American Soaps: The Fallen, The Vulnerable and the Secure

Yesterday it was announced that broadcaster CBS had pulled the plug on another of its long running daytime soaps, As the World Turns. Earlier this year the broadcaster axed Guiding Light, the world’s longest running soap, and before the year is out some speculate that ABC will pull the plug on One Life to Live. So we cast our eye over the American soaps and look at the fallen, the vulnerable and those soaps which should be relatively secure.

Guiding Light: CBS – 1937 to 2009

The longest running soap in the world having clocked up an incredible 72 years and over 15 thousand episodes! The soap has even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest running soap. The Guiding Light originally started life in 1937 on radio and in 1952 moved to television, although it still aired on radio until 1956, and was created by Irna Phillips – originally revolved around Reverend Doctor John Ruthledge. However, as with many programmes over the years the focus changed somewhat as newer, young characters were introduced and audiences changed. 

Guiding Light’s heyday, as with many other soaps, was probably in the 1980s when it enjoyed millions of viewers. The 1990s however, brought declining ratings a trend which continued into the 2000’s. Revamps to turn the fortunes around only served to alienate audiences and worsen the situation and things came to a head in April 2009 when CBS announced after 72 years it was cancelling the series. Initially it was hoped the soap could move elsewhere – even online – but the search to find a new home wasn’t a fruitful one and in September 2009 its final episode was broadcast.  

Long gone are the days when the series enjoyed over 10 million viewers and in recent times the soap had been faced with cancellation. With the departure of parent soap Guiding Light in September its America’s longest running daytime soap but it’s a title it won’t hold for long because next September it too will come to an end. Although it’s been battling declining ratings for some years now As the World Turns enjoyed international recognition thanks to its gay romance story between the characters of Luke Synder and Noah Mayer, dubbed ‘Nuke’ by fans. As scenes of their romance were uploaded to YouTube the pair became popular across the world but not even the might of Nuke it seems could save the series.

The Vulnerable:

One Life to Live: ABC 1968

Impressed with Ages Nixon’s work on NBC soap Another World, ABC sought out the writer and asked her to create a soap for them.  Nixon was fed up with the stereotypical soap convention of a poor family and a rich family and wanted her new serial to emphasise the ethic and social diversity of America. To help launch the new serial a crossover plot with fellow ABC soap General Hospital was created – to entice audiences to the new soap. Nixon would later create All My Children for ABC and the two Nixon soaps would regularly feature crossover plots and characters.

One Life to Live during its early years focused on the wealthy Lord family and the less wealthy and Jewish Siegel family – an early representation of a Jewish family in American soap. Other families included the middle-class Rileys and Woleks and the African American Grays. Like most soaps One Life to Live had since moved away from its original core-cast and brought in newer characters and new families. In recent years the soap had been the subject of speculation regarding its future and has, on at least one occasion, reportedly been close to cancellation. Although the soap is to move to larger studios shortly when fellow series All My Children switches production to New York the future of the soap is far from secure. There is speculation that with the cancellation of As the World Turns ABC may decide to cull one of their soaps too – and One Life to Live is extremely vulnerable. 

The last remaining daytime soap on NBC after Another World was axed in 1999 and Passions in 2007. Days of our Lives launched in 1965 and was created by husband and wife team Ted and Betty Corday along with Irna Phillips and early storylines were written by William J.Bell – big names in the world of American daytime soap. When Guiding Light ended in September the soap will became the third longest running daytime soap in America. Early days of the soap revolved around the professional and personal lives of middle and upper class professionals in Salem with the traditional soap storylines such as love, marriage, affairs and betrayal mixed in with the psychological problems of the patients encountered by some of the medical characters.
   

In the 1970s the soap won praise for pushing back the boundaries of social acceptance at the time by featuring storylines concerning interracial romances and other daring plots for the time. By the 1990s however, the soap had changed direction somewhat and the realistic and daring plots it was known for were replaced with more supernatural based plots. It is perhaps due to these unrealistic and supernatural plots that audience levels have declined and in 2007 NBC threatened the show with cancellation. It was stated in 2007 it was unlikely to run beyond 2009 although it has reportedly since been renewed until 2010. However, this renewal came with strings attached and although the soap has seen a rise of over half a million viewers in the last year this may not be enough to save it. Only time will tell. 

The Relatively Secure

All My Children: ABC 1970

Having created One Life to Live for ABC Agnes Nixon went on to create another soap for them in 1970, All My Children. As the two soaps were set relatively close together and were created by Nixon over the years they have featured many crossover storylines and characters have moved between the two shows. Currently the soap is set in Pine Valley, a small suburb of Philadelphia, though its location may now change because production is moving from New York to Los Angeles – the biggest upheaval in the soaps history. The move will see the soap occupy bigger studios and also secure its future for the next few years at least One of the soaps most popular and enduring characters is Erica Kane [Susan Lucci] who was one of the original cast members and remains with the soap to this day.     

During the 1980s and early 1990s All My Children was the second most watched daytime soap in America but as with its counterparts its fortunes have waned since. Declining ratings continue to plague the show even though it recently passed its 10 thousand episode milestone. In recent years as the ratings dip lower the head writers and execs for the soap have frequently changed and characters which are fan favourites have been brought back to lure back viewers. Its future in the short-time should be secure however, because of its move to Los Angeles.  

Created by William J Bell and Lee Phillip Bell in 1987 as a sister soap to The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful features a small core cast with a larger recurring cast and is the only soap to air 30 minute episodes. All the other soaps still on air are in the 1 hour format despite declining ratings and budget cuts but B&B, as fans refer to it, is the exception. The soap is especially popular outside the United States where it airs in various countries, including the UK, and attracts an estimated audience of over 25 million viewers worldwide. 

The main focus of the soap is the Forrester family and their fashion business. To boost the show’s popularity in its early years several high-profile, and popular, crossover storylines with The Young and the Restless were used to lure in more viewers. The two soaps still feature crossover plots from time to time which are a common thing in American drama are but very rare for British soaps. While its ratings too have suffered at home the soap has leveled somewhat after a record low and sells well outside of America meaning its long-term future should be relatively secure.  Also the show is currently the second top rated daytime soap in America and the fact it’s so popular at home and abroad means it’s doing something right and that CBS may want to keep hold of it.

Medical drama set in the fictional town of Port Charles which started life in 1963. General Hospital was created by husband and wife team Frank and Doris Hursley and had its heyday in the 1980s with a mix of action/adventure/spy stories saw millions tune in to the soap. The 1980s also saw a series of bizarre plots such as world domination plots, weather control machines and visiting aliens – and these were plots in a daytime medical soap. While perhaps spy thrillers and similarly bizarre plots were popular in the 1980s they weren’t so hot with viewers in the 1990s and the soap suffered a decline in popularity during the decade after its high just years earlier. 

General Hospital has spawned two spin-offs; Port Charles and General Hospital: Night Shift. Port Charles was set in the fictional city where General Hospital is based and ran for five years between 1997 and 2003 and a change in the spin-off format saw it produce 13 week “chapters”. Night Shift was a prime-time spin-off which was widely praised by critics but has thus far only ran for two seasons and is unlikely to return.

Created by William J Bell and Lee Phillip Bell in 1973, who would go on to create another popular soap in the 1980s – The Bold and the Beautiful. As well as crossover stories with the “sister” soap The Young and the Restless has also featured crossover plots with As the World Turns. The soap is the highest rated daytime drama in America despite declining ratings over the past few years. According to the latest Nielson ratings it is comfortably ahead of its rivals. The soap successfully wrote out its original core-cast of characters and introduced a new set, few-other soaps have successfully managed to do this.  

Recent attempts to stem the declining ratings have seen a series of controversial plots that have attracted criticisms from fans. Some of these criticisms focus on storylines which involved wrecking established continuity while some characters have undergone radical personality transplants for the sake of a current storyline. Recasting of characters, often explained away by use of plastic surgery, has also become something of a common occurrence in the soap. Despite this, as stated above, the soap remains the highest rated soap in America and therefore its future is secure for now.