Decline of a Soap Opera

I have been a viewer and a fan of ABC’s “General Hospital” since the late 70s, so I have watched these characters and their stories for a long, long time. There have been good times and bad times, good writing and bad writing. For almost all of that time, however, there has been one mainstay. A respect for one of the basics of the serial drama, which is “longevity”.

The very definition of a serial is a show that is told in on-going format. The stories go on and on, much like real life, and daytime dramas last for a long time, for this reason. Viewers become loyal to “their shows”. They want to watch the characters they have become attached to. They want to see what will happen next. They want to yell at the screen, rejoice in the good, cry at the sad.

I am afraid that the network executives have either lost sight of this, or are too centered on their budgets to keep their eyes on “the big picture”. In times of hundred-channel cable line-ups, the viewership for soaps has dwindled. This is true for every genre. There is so much available, on television or the internet, at any given time. The need for viewers to absolutely be there at a certain time each day isn’t like it was ten years ago. So, ratings decline, ad revenue declines, budgets decline, and the shows are suffering.

But, cutting budgets should not involve killing the show in the process. And that is what I fear is happening. By cutting “dead weight” veteran actors, whether by out-right firing them or sending them to recurring status, these executives are making a grave error. Losing the generational element of soaps is akin to kicking the leg out of a table. The balance is gone.

It will be easy for these executives to label fans like me as reluctant to change. But this is not true, and is an easy excuse to ignore our thoughts and concerns. I may not be in their “desired demographic range”, being a 35-year-old male, but I have been a loyal fan. And being a fan of a show for close to thirty years shows the ability to adjust to change, to move forward. The difference being that, in the past, change was done with a balance of the old with the new. Now, the new is being brought in at the expense of the old. For a show built on history and character development, this is hugely detrimental.

Where now is the pay-off for being a long-time viewer? Seeing characters or stories you invested your time in trashed and disregarded is not what attracts people to come back and watch more. Why should a fan sit and spend time with a character if said character is only important as long as they haven’t been on too long, or gotten too old, or paid too much. Why should a fan invest time in a story if the story is only important in the present, and can be rewritten or disregarded at any time.

Back about five years ago, I stopped watching “General Hospital”. As I said, I had been a fan since the 70s, through ups and downs. But when the writers chose to blatantly rewrite history and characters in a rushed attempt to move the character of Laura off the show, I felt disrespected as a loyal viewer. Never before had I felt this way. The time I had spent felt wasted and pointless. Nothing mattered if it could change so easily at the whim of a disgruntled writer or producer.

So, I left, and stayed away for about three years. I admit, I kept tabs on the show and characters I cared about. When news reports came that the show was looking to reinvest in it’s past, hiring actors to recreate their old characters, I thought I should give my old show a second chance. I did, and I again became a loyal viewer. I could see the show of old again, working to remember it’s past and move ahead, at the same time.

Then, it all crashed down, again. News came of Stuart Damon’s firing, over budget concerns. This not only befuddles me, a viewer, but came as a shocking blow to Mr. Damon and his fellow cast members. Where is the sense in completely removing a veteran actor playing a character who is basically now the patriarch of the show? I honestly do not understand how this seemed like a good idea.

Am I naive to the budgetary issues? Of course not. But I will say, there are obvious other ways budget concerns could have been addressed. This move is short-sighted and potentially a fatal step in the life of this long-running saga.

Regardless, I have once again lost faith in “my show”. In fact, “my show” appears to no longer exist. What is airing now is a show living only in the present. What works right now, what is good for the short term, is all that is important. This is the wrong way for a show built on history and generations to view itself.

So I walk away now from a show and from characters I have been with for most of my life. As cliché as it sounds, watching each day was a chance to escape a bit from real life. But it has become depressing to watch, instead of enjoyable. I choose to leave now, saddened at what it has all become, but before it gets even worse.