Waiting on the Soaps to Change

"Waiting On The World To Change"

Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could

Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change…

When I first became an “online” soap fan, it was after being laid off from a (much loved) job in 2001. Like so many people who were displaced after 9/11, I found myself with too much time on my hands but thankful that a job was all I lost. I remember it being a very frightening and uncertain time, not only for me, but also for our nation.

Sadly, I think our country still lives in fear. We fear for our sons and daughters in harm’s way. We fear attack from enemies, known and unknown. We fear the economic outlook and the deteriorating environment that we’ll pass on to future generations. It’s only natural to look for places to find relief or a temporary escape from, as Prince put it, “this thing called life”. Soap operas may seem petty in light of the aforementioned but they are certainly less damning forms of escape than other alternatives.

The heads of ABC Daytime have taken their share of pot shots recently, as the ratings remain soft. As I cruise the Web, I see scores of viewers rising up and uniting their voices in the form of various campaigns in order to get the stories they want on their TV screens. They fight to save beloved characters that are on the so-called “chopping block” and try to have some influence on the direction of story lines. Admittedly, when I first started reading about such efforts I was skeptical and chuckled, “What a waste of time, money and effort!” Then I read a few of the dismissive responses from various representatives of “The Powers That Be” and it made me mad.

Paraphrased:

“People think they know what they want to see, but they really don’t”

“When people say what they want to see, we’re gonna do just the opposite!”

“These new young actors are hot! We’re putting them front and center to launch the next generation.”

Blah, blah, blah.

Clearly, the head writers and network executives have to value feedback as it indicates that people are watching the shows. However, there are few signs that the cries of the masses are being taken seriously -- if listened to at all. In short, viewers are welcome to their opinion, but don’t count on it to change the outcome of the story, especially in the way they want.

In all fairness, I understand that to some extent. After all, they are the ones paid to pen the stories. My question is, is it so wrong for viewers to have an opinion and for them to expect it to be listened to? Or are the network brass so far removed from what the audience wants that they basically negate all of the cards, letters, phone calls and gimmicks to get their attention reducing the fans’ efforts to an exercise in futility?

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their door
And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want…

Yes, the writers, producers, and executives own the message and they rarely let us forget it. Yet it seems that their priority is more about breaking “new” ground or breaking in new characters (in the wake of budget cuts) while alienating the roots of the genre. Where’s the romance? I have to admit, I think that daytime has lost its sizzle.

Would it kill the scribes to bring back more “LOVE in the Afternoon”? It seems that a little less doom, gloom and violence is all many of these viewers are really campaigning for. (And GH would save a fortune on pyrotechnics!)

Instead of so many couples breaking up, why can’t they stand by each another and fight together to make it through the hard times? Instead if murder, why not affirmation of life? Why not let the core families be front and center and the shows’ rich histories be respected? For drama’s sake, how about spending more time battling adversity rather than one another? Give us exciting stories with adventure and mystery instead of constant misfortune.

But soap opera writing has fallen into a sad rut. On General Hospital, Carly and Sonny are preparing for their fourth set of “I do’s” and a second-time marriage of convenience to keep his sorry butt out of jail. (Hmmm … I wonder if he’ll buy her another wedding dress?) Ho hum. Here we go again, “Same song, different verse, recycled plot point, even worse!”

On All My Children, Erica is heading for divorce number, how many? (I lost track. Honest!) Babe and JR continue go ‘round and ‘round on their wheel of suspicion and Kendall is meddling in Ryan’s life yet again. Isn’t this a rerun? I swear I’ve seen it before.

One Life to Live is a little better but, surprise, surprise! Blair and Todd are heading for the altar once again.

I’m not saying that writers should do everything viewers want them to. What suspense would there be if they did? I’m simply saying that good storytelling is partly measured by how many people are enjoying the story. It seems to me that, these days, more viewers are dissatisfied than entertained and they are very vocal about it. Additionally, some of the suggested story lines I’ve read are quite good.

Here’s a novel idea; for Fan February next year why not accept fan suggested story line for each show and let the casts vote on which one to do? I think it’d be more effective than focus groups.

Come on! It wouldn’t kill the writers to throw fans a bone once in a while instead of leaving them in limbo waiting for their daytime world to change.

Until next time, pop in a good CD, kick back, relax and enjoy the music!

Trish J

That's why we're waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

It's not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

And we're still waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change
One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

By John Mayer

John Mayer

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