#soapoperas The demise of soaps? Not on my watch
Posted on 18. Jun, 2011 by patti in Extras
Soap Operas have come and gone over the years, I sadly understand that. However, when ABC/Disney canceled not one but TWO of long-standing, viewer favorites even I was shocked. The biggest shock, to me, was All My Children. After all, ABC/D moved the soap from New York to Los Angeles only a little over a year ago. This forced the actors to either quit or relocate their entire families, many who had deep roots in their communities. When the axe fell in April, I’m sure they were shocked, dismayed, appalled and sad.
That same day the axe also fell on One Life To Live – the only Soap Opera left in NYC!! What the hell is up with that? The Soap genre began in NYC, NOT in LA! Several years ago my cousin worked for ABC Radio Network News. One time when I visited she was able to get me on the set of OLTL. What a thrill that was! Erica Slezak in rollers had me chuckling to myself. Imogene Coca was Gladys Mason and just a doll! Robert S. woods had just bought a lot of girl scout cookies and was giving them away to everyone. Sorry, I’m digressing and getting away from the subject LOL. Oh, and you know what ABC/D is replacing our beloved shows with? The Chew, a food show, and The Revolution, a fitness show! Catchy names don’t ya think? GAG!!!
As I was saying, the Soap Opera genre began in NYC. Can you even imagine how many were employed because of Soap Operas? I’m not just talking about the actors, writers and producers – but all of the production staff, of which there are hundreds! You can’t even imagine how many people it takes to produce a soap – cameramen, lighting, hair, makeup, wardrobe, music to just to name a few. It’s no wonder the unemployment rate is close to 9% in NYC and it will be even higher once January comes and OLTL is off the air.
For now, come January there will only be 4 soaps left on the air. GH on ABC, Days of Our Lives on NBC, Young and Restless and Bold and Beautiful on CBS. The reason I say for now, the rumors are running rampant now that ABC/D has contracted Katie Couric for a talk show in the 3pm time slot – that’s the time slot that GH has!!! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the writing on the wall. ABC/D has also cancelled SoapNet in 2012. We fans need to support our shows, NOW, or we won’t have anything left. We need to unite and be together. We need to stay positive, no more hate tweets on Twitter or rants on FaceBook. How soap fans unite you ask? Good question! Stay tuned to my next post, up Monday or Tuesday, and I’ll tell you.
Barbara
18. Jun, 2011
I know I won’t be watching the crap they’re replacing the soaps with. They already have a cooking channel. Yeah I would imagine there are tons of jobs thanks to soaps so it just sucks all around because none of the others are really safe. They seem to be dropping off like flies.