain up for any period of time. Obviously the crew members got lots of steady work if the sets had to be up and down all the time, which was why the unions negotiated this into their contracts, but it was a massive drag on the time-constrained world of soaps. The LA branches of the same unions were never able to impose the same types of rules on production companies, so LA was obviously viewed favorably by producers wanting to save money. The trade-off of course was that the network executives were usually headquartered in LA also, so there was a lot more micro-management.


That's what they thought they could do, in most cases. The last time a network cancelled a soap opera to bring in a soap replacement was when Another World was cancelled to make way for Passions---in 1999! And the highest Nielsen rating Passions ever earned was never higher than the lowest rating AW ever earned. In other words, the replacement was less successful than what they replaced. Some shows like The Talk (which replaced As The World Turns) became a ratings success over time, though it was nothing more than a rip-off of The View. NBC just gave the time back to the affiliates to let them air whatever they wanted rather than try to compete.

The replacement for One Life to Live, The Revolution, rated so poorly that it was off the air quickly.

Katie Couric had some influence in The Revolution ending too - her talk show was to launch, but she felt The Revolution was a poor lead in for it, and she didn't want to be blamed for getting General Hospital cancelled.

So ABC kept GH on and cancelled The Revolution.

Originally Katie was to air at 4pm on ABC O&O and affiliated stations, but they refused due to expanding local news after Oprah ended. So ABC moved GH to 2pm and gave the 3pm slot to the affiliates so they could carry Katie there.

While most ABC affiliates still carry General Hospital at 2pm\1pm after Katie ended, the ABC O&O's in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia,Raleigh-Durham, San Francisco and Houston, as well as the ABC affiliate in San Antonio, returned GH to the original 3\2 slot on tape delay.

 

[ClassyCo]

You won’t be disappointed. Early B&B is quite good. I wasn’t watching when it debuted in ‘87 but I’m watching them now on YouTube. These episodes are terrific!

I watched the premiere episode of B&B today. I must say I'm somewhat intrigued as to where it's all going to go.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I watched the premiere episode of B&B today. I must say I'm somewhat intrigued as to where it's all going to go.

It was a well written show. And so many of the actors and actresses had terrific chemistry. I remember when it premiered and every grown up in my house was screaming that their beloved Capitol got replaced with a stupid fashion show. But once everyone sat down and started watching they were hooked.