The Joys of Summer Redux

In 1989 when the real world was still paying attention to soaps, TV Guide asked me to do a cover story called “The Joys of Summer.” My mother, who had kept every issue of the magazine since its debut — just as George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) did on Seinfeld — kept a copy of that particular issue on top of her TV for the rest of her life.

Ah, the exciting summers of the ’80s and ’90s, when savvy daytime network executives gave their all to attract the attention of a lucrative young demographic: kids on summer vacation. The result was great summer love stories that the executives hoped would hook young viewers on soaps for the rest of their lives.

My cover story featured two romantic couples:  General Hospital’s Robert Scorpio (played by Tristan Rogers) and his lady love pianist Katherine Delafield (played by Edie Lehmann) and One Life to Live’s sexy and intriguing Max Holden (played by James DePaiva) and his ill-fated love Megan Gordon (played by Jessica Tuck). Those were the days when ABC Daytime did its best to fulfill its famous slogan “Love in the Afternoon.” My summer ’89 article touted another romantic couple that ABC was excited about, All My Children’s David Rampal (played by Trent Bushey) and Melanie Cortlandt (played by Paige Turco), who were called “the Romeo and Juliet of soaps.”

Do you remember these two? Marlena (blush) confesses that, all these years later, she doesn’t either. But I do know that head writer Agnes Nixon’s love stories kept me hooked on All My Children from its debut in 1970 until its cancellation in 2011.

So, mon readers, how have you been enjoying this soap summer? With only three network soaps (plus one on Peacock), the pickings are slim. Lower budgets (or maybe it’s a complete lack of network interest?) have kept the shows from parading their traditional summer soap staples.

In fact, the only show that seems to know it’s summer is GH, which at least has plenty of action going on at the Metro Court pool. This past week, I was snapped out of my ennui by a stunning cliffhanger in which Ava (played by Maura West) “accidentally” pushed a very pregnant Kristina (played by Kate Mansi) out of a window into the water below. There’s nothing like stunning violence to attract the attention of viewers.

But speaking of the waterside, where are the star attractions of summers past? I’m talking about the way shows used to show off the chests and pecs of male actors (aka hunks) during the summer. In those days, studios actually had gyms for their performers — and trainers working with them! I know, I know. I’m being terribly sexist here, but oogling the soap studs was an idiosyncratic treat for soap viewers. This summer, most of the guys on soaps are keeping their shirts on.

In summers past, stories were powerful, relatable, entertaining — and even instructive. Remember the summer when lovable Traci Abbott (played by Beth Maitland) on The Young the Restless lost all that weight? Or the OLTL summer when cowboy Clint Buchanan (played by Clint Ritchie) went back to visit the Old West? How about the Santa Barbara summer when Kelly Capwell (played by Robin Wright) went on the run from a mental hospital after killing Dylan (played by John Page Moseley), with whom Kelly had had a brief fling, in self-defense?

So far this summer, just one soap has kept up a seasonal tradition: The Bold and the Beautiful has gone to Italy, site of many past summer remotes. This year, Brooke Forrester (played by Katherine Kelly Lang) is back to publicizing her “Brooke’s Bedroom” line, proving that an attractive woman can benefit from being naughty at any age.

After decades of savoring soap summers, Marlena is unhappy that there is so little of interest on soaps this year. But the summer isn’t over yet. Marlena still has hope!

I do have objections to two summer story lines, which I feel are being irresponsibly handled. One is on GH and the other is on Y&R. On Y&R, a bipolar character, Sharon Collins (played by Sharon Case), has gone off her meds, only to hallucinate that a man she killed named Cameron Kirsten (played by Linden Ashby) has come back to threaten her. I find these scenes terrifying. On GH, Ava (played by Maura West) has compromised Sonny’s meds. Of course, Sonny is bipolar, like his portrayer, Maurice Benard, and over Benard’s many decades on the show he has been heroically open, helping many watchers who have the disease with his candor. I really don’t see how another “tampering with meds” story line can possibly help viewers in similar circumstances.

But summer has traditionally been a time for fun and entertainment, not network irresponsibility. Still, don’t soaps want to earn our loyalty in every season?