The Stereotypes of Soaps Are Dying, Has Run Its Course!

We Love Soaps posted an article this morning from Cincinnatitoday.com, which interviews P&G global marketing officer Mark Pritchard. Mr. Pritchard offers his opinion on why “daytime dramas have run their course.” I find it funny that in the same article, it discusses how instrumental P&G is working to help bring back the dynamics of watching television together as a family. Mr. Pritchard states that “People tell us that they want more shows to watch together as a family, or appealing to all family members." Well, Mr. Pritchard, let me tell you a little bit about my family. My grandmother started out as an avid soap opera watcher, she would listen to Guiding Light on the radio, and later, when it made the transition to television, she followed. When she had her children, they became avid soap watchers. I would be told countless stories on how they would all would sit around the small black and white television, and watch the soaps right along with my grandmother. My uncles included. My mother went onto to college, and when she would come home, she would sit around, and discuss soaps with my grandmother. Flash-forward to when I was born, I followed in my family’s tradition, and became addicted to soaps (that and the reason I was told to either shutup or take a nap when my grandmother’s stories were on). Once a week, my grandmother, my mother, and I, would all get on a three way telephone call and discuss the latest on soaps.

So you see Mr. Pritchard, I disagree, daytime dramas haven’t run their course, it’s all about adapting, and reinventing yourself(this means those who are in charge of these dying soaps) to the audiences. I’m sure my grandmother was hesitant in making the change to watch Guiding Light on television, but she did it. Why? Because she believed, and loved her soaps. She would follow the Bauers, and the Hughes anywhere. When my mother went into the workforce, she was hesitant that a VCR would not record her soaps, but she taped them anyway? Why? Because she remembered the good times she had watching the soaps with my grandmother. Today, I DVR, watch soaps online, and try to watch the soaps at their scheduled broadcast time, Why? Because I remember how we would all come together as a family, and discuss our soaps.

Mr. Pritchard, you are wrong. Daytime dramas haven’t run its course. Tell that to Martha Byrne, Michael O’Leary, and Crystal Chappell, beloved soap opera veterans who love, and support this genre so much, that they are reinventing the wheel so to speak, by taking the successful formula of old school soap story telling to the web. Coincidentally, they were all former employees of Proctor and Gamble, the company in which Mr. Pritchard works for.

I hate when these once a year articles come out, where we get these quotes by the people in charge, who offer their “wisdom”, in one sentence that always speak doom and gloom to the soap genre. When we interviewed Martha Byrne, I learned more about how to market, creative ways to reach your audience, and what executives think in terms of marketing to the audiences, in that one hour, than I have learned from the powers that be in my twenty plus years of watching soaps. You say Daytime dramas have run their course? Show me, don’t tell me. Show me on Twitter, where there are millions of fans tweeting in 140 characters or less, about their soaps day in and day out! Show me at a So Long Springfield event, where thousands of fans show up, and support the cast of Guiding Light. Tell me where you are losing viewers, when myself, and millions of others DVR, or tape their soaps,yet the Nielsen ratings is what you look at, and conclude that daytime is dying. I leave you with the wise words of my grandmother “ if you want it dead, than you will have to kill it yourself!” Of course she was talking about a spider at the time, but it’s so fitting for the daytime genre! :) ~Lauren

Love Makes the World Go 'Round - Gotham: The Series Review

If you listen to our weekly podcast, you know that Lauren and I can't get enough of the web soap craze currently going on. I have wanted to formally review one, but hesitated because these small nuggets of soap are really works-in-progress and often leave a lot to be desired... at first. Now that Gotham: The Series just released their 7th episode, I think it's fair to review the show and see what works and what doesn't.

Gotham: The Series was created by Martha Byrne, known for her role as Lily Snyder on As the World Turns. Byrne, who left the role of Lily in a cloud of controversy, writes and stars in the series, which focuses on the burgeoning rekindled romance of Catherine Prescott (Byrne) and Richard Manning, played by As the World Turns' Michael Park (Jack). Catherine, recently divorced from husband Jon (General Hospital's Kin Shriner), runs into high school sweetheart Richard at a party at her friend Tina's (Anne Sayre) mansion. Richard, in the midst of a divorce with Veronica (soap vet Lisa Peluso), is happy to see Catherine, which is in contrast to the rest of his life; his daughter has a drug problem (Carolyn Byrne), his mother is overbearing (Anna Stuart), he's having an affair with his slutty secretary (Brianne Moncrief), and he's gotten in over his head with shady Domninic (Paolo Seganti).

What Works

Familiar Faces: One thing Gotham has going for it is the cascade of familiar soap faces that appear in each episode. Actors from a range of soaps appear, and each is playing a role that sets them apart from their characters on their network soap. With proven, professional actors playing these roles, the show already has a leg up on its more amateur competition.

Great Backstory: Byrne clearly created a universe of characters and stories when developing Gotham: The Series and it shows. From the slowly unfolding story of Catherine and Richard's high school romance to Richard's shady business dealings, there is a gold mine of story opportunty here.

Great Music: It took a few episodes, but Martha Byrne's "Love Makes the World Go 'Round" has been solidified as the show's theme song and each episode opens with someone new singing it. It sets a very classy, New York tone to the series, which is fitting given its Manhattan setting.

What Needs Work

Questionable Casting: Gotham, like several other web series (and TV series, for that matter), employs the use of a sassy gay black man to give commentary to the goings-on of the show. Also questionable is the casting of Brianne Moncrief as Samantha. Moncrief didn't give the most striking impression as Colby on all My Children and her southern accent on Gotham should have been excised. I think there's potential there, so here's hoping Ms. Moncrief grows in the role.

Shaky Beginnings: The first four episodes of Gotham were rocky. The theme song wasn't employed, nor was the show's stylish logo. But the show has rectified these two issues and I commend Ms. Byrne on that.

The Verdict

When all is said and done, Gotham is a fun, frothy soap worthy of your ten minutes a week. I recommend it highly and hope the show gets the sponsors and publicity it needs to succeed.

Two thumbs up!

What a Tangled Web We Weave, Three Minute Edition

LEE:If you’ve been keeping up with the soap industry via the Internet (or the magazines, for that matter), you’ve probably heard about this new craze that has the world-wide-web on fire: the web series. Web series are a relatively new addition to the ‘net, and they typically target a small niche group of fans. I don’t know who it was, but someone let out-of-work soap actors in on the web series fad and all of a sudden every soap actor is producing, writing and starring in their own series. This is great for hardcore fans of these actors and of soaps in general, but judging from the current crop of web soaps, there are still some major kinks to work out.
Let’s start with the big one. Crystal Chappell (Lauren’s gal) clearly knew she had a great thing going when her lesbian love story with Jessica Leccia created a huge following for both women and Guiding Light. Chappell decided to capitalize on the success of the “Otalia” story by creating a web soap centered around two lesbian women living in Venice, California. It was a great idea; fans of Otalia would have somewhere to turn when GL ended, and Chappell would gain more exposure as an actress, as would her cast of soap vets from various other shows. Unfortunately, good ideas don’t necessarily translate to good entertainment, and the first episode of Venice felt like several things: a) a teaser for the real show, and b) professionally shot fan fiction. The first episode was too short to get any sense of what was to come, and the characterizations were vague at best. Speaking of short…
Martha Byrne’s Gotham was announced and debuted within a very short amount of time. Unlike Chapppell’s relationship drama, Gotham seemed to be more along the lines of an 80s primetime soap a la Knots Landing. That’s all well and good, but the first episode was THREE MINUTES LONG. The first two minutes were opening credits interspersed with Michael Park listening to voicemails, and the third minute was Martha Byrne chatting with Anne Sayre about their big party. Whereas Venice was a bit short at seven minutes, Gotham left NO time for any sort of development in regard to story and character. Byrne should call Chappell about borrowing Venice’s light and sound crew, because the production values were rough (understandably so).
This all sounds pretty negative, but I’m sure there will be improvements as time goes by. My suggestion for both shows is to try to tell more self-contained stories in each episode, so that the viewer feels like they’re watching a complete show. It worked really well with Eden Riegel’s (ex-Bianca, AMC) Imaginary Bitches and even better with geek-chic diva Felicia Day’s The Guild. Hopefully they’ll take a cue from those shows and work on making the Internet the future of soaps.
There’s one other web show I totally neglected to mention, and I only have nice things to say about it: Wed-Locked, created by and starring Guiding Light’s Lawrence St. Victor and Karla Mosley (Remy and Christina). It’s simple, funny and at times touching. You can find it on YouTube.

LAUREN:Okay so I admit, I’m a Crystal Chappell fan; I admire her hustle, her determentation, her soap connections (Hi Jessica Leccia, Tina Sloan, Jordan Clarke and Hilary B. Smith) plus fellow DOOL castmates Galen Gering and Nadia Bjorlin who all jumped on board. Chappell wanted Venicetheseries on the web, and she succeed in that part. Girl was the hardest working player in the soap world in 2009. However,I have to call out the fact that when one usually has a web series, one might want to make sure that the website is actually up and functioning, before going live. Plus the fact, she has a devoted fan base who decided Venicetheseries was going to be “THE BEST THING EVER, OMG its SOO GOOD” before it even premiered. Really? Who can live up to hype like that? Apparently Crystal Chappell can, because she kept on hustling. She raised funds through selling clothing items out of the Venice shop, but overlooked one major detail, the website. It’s sad when I see Tina Sloan or Hilary B Smith tweeting that they could not get onto the website to watch episode two.
This is no way a diss to Crystal Chappell, however if you are a paying customer, then you have the right to give constructive criticism. I’m giving Chappell and all the people involved the benefit of the doubt, because web series are definitely in its infancy, but you have to work out these kinks before charging for a product. It’s marketing 101. I would definitely suggest she postpone any future episodes until she gets all the website kinks worked out. I want her to succeed, because I’m a fan. I’m not an Otalia based Crystal Chappell fan, so I’m really don’t care if Jessica Leecia or Crystal Chappell don’t share so much screen time in Venice. I was a fan of the Otalia story, on Guiding Light, which is gone. So I am able to separate the two, when watching a performance. Crystal Chappell is a great actress, no doubt about that, but watching the first episode, the first thirty seconds clearly was to give the Otalia fans want they wanted. Nothing is wrong with that, they deserved it, but I need to see how the characters were different from Natalia and Olivia, and thankfully, Jessica Leccia came through and showed me through her non verbal communications that Gina was clearly not feeling the closeness or intimacy of their history. As a fan of cinematography the product values on Venice are absolutely stunning.

Gotham the series: Martha Byrne is another veteran in the soap genre. She knows how the business works, she is a student and fan of the late, great, Douglas Marland, and she is forever in my soap loving heart, for bringing the awesome Lisa Peluso out of obscurity. Seriously, Lila on Another World is one of my top ten soap characters. I also commend Byrne on her excellent sponsorship of famed designer Nicole Miller, and hey, her website worked! However it seems like Gotham’s biggest problems so far is plot development, and editing values. Seriously, I was watching and wondering why Margaret Reed would would all of a sudden, make out with Michael Park, while the fabulous Maeve Kinkead is speaking at some charity function. I’ll give Byrne credit, she wants,(as the rapper Jay Z said in his song I Know) “That old thing back” meaning, good old fashioned, over the top soapy moments...You know dramatic eye stares, when an old flame walks to the room, but unfortunately if you aren’t a fan of soaps, you would be wondering “WTF was that all about.” As Lee mentioned above, it does have that Knots Landing campy feel to it, however it’s Martha Byrne, and she seems like she knows what she is doing, having written for Bold and Beautiful earlier this year, so I am curious to see, as time goes by, how she handles and fixes Gotham. Gotham does have potential to be really good. I cannot wait for Lisa Peluso to arrive.

Wed locked by GL’s alums Karla Mosley and Lawrence St Victor, is very cute, basic, and to the point. No fancy production values, just simple situations that newlyweds deal with on a daily basis, proving that you don’t have to go all out, to get your point across on the web.


We are fascinated by web soaps, and cant wait to see were they go from here.