The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era

355 Pages·2010·3.49 MB·English

by  Sam Ford, Abigail De Kosnik, C. Lee Harrington

The Survival of Soap opera
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The Survival 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
Te 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
Te 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: Te 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
Te 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 Te Way We Were: Te 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
Infuence 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 afer 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 Te 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 “Te Rhetoric of the Camera in Television Soap Opera” Revisited:
Te 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 Te Evolution of the Production Process of Soap Operas Today
—EriCK yatES grEEn
191 From Daytime to Night Shif: Examining the ABC Daytime/SOAPnet
Primetime Spin-of Experiment
—raCqUEl gonzalES
201 “What the hell does TIIC mean?” Online Content and the Struggle to
Save the Soaps
—Elana lEvinE
219 Te Evolution of the Fan Video and the Infuence 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 Tread
—JUliE PortEr
272 Perspective: Fan Site Moderator QueenEve on Fan Activity around
and against Soaps
(baSEd on an intErviEw by abigail dE KoSniK)
275 Te Role of “Te Audience” in the Writing Process
—tom CaSiEllo
279 Te “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
vii i 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, frst-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. Tis 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 Teater, 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.
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