Happy New Year! Doom, gloom, death and destruction were the themes for 2007. My wish list for 2008 is to have more love, happiness and humor.
Network Honcho’s: Take notes, the viewers are giving you a road map!
GIVE US COUPLES TO ROOT FOR:
Couples are paired with lightening speed. If a couple has three dates that means cue the wedding proposal. No sooner do you accept this rushed coupling than the writers break them up! You are left scratching your head saying “Why? I liked them.”
I haven’t figured out why the writers and producers think that viewers do not like and support happy couples. Tom and Margo on As the World Turns are rarely on the front burner. But this year they celebrate their 25th anniversary. A 25th anniversary should be so duly noted and in a big way!
Also in Oakdale, Henry and Vienna were one of those rushed pairings thrown together literally over night. These two have chemistry and bring that playfulness and light heartedness that As the World Turns is sorely missing.
One Life to Live fans are just giddy over the pairing of Vicki and Charlie. Days of our Lives viewers are huge supporters of John and Marlena. And General Hospital stumbled on a goldmine with Sonny and Kate. Hello honcho’s, we want couples to stay together. Most of the couples mentioned represent ‘mature love.’ They are not the scantily clad, teeny bopper crowd.
New Rule for 2008: Give us more stable couples. When you put them together, keep them together for a while. Reduce the bed hopping.
NO MORE ‘WHO’S THE DADDY:’
This story plot has been beat to death. Let it go! Baby switching/paternity tampering has become a soap staple. But must every birth be unwanted and unplanned? Let people be sexually responsible in this day and age! Viewers like it when a baby is born to a couple that wants a baby. Just about every soap had at least one paternity issue last year. Over on the Bold and the Beautiful, they created an egg switcheroo and we got a ‘Who’s the Momma drama.’ But in the process, they torched the makings of a happy storyline and a future super couple. Taylor and Nick really wanted a child, got married and set about trying to make that happen. A mix up in the lab caused Taylor to be artificially inseminated by her arch nemesis of twenty years, Brooke!
New rule for 2008: No more than one character can have a ‘Who’s the Daddy’ storyline and limit that to every two years.
LET THE DEAD STAY DEAD:
Have you noticed that dead characters come back a lot quicker these days? In days gone by, a character would die and it would be at least a couple of years before they returned. Now a character dies and they are usually back as a ghost within the first month. For instance: John Abbott on the Young and the Restless. Alan and now Emily Quartermaine on General Hospital. Most recently, John Black on Days of our Lives. Get off the fence writers! Once you commit to killing off a character, then follow through and quit trying to have it both ways!
New rule for 2008: No ghostly returns during the first year of death.
PRESUMED DEATHS:
Resurrection of a “dead character” is another overused storyline necessity. Paul Ryan on As the World Turns has been presumed dead twice in the past two years! I’ve lost track how many times Stefano from Days of our Lives and Sheila on the Young and the Restless have returned from the dead! After multiple deaths and returns, the element of suspense is gone. Viewers no longer trust that the writers are being truthful when a character dies. Network honchos, if you like the character that much, then why attempt to kill them off? What is with this death obsession?
New rule for 2008: A character can only be presumed dead once every five years.
BRING US HUMOR:
Most of the storylines are serious and adult situations. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t bring levity or laughter to just about any situation. In real life, we all have a silly moment. We laugh, giggle or do something amusing. Why can’t that happen on our soaps? Humorous does not necessarily mean campy. Give us something to smile about.
New rule for 2008: Lighten up! Let someone laugh or do something funny during the week.
What say you? What are your soap wishes for the New Year? Post your comment below or on the Hot Topics Message Board. You must be registered and registration is free.
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
RR73 said: 
|
... I agree with every point--This is a timely and excellent article. Not only is Ms. Jones an excellent writer but she understands the Soaps and the fans. I would like to add to the "Who's the Daddy" point. Couples who want their baby and after the fans have become invested in the pregnancy, usually have a miscarriage or a still born--this too, should stop. As for the longevity of couples -it appears Kate and Sonny are no longer an item. You are so right viewers want some continuity. Margo with out Tom is unacceptable One Network is busy over promoting people either dead or gone for many years. A poll revealed over 50% of the fans taking the poll--had no interest at all in them-as they either had never heard of the characters or had not liked them in the past. 20% had a favorable response. The remainder had no opinion. Ghosts also, are becoming far too common place. Long forgotten characters are not what viewers want it is better writing. |
softball3332 said:
|
|
... Marla, great article! You are definitely right--there is definitely a need for better writing for the soaps these days! |
pnd said:
|
|
... Truer Words have never been written. Soaps have become a revolving door of patnerity mix-ups, break-ups and back from the grave BS. What I think is even funnier is in the case of ATWT is that Paul has come back with different actors and they expect the fans to be happy. (It's not quite as bad when a beloved actor/actress returns. Although bringing back Hunter Tylo 2 x's is a bit much as much as I like her.) I hope the writing gets better too. Hopefully your plea will get from your keyboard to the producers screens!! |
Marla J said:
|
|
... Funny you mention Paul on ATWT. In the 6-7 years I have been watching Paul has come back from the dead 3 times. He was presumed dead after Rose's death, then after Emily shot him and this year after Craig shot him and he fell off the cliff. Barbara should never hold another memorial service or buy a crypt...Because Paul keeps coming back .. 
|
Redrdghood40 said:
|
|
... Yup, Sonny's already slept with the new girl! And I can't believe they killed Emily! Would they put Jason and Emily together already!!!!Too many ghosts on GH!!! Every channel should have a ghost limit. And when did Jessie resurrect on AMC??? |
Marla J said:
|
|
... From what I hve read - Jessie just returned in the past couple of weeks. What makes his return rather funny is that his character was killed off during the last writers strike in the 80's! The strike writers killed him off and now they are bringing him back in 2008. |
Dee60 said:
|
... I have just about giving up on saying what I want to see for 2008, mainly because the writers do whatever feels good for the moment. I will say that I do have on wish, I don't want to see so much flesh, man am I sick of seeing Nick & Phyllis going at it. Give them a sl please, then there is John, who if he wasn't dead I would kill him myself, coming back preaching to Jack about his faithless wife, I have had enough of that to last me a life time. Oh & before I forget, please writers stop dropping sl become they come to conclusions. Case in point, Victor looks for his son, but low & behold his mother dies & we find out that he was n NY, but I guess the writers caught on to what they were doing, now the sl is that he was traveling in Europe, but oops I thought he was on some tropical island. Okay I am off my soapbox. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Snail Mail TPTB
Soap Tweets
