All My Children
Face Off and Ex-Passions, McKenzie Westmore speaks out on the decline of daytime soaps!
Photo Credit: Getty Images
One of On-Air On-Soaps favorite people in the business, McKenzie Westmore, chatted with Zap2it.com about the success of the Syfy channel’s Wednesday night special-effects-makeup competition Face Off. The series hosted by Westmore has just been renewed for another season! During her interview, the most emotionally charged moments occurred when Westmore discussed the decline of the daytime soap genre, since her time at Passions as the lead of the show, Sheridan Crane Lopez-Fitzgerald, and how heartbreaking it is for the fans to see the downfall of the once almighty form of afternoon entertainment.
McKenzie stated on the downward spiral of the soap world: “We started to see the decline, even on Passions, as budgets started to get cut and things dissipated. It started toward the end of when we were going off the air, and to see it as it continued was heartbreaking to me. I even bounced over to All My Children for a little bit, when it was still based in New York. I went over and did about six months there, and it was so sad to me to see them just go down in flames. I started on a soap opera at 20 years old with a three-year contract, then over the course of time, it became nine years total. It was a blessing for me.”
Westmore added, “There are so many fans who love the genre, and they’re not getting the payoff they deserve. I wish there was a way to revive some of these shows, though I know the Internet isn’t the way. Passions was ahead of its time in some ways. There are times when I watch True Blood and it’s Passions, but with the cable backing so they can go a little farther.”
What do you think about McKenzie’s comments about fans not getting the payoff they deserve? Do you think Passions in some ways was ahead of its time? Post your thoughts!
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Mackenzie has hit the nail on the head. The fans are not getting what they want. Great interview Michael!
She is so correct.
didnt watch passions ,but I agree with everything she said ,and dont understand the reason the networks think the soaps are dead,in the daytime ,but they will thrive in prime time ,I dont watch that many shows in the evening,right now I have 3 that I watch,will watch american horror story in the fall and yes I will watch dallas this summer,I am looking forward to see jr ,bobby, sue ellen ,why abc canceled all my children and one life to live is a mystery to me and I know there are alot of different reasons behind there decision which… Read more »
I loved Passions. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that storylines were often unresolved. I also think at the end of its run the storylines were sometimes just too icky for my taste. But it was a really fun show most of its run. It was so fun I read a really good book based on a “prequal” story of the main characters and enjoyed that very much too. Mackenzie and the rest of the cast rocked. We also enjoy Face-Off, especially my 11-year-old son. Good thing SyFy isn’t owned by ABC/D 🙂
I agree Passions was ahead of its time and the same could be said for “Port Charles.” Personally, I’m not interested in vampires and all that, but a lot of people are.
Glad that “Face Off” has been renewed for a second season. Started watching it this season and I really enjoy it. Mckenzie does a great job as host.
So agree.The audience is there for television.CBS is having success with Y&R and abc was with there soaps to but chose to pissed off fans and dump them.Now aBC is ina ratings trouble.Faithful fans keep a network going.When you turn your back on them you loose millions.
Passions was ahead of its time. It’s the only soap to do a gay storyline about “down low” men and actually show very racy sex scenes that even shocked me! Passions is definitely missed!