Soaps Lately: The Good, the Bad and the Questionable

It’s been quite a busy couple of soap weeks. There’s lots to write about what’s been happening on our favorite shows. But first, I need to get something off my chest that has been bothering me for some time. Can I bounce this off you?

As I have often said, I am proud to have been a soap journalist for the past forty years. Right now, there isn’t a whole lot of authentic journalism being practiced in our world. The flow of information feels stifled, as if some force behind the scenes was in control and managing what gets told and by whom. At a time when our line-up of shows has dwindled from over a dozen to just four, why should it have become so difficult to get the information we need to keep our loyal fans coming back for more. In the days when I edited and worked on soap magazines, the backstage doors were pretty much wide open. We reporters did set visits. Actors and producers were readily available for interview. The networks fell all over themselves seeking our cooperation. Press offices still had telephones, and really worked to generate publicity. Today soap journalism seems to consist of interviews granted only to a favored few websites, critical opinions (everyone has one) and – the worst betrayal of all – a regular disclosure of soap plot spoilers. The whole aim of soaps since the days of Irna Phillips is to stimulate curiosity so that viewers tune in tomorrow. Why should I want to continue to watch shows five days a week if their plots and storylines are all revealed in advance? Whose idea is this? You got it: the networks.

Happily, there is still good news. Some of it comes from our newest soap, Beyond the Gates. I like to be surprised, and BTG just culminated a very original sequence that hit home with me, a female soap viewer who happens to like fashion. The Cotillion (which I previously didn’t know was a black tradition) was full of wonderful creations, brought to us by the show’s terrific costume designer, Jeresa Featherstone. At the end of the gala, BTG pulled off a shocking surprise — the murder of young Derek (Ben Gavin). And a new soap star was born as Ashley (Jen Jacobs) mourned her lost love. I’ve written previously that this actress is a natural. To me Ms. Jacobs looks remarkably like the many friends I had growing up in Queens. In other words, this girl is for real!

Another great surprise came from Young and the Restless, historically a soap not given to social issue stories, with the possible exception of Mrs. Chancellor’s long ago face lift Y&R has staged the very powerful story of Joshua Morrow’s addiction to fentanyl. Nick is having a very hard time dealing with family interloper Matt Clark (the always sensational Roger Howarth). The conflict scenes between the actors have been mesmerizing. (One Life to Live’s headwriter Josh Griffith worked with Howarth when he played Todd on OLTL.)   A recent scene when Nick just about OD’d in the Newman living room was one of the most intense I’ve ever seen on soaps. He was saved by Matt and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford). All these days later I can still hear Nick’s father Victor’s (Eric Braden) voice bellowing, “My boy, my boy” in sheer agony. Upshot: this storyline will probably yield Morrow a Best Actor Emmy nomination and probably a nomination for Howarth, too.

As excited as I’ve been about this Y&R interlude, I’ve been very let down by General Hospital, which has mostly been fantastic under the writer’s regime of Chris Van Etten and Elizabeth Korte. As the old ABC Daytime advertising slogan used to warn: “if you miss a day, you miss a lot!’  But I find one of their front burner stories — the messy quadrangle of Curtis-Jordan-Isiah and Portia — to be questionable especially since Jordan was injured in a car accident yielding an old soap story meme on her face: the scar. Whose fault was it? Curtis (Donnell Turner), a very smart and accomplished man, hotly blew his whole image by punching out Isiah, breaking his hand so that the surgeon can no longer perform his needed talents. For this act of violence. Curtis was prosecuted.

Watching this sequence, I couldn’t stop thinking how insulting has been. All four of these characters are intelligent professionals—Jordan and Isiah are doctors. Why are treating this so childishly? Then I had a very weird idea: is GH trying to emulate the current popularity of Beyond the Gates with this front-burning black storyline?

Oh well, this freelance analysis is my contribution to the world of soap journalism this week, I’d love to talk to all actors involved in these storylines.

A final note: A long-time member of our soap community needs your help; A Martinez (Cruz Castillo, Santa Barbara) and our friend Melissa Braverman Spears, who is writing a book on the beloved soap, have put together a benefit for Marcy Walter (Eden, SB), who is ill. Melissa will be interviewing the pair on June 7^h at 4PM online. You can obtain tickets at Crowdcast.10/c/amartinezandmarcywalker. They cost $100, all of which goes to Marcy’s care.