NPR on ATWT Finale and State of Soaps

Well if Mr. Brash's comment is correct about the reality tv being more compelling because of the savagery of the guests, so much for Victoria Rowell's argument about Black viewers being intelligent. I watch for the dramatization not for some low-life street thugs spewing garbage and trying to harm each other. Need better education and jobs for those who are into viewing that crap.

Shows like Jersey Shore are absolute the worst programming in history greedy selfish bastards, if they take a piss we have to hear about it. And yes I know they have millions of viewers, that's why they keep making this cheap fucking crap. They don't have an of once of a brain among them. I don't watch entertainment news programs or talk shows anymore, all they talk about is this so called reality shit which they even admit some of it isn't real. If they infect the air waves more, I will throw out my TV. They are a disgrace, botox, implants, steroids filled and plastic bobbies is what Hollywood is all about now. Those people probably wouldn't make it in the real world, and were made to suffer to hear about this shit weather you like it or not.

ok, a couple of things here. first of all, this story was on welovesoaps days ago, so it is hardly news. more importantly, the story was complete crap. npr said there are 6 soaps until atwt turns goes off the air and then there are 5. that is wrong. then, they don't credit story lines correctly. mr high and mighty brash recounts a story line he helped pen (remember, he wasn't a head writer, he was a staff writer) that was on days of our lives, not atwt. he also left atwt some time ago. so for anyone who knows anything about soaps, npr was lacking in their facts, and the editing suggested mr brash was an 'atwt' guy, when he is really just someone who has left the genre and is looking for some publicity.

all of that aside, the fact of the matter is that reality crap like the housewives and jersey shore is what that coveted demo is watching. so all of us who love old school, scripted serials can bitch and moan all we like, but the at the end of the day the masses are asses and are watching crap. advertisers want women 18-45. networks and cable channels want the cheapest possible programming. reality is a godsend. if it wasn't, there wouldn't be the bachelor, and the bachelorette, bachelor pad, jersey shore, the kardashians, the housewives, the love of ray jay, drag race, top model, project runway, etc... in this mr brash is correct. this fluff is edited to create drama comparable to the soaps but is always fresh. it might be junk, but it is slick junk - cheap to make and people are watching.

it is most definitely lowest common denominator programming, but when have the networks ever cared about anything more than the bottom line? all channels would air test patterns and snow if they thought they could get away with it. remember, nbc is going to start the housewives this fall on their daytime line up, so get ready.

He's absolutely right. People talk about reality "stars" as though they are characters. People utterly dehumanize them in the things they say! Just sit back and listen to what people say about reality stars. They talk about them as though they have no feelings and aren't real people.

Maybe they're not. (kidding, sadly)

I believe the thing that will eventually do in the reality shows is that we will soon have a whole generations of reality has-beens who will whine long and loud about their mistreatment...and people will finally become fed up with their whine...not on their so-called reality shows, but in real life!

Yeah reality shows were kinda cool when they first came out years ago but now they bore me...I never was into them that much; I use to watch a few but now I don't at all.

Daytimes horrid writing of the storylines also drove the audience away IMO a lot of loyal viewers were not in their "coveted demo" group so they had no use for us and let us know it

...like me they said fleck it and moved on...also African Americans for the most part booked when they realized we we would never get a fair shake and would never amount up to much story except for the allusion of diversity no top tier players in A storylines

...so its just not "only" about reality shows...Its about the good ole' boys network and their stance of refusing to yield in giving the audience what some were "begging for endless campaigning, calling, writing,

Some got frustrated and moved on. Also these shows recirculate these same tired writers from show to show they kill one show then some dummy hires them again and again so there you have it.

The problem with this quote is that most reality programming is indeed SCRIPTED. What you're watching really isn't "real" anyway. These reality stars are pushed to start fights with each other, are told that they have to act a certain way, are told to be the villain, and in many cases are given actual LINES to say. There are actually reality television writers out there, so if these programs are all real, why the need for writers in the genre?

They just promote these shows on the guise that everything you're watching is real, and the audience just eats it up. Maybe the soaps should create some kind of huge scandal and make it play out on screen, ala the movie Soapdish. Perhaps that would make people tune in, anxious to see how the real life drama plays out

i don't watch reality shows, unless they consider Design Star on HGTV a reality show, but after this season, i won't be watching it either. nobody on that show had talent & i think they just wanted to be on tv.
i think i saw American Idol, maybe 2or3 times, & that's cuz somebody made me change channels. don't watch survivor, big brother or any of the other shows. & don't get me started on following d list celebrities around showing them doing stupid stuff.

The only reality show worth watching, IMO, is Project Runway, and I don't think it has taken any viewers away from the soaps.

Mr. Brash, like most people who are writing soaps, doesn't have a clue. Yes, soaps have more competition today, but so what. Why not change the outdated way that they are doing things, so that they can compete with these other shows. Let's take Mr. Brash's current show, there are so many underwritten characters, characters who don't have any motivation to do the things that they do, and characters who are one dimensional, that it's understandable that people don't relate to or understand them. Currently, Brash's show lucked out by getting an actor who is as good as Eric Sheffer Stevens, but that's no excuse to center the last storyline around his character, especially since he's been with the show for less than nine months, and it makes less sense to suddenly stop telling that story, and suddenly switch gears to a character who the writers never even tried to develop, so that the audience would get a chance to connect with him.

It's not the reality shows that are killing the genre, it's the people in charge who are trying to use an outdated plan that won't work in the current environment. Also, these people need to get a clue about why people watch soaps. It's not because of the so called shocking twists, it's to see how the characters who we care about deal with these twists. That's something else that Mr. Brash's show has gotten wrong.

Most former soap fans aren't going to return to watching because times have changed too much. Personally, my recorders are running non-stop from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, but most people I know don't bother recording anything in daytime (except a few people who record Regis & Kelly and/or Oprah). There are just too many choices in prime time and late night to watch live, and with running the kids from one thing to the other, everyone's exhausted by the end of the day. A few women I work with were excited to hear Brenda was returning to GH, but not enough to tune back in. One woman I know who used to work Y&R into almost every conversation she had recently told me she wouldn't watch again because Eric Braeden is gone. When I told her Eric Braeden isn't gone, she shrugged and said it's hard to keep up with what's going on. I never thought I'd hear her speak that way about her beloved Y&R.

Times change. The people who used to talk about soaps in the lunch room? Yes, they are now talking about reality shows. I loathe reality shows, but you can't ignore the change in people's viewing habits.

I have been to other countries our reality shows are baby shows I can't even began to tell you what I saw in Japan, lot of freaky stuff, and Australia OMG, just be glad that we have censors. I've seen some pretty sick shit. I have HBO and ShowTime, I don't watch a lot of network programing. When ATWT is gone, I'm gone. I may check out Kim Zimmer on OLTL and Maura West on y&R, I'll DVR it.

I am only going to speak for myself here, but one of the reasons that many of these soaps don't keep my attention anymore, with the exception of Days, is that the non-acting actors outnumber the actual actors.

I cannot tell you how many shit storylines I have seen on soaps over the years. But many of them were pulled off because they starred good, capable actors to carry the plots. Shit plots and shit actors don't go together. And instead of hiring former reality show stars and nobodies that have clearly never been in a play, these daytime serials, when they want to cast a role, need to go and hire REAL SOAP OPERA ACTORS!!! Jesus! With so many soaps gone now, surely the actors that were in them could've been cast on some of the shows that are still on the air?

Yeah, I guess to hell people can't tell the difference between reality shows and soaps, when the same damned people that are in reality shows, now star on soaps.

Did they ever consider three days a week or back too 30 min? I've read that CBS tried to buy the rights back in '96 when they were still viable, but CBS doesn't want to have anything to do with P&G anymore. Try to watch Y&R when Maura West comes on and Paul Leyden, I just can't stomach it anymore, and I'll watch Kim Zimmer on OLTL. To bad can't tell the Nelson Ratings family members don't watch the Talk and Let's Make a Deal, which isn't doing well as the hoped. Since that is all they care about.

Where is this myth coming from that LMAD isn't doing well? I see it a lot on here. It's ratings are higher than GL's were...and it's cheaper to produce. That's a win-win for CBS.

I admit that reality TV shows can be addictive. I must now shamelessly admit that I watched not one, not two but THREE episodes of those vapid Kardashian broads, and by the time I bothered to look at the clock, I had already wasted 1 hour and 30 minutes of my life that I will NEVER get back.

Was it entertaining?? I must admit with a heavy heart that it was. And ditto for those "Housewives" shows.........I guess there's something about dysfunctional females that appeals to the masses, which is one of the reasons why soap operas were always so intriguing in the 50s and 60s to those desperately bored housewives who sat at home and watched as they baked pies and pot roasts. Fast-forward 50+ years and you have the same thing, only now there's....GASP, CURSING!!!!

Reality TV works b/c it gives us what soaps USED to give us: humor, drama and people who we get emotionally attached to, whether we like them or not!!!! Soaps have not helped their cause in recent decades by becoming unoriginal and losing their "must-see" QUALITIES!!!

Yep, it's easy to see why reality TV has become the new crack cocaine of television, and we're all in need of rehab!!!!

Oh, and LMAD??? Still refuse to watch this foolishness. Don't care HOW well it's doing or if it is doing better than my beloved GL....it's an evil show, and I refuse to support it in any way, shape or form. Just my humble opinion. Now that I am done with my temper tantrum, I shall go pour myself some juice in my sippy cup and see what I can find on cable, since the SOAPS were pre-empted today!!!!

Did everybody here get the Soap Digest tribute magazine? Just got it the other day and it was great, cover to cover of all the characters, popular storyline past and present, all your questions about ATWT are answered. It even has family trees, and article on the popular characters, It listed James crimes, it was to long to list all his crimes as the Mag. says, mostly done to Barbara and John. I was hoping James come back alive once again since John is back. And what really cool is tells on the women how many times been married, Lisa, Barbra and so on. It was great, thank to Jammie for recommending it. ATWT finally got some respect, and it had to come from an Magazine. ATWT & GL always got the cold shoulder from the soap media mags. They had down the earth characters and story's can relate too. Why didn't they do one for GL? Wish can see the Full classic episodes on TV; back in the day.

Funny how he blames reality tv. I for one don't watch much of any it....Intervention...The First 48....and well that's all kids.

None of the reality shows and none of the contest type shows.
No Survivor, Jersey Shore, Big Brother, any Housewives version, Project Runway (they went "Out" when they shot in Los Angeles and stayed out), American Idol, Dancing With the Stars...none of it.
I'd rather have my toe-nails ripped off with rusty tweezers than watch any of it.

The soaps have lost viewers and are on their way out because the people running them fail to make them "must see"...same old tired stories told by the same old tired people.

Love how he comments on how reality stars are "characters". It's kind of like when I read of when soap actors are out in public and fans come up to them and ADDRESS THEM IN CHARACTER AND TALK ABOUT STORYLINES AS IF THEY ARE REALLY HAPPENING.
Yikes...is all I can to that kids.

With a heavy heart, I am going to watch the final 9 episodes of As The World Turns starting today. I am not looking forward to seeing Reid sacrificed to save Chris. I agree with Nelson Branco on that one. From what I saw Reid and Luke took the baton from Noah and Luke.