Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Question of the Week: Is Scripted Drama Really Dead?

Susan Lucci, Cameron Mathison, Rebecca Budig,
Debbi Morgan, Darnell Williams
All My Children
ABC Daytime (but  not for long)
With the recent sickening and misguided cancellation of All My Children and One Life to Live, “The Powers That Be” at ABC have been insisting that the genre of Daytime Drama is dead. If it is dead, it wasn’t from natural causes. It was murder. But, I don’t believe that it is dead. The phenomenal outpouring of the fans who are struggling to be heard by the network is proof that scripted drama is still a beloved medium. I’m impressed by the efforts of the fans of these two shows who have decided that they won’t go without a fight.
As a writer, I’m a fan of scripted drama. I know for a fact that people still appreciate serialized writing. The number of you who visit this site to read Punch’s Cousin each day is testament enough of that. So, I can’t accept that there’s not a market for daytime serials any longer.

I’m curious to know your thoughts. Do you really believe that audiences only want to see reality and panel shows during the day? Do you feel that there’s still value in traditional story telling? To quote a recent interview with Agnes Nixon, “Are people tired of stories? I don't think so. The letters and calls that everybody has gotten say they weren't tired of our stories.” I agree with Miss Nixon.

I love to see the efforts of the fans of All My Children and One Life to Live. Perhaps they can make a difference though I fear it’s too late. However, it’s never too late to let your opinions be known. The more we express what kind of programming we really want to see, the better chance we have of keeping other dramas—both daytime and prime time—from meeting a similar demise.

Would you rather watch a program about dieting or something like the clip below? Your thoughts are appreciated. Let’s give rise to our voices…

7 comments:

Dashwood said...

Serialized drama is among the most ancient of literary and theatrical arts. From Beowulf through troubadors to today people have gathered to hear what their popular heroes and villains will do next. The current preoccupation by network executives in injecting competition and artificial drama into the most mundane of human activities is mind-numbing and, frankly, insulting to all of us if they think that we can be intellectually stimulated by weight loss competitions and (good God) CUPCAKE WARS.

Thanks for giving an opportunity to express an opinion. And God bless Agnes Nixon for remaining a voice for a popular form of culture that relies on imagination, intrigue and human emotion.

Darcy said...

To answer your question,no, scripted drama is far from dead. I think TPTB at ABC have underestimated their audience. The written word, oral story telling, panto, dramas, comedies, opera,and painting and other decorative arts have been around has long as people have been on earth. It's the thing that makes us human.I know I have favorite movies, favorite books, favorite songs,and favorite memories of All My Children,but I know I'll never have a favorite memory of a show called The Chew.
Please keep writing,we need the written word if civilization is to survive.

Anonymous said...

Serial drama is not dead, but the networks want us to think it is and they've tried their best to destroy the medium. These are the people who have dumbed down our culture in order to make a profit. They have lied to us and made us a society of ADHD sufferers. Boycott ABC after AMC is gone, and boycott Disney. It's not the hapiest place on Earth.

Anonymous said...

Darcy and the others are so right. We need the written word and we need our soaps so that we can have some escape and someone to relate to. We can relate to the characters. I know that when I have a crisis, they do, too and we can learn and get over them together. I won't get that from Mario Batalli. This is so sad.

Gene said...

Hear hear!!! This is true. We don't want to lose our shows.

Book Gurl said...

It was the writers that Frons put in place that killed the show. It was all calculated for the almighty dollar. If they had had a good writer in charge the whole time and had not tried to ruin the show, it wouldn't have had to lose money, but it was all an evil plan. If they only had had a good writer, this wouldn't have happened. What they needed was a writer like you and someone to really support it.

Anonymous said...

I hope we can save them. We should do all we can to make our opinions known to TPTB. Thanks for helping with the fight!!!