It appears that reports of the death of the soap opera have been greatly exaggerated. The remaining daytime dramas are showing increased numbers this year (insert shocked gasp here).
End Of Daytime Drama (Not What You Think)
Ah, as the world turns. It’s time to come clean on soaps. And the news is…good. Soaps are back. Well, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that soaps are steady. And that’s something that couldn’t be said just a couple of years ago. The genre still thrives elsewhere, especially in network primetime. For a genre that’s all been written off as a relic, it’s showing that it might just have one life to live after all.
There may only be four left on ABC, CBS and NBC, but they are holding onto their audience. In fact, for the first time in memory, each of these shows — which have been around for a combined 144 years — actually posted quarterly ratings gains vs. the previous year.
After being canceled by ABC in 2011, All My Children will be back starting Monday with much of its august cast intact, but this time it will be online. Joining AMC the same day will be One Life to Live, another venerable soap cut down by ABC after 44 seasons. Each serial will unveil four daily half-hours per week, plus a recap/behind-the-scenes episode on Fridays, with 42 weeks of original programming promised for the first year.
Exclusives
A year after ABC ditched two daytime dramas, the remaining shows are seeing a resurgence.
Jeff Kwatinetz, a Hollywood executive whose rise was as quick as his fall, is kicking up dust with an online channel featuring new episodes of One Life to Live and All My Children.
The 38th annual Daytime Emmys ceremony that aired live Sunday on CBS from the Las Vegas Hilton was a bittersweet affair. Joining ABC’s All My Children and One Life to Live on their way out were talk show host Regis Philbin, Today personality Meredith Vieira and daytime queen Oprah Winfrey, who wasn’t present for a tribute to her recently concluded 25 years on the air.
Procter & Gamble Co., whose sponsorship and production of daytime TV dramas helped coin the term “soap operas,” has pulled the plug after 77 years, opting to move to digital media like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
In a welcome bit of news for the daytime soap opera segment, NBC will announce today that it is renewing its only daytime soap, Days of Our Lives, for two more years.
