Soap opera fandom in the past

[danderson6500]

My grandmother, and to a lesser extent my mother, were both fans of "The Young & The Restless" as well as the ABC afternoon soaps, especially "General Hospital". My aunt in Milwaukee used to tape "Y&R" while she was at work, especially given that WITI (the CBS affiliate there until '94) used to air the show at 9am, instead of at 11 or 11:30am like the rest of the other CBS stations nearby.

I got into "Y&R" myself off and on during the years, but never enough to hold a consistent interest. The original "Dallas" (at least up until the infamous "dream" season) was the only soap I was totally into.

I always watched the ABC soaps with my mom- "All My Children," "One Life To Live," and "General Hospital." I did watch NBC's game shows, but that's for another thread. My memories of "OLTL" and "GH" are of when Tina(played by Andrea Evans) interrupted a wedding(she had been thought to be dead.) The bride? a future big star herself, Marcia Cross! Or Megan, played by Jessica Tuck, dying of lupus. One "AMC" memory for me was Cindy, played by Ellen Wheeler, having AIDS and dying. It amazed me how Tina was the most hapless character on any TV show i've seen.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Never had any use for them. My mom really did not watch soaps.

I do remember my grandmother watching General Hospital when I was very young.
Later she was into The Young and The Restless.

Soap fandom seemed to peak in the late 80's or early 90's per my observation.
Today too many women work full-time, and college students spend all of their free time online.

 

[youngtvguy]

There still many fans today, but with the digital landscape their many sites dedicated to the genre. There also many podcasts, streaming platforms and more.
With the market being so fragmented it doesn't get the attention as it used to, but you have many retired grandmothers, aunts who still watch. Yes, Madison Ave
doesn't take them into account. Y&R is what my whole family was into.

 

[onairb2014]

The O.J. Simpson trial of 1994-95 was another huge factor in the decline of soap operas...and the increase in 'idiot judge shows'.

 

[FreddyE1977]

I guess we should qualify this and say that American soap operas are in decline.
Those from other parts of the world (Latin America, Asia) are thriving.

 

[anotherguyTN]

The O.J. Simpson trial of 1994-95 was another huge factor in the decline of soap operas...and the increase in 'idiot judge shows'.

It was also a factor in the further decline in network daytime game shows to where The Price is Right was the only one left.

 

[LKellerIII]

It was also a factor in the further decline in network daytime game shows to where The Price is Right was the only one left.

OK, this will date me - grew up in the 1960's. When my grandma came to visit about 3 times a year, she watched about a dozen of those soaps - back when they were in black and white with organ music. The actors missed half of their cues. It was really awful, but she loved them. I remember As the World Turns, and The Eddddgggge of Night...

I was never a fan of soaps, but I checked a few out n the 80's, and they were a thousand times better in terms of production values, acting, music, and everything else.

 

[danderson6500]

OK, this will date me - grew up in the 1960's. When my grandma came to visit about 3 times a year, she watched about a dozen of those soaps - back when they were in black and white with organ music. The actors missed half of their cues. It was really awful, but she loved them. I remember As the World Turns, and The Eddddgggge of Night...

I was never a fan of soaps, but I checked a few out n the 80's, and they were a thousand times better in terms of production values, acting, music, and everything else.

Ohhhh...my grandmom watched Another World in the 60s and it was what you described- the organ music, characters crying, actors missing their cues and an announcer(Bill Wolff). I guess you remember Harry Kramer, who was Edge's announcer back then. Edge was one of her favorites too. The Doctors too, same things, but orchestrated cues instead of organ music and Mel Brandt as announcer. My grandad used to make fun of Robin Strasser or Jacqueline Courtney because they were crying and the organ music was very cheesy.

 

[gr8oldies]

My grandmother almost undoubtedly saw the As the World Turns episode (cheesy organ music and all) with the first bulletins by Walter Cronkite about the JFK assassination.

Ohhhh...my grandmom watched Another World in the 60s and it was what you described- the organ music, characters crying, actors missing their cues and an announcer(Bill Wolff). I guess you remember Harry Kramer, who was Edge's announcer back then. Edge was one of her favorites too. The Doctors too, same things, but orchestrated cues instead of organ music and Mel Brandt as announcer. My grandad used to make fun of Robin Strasser or Jacqueline Courtney because they were crying and the organ music was very cheesy.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I used to kid around with my mother about soaps and told her I'd rather watch something more realistic like Star Trek.

 

[danderson6500]

OK, this will date me - grew up in the 1960's. When my grandma came to visit about 3 times a year, she watched about a dozen of those soaps - back when they were in black and white with organ music. The actors missed half of their cues. It was really awful, but she loved them. I remember As the World Turns, and The Eddddgggge of Night...

I was never a fan of soaps, but I checked a few out n the 80's, and they were a thousand times better in terms of production values, acting, music, and everything else.

My grandmother watched Another World when Missy(Carol Roux) cracked while on the witness stand in her murder trial. Of course that would be upstaged by the Middle East crisis, including when the soviets walked out during an emergency UN meeting! if Missy breaking down on the stand shocked my grandmom, the emergency United Nations meeting walkout shocked her even more! A few days after the infamous walkout, Missy was convicted of Danny Fargo's murder. So June of 67 was pretty crazy, if you asked me.

 

[danderson6500]

My grandmom always seemed to like the P&G shows better, because the music was pretty heavy handed, unlike the ABC shows.(it wasn't till 76, when OLTL expanded to 45 minutes, that she watched ABC's shows regularly.) But she gave up The Doctors for a game show, Break The Bank(with Tom Kennedy) in 76 and that led to her ABC soap watching habit, even though she did watch Another World, till the OLTL expansion.

 

[danderson6500]

OK, this will date me - grew up in the 1960's. When my grandma came to visit about 3 times a year, she watched about a dozen of those soaps - back when they were in black and white with organ music. The actors missed half of their cues. It was really awful, but she loved them. I remember As the World Turns, and The Eddddgggge of Night...

I was never a fan of soaps, but I checked a few out n the 80's, and they were a thousand times better in terms of production values, acting, music, and everything else.

I watched One Life to Live in the 80s with my mom, and it was a thousand times better in terms of production values, acting, music, and everything else. It sounded like a prime time drama more than a soap. When my grandmom, watched Another World in the 60s/early 70s, it was pretty corny- organ music(by Clarke Morgan), the characters crying over almost anything, the acting being bad sometimes and a somber-voiced announcer(Bill Wolff, who was AW's announcer till 1987) announcing the sponsors. The Doctors and Days of Our Lives, in comparison, looked and sounded like prime time shows, more than soaps.

 

[rerunmedia]

This might be of interest to a few soap fans:

https://youtu.be/LrxtAWDvt8Q

 

[danderson6500]

OK, this will date me - grew up in the 1960's. When my grandma came to visit about 3 times a year, she watched about a dozen of those soaps - back when they were in black and white with organ music. The actors missed half of their cues. It was really awful, but she loved them. I remember As the World Turns, and The Eddddgggge of Night...

I was never a fan of soaps, but I checked a few out n the 80's, and they were a thousand times better in terms of production values, acting, music, and everything else.

The ones my grandmom watched- Another World and The Eddddgggge of Night... had the organ music.

She got caught up with the General Hospital craze in the late 70s...but watched The Doctors before GH....in 79, TD was moved to 2:00, so she get the last half of One Life to Live....

 

[danderson6500]

OK, this will date me - grew up in the 1960's. When my grandma came to visit about 3 times a year, she watched about a dozen of those soaps - back when they were in black and white with organ music. The actors missed half of their cues. It was really awful, but she loved them. I remember As the World Turns, and The Eddddgggge of Night...

I was never a fan of soaps, but I checked a few out n the 80's, and they were a thousand times better in terms of production values, acting, music, and everything else.

I remember my grandmother watching "The Doctors" in the late 70s and it had Kathleen Turner as Nola, the resident "bad girl." One time, her mom passed away because of a infection after a fire, and Nola cried and cried. Her sister, Sara was played by Dorothy Fielding, who was on St. Elsewhere for a time. But she watched more than that- As the World Turns was on her schedule then too.