I am chagrined to admit that, throughout my life, there have been many frequent times where I have become addicted to a soap opera or two. Or, as my grandmother used to call them, "my stories."
Almost as early as when I was five, I knew how those very stories played into my grandmother's very precise schedule. After a noon lunch, she would lie down on her living room couch for what she termed her "beauty rest." Then, around 2PM, she would turn on the TV and become engrossed in afternoon drama. Over the years, I can remember her being involved in such fare as "How To Survive a Marriage," "Another World - Somerset," "One Life to Live," and "General Hospital." It is noteworthy to mention that only the last one still exists to this day. Whereas there used to be almost a dozen of these "daytime dramas" across the dials, there are now only four of them left on network TV.
While I never got sucked into any of these shows with Grandma, we did bond in another soapy way.
Okay, a little history. When I was in elementary school, both my father and mother worked nights. That can happen when your grandparents live in the house with you. Built-in baby sitters. After my grandfather died, it was just me and Grandma at night and our TV time was essential every night. I watched what she watched. I usually enjoyed what she enjoyed. And one of those programs was "Peyton Place."
The show was a big hit and probably the very first prime time soap with up to three airings a week. Murder, teen pregnancies, and other sordid goings-on dominated the plot lines. Most of it went completely over my head. But, it was delicious nonetheless. And I was watching it with adult supervision. Let's face it, Grandma was not the strictest censor in the world. Heck, maybe she was using this to teach me about life and the difference between good and bad. I remember the episode when Betty Harrington, as played by Barbara Parkins, turned up unmarried and pregnant. Grandma summed it up succinctly.
"Tramp."
And so she was.
Of course, the continuing saga of these types of shows eventually infiltrated the prime time schedule in a bigger way. By then, I was an adult and understood completely what was going on. Yep, I was a fan. I wanted to know who shot JR on "Dallas." I laughed along at the Tates and the Campbells on the comedy soap...er..."Soap." I couldn't wait to see who Abby would seduce next on "Knots Landing," which just might have been the best written and produced nighttime soap ever.
Of course, when you look at most of the prime time dramatic fare these days, they all have continuous threads. Whether you want to admit it or not, they've all got their roots in Grandma's daytime "stories." "24" was a soap. The fabulous "Downton Abbey" was a soap. And, yes, TV elitist snobs, the overrated "This Is Us" is a soap. And it uses a similar flashback device that "Knots Landing" did for a season or two some thirty years ago!
But back to Grandma and her afternoon TV shows. I'd wander in from time to time over the years to catch a glimpse of what was going on in Port Charles or Llanview or Bay City. However, I never did get sucked in to the point where I sat down for longer than five minutes. My grandmother did hold on and was still watching "General Hospital" up until the last six months of her life.
Flash forward to Len living in Hollywood. Trying to mount a sitcom project and cast it with some fresh faces. I realize that, with daytime dramas fading away, there is a fan base there not being served. Additionally, there is an acting pool which is not getting the opportunity to do other things. And, frankly, I have a feeling that they can do comedy because, after all, soaps can be pretty damn funny with its continuing conga line of doppelgangers, serial killers, and characters coming back repeatedly from the dead. Hmmm.
As fate would have it, we connect with one of these actors and she enthusiastically gets involved. So do two others. They become friends. Hmmm again. So, as a means of doing some casting research, I one day tune into the now over-50-years-old "Days of Our Lives" as one of our "new" discoveries is wrapping her stay on that show.
Three years later and with my friend long gone from the canvas, I'm still watching. Indeed, it becomes my daily lunch break from reality. Make a sandwich, have a piece of fruit, and see what the Hortons and the DiMeras are doing. Sure, most of it is damn silly, but it's more entertaining than most of the movies that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar this year. There is so much resurrection from the dead that Jesus should sue for copyright infringement. But, most importantly, I am reminded just how right I was. The acting is phenomenal.
It gets worse, folks.
A couple of months ago, I am meandering around the television remote and I stumble onto some backwoods network called "Retro TV." Suddenly, I am watching an episode of "The Doctors" which was one of the NBC daytime dramas that apparently ran from 1963 to 1982. The episodes now airing come from 1975. It is light years away from how soaps like "DOOL" are produced today. The cast is smaller. The stories move much slower. The production values are more Walmart than Nordstrom's. And it's television history because you find yourself watching the very first acting roles from the likes of Ted Danson and Julia Duffy.
But I was captivated and mesmerized one more time by how good the acting is. Because, at the end of the day, it's all entertainment.
Now my lunch break starts a little earlier. And Grandma lives again! Don't mess with "my stories."
Dinner last night: Broccoli cheese soup.
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