Daytime Drama

Do you love a good story?   I bet you do.  After all, we wouldn't write and read blogs or scrapbook our lives if we didn't love to read and tell stories.  I have a sad one but it can have a happy ending- you see, with this story we are in charge of the ending.

We had a great time in card class last night - full of laughter and crafting.  Just as everyone was going out the door, my husband came in from his office and announced that ABC was cancelling All My Children and One Life to Live.  I don't think anyone in our group watches these particular shows but for me it put more than a damper on the evening.  I'm angry and appalled that ABC would axe two long running dramas for cheap talk TV.  (Notice, I did not say surprised.)

I held my breath as I asked the fate of General Hospital (GH); for now it is staying.  I started watching GH 3 years ago.  I was a life long viewer of only one soap at the time - As the World Turns but it's days were numbered (It went off the air this past September.)  Also, it was this time of the year when I was facing a summer of reruns  and reality TV.  I don't watch a lot of TV.  I don't like background noise, so the TV is only on when being watched.  The only thing I watch in daytime is the one soap or daytime drama.  Most but not all evenings I watch one show - a half hour comedy or a drama.   We watch the national news and Jeopardy. Otherwise the TV is off.

My post today isn't just a complaint about what ABC and all the other networks have done.  It is to encourage readers to consider tuning in to one of the remaining daytime dramas.  If you already watch AMC or OLTL, I'm very sorry and I understand your disappointment.  Keep watching.

I doubt those shows can be saved; however the remaining daytime dramas can be.  Most people like a good story.  This is evident in the increasing number of books being sold, particularly via the Nook and Kindle.  It is also evident in almost all television programming.  When NBC  tried their "Leno experiement" they lost a huge audience and are now scrambling to add dramas to bring viewers back.  Almost all primetime programming is serial based - even the reality TV.  Viewers want to see what is going to happen from week to week - they apparently want the background story.  The crime dramas that have succeeded in recent years are ones where the regular characters have an on-going story.  Almost every woman I know and quite a few men watch "The Good Wife."  It may have a changing legal story but it is the on-going stories we watch the show for.  We all love a good story.

No genre tells a story better than daytime dramas or "soaps."  If you don't have time to watch during the day, all are available via their network's website on-line.  My Mother has missed her beloved Young and the Restless for a few days but I know she will be down here over the weekend to "catch up" via the Internet.

The acting in daytime dramas is superb.  The writing is far better than most of primetime.  The delivery is consistent.  Soaps don't do re-runs (except on holidays and other rare occasions).  If "The Good Wife" were a daytime drama we wouldn't have to wait 6 months to find out what Alicia was going to say to her husband and her friend about their affair.

For now, I've gone on long enough.  Just think about the summer.  I know you are busy but I also know you, like all of us, need some downtime and a distraction.  If you love a good story, try General Hospital on ABC, Days of our Lives on NBC, or Young and the Restless or Bold and the Beautiful on CBS (the latter is only a half hour).  If you have never watched or haven't in a long time, I think you will be surprised at the quality of the programming.   Enjoy a good story.