Why Soaps Are DOA and Beyond Resuscitation

People want to blame the real-life soap opera that was the O.J. Simpson trial for the demise of the real soap opera.

That's just too easy.

That's just a cop out.

In reality, the genre that once had as many soaps as 19 on the airwaves is now down to four.

And that number might be two - maybe even three - too many.

As a lifelong soap fan, who has defended the genre to anyone who would listen, I'm ready to surrender.

And I'm ready to place the blame squarely where it belongs.

Sure, the O.J. trial, which pre-empted soaps for months in 1995, didn't help the genre.

Certainly, the onslaught of cable channels that continue to hit the airwaves hasn't benefitted soaps.

But the main reason that the once burgeoning American soap opera has all but become extinct is more complicated.

Actually, maybe it's not complicated at all.

The advent of focus groups, many of which consisted of people who never even watched a show, more rapidly contributed to the demise of the genre than O.J did.

The interference of network and studio executives who told TPTB what to do was destructive to the genre.

And the hiring and then continued shuffling of the same writers and producers who never were good to begin with put the final nail in the genre's coffin.

Ratings for the remaining four soaps - save The Young and the Restless - are horrendous.

And for good reason.

The remaining three soaps are disasters.

And, I think at least two of them are way beyond saving.

A closer look at those three shows will tell you why the industry is DOA and beyond resuscitation.

Let's look at General Hospital first.

Once the crown jewel of the entire industry, the show is a parody of its former self.

No matter who produces or writes the show reverts it back to the Mob.

It's a story about a Hospital, not a mafia show.

Maybe former Executive Producer Gloria Monty, she of the creator of Luke and Laura fame, she who saved the show from certain cancellation and rejuvenated the genre some 38 years ago, is really to blame.

Monty immediately quickened GH's pace, took the show out of the hospital and onto location and gave us iconic characters. Ratings soared and other shows followed suit.

Now, almost four decades later, the same ingredients Monty used to save GH may have contributed to its untimely demise.

Expanding soaps to a hour in 1975 also may have hurt the industry, but the main cause of GH's problems and with the genre in general is that the networks - desperate to boost ratings and revenue - have interfered to the point of no return.

GH - with its uneven pacing and emphasis on numerable actors who were hits on other shows - is now maybe the most unwatchable of the four remaining soaps.

Getting rid of talents like Emmy winners Michelle Stafford and Roger Howarth - as well as eliminating those with no talent at all, Hayley Erin (Kiki) comes to mind - would certainly improve the show, but wouldn't cure it's ultimate ailment.

While, I love Stafford and Howarth as performers, I could care less about their characters.

And that is the underlying problem at GH.

There are way too many characters who no one cares about on the show.

Bringing back Michael Easton for the umpteenth time in his umpteenth character isn't doing anything to help the show.

The return of the legendary Genie Francis as Laura could have helped the show, but, to date, TPTB have given her nothing interesting to do.

By that, I mean romance.

Soaps used to be about romance, romance and family.

GH was a hit not because of its outlandish plots, but because of its romantic couplings and the families of Port Charles.

Now, the Webbers are all but gone, the Quartermaines barely exist and the show is a disjointed mess. I never can get through an entire hour without either changing the channel or falling asleep.

Sometimes both.

As bad as GH is, Days of Our Lives may be even worse.

I say that because at least GH honored its history during its 50th anniversary three years ago.

Days, instead, totally slapped its fans in the face with their 50th anniversary celebration late last year.

Sure, they brought back a few fan favorites like Peter Reckell (Bo) and Stephen Nichols (Patch) and gave the latter and his splendid on-screen partner Mary Beth Evans ( Kayla) their first real story in years.

Unfortunately, that was amid a bloodbath of serial killings, rapes, other convoluted murders and deaths and drug addiction

The temporary ratings spike Days received during its 50th anniversary month has now evaporated.

And that's because the show is so damn dark, so ridiculously paced and plotted and overall simply umbearable to watch that I can only hope NBC puts it out of its misery when its recently signed extension contract expires a year from September.

Hiring novice actors to play legacy characters who were aged overnight didn't help the show.

Putting them front and center only showed how glaringly bad the writing and the acting is from the newcomers.

Rehiring writers who have never achieved ratings success on other shows - countered by network interference - have ultimately been the real reasons that both GH and Days are horrendous.

Maybe a Hogan Sheffer or Lorraine Broderick or Pamela Long or Claire Labine could save these shows. But even that is questionable, as the networks and sponsors won't let capable writers do what at least these four Emmy winning writers have proven they can do, which is write.

Maybe that's the real reason the networks recycle the mediocre writers because they can more easily influence them.

In fact, I'm sure that's the reason they keep the same old, same old.

Of course, there are still writers who can write, such as The Bold and the Beautiful's Brad Bell.

Unfortunately, of late, he just hasn't been doing that.

To be fair, B&B was coming off a terrific season where Bell was brilliant and no one can expect any writer to maintain excellence 100 percent of the time.

But still, the show that gave us the tremendous Maya transgender storyline last year has now turned into a muddling, recycled storyline mess in the past eight months.

Time will tell whether B&B can rebound, but right now, the show is a shell of its former self.

And that's not a good thing even for a show that is widely popular worldwide and can probably survive longer than the others for that reason alone.

That brings us to the only show that I think should survive, The Young and the Restless.

Not that Y&R is perfect or that it's anywhere near what it was in its heyday, but it is certainly in much better shape than any other soap currently on the air.

And who would have guessed that a Chuck Pratt incarnation of Y&R would be the best the genre has to offer?

When Pratt was hired to scribe Y&R some 18 months ago, I was terrified.

Pratt was the same guy who turned All My Children into a complete mess and helped seal its cancellation. So, I didn't hold out much hope for a then-floundering Y&R.

Despite a few clunkers like the Jack/Marco dual role and Neil kidnaps Hilary storylines and a myriad of sweeps disaster stunts, Pratt has proven golden at Y&R.

He is actually the first head writer since the legendary Bill Bell who really understands the Jack/Victor history and writes to it, giving the masterful Eric Braeden his best material in years.

And the continued coupling of the best supercouple to come along in years, the Adam/Chelsea pairing, has helped make his other glaring blunders at least bearable.

I would still like to see a more balanced Y&R, I would still like to see the show keep its next generation of legacy characters like Kyle and Noah on the canvas, but Y&R is at least entertaining, at least watchable and definitely showing potential to survive in an era where I feel the other shows just can't - or won't survive.

Overall, the soap landscape is in critical condition. I don't see that changing.

And that's because the same focus groups, the same network executives and the same people who helped contribute to its demise continue to dominate and continue to destroy the genre.

For a soap fan who grew up watching the genre in its golden days and who wayched the splendid Another World, The Edge of Night or the Days and Y&R of the 70s, that's sad.

I remember the brilliant story telling, the tremendous couplings and the overall excellence the genre once provided its fans.

What's even sadder than the genre reaching the point of no return is that I can no longer defend it and would rather see it disappear completely rather than continue in its current form.

WHICH LEAD PERFORMERS WILL HOIST THIS YEAR'S DAYTIME EMMY?

The biggest Daytime Emmy categories of the evening are always the lead ones.

In the past such daytime icons as Erika Slezak, Anthony Geary, and yes, Susan Lucci, have hoisted that golden trophy.

Who will join these legends as Emmy winners?

The categories are tough and filled with previous winners such as Geary, Finola Hughes, Maura West and Kristoff St. John, who could become the first actor to win an Emmy in all three acting categories.

Here are the nominees, what they submitted and who I would vote for and not necessarily who I think might win.

Outstanding Lead Actor -

TYLER CHRISTOPHER (Nikolas, General Hospital.) Hugely powerful reel dealing with the aftermath of Spencer's accident. Wish, though, Christopher had submitted an additional reel to show his range, as Nikolas went from the sympathetic character we see in this reel to a cold, conniving evildoer as the year progressed.

ANTHONY GEARY (Luke, General Hospital.) Submitted the 52nd anniversary episode where he played his father as well as Luke. As Luke is dealing with finally remembering how his mother was killed - Luke did it - Geary was spectacular, in both roles. Will Geary's exit comments as he left his legendary role in the summer affect voters? He basically lambasted the genre and his iconic co-star Genie Francis (Laura) in the process and it didn't sit well with me or many in the industry. Politics aside, will that cost him his ninth Emmy? And should it? That said, this reel was brilliant.

JUSTIN HARTLEY (Adam, The Young and the Restless.) Between he and Eric Braeden (Victor), Hartley's TV father, who was not nominated and should have been, they gave the overall performances of the year. However, the Emmys are given out on the basis of one - or two - reels, so this is what Hartley has to contend with. The big reveal that Adam wasn't dead was one of the pivotal moments of Y&R last year and Hartley is subdued, but yet terrifically nuanced with the reveal. And Melissa Clair Egan is equally sublime as Chelsea and should have received her own Emmy nomination. She was the perfect counterpart to Hartley in this reel. The chemistry the two possess only enhances this reel. Another brilliant submission choice.

CHRISTIAN LeBLANC (Michael, The Young and the Restless.) Two reels, the first of which Michael finally deals with having cancer and the second where he hires a prostitute to have sex and ends up telling her why he wants to divorce his wife. Second reel is especially poignant and much stronger than the first.

KRISTOFF ST. JOHN (Neil, The Young and the Restless.) Clocking in at just over five minutes, the shortest of all the reels. The amount of time, though, doesn't diminish the impact of St. John's performance as he confronts his son and wife over their affair. Both episodes deal with the betrayal and maybe he should have submitted a different second reel to show his range.

While I personally am over Geary and his antics, there is no question that he is perfection in his reel and he will probably win, but I'm disgusted with how he treated the show and co-star that made him a star, so in a column where I don't predict the winner, but would say, instead, who I would vote for, here goes:

1. Justin Hartley
2. Anthony Geary
3. Tyler Christopher
4. Christian LeBlanc
5. Kristoff St. John

Am wondering if Emmy voters will vote the same way for the same reasons? We will find out on May 1.

Outstanding Lead Actress -

TRACEY BREGMAN (Lauren, The Young and the Restless.) One brief, under five minute reel, that packs a powerful punch as Lauren confronts her husband with her own feelings about his cancer.

KASSIE DePAIVA (Eve, Days of Our Lives.) Two episodes dealing with the death of her daughter, Paige where DePaiva is brilliant at showing Eve's grief and despair. Originally, I thought she should have submitted one reel dealing with the death and the other that was the climax of the Eve/Paige/JJ storyline, but after watching those episodes in Missy Reeves' supporting submission and True O'Brien's younger actress reel, I think Kassie made the right choice, as she owned these two submitted episodes, whereas she was more supporting - yet still outstanding - in their reels.

MARY BETH EVANS (Kayla, Days of Our Lives.) Surprise nominee, only because she was more of a supporting actress for the past year. She was particularly strong in her first reel, but really supporting as she helped Bo deal with his brain tumor. Her second reel was when she and Patch were locked in the closet at the hospital and almost seemed out of place because of the strength of the first reel.

FINOLA HUGHES (Anna, General Hospital.) Like DePaiva and West, Hughes had a wealth of episodes to choose from. Her first reel was the day Duke died, powerful in itself, though I would have gone with the following day's episode, which was meatier and had a superb scene with Obrecht. The second reel was simply Hughes going to town at her psychiatrist's office and perfectly recaps the Duke/Anna love story and Anna's murder of Carlos. All three left the door slightly ajar for the others to win, but, still, this was Hughes at her best.

MAURA WEST (Ava, General Hospital.) The defending champ in this category and, in my opinion, the finest actress currently still in the industry, West could have clinched another win just by submitting her scenes interrogating Sonny in the courtroom during the custody battle. I thought it was odd that she didn't submit that to complement her hugely powerful first reel where she learned she was dying and begged Silas to kill her. Instead, she submitted the episode where it was revealed how Ava survived, rather than died, and West played Denise in the reel, too. In the end, it was a good second reel, as it completely held my attention and told a complete story arc in 17 minutes.  West is absolutely sublime.


Had the above-mentioned Egan and Karla Mosely (Maya, The Bold and the Beautiful) been in this race, the outcome might be entirely different, but, that said, here is my final vote.

This race could go one of three ways and I'd be happy with anyone winning the Emmy.

1. Finola Hughes
2. Kassie DePaiva
3. Maura West
4. Mary Beth Evans
5. Tracey Bregman

Pick 'em. 1-2-or-3, they're all that good!

Supporting Performers Submit Strongly

Often the supporting performer Emmy nominees really are lead stars who are afraid to place themselves up against the heavy hitters of daytime.

Not this year.

The nominees in the Daytime Supporting categories this year are appropriately placed and extremely competitive.


Outstanding Supporting Actor -

SEAN BLAKEMORE (Shawn, General Hospital.) Wisely submitted his final scenes as the character where Sean plead guilty and is sent of to prison. The only problem is this is Tequan Richmond's reel and why he didn't submit it in his Younger Actor race is puzzling.

STEVE BURTON (Dylan, The Young and the Restless.) Submitted his breakup with Avery. Too bad Jessica Collins totally dominates his reel, she was brilliant. Burton, not so much.

BRYTON JAMES (Devon, The Young and the Restless.) Strong reel where Neil confesses his part in Hilary's disappearance and James goes ballistic.

JACOB YOUNG (Rick, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Contrasting
 reels between Rick shooting at Ridge abd Caroline and discovering Maya is transgender. For voters, though, Young's range displayed may take second fiddle to the two reels that seem out of context when viewed side by side. Second reel would have been enough and is far superior to the first.  And by submitting the first, he may have hurt his chances of winning, even though the second reel is sublime.

DOMINIC ZAPROGNA (Dante, General Hospital.) Two extremely powerful episodes, one where he accused Lulu of cheating on him, the other where she finds out he actually cheated on her. My bigger question after watching his reel was how on earth was Emme Ryan (Lulu) not even pre-nominated?

Torn between two hugely strong reels from Dominic and one magnificent reel of Young. Is his misstep in submitting the first reel going to deny him the Emmy that the second one alone would have clinched for him.

As in my younger performer blog, I'm not predicting the winner, just saying who I'd vote for.

1. Jacob Young
2. Dominic Zaprogna
3. Bryton
4. Sean Blakemore
5. Steve Burton





Outstanding Supporting Actress - 

LAURALEE BELL (Christine, The Young and the Restless.) Finally nominated after 33 years on Y&R, Bell's reel consisted of Chris learning she lost her baby and then breaking down about it later while with Paul. Solid, but beatable.

JESSICA COLLINS (Avery, The Young and the Restless.) Confronting Joe about their relationship followed by the episode after she was raped. Definitely a strong performance, but the two reels put together could be a little confusing for voters who don't know the whole history of the characters. Think her breakup with Dylan would have been a better first reel, as she dominated Burton's reel.

LINSEY GODFREY (Caroline, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Strong reel where Caroline tells Ridge she slept with his son and is pregnant from the one night. Thorsten Kaye surprisingly sort of dominates this, though, Godfrey is definitely up to his challenge and is a contender.

PEGGY McCAY (Caroline, Days of our Lives.) Taken out of context, her first reel might seem to be a possible winner, her second seemed laughable, tho. And since Days' writers totally dropped the Alzheimer's story and made it a being drugged story, instead, the whole reel is questionable. Though, voters probably don't know that and think Caroline was suffering from Alzheimer's abd that may work in her favor. Not my favorite. submission.

MELISSA REEVES (Jennifer, Days of our Lives.) Hugely powerful  episode where Jennifer confronts Eve and JJ after finding her son in bed with her archenemy. Perhaps, the finest episode of Reeves 30-year run on Days. Not the strongest of the five actresses in totality, you wouldn't know it from this reel, though. Explosive and she rose to the occasion.

Definitely a difficult choice between Collins and Reeves, but based on performance and fluidity of the reel - and the fact that this category - in particular - often produces an upset, here's how I'd vote.

1. Melissa Reeves
2. Jessica Collins
3. Linsey Godfrey
4. Lauralee Bell
5. Peggy McCay




My next blog will look at the lead categories.

Younger Actors Take Center Stage In Emmy Race - Recapping Outstanding Younger Actor and Actress

Deciding who wins a Daytime Emmy is a crap shoot each year.

Voting is supposed to be done based on the one or two reels each nominee submits for consideration. However, based on previous winners, it's difficult to believe that is actually always the case.

And while this year's Daytime Emmys will not be televised, it hasn't stopped the TV Academy from posting the reels this year's nominees have submitted.

So, since history has proven that predicting winners is an exercise in futility,  rather than predict who will win in each category when the Emmys are awarded on May 1, I'm going to this year just tell you who I would vote for based on the reels each nominee chose.

This blog will be devoted to the Younger Actor and Actress categories.

Outstanding Younger Actor -

NICHOLAS BECHTEL - (Spencer, General Hospital.) Cute little guy, but this was an Emmy reel? He submitted scenes leading up to his birthday party and then a conversation with his father about honesty. The second reel was better, but still not Emmy worthy.

BRYAN CRAIG (Morgan, General Hospital.) Two powerful episodes. The first dealing with whether he might be bipolar and the second clearly showing that he is. The first reel was particularly impressive because of Maurice Benard's powerful supporting performance.

PIERSON FODE ( Thomas, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Strong reel confronting his father about his neglect of him as a child and how it has influenced his decisions today.

MAX EHRICH (Fenmore, The Young and the Restless.) Clocking in at like 6 minutes, there's no meat to this reel, tho Freddie Smith won in this category with even less last year. Dealing with the aftermath of the murders at the cabin and then confronting his father about leaving Lauren, he was solid, but not Emmy worthy.

TEQUAN RICHMOND (T.J., General Hospital.) A strong actor who, unfortunately, doesn't get much material. Solid scenes with Shawn and his mother, but not sure they are enough to nab the Emmy.

My vote -

1. Bryan Craig
2. Pierson Fode
3. Tequan Richmond
4. Max Ehrich
5. Nicholas Bechtel

Seriously, only my top two submitted anything Emmy worthy, so can't see any of the others having any chance at winning.

OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTRESS -

REIGN EDWARDS (Nicole, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Could have been the frontrunner had she submitted stronger episodes that she definitely had during the year. Still, her confrontation scenes with her parents over Maya's sex change were powerful.

HUNTER KING (Summer, The Young and the Restless.) The defending two-time champ in this category, she submitted EXACTLY as she should have. The funeral scenes where she confronted Abby for sleeping with her now-deceased husband were Emmy made and she did not disappoint.

TRUE O'BRIEN (Paige , Days of Our Lives.) Again, perfect submission, as she confronts her mother and boyfriend for having slept together. Typical, sudsy plot, but O'Brien rose to the occasion.


ASHLYN PIERCE (Ivy, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Intense scenes where her psychotic character tries to kill Steffy and ends up as the dead character. May be too confusing for voters taken out of context, but brilliant acting.

BROOKLYN RAE SILZER (Emma, General Hospital.) Bechtel, take note, this is what an Emmy reel consists of. Emma is almost kidnapped in one episode and than skillfully deals with Patrick and Sam's breakup in the next. Huge talent for such a young child.


Hugely difficult vote - could see this going four different ways. After much deliberation, here's my vote.

1. Hunter King
2. Brooklyn Rae Silzer
3. True O'Brien
4. Ashlyn Pierce
5. Reign Edwards

Tho I could have easily voted any of my top three as my number one choice.


After watching many of the reels - particularly in the actor category, I question if the pool of talent was just weak this year or that no one knows what an Emmy reel actually is. The ladies did a much better job of submitting. My next blog will recap the Supporting nominees.