Deep Soap: Acting Out

Eric Braedengate III: The Saga Continues

Eric Braeden has officially left the building. According to his latest “exclusive” interview, his contract negotiations with The Young & The Restless have reached an impasse and he is really, truly gone. The same article reveals that an insider claimed that Sony’s insulting, draconian contract offer would still leave him with a seven figure salary. If that is true than I have no sympathy to his cause. That is still at the very top of the daytime pay scale, and on par with what numerous primetime performers make. Does he really think he will do better in primetime and film, where there are few meaty roles for men in their late 60s and numerous A-list actors to fill them?

Sony may be willing to take a hardline with Braeden because of what it learned from its other soap, Days of Our Lives.  Everyone predicted losing Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn would kill the show. Today, DOOL’s audience is growing. However, John and Marlena had become supporting characters by the time they were written off the show. Victor is front and center, the show’s definitive patriarch and leading man. His permanent departure leaves Nikki and Ashley without love interests, Jack without an adversary and his three children without a thorn in their side. Y&R is about to find out how much of a draw Victor really is. If Y&R’s ratings decline, Braeden will be in a position to go to Sony with proof that he is worth every penny of his contract. If the ratings maintain, he will have no leverage whatsoever if he decides that he wants to return to the show.

This could be an opportunity in disguise for the writers. A battle for control of Newman Enterprises could be a gripping business story with the Newman, the Abbotts, Neil and even Michael all trying to get a piece of the pie. Without Victor’s ultimate triumph as a foregone conclusion, there will now be some actual suspense to the ultimate outcome of storylines. Y&R can become more balanced. However, this transformation will not be easy. If the show attempts to make Adam or anyone else the “new Victor,” I doubt it will be successful. I am curious to see what a post-Victor Newman Genoa City looks like.

Scratch That

Last Friday I wrote that based on the overnight ratings, it appeared that Let’s Make A Deal was doing better than Guiding Light. The all-important national ratings tell a different story. Though it is up a bit in Households, LMAD is doing worse than GL among both Women 18-49 and Women 25-54.

LET’S MAKE A DEAL GL 08-09 season GL 10/08 %/Change
HH            1.6/5 1.5/5 1.5/5 +7%/+7%
W18-49   0.7/4 0.8/5 0.9/5 -13%/-22%
W25-54   0.8/5 1.0/6 1.0/6 -20%/-20%

Apparently, female daytime viewers outside of the major markets are not responding to the new show.  Granted, CBS has plenty of time to tweak and market LMAD.  As little as it costs to produce a game show, it still may be more profitable than GL.  If LMAD proves unsuccessful, CBS can replace it with other non-soap programming.  But the affiliates cannot be happy with these numbers.  Perhaps it is not so easy to replace a soap opera after all.  As The World Turns staffers should breathe a sigh of relief.

Healing Crystal

Meanwhile, Days of Our Lives had its best performance among Women 18-49 since last December – a traditionally strong month for soap operas. It appears that Crystal Chappell can join Vanessa Marcil and Victoria Rowell as one of the few actresses whose return in her signature role can actually spike the ratings. It is especially impressive given that NBC did not heavily promote her return. It was left up to the soap press and the Otalia army to spread the word. DOOL has managed to get itself a lesbian fanbase without actually writing a gay storyline. I cannot believe I’m saying this but well played Ken Corday. Of course, EJ finally figuring out that Nicole faked her pregnancy did not hurt the ratings. Let’s hope DOOL can keep it up. If one soap can actually improve its ratings, so can all the others.

Hayley’s Comment

All My Children usually makes me snarky. One of its most sarcastic characters ever, Hayley Vaughn, will be returning for the show’s 40th anniversary. Kelly Ripa will reprise her role on the January 4th and 5th episodes of the show, undoubtedly reminding viewers of how good it used to be. She will be joined by her on and off-screen husband Mark Consuelos (Mateo.) Ripa’s gift as a talk show host is her ability to be incredibly opinionated without offending anybody. I have a fantasy that she will take this opportunity to tell Chuck Pratt and Julie Carruthers exactly what is wrong with the show.

Greg Vaughn Gets A Little But Lucky

Greg Vaughn has landed his first post General Hospital role. He will be playing Dr. Z in the independent film Sebastian directed by Gregori Martin. Martin was co-director of the film Manhattanites, which stars numerous soap actors.

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