Deep Soap: Milestones

By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast.com

Agnes of Goddessness
Happy 10,000th episode All My Children! 2008 has been ABC’s year of anniversaries. The network earlier celebrated 45 years of General Hospital, and 40 years of One Life To Live. It’s interesting to analyze how each show’s celebration reflected its current state. GH chose to ignore it, as it so often chooses to ignore its history. OLTL created two gimmicky special episodes filled with entertaining homages to classic storylines that unfortunately launched a group of unpopular storylines that derailed the show for months. Many viewers have started wondering why almost every plot is still a reboot of an older tale. AMC refreshingly opted for a sweet emotional episode. It started off right with a dedication to the late Eileen Herlie, whose Myrtle Fargate was the emotional center of the show for years. Soaps often place a dedication to a departed cast or crew member in the end credits. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it done at the beginning of an episode. Herlie deserved the classy tribute. (AMC has also announced that Myrtle will get the send-off she deserves in December. Stock up on Kleenex now. )

The show was centered around the concept of memory, as Pine Valley prepared to observe a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the CGI Tornado. I liked the concept that even though the disaster was over, the town was still realistically suffering the after affects. So often soap natural disasters are over when the special effects stop. AMC traditionally took great pains to portray Pine Valley as a full town, with plenty of residents we rarely if ever saw. I like that the show has developed plenty of three dimensional characters who pop up as needed from banker Alfred to Erica’s out and proud assistant Val. Plenty of never-seen residents of PV undoubtedly died or lost their homes. I found myself wondering how Marian’s real estate business was affected by the disaster. The show’s creator Agnes Nixon, fresh of her appearance in OLTL’s anniversary episode in the heaven storyline, appeared here as an angelic figure, Aggie. Aggie appeared at the hospital, wearing Victorian clothing and carrying the All My Children book from the opening credits. She unnerved the other characters with her knowledge of their lives. It was clever, in character writing for psychic Opal to figure out that Aggie was the founder of Pine Valley, who wrote a best-selling book called All My Children – and that she was a ghost. The moment of remembrance worked on a meta level without being cloying as is subtly invited fans to recall their favorite AMC memories. Seeing veteran characters gather together in family units – The Martins, the Hubbards – to pray made me feel like I was watching an old school soap.

The show also looked forward, highlighting my favorite new pairing, David and Amanda. I’m not necessarily advocating for a romance. I’m on the record as anti-young women with men old enough to be their fathers. But David is the first character to see the Amanda that the audience sees – a gorgeous, smart, awesomely bitchy self-aware woman. After a year of yelling at my TV screen about how ridiculous it is that Amanda always gets the short end of the romance stick, it was wonderful to hear David say the same thing. Their hook-up played like a chess game. Afterwards, Amanda acknowledged that she had again slept with a man for all the wrong reasons. David’s plan to mentor her in the art of scheming is funny and oddly touching. In his own weird way, David treats Amanda with more respect than any of the other people in her life do. AMC’s 1000th episode was a subtle, classy tribute that made me hope the show would still be around for episode 20,000.

That Was It?
GH gave me a Luke and Laura reunion of sorts. Laura recovered for real. After Scott spirited her away, Luke tracked her down. They had a mature conversation about their relationship, concluding that they still loved each other and could probably get the magic back if they worked at it. Tracy decided she wasn’t going to give Luke up without a fight, because she loved drunk, irresponsible men who disappear for months at a time. (I realize Tony Geary is contractually guaranteed a ton of vacation, but the show doesn’t need to trash his character.) Then Laura decided that she needed to go to France with Scott for additional treatment because the possibility she might relapse would hurt her family. She ceded Luke to Tracy, saying that they both had changed. I don’t believe for a second that she’d leave her children, or that they’d let her go. GH and Genie Francis have, for whatever reason, decided not to bring Laura back for good. But Luke and Laura are the one daytime couple that truly should be together for the rest of their lives. Their over-the-top unconditional love was a large part of their appeal. They’re the original supercouple. They saved the world. Ending them for the time being with a low key conversation about how they’ve grown apart was anticlimactic and unsatisfying.

View From The Top
Last week, The View tied The Young & The Restless for #1 in total viewers and W18-49. Its post election show was its most watched episode ever. Meanwhile, every daytime soap is floundering. The Price Is Right has always done well among households, but appeals to an older audience. The View has made itself relevant to people who don’t usually watch daytime. It deserves all the recognition that it’s getting. But I bet every daytime network exec is wondering if they ought to replace a soap with a talk and current events show. While I’m sure all of the co-hosts earn high salaries, the production costs for a talk show that tapes live are exponent cheaper than soap operas. The View is profitable. Its popularity may wane now that the election is over, but it has shown that there are low cost ways to reach desirable demographics.