Soap opera fandom in the past

[Bob Eubanks]

One thing I did think was hilarious though when I was able to keep up with was the Clarence update on The Young and the Restless that was on the radio during that time. It was totally hilarious!

"Sweet Vic Willy from Geona City." That dude was hilarious.

 

[Avid Listener]

What did you mean by "hot"?

If you have to ask, you'll never understand.

 

[Avid Listener]

Whenever I've discussed soaps with someone, it seems like it was common that they or their mother or grandmother watched one particular network's soaps. In my house growing up, my mom always watched NBC's lineup. I don't know how that got started but it might be because WMC TV was the first station in Memphis to have a Noon news and my family was always very loyal to channel 5 and NBC when it came to news.

I can't speak for people from other cities, but in Pittsburgh, depending on where your house was located, there was a good chance that you only got really good reception on one network affiliate. The others would be full of snow and ghosts. Even if you could get more than one station, changing channels meant either major readjustments to the rabbit ears and moving the aluminum foil around, or using the control to spin the rotator antenna on the roof. So, when you switched from one channel to another, you tended to leave it there for a while.

 

[harrisburgpatv2]

Whenever I've discussed soaps with someone, it seems like it was common that they or their mother or grandmother watched one particular network's soaps.

Absolutely can vouch for this. My mother and grandmother both watched the entire CBS soap lineup. Eventually my mom lost interest in all of them except Y&R...

 

[Mario500]

If you have to ask, you'll never understand.

I believe I will.

 

[LKellerIII]

I believe I will.

If I correctly recall Deidre Hall from 'back-in-the-day,' I would say that "hot" indicated that the poster found her very attractive, as in sexually attractive. I would add that "hot" is in the eye of the beholder. While I found Ms. Hall to be a very attractive (beautiful even) woman, I did not find her "hot" - a little too much hair spray and make-up for my taste.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Whenever I've discussed soaps with someone, it seems like it was common that they or their mother or grandmother watched one particular network's soaps. In my house growing up, my mom always watched NBC's lineup. I don't know how that got started but it might be because WMC TV was the first station in Memphis to have a Noon news and my family was always very loyal to channel 5 and NBC when it came to news.

If WMC had treated NBC's soaps in the 70's and 80's like they did NBC's game shows in not carrying most of them, they would have had a major viewer revolt on their hands.

 

[Avid Listener]

I believe I will.

Then you are mistaken in your belief.

 

[Avid Listener]

If I correctly recall Deidre Hall from 'back-in-the-day,' I would say that "hot" indicated that the poster found her very attractive, as in sexually attractive. I would add that "hot" is in the eye of the beholder. While I found Ms. Hall to be a very attractive (beautiful even) woman, I did not find her "hot" - a little too much hair spray and make-up for my taste.

But I was previously a major fan of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, though Dyna Girl was too cutesy for my taste, even though she was more age appropriate compared to my age at the time.

As for the hair spray and make-up, it was the 1970's! No one had good taste in the 1970's!

 

[LKellerIII]

But I was previously a major fan of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, though Dyna Girl was too cutesy for my taste, even though she was more age appropriate compared to my age at the time.

As for the hair spray and make-up, it was the 1970's! No one had good taste in the 1970's!

Yes - the era of polyester leisure suits, and William Shatner's dead-squirrel-on-head toupee. But most women I knew personally - and a lot of attractive actresses - did not shellac their hair, or slather on make-up. One of the worst offenders was Loni Anderson (WKRP) A lot of men found Loni to be "hot," but she always looked fake to me - that if you lit a cigarette in the same room with her, she would catch on fire from the flammable chemicals on her face and in her hair. Everybody's different, but that's not a 'look' I find hot.

 

[Silkie]

So, I should stop trying to look like her, even on the radio? Glad my costume and makeup crew left the building - or at least my airspace.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Yes - the era of polyester leisure suits, and William Shatner's dead-squirrel-on-head toupee. But most women I knew personally - and a lot of attractive actresses - did not shellac their hair, or slather on make-up. One of the worst offenders was Loni Anderson (WKRP) A lot of men found Loni to be "hot," but she always looked fake to me - that if you lit a cigarette in the same room with her, she would catch on fire from the flammable chemicals on her face and in her hair. Everybody's different, but that's not a 'look' I find hot.

I always preferred Bailey over Jennifer on WKRP. But like I've said before I usually preferred cute girls or women over glamorous or sexy ones.

So, I should stop trying to look like her, even on the radio? Glad my costume and makeup crew left the building - or at least my airspace.

Hopefully it's not THIS bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saM79secH-4

 

[Avid Listener]

I always preferred Bailey over Jennifer on WKRP. But like I've said before I usually preferred cute girls or women over glamorous or sexy ones.

There is a big difference between which women we want to actually interact with in real life, and which women are merely eye candy to watch on TV. Many men I know would prefer to be in a personal relationship with a girl like Bailey, but would rather look at women like Jennifer on TV. That's why so many wives who look like Bailey hit so many husbands upside the head for ogling women who look like Jennifer.

That's one of the reasons why soap operas are cast the way they are.

 

[Bob Eubanks]

But I was previously a major fan of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, though Dyna Girl was too cutesy for my taste, even though she was more age appropriate compared to my age at the time.

As for the hair spray and make-up, it was the 1970's! No one had good taste in the 1970's!

Oh man, I remember that. Though I was youthfully crushing on Batgirl watching the reruns.

 

[danderson6500]

My mom was a stay at home mom, and watched a few different soaps when I was little. By the time I was in grade school she watched just Young and the Restless and pretty much stayed with just that one. Since she always watched, when I was in high school I started paying more attention to the show when I was in the room, and wound up watching it a lot. I still keep up with it through a message board and other show updates, but don't watch it very often. On the message board that I look at, I think there are only 2 of us guys on there that contribute to the discussion.

I did have some male classmates in high school who watched Days of Our Lives. That was the "cool" soap in the late 80s even though Y&R was the highest rated one by then.

My grandmothers favorite(she liked the P&G shows) was Another World. She payed more attention to that one. By the 80s though it was all ABC. She didn't like AW anymore, i think it was when it expanded to 90 minutes, that made her switch to ABC(she watched All My Children and One Life to Live already, and that accelerated her switching to General Hospital.). In the 60s, AW was the "cool" soap, even though ATWT was still #1.

 

[paulsonj72]

My DAD ended up becoming a fan of the NBC soaps in 1986-87. He had extenuating circumstances though. In the fall(October) 1986 he had double bypass surgery and then in late December had aortic aneurysm surgery. So as a teacher he was out of school for almost 5 months and since we didn't have cable there wasn't much on during the afternoons so he started watching soap operas to pass the time and once he went back to school he taped the soaps. It ended sometime later(his fandom)

 

[mississippi fan]

For me, Dark Shadows! My late mother loved the Young & the Restless.

 

[paulsonj72]

For me, Dark Shadows! My late mother loved the Young & the Restless.

When my mom did watch(wasn't that often) she did watch Y&R. She was a rarity though. She actually preferred the CBS preemptions during the NCAA Basketball tourney.

 

[installLSC]

For me, Dark Shadows! My late mother loved the Young & the Restless.

Were "Dark Shadows" fans soap opera watchers in general, or just of that show? All the discussions of the show I've seen are based on its popularity among teenagers, not exactly the stereotypical fandom for soap operas. (For that matter, did "Mary Hartman" fandom overlap with other soaps?)

 

[gr8oldies]

My grandmother watched the CBS soaps bell to bell in the 60s and 70s. She followed (BONG)The Edge of Night to ABC. My ex-wife watched all the ABC soaps, even recording them and watching marathon sessions on the weekend when she was working. She also watched the syndicated soap "Rituals".