Today, April 14th 2011, is a bleak day for millions (my mother included). It was announced that 2 programs that have been on television for 40+ years will soon be leaving the airwaves to make room for more inexpensive fare… or… more daytime talk shows. When I returned from work, Mom sadly informed me that All My Dingbats (err…. Children) and One Life to Die (err.. Live) have been cancelled. I might have laughed and poked fun at the announcement had I not been a bit shocked. I often tell people that I sit and watch the soaps to have a good laugh but like prime time television, the daytime scene is dramatically changing with the arrival of more cost efficient less plot driven programming. I also say that if you watch one episode of any soap, you can come back 6 months later and not miss a thing. Sometimes, the show may even be on the same “day” as it was six months earlier. Christmas can take weeks to celebrate on the suds.
Actually, the soaps have been the training ground for some of Hollywood’s big name stars. Tommy Lee Jones was on One Life. Christian Slater (of Sabre fame) was on All My Children. Demi Moore was on General Hospital. David Hass (ok, maybe we won’t mention him). Meg Ryan was on something or other. So not only are there the actors who stay on the series for 40 years but there are some who actually have made the transition to other ventures.
AND, the replacements for both series have been announced. The Chew (rhymes with The View) and The Revolution will be polluting the airwaves by January. Just what television needs… more gab fests. At least prime time comedies (the good ones, anyway) SEEM to be safe… for now.
I am happy to hear that. Me and Squawky the parrot are sick of daytime soaps. Poor thing is locked in a cage with soaps on his tv all day long – it must be worse than prison. I put on CBS so he can watch his favorite show, The Price is Right, but soaps follow it for 3 hours, and it’s too much for me to remember to change the channel for him. Beside, Let’s Make a Deal and Wheel of Fortune are on the same channel later in the day, and he enjoys all of the noises of game shows… but not so much the boring dialogue of the soaps. That’s usually when he takes his nap. The bad acting on the soaps just about kill me when I do laundry in there during the day – no wonder I prefer to do it at night in the dark. That, and the angry parrot screaming at me all day long… if I were locked in a cage forced to watch soaps I think I would let loose some ear-splitting screams too…
More game shows… now THAT would be a good replacement instead of a bunch of women talking about their issues. BUt I can only take so much of the soaps, too.