critical observations about soap operas, past present, and future...

a misguided experiment gone awry...

I keep looking for the logic. How is it that Guiding Light ended up with a new production model and As the World Turns with a new narrative structure? Did TPTB figure that GL was so far down the shit chute that as long as Executive Producer, Ellen Wheeler, stayed within her paltry allowance they would stay out of her way? And because everyone knows that audiences complain about stories that drag on too long, and because ATWT seemed the more salvageable of the two shows, then ATWT might provide the ideal test for speeding up the narrative? Or maybe they just flipped a coin.

I recently discussed GL's renaissance here. As for ATWT, it's taken me a while to connect the dots. Here's what I had to say about the show's speeded-up storytelling last month: "Actually, I'm guessing this 'retooling' has got to be coming from TMFIC at TeleNext (formerly PGP productions)." I had forgotten about last September's Soap Opera Digest interview withATWT's Executive Producer, Chris Goutman and CBS Senior Daytime Vice President, Barbara Bloom.

It was Chris Goutman's revealing comment, "I don't think there is an appetite in this society right now to watch this show five days a week; they don't have the time or the energy," that garnered the attention of most soap bloggers. But, as I wrote at the time, what really caught my eye was what Barbara Bloom had to say about the storytelling. She listed three stories, the Hughes and Stewarts, the Ryans, and the Snyders, then goes on to say, "There is some overlap, but there are these three wonderful stories that will each be accompanied by a location."

Of course, if Bloom had said that to me, I would have been, "Hold on there. Back up. I want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly: you're saying that ATWT is abandoning overlapping stories, one of the most fundamental components of soap opera storytelling? Why?!"  Of course, what SOD editor, Stephanie Sloane said was "You've done a great job integrating the veterans into current story."

Bloom's comment, and the speeded-up storytelling ATWT's headwriter, Jean Passanante, discussed in a CBS Soaps in Depth interview, makes me wonder if that this retooling ofATWT's storytelling isn't coming from CBS rather than TeleNext. It wouldn't be the first time the network forced changes upon the P&G shows. Back in 1995 CBS was widely believed to have engineered the infamous Cinco de Mayo musical chairs. Pay attention here: Another World's EP, John Valente, went to ATWT; GL's EP, Jill Farren Phelps, to AW and Michael Laibson took over at GL, leaving ATWT's EP, Laurence Caso, odd man out.

Prior to becoming ATWT's EP in 1988, Caso had been CBS VP for Daytime. He presided over the show's glory years, and frankly, the worst thing to happen on his watch was an event over which he had absolutely no control: the sudden death of headwriter, Douglas Marland. It's never been clear why Caso was replaced; after Marland's death, he hired Juliet Law Packer and Richard Backus to wrap up what remained of Marland's stories. In 1995, he brought Richard Culliton on as headwriter, resulting in what many consider the finest post-Marland storyline: Lisa suing John Dixon for malpractice after the death of her husband, Eduardo Grimaldi.

The network would impose itself one more time. In July 1995, Leslie Moonves became president of CBS, and it was at his "suggestion" that Valente hired Stephen Black and Henry Stern, with whom Moonves worked during his time at Lormier, as headwriters in 1996.(Moonves' involvement was confirmed to me by both Black and Stern, along with then CBS Daytime VP, Lucy Johnson.) The best thing to say about the Black & Stern era is that it was mercifully short; B&S, along with John Valente, left the ATWT in late 1996. But the truth is that the show has never really recovered from Doug Marland's untimely death.

So, what now? By any measure, ATWT's experiment in disconnected, speeded-up storytelling, "a unit within a single episode," in Jean Passanante's words, has been an abject failure. Fan reaction on the boards is uniformly negative -- where's the incentive to tune in every day? --  and the weekly ratings show ATWT losing viewers more often than not. If it's not ended soon, I don't see how the show can survive; most days it is simply unwatchable. 

And then there's the matter of the infamous Goutman quote: "I don't think there is an appetite in this society right now to watch this show five days a week; they don't have the time or the energy." Referring to ATWT as "this show" is certainly telling. And it doesn't take a Freudian to know that when he said, "they don't have the time or the energy" what he reallymeant was, "I don't have the time or the energy." Maybe it's all the micromanaging he's had to endure. Or it could be that ten years in the same job have simply taken their toll on his psyche. But the man clearly does not love the show he's producing, which means that it's time for him to be doing something else - Jean Passanante too. 

This is all such a striking contrast to what's happening on GL, where Ellen Wheeler is doing so much more with so much less. The difference? Well, CBS and TeleNext don't seem to be micromanaging story and casting. But Wheeler's real triumph is finding headwriter Jill Lorie Hurst, who, like Wheeler, clearly loves the show and honors its history in her storytelling.

And that's what needs to happen - and happen soon - if ATWT is to survive. Why let the clock just run out with the show in such horrible shape? Again, I keep looking for the logic. Someone needs to start doing their job right now. Who?  I realized that the people who will have to correct this situation are  the ones largely responsible for creating it in the first place. And I appreciate the irony. But, as the saying goes, it is what it is. 16 February 2009