The end of Soap Operas?

United States
June 18, 2011 11:45am CST
I just found out about ABC is closing down General Hospital and All My Children, two of the most popular and storied television shows ever. To those who have known for a long while now, this shows how little I've paid attention to Soaps lately. Is the end of an era upon us? Has the afternoon of leisure catching up on your favorite characters' hijinks become impossible in our modern economy? Sure most of the stories were cliche'd and characters were interchangeable from show to show, but they were family, right? I'm not ashamed to say I grew up on Soaps, in the high heat of the afternoon, between milkings and when unable to get in the fields due to that heat or rain, all summer long and catching up with my Dad after school the rest of the year. Is anyone else going to miss the Soaps when they're all gone? Or have they become so low in popularity that they've lost their place in society?
2 responses
@stealthy (8181)
• United States
19 Jun 11
I heard about All My Children and One Life to Live, but I didn't think they were canceling General Hospital, yet anyway. Even if it is only the two, there sure will be a lot of actors and production people looking for work. Also, while some actors have made soaps their career, others have used them as a stepping stone to prime time TV and movies. So this will mean that some young actors may never get the start that leads to other things.
• United States
19 Jun 11
It's more likely that I just heard wrong from my source. Talking about "out of work" just jumped me into thinking about this affecting unemployment! I hadn't thought of it that way. I agree that the loss of Soaps means less arenas for young actors to "cut their teeth" on television.
• Philippines
20 Jun 11
I'm truly grateful that they decided to end these soap operas. It has been goinn on long enough and the viewers want something new. It would be best to produce something new and fresh for the afternoon timeslot.