Hello Again at Seventy; Goodbye at Five

While this can lead to boredom and frustration on the part of daily viewers (and routine mocking from everyone else), it can also provide continuity and comfort in a mobile and ever-changing society. For the most skilled actors, soap work offers the challenge of keeping things fresh; but also the opportunity to create a character of depth, shading, and nuance not possible in any other performance venue. Soaps can and do knit viewers together across time and space in a most unique way that is largely derided and seldom fully appreciated for all it can offer. 

Indeed, the generational viewing patterns of the soap audience is continually underestimated and/or misunderstood, even within the industry. This was perhaps a fatal weakness of Passions, which came out of the gate with an interesting (if not wholly original) gimmick—the supernatural—and with a relentless focus on that Holy Grail—the “youth” demographic—via an almost exclusive storyline focus on a tween-to-twenty-something cast. This soap became much more intergenerational and less supernatural (and much improved) in its ultimately losing battle out of the ratings cellar. Yet even this failed show had a vocal and strong fan base and an estimated 2.3 million average daily viewers. Indeed the Passions story may not yet be finished, as another platform or network for the show is being sought. How many young viewers must write in to soap blogs, boards, and publications that they enjoy watching a multigenerational cast with multigenerational storylines before this lesson sinks in? 

ABC has been most successful—if not entirely consistent or consistently successful across its three shows—in identifying, embracing, and not condescending to its soap audience. ABC has figured out how to brand and merchandize daytime dramas and produce major fan events that demonstrate the lasting power and appeal of these broadcasts. ABC has done a decent job in retaining talented veterans who anchor the shows—with the notable exception of the recent loss of Julia Barr, a nearly thirty-year star of All My Children, whose character’s exit was only fleetingly addressed onscreen, to the continued outrage of fans. ABC’s