The Survival of Soap opera This page intentionally left blank Survival The of Soap opera tranSFormationS For a nEw mEdia Era EditEd by Sam Ford, abigail dE KoSniK, and C. lEE Harrington UnivErSity PrESS oF miSSiSSiPPi / JaCKSon www.upress.state.ms.us The University Press of Mississippi is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Copyright © 2011 by University Press of Mississippi All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America First printing 2011 ∞ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The survival of soap opera : transformations for a new media era / edited by Sam Ford, Abigail De Kosnik, and C. Lee Harrington. p. cm. Includes interviews that provide various perspectives of the soap opera television. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60473-716-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978- 1-60473-717-2 (ebook) 1. Television soap operas—United States—History and criticism. 2. Television soap operas— Social aspects—United States. 3. Television viewers— United States. I. Ford, Sam. II. Kosnik, Abigail De. III. Harrington, C. Lee, 1964– PN1992.8.S4S87 2010 791.45’6—dc22 2010020366 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available ConTenTS ix Acknowledgments SeCTion one CHallEngES to tHE FUtUrE oF SoaPS 3 Introduction: The Crisis of Daytime Drama and What It Means for the Future of Television —Sam Ford, abigail dE KoSniK, and C. lEE Harrington 22 Perspective: Scholars Barbara Irwin and Mary Cassata on the State of U.S. Soap Operas (baSEd on an intErviEw by C. lEE Harrington) 29 Perspective: Historian William J. Reynolds on Memories of The Edge of Night (baSEd on an intErviEw by Sam Ford) 31 Perspective: Writer Patrick Mulcahey on Changes in Soap Opera Writing Contracts (baSEd on an intErviEw by giada da roS) 34 Perspective: Actor Tristan Rogers on Changes in Soaps’ Industry, Audiences, and Texts (baSEd on an intErviEw by abigail dE KoSniK) 38 Daytime Budget Cuts —Sara a. bibEl 44 Agnes Nixon and Soap Opera “Chemistry Tests” —Carol traynor williamS 49 Giving Soaps a Good Scrub: ABC’s Ugly Betty and the Ethnicity of Television Formats —JaimE J. naSSEr 58 The Way We Were: The Institutional Logics of Professionals and Fans in the Soap Opera Industry —mEliSSa C. SCardavillE SeCTion Two CaPitalizing on HiStory 81 Perspective: Scholar Horace Newcomb on the Pleasures and Influence of Soaps (baSEd on an intErviEw by Sam Ford) 83 Perspective: Scholar Robert C. Allen on Studying Soap Operas (baSEd on an intErviEw by C. lEE Harrington) 86 Growing Old Together: Following As the World Turns’ Tom Hughes through the Years —Sam Ford 101 Perspective: Writer Kay Alden on What Makes Soaps Unique (baSEd on an intErviEw by Sam Ford) 104 Perspective: Scholar Nancy Baym on Soaps after the O. J. Simpson Trial (baSEd on an intErviEw by abigail dE KoSniK) 106 Of Soap Operas, Space Operas, and Television’s Rocky Romance with the Feminine Form —CHriStinE SCodari 119 The Ironic and Convoluted Relationship between Daytime and Primetime Soap Operas —lynn liCCardo 130 Perspective: Scholar Louise Spence on Comparing the Soap Opera to Other Forms (baSEd on an intErviEw by abigail dE KoSniK) 133 Perspective: Scholar Jason Mittell on the Ties between Daytime and Primetime Serials (baSEd on an intErviEw by Sam Ford) vi ContEntS 140 Preserving Soap History: What Will It Mean for the Future of Soaps? —mary JEannE wilSon 154 Did the 2007 Writers Strike Save Daytime’s Highest-Rated Drama? —J. a. mEtzlEr SeCTion Three ExPErimEnting witH ProdUCtion and diStribUtion 163 “The Rhetoric of the Camera in Television Soap Opera” Revisited: The Case of General Hospital —bErnard m. timbErg and ErnESt alba 175 It’s Not All Talk: Editing and Storytelling in As the World Turns —dEboraH l. Jaramillo 180 Guiding Light: Relevance and Renewal in a Changing Genre —PatriCK Erwin 187 The Evolution of the Production Process of Soap Operas Today —EriCK yatES grEEn 191 From Daytime to Night Shift: Examining the ABC Daytime/SOAPnet Primetime Spin-off Experiment —raCqUEl gonzalES 201 “What the hell does TIIC mean?” Online Content and the Struggle to Save the Soaps —Elana lEvinE 219 The Evolution of the Fan Video and the Influence of YouTube on the Creative Decision-Making Process for Fans —Emma F. wEbb SeCTion four lEarning From divErSE aUdiEnCES 233 Soaps for Tomorrow: Media Fans Making Online Drama from Celebrity Gossip —abigail dE KoSniK ContEntS vii 250 Soap Opera Critics and Criticism: Industry and Audience in an Era of Transformation —dEniSE d. biElby 265 Hanging on by a Common Thread —JUliE PortEr 272 Perspective: Fan Site Moderator QueenEve on Fan Activity around and against Soaps (baSEd on an intErviEw by abigail dE KoSniK) 275 The Role of “The Audience” in the Writing Process —tom CaSiEllo 279 The “Missing Years”: How Local Programming Ruptured Days of Our Lives in Australia —radHa o’mEara 293 As the World Turns’ Luke and Noah and Fan Activism —rogEr nEwComb 300 Constructing the Older Audience: Age and Aging in Soaps —C. lEE Harrington and dEniSE brotHErS 315 References 331 Index viii ContEntS aCknowledgmenTS As is true with many large-scale projects, the path to this book’s completion was met with challenges both expected and unexpected: multiple job tran- sitions, first-time parenthood, global time zone coordination, and a rapidly changing world for U.S. daytime television. We are grateful to the following persons for their ongoing support and enthusiasm for this project: Leila Salisbury, Director of the University Press of Mississippi, who understood our vision of this collection and its poten- tial to intervene at a crucial moment in the history of a beloved television genre; the anonymous reviewers, whose comments on the project proposal proved extremely helpful as the project developed; and our contributors in the worlds of academia, the television industry, and soap fan communities, whose unique perspectives and areas of expertise have shed new insight into the past and future potential of soap opera. In addition, we thank the other scholars, soap viewers, and industry execu- tives we talked with during this project who provided us with invaluable ideas. We also thank Eric Zinner for his enthusiasm; Henry Jenkins for his support and for helping to create the germ of this idea through his “Gender and Fan Studies/Culture” series on his Confessions of an Aca/Fan blog (http://www .henryjenkins.org/); Amanda Ford and Benjamin De Kosnik for their patience and support; and Kimberly Chen, Christopher Goetz, Caitlin Marshall, and Jennifer Lowe, who were all outstanding research assistants. This project could not have succeeded without all these colleagues and friends. Institutionally, we would like to thank the Cultural Studies program at Columbia College Chicago, the Berkeley Center for New Media, and the Department of Theater, Dance & Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, the Department of Sociology and Gerontology at Miami University, the Program in Comparative Media Studies at MIT, and Peppercom for the resources and time granted to the editors for the com- pletion of this project. We also thank the Convergence Culture Consortium for bringing many of those involved in this collection together and for pro- viding a framework for a collection aimed at fan, industry, and academic audiences alike. ix