Soaps in an Instant
We live in an instant gratification world. Nearly everything in society is now geared to give us things as quickly as possible, usually for our convenience. I think by nature, most of us are impatient, I know I am. We want something to happen when we want it and waiting can be excruciating. The one place where that kind of impatience has been beneficial has been with soaps. Ever since they were on the radio, being left hanging until the next day was just the right amount of suspense to give listeners. Soaps have always played on human nature to want to see what happens next and the impatience that comes along with it. If the audience wasn't eager to know what will happen next, they would just catch the show again whenever they were remotely curious and the genre would have died a quick death. Writers were experts at giving the viewers something to satisfy their curiosity each day while planting the seeds of suspense for the next day. This formula has been foolproof for over half a century. But lately it seems that soaps have messed with that formula; everything about soaps is shorter these days. The buildup to romantic climaxes, the fallout from dramatic revelations, the grudges people hold against each other, the life expectancy of an illegitimate unborn fetus, or any social issue story are told at a much faster pace than they were even a decade ago. Why is that?
Now, make no mistake; I am fully aware that executives are either delusional or flat out lying these days when they claim to be trying to target the daytime audience. But often the reason the executives go off on the wrong path is because they read the signs wrong. They do notice when the audience takes notice, they just always think it is for different reasons than it is. They see ratings rise for reality television, they think they should integrate it into soaps instead of realize it is the real life, down to earth soap-like drama of reality shows that draws the audience in the first place. They look at the teen supercouples of the past and try to duplicate them with second generation just barely not related counterparts, ignoring the importance of the strong actors, writers, and chemistry necessary to create that magic. I wonder if soaps recent foray into really quick stories is because they incorrectly assume the audience have less patience these days or whether the audience really no longer has time for a soap's daily details. What's changed really, the audiences' or executives' expectations? Just where did this fascination with quick storytelling start?
Latest Articles