I'm not really sure where I want to go with this post, so I put a title on it. I have a lot to say, but I've never organized the thoughts in my head, so I figured I'd just start at the beginning and see where it takes me.
When I complain about plot holes and bad story twists, I often refer to it as "bad soap opera writing." But the fact is, I grew up watching soap operas and I have a healthy respect for the undertaking it is to manage soap opera storylines. I think that's why watching soap operas at a young age didn't completely screw me up. I was intrigued by the writing. And it was better back then. I know every generation thinks a variety of things were better in the past, but most of the time it's true and I don't think soap writing is an exception.
The two I watched were General Hospital and Guiding Light. To give you an idea of when I watched them: for General Hospital it was during the time of super couples Robert and Holly, Frisco and Felicia, Jake and Bobbie and, later, Sean and Tiffany. I had just missed Luke and Laura by a few years. Basically from just before the introduction of Robin Scorpio to the point where she was written out with AIDS so she could go to college for in real life. For Guiding Light I don't remember as much of the stories since it was my secondary soap, but I remember the Sonny and Solita story which introduced or perhaps reintroduced Billy. I remember the original Alan Spaulding before Christopher Bernau died and his ongoing feud with Roger Thorpe. I remember Elizabeth Dennehy as the original Blake and when the actress was changed for her. If you look up pictures of most of these people you can see my interest as many of them turned up in Star Trek TNG and other places on television.
Anyway back in the day it seemed like there was more action and less social issues. I mean, the love triangles were always there and the stories would always keep up with the social climate in America, addressing abortions and things like that, but when they were doing the basic stories of good guys vs. bad guys, it was more than just drug dealers, mobsters, and corrupt white collar crime. I admit I haven't watched steadily since 1995 but I get the feeling that with the way tastes have changed, people want more realism and less fantasy in their non-romance portion of the drama. I have my doubts that you could have the "Aztec Treasure" storyline now because many of the precepts were a little far fetched, and you couldn't have the "Black Pearl" storyline again because the Asian quarter would be seen as racist, killing all of the fun and spirit of the story.
These stories lasted for a year at a time usually. Do you have any idea how hard it would be to keep a a story interesting for a year in today's fast paced story telling climate? They were also necessary since romances lasted longer and couples weren't plagued with so many pregnancies that abortions and miscarriages were such an integral part of planning out the months of stories. No, soap writing, when done right, is some of the most complex writing in existence.
As I watched into the 90's when things started to speed up, I noticed that there was no such thing as a "super couple" anymore. Marriages didn't last as long because, I suppose, audiences started having shorter attention spans or less patience for a long detailed story and it's sad. I saw a lot of sloppy writing towards the end. Cheap, rushed endings to stories and also shallow relationships. When they put the effort into the big weddings, it was something that would last for a while, but the weddings stayed big and lavish even after relationships began to last for only short periods of time (and you knew they wouldn't last very long) and it was kind of an eye-roller. This is what I'm referring to when I talk about back soap writing. I'll expand a little on it another day since I'm running out of time today, but it's something that means a lot to me.
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