As The World Turns
NPR: 'As the World' Stops Turning, Are Soaps Dead?' Segment
Photo Credit: JPI Studios
National Public Radio’s, All Things Considered this weekend had as it’s guest, former As the World Turns writer, Peter Brash, for a segment on: if the end is near for soap operas, and what has caused it’s decline. The audio interview was about 3 and half minutes, but on the NPR website, they also posted an accompanying story and excerpts from the interview including the following below!
“Hardly anyone these days admits to watching soap operas, but they once dominated the daytime TV schedules. Forty years ago, there were 18 soaps airing on the major networks; today, there are only six. Next month there will be one fewer when As the World Turns signs off after more than five decades on the air. Peter Brash, a staff writer for As the World Turns, tells NPR’s Audie Cornish that the soaps are really victims of their own success. “The serialized format has spread out just about everywhere you look,” he says. Four decades ago, most shows presented a self-contained story every week. But now, “it’s all branded to hook you in, to tune in tomorrow. “That means you can get your drama fix any time. You don’t have to sit at home all day and devote five hours a week to keeping up with all the illicit affairs, car wrecks, secret babies and evil twins with amnesia. Brash says the soaps were all about women — but hardly any women are watching anymore.
Reality television isn’t helping either, Brash says. “They’re soap operas in themselves They’re just — real. So the audience is savvy enough to know they’re watching one that’s real — ‘Oh, she’s really pulling her hair,’ and ‘Oh my god, she might hurt her” — and one that’s staged. So which one becomes more compelling?”
Brash has written some compelling story lines of his own in 30 years of writing for soaps. “Once, I was responsible for having two naked people fall from a meteor shower. They seemed to be from another planet, and they ran around naked one summer in Salem. I probably should have told the audience right away that the mad scientist in town had just put them up in a rocket ship and they really weren’t aliens. It’s always better if the audience is in on the joke in that way.”
Traditional soaps — naked mystery aliens and all — may be on the wane, but Brash says their influence is felt all over the television dial. “Soap operas are kind of lending their DNA to the rest of the entertainment media world, and that includes dramatic and reality [shows]. So I don’t think it’s a dead medium; it’s just morphing into different things.”
As The World Turns
2024 Golden Globes: Justin Hartley and Amanda Seyfried Among First Round of Presenters
The 2024 awards season truly gets underway this Sunday night ,January 7th on CBS with the presentation of the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards honoring the best in motion picture and television as deemed by the voters of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
The ceremony will be broadcast live and will air beginning at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST, from the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The ceremony will also be available on the CBS app and will stream on Paramount+. (Note, however, only Paramount+ subscribers who have Showtime can stream the event live; others can watch the show the next day.)
The first round of presenters was revealed on Wednesday and two soap opera alums are on the list including Justin Hartley (ex-This Is Us, The Young and the Restless, Revenge, Passions) and Amanda Seyfried (ex-Lucy, As the World Turns and ex-Joni Stafford, All My Children).
Photo: HFPA
Joining Justin and Amanda as presenters are: Angela Bassett, Will Ferrell, Michelle Yeoh,George Lopez, Julia Garner, Justin Hartley, Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams. Previously, Jo Koy was named host for the telecast.
The Golden Globes are back on CBS for the first time since 1982. In addition, Dick Clark Productions is back after years away as the longtime Globes producers.
To review the nominees click here.
So, looking forward to the Golden Globes and seeing Justin and Amanda? Comment below.
As The World Turns
Richard Roundtree, ‘Generations’, ‘ATWT” and ‘Shaft’ Star, Dead at 81
Motion picture and television leading man, Richard Roundtree, has passed away at the age of 81. The actor, best known for his role in the iconic film Shaft, and its sequels, died from complications from pancreatic cancer on October 24th in his home in Los Angeles.
In a statement, Roundtree’s manager, Patrick McMinn shared, “Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men in film. The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”
During his extensive credits and career, Roundtree made two stops to two daytime soap operas. In 1990 till 1991, Roundtree played Dr. Daniel Ruebens on the defunct NBC soap opera Generations. He later appeared on As the World Turns from 2002-2003, taking on the role of Oliver Travers, the father to T. Marshall Travers played by Lamman Rucker.
Photo: NBC
Roundtree’s leading lady on Generations, Jonelle Allen took to her Facebook upon learning the news of the death of her former castmate and friend, expressing: “My Leading Man on Generations. I Am Very Sad. My Condolences To Your Family. Dearest Richard Roundtree.”
In a subsequent post, Allen shared a photo of their Generations’ characters, Daniel and Doreen about to lip-lock. Jonelle stated, “In the scene with him I kept thinking: ‘Shaft is about to kiss ME!!!’ Thank You.”
On Generations, Roundtree’s character of Daniel Reubens was a brilliant doctor, who was accused of killing someone by causing an explosion at a lab in 1974. He and his daughter, Maya, then went “underground” for the next 15 years. Maya was played by Viveca A. Fox.
Photo: AP
Fox, honored her former on-screen soap father with an Instagram post upon learning of his death. Vivica wrote: “GM Dawlings! My heart is sad this morning as late last night I learned that LEGEND Actor @officialrichardroundtree had passed. I had the blessing of working with Richard on alot of 1st in my acting career! He played my Dad on the soap opera #Generation‘s TV show #90210BeverlyHills Mr Roundtree thank u for your AMAZING GIFTS! U will truly be missed as u were the 1st African American Action Star #SHAFT I’ll never forget the time u stood for ME when a director was being a jerk to me! I’ll miss your smile, jokes, laughs & hugs! REST EASY KING! U DID WELL. #Classic #LEGEND #LeadingMan #Actor #SuperStar #Respect #RestInPeace”
Richard was also known for his roles in Roots and the Brad Pitt thriller Se7en. On television, Roundtree appeared on: Murder, She Wrote, A Different World, Beauty and the Beast, 21 Jump Street, MacGyver, Beverly Hill 90210, L.A. Law, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Alias, Desperate Housewives, Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Chicago Fire, and Private Practice and many more.
Share your condolences on the passing of Richard Roundtree via the comment section below.
View this post on Instagram
As The World Turns
Soap Alum John Wesley Shipp Shares Health Update
John Wesley Shipp, best known to daytime fans for his roles on As the World Turns, Guiding Light, One Life to Live et al, and primetime fans for his role in The Flash, shared a heartfelt health update via his Instagram.
While Shipp did not go into specifics, he did say he underwent surgery earlier in September for an urgent medical issue.
In his post, accompanying by his photo, John expressed: “Hello out there! Friends and contacts have written recently, like, “where are you? are you ok?” Well, here’s the deal: I had surgery early this month for a health issue that had to be dealt with immediately. All went well, but I’ve had to postpone a theatre production and personal appearances as the recoup will take some weeks. I do read and appreciate what you share with me, that you entrust me with your thoughts and feelings. You are ever on my mind and in my heart, and I look forward to getting active and out there again as soon as possible. Until then, remember to play nice, be kind, and stay engaged! Our futures depend on it.”
Photo: JPI
John’s soap resume is quite impressive having portrayed: Dr. Kelly Nelson/Victor Laszlo on Guiding Light, Doug Cummings on As the World Turns, Martin Ellis on Santa Barbara, Carter Jones on All My Children and Eddie Ford on One Life to Live. Shipp won two Daytime Emmys along the way.
More recently, John has appeared in primetime’s, Arrow, The Flash, Stargirl and countless other TV appearances.
Share your well-wishes for a speedy recovering to John via the comment section below.
View this post on Instagram
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Nina Confronts Ava for Sabotaging Her Relationship With Sonny and Signs the Divorce Papers
Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts and Marlene King Land ‘Calabasas’, a Soap in the Vein of the ‘O.C’ and ‘Beverly Hills 90210’, at Netflix
Ellen Travolta Makes Another Return to General Hospital
Kristian Alfonso Returns to Days of our Lives for Tribute to The Late Bill Hayes
Y&R’s Eric Braeden Pays Tribute to Former On-Screen Wife, Meg Bennett: “She Was Such a Bright and Gentle Lady”
‘Knots Landing’s’ Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark Reunite for Los Angeles Ballet Season 18 Gala
The Young and the Restless Preview: Ashley’s New Alter Emerges
Stephen Schnetzer Talks On His Return to Days of our Lives and Working with Susan Seaforth Hayes In Emotional Episodes
(WATCH) 2024 Daytime Emmy Nominations Special Live!
51st Daytime Emmys: Outstanding Daytime Drama Series Nominations
GENERAL HOSPITAL: Nina Confronts Ava for Sabotaging Her Relationship With Sonny and Signs the Divorce Papers
AEW Dynasty: Swerve Strickland Becomes AEW World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Perry Returns, Will Ospreay Retires Move After Scary Finish
GH’s Finola Hughes Chats on Her Lead Actress Daytime Emmy Nomination, New Directions for Characters in Port Charles, and Anna’s Love Life
The Young and the Restless Preview: Ashley’s New Alter Emerges
(WATCH) 2024 Daytime Emmy Nominations Special Live!
-
General HospitalApril 15, 2024General Hospital’s Steve Burton Reveals the Emotional Scene He Almost Could Not Get Through
-
General HospitalApril 21, 2024‘Knots Landing’s’ Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark Reunite for Los Angeles Ballet Season 18 Gala
-
Days Of Our LivesApril 13, 2024Ron Carlivati Talks on Decision to Make Days of our Lives 15000th Episode About Doug’s Funeral, and Previews Chances for WGA Award
-
NewsApril 20, 2024The Young and the Restless Preview: Ashley’s New Alter Emerges
-
RecapsApril 14, 2024Y&R’s Eileen Davidson Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’
-
Days Of Our LivesApril 19, 2024Stephen Schnetzer Talks On His Return to Days of our Lives and Working with Susan Seaforth Hayes In Emotional Episodes
Sadly, I think daytime soaps are dead or at least will be completely in the next 3-5 years, because they have refused to evolve and change. The dialog is weak, the storylines are often confusing, repetitive, and sadly bad. But, most critically, daytime soaps have committed the ultimate sin. They’ve becoming boring.
Their storytelling has not really evolved since the 80’s. And with the current crop of continually recycled headwriters (I mean typically when a person gets fired from the top post at a job, they are lucky if they get another shot at a similar job, they don’t tend to get job after job after job), soaps will never evolve. There will never be another Gloria Monty/Douglas Marland, who can see daytime soaps for more than what they are now, to see what they can be. And as a result, they will die. It’s very sad.
The main problem with the decline of soap operas is that the writers can’t or won’t come up with new stories. They keep recycling the same old stories that were on 30 years ago.
Times have changed & the stories should change too. If the soaps that are still on the air after ATWT goes off on Sept. 17th want to stay on the air they need to take a good long look at what stories they are writing. People get tired of the ridiculous find out you have a twin 20 years later, or didn’t remember giving birth only to have your child show up, or sleep with every member of the same family.
They should also go all out on any story they write. If they’re going to write a gay or lesbian couple into the show, they should treat them the same way they treat a heterosexual couple, if they’re not, then don’t write them in. The same way with a minority couple, either go the whole way with a story or don’t write it at all.
That’s the main problem we had with ATWT. They wrote first Luke/Noah & threw stupid stories to break them up & get them back together with little sex, then when they finally brought on someone worthy of Luke, they did the same thing. They threw stupid plot devices to keep them from having sex or even have a long term relationship because they can’t have a gay couple happy.
This is my newspaper column in our hometown this week … I thought I would share it with you guys.
Elegy for the End of the “World”
“Good morning, dear.”
Those were the first words spoken by actress Helen Wagner, who portrayed matriarch Nancy Hughes until her death earlier this summer, on the afternoon of April 2, 1956 as CBS-TV premiered the first 30-minute daytime drama live from New York City – AS THE WORLD TURNS.
A production of Cincinnati soap and cleaning products giant Procter and Gamble – the company that gave this genre its nickname – ATWT was a creation of Irna Phillips, who had written and created the most successful soap operas of the radio era, such as THE GUIDING LIGHT.
The residents of fictional Oakdale, Illinois, were live on November 22, 1963, when Walter Cronkite broke into a scene between Nancy and Grandpa Hughes to announce that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. And until the late 1970s, ATWT was still performing each episode live. It ends its life next week, with the final episode taped at Brooklyn’s JC Studios.
ATWT was the number-one soap opera on television its first two decades, and was the first soap featured on TV GUIDE’s cover in 1971; original daytime vixen, Lisa, portrayed by Eileen Fulton, starred in her own prime-time spinoff series, OUR PRIVATE WORLD, in 1965; comedienne Carol Burnett even parodied the program on her variety show with “As the Stomach Turns”. The tragedies and triumphs of the Hughes and Stewart families carried the first quarter-century of ATWT, and if CBS wanted to be known as Tiffany network, then AS THE WORLD TURNS was among its crown jewels.
The few crazy years of competition with rival ABC’s youth-oriented “run-and-gun” soaps are not the most notable in show history, although these years did produce memorable storylines that featured future megastars like Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei, and Julianne Moore.
For many viewers, however, the program’s golden age began in 1985 with the appointment of actor-turned-writer Douglas Marland to the post of Head Writer. Marland re-established the supremacy of the Hughes and Stewart families while adding the Snyder family as a representation of his own life growing up on a Midwestern farm. He refused to let plot devices drive storylines; rather, with actor and audience input, allowed stories to develop from character.
Saying goodbye to an extended Oakdale family that I’ve been watching for virtually my entire life is proving difficult in these last days. I have been there for all the kidnappings, evil twins, back-from-the-dead spouses, and baby switches all these years. I also learned a lot about Alzheimer’s disease, rape, HIV/AIDS, discrimination, and alcoholism along the way. ATWT was an escape, but it was also an education.
I have also witnessed some powerhouse acting – Larry Bryggman as John Dixon, Elizabeth Hubbard as Lucinda Walsh, Don Hastings as Bob Hughes, Colleen Zenk as Barbara Ryan, Maura West as Carly Tenney, Kathryn Hays as Kim Hughes, Michael Park as Jack Snyder, and many, many more who made my daily trip to Oakdale such a worthwhile visit.
I could boycott Bounty, stop doing dishes with Dawn, or never pop a Pringles can again, but how will holding a grudge against P&G products bring back my beloved show? It can’t, and it won’t.
As the last day draws ever closer, it marks not only the demise of my soap opera habit but of the true soap opera era. Procter & Gamble, the inventor of the soap opera, is giving them up permanently. Love and family in the heart of America, as one reviewer called ATWT, is passing us by.
Irna Phillips should be recognized as a legend for her creation, a uniquely American institution that defined the genre and provided 13,858 episodes of quality drama to an audience of millions. We will never see these episodes on DVD sets; books will not be written about these characters. What has happened these past 54 years in Oakdale will fade into the mists of television memory.
Perhaps Irna Phillips had it right when she wrote the epigram for the series in 1956: “as the world turns, we know the bleakness of winter, the promise of spring, the fullness of summer and the harvest of autumn – the cycle of life is complete. What is true of the world, nature, is also true of man – he too has his cycle.”
Michael Bird is a band director for Tallassee City Schools in Tallassee, Alabama. The final episode of “As the World Turns” will air Friday, September 17th at 1:00 p.m.
OK, I’m being biased here. My favorite soaps are One Life to Live and General Hospital. Following the thrilling GH episode of “the Balkin” situation, GH seems to have temporarily gone downhill, but OLTL is still kicking high, in my opinion !! On All My Children, I admire Susan Lucci for her longtime commitment , but I eventually grew tired of her main character not holding on to at least ONE husband, plus many of the storylines just centered around her. I’m glad ABC at least decided to not cancel OLTL until January 2012. Better yet, I hope they will be pressured to change their mind. The replacement shows don’t seem exciting at all!