With all the rumours flying around about the potential cancellation of either One Life to Live or All My Children (or both), it's interesting that even though many bemoan the fate of soaps, not many in the soap media website world seem to be doing anything aggressively proactive about it. Who's marshaling the troops? Soap fans are the most passionate and supportive people out there!
After much research, we're left scratching our heads. Are none of our favourite soap media websites, who only exist because soaps do, taking up the challenge to the soap PTB with a Save Our Soaps campaign? They're encouraging fans to write in, but why haven't they been the ones organizing a structured, balls to the walls offensive? They have a huge number of soap fan readers/listeners that they can mobilize, and the contacts/sources to design really effective operations. They should be Campaign Central, spearheading the fight!
Instead, it appears the mantle is being taken up by more entrepreneurial soap fans, who set up numerous twitter and facebook accounts everyday in order to tap into and garner support for their fave soap, fired actor or most hated head writer. On that note, here are a few of our faves:
Twitter:
@BringBackCane - a twitter account set up when the US soap Young & the Restless favorite Daniel Goddard (Cane Ashby, Y&R) was rumored fired in January 2011. Outcome? SUCCESSFUL
@FireFrons - pretty self explanatory, but for our non-US soapers, Brian Frons is the President of ABC Daytime and is notorious for meddling in the ABC soaps and not in a good way. Outcome? IN PROGRESS
@Shit_Ken_C_Says - Days of our Lives Executive Producer Ken Corday routinely gives interviews about DOOL spoilers (usually around sweeps time) seemingly without giving any thought to what he's saying and who it might offend; which it usually does. Outcome? JUST PLAIN FUNNY
@Save_ATWT - created in response to the now cancelled US soap As The World Turns. Outcome? :(
@FireDenaHigley - after killing two soaps to the point of difficult (yet not impossible) return, and now on her third, this twitter account about the current Head Writer of DOOL speaks for itself. Outcome? IN PROGRESS (but looking bleak)
@savejackandjenn - created to bring actor Matthew Ashford (ex-Jack, DOOL) back to DOOL after Melissa Reeves (Jennifer, DOOL) signed to return mid-2010. Outcome? IN PROGRESS
Facebook: click the links to learn more about each group.
- Save ABC's Soaps
- Soap Savers Inc
- Save One Life to Live and All My Children
- Save One Life to Live from being cancelled
Maybe what it really is, is websites are being usurped - it takes seconds to write a tweet or update a facebook status or start a facebook page to rally troops. Heck, it was probably faster to write this blog post (and that's taken 3 days). Maybe the soap sites think someone else will do it? Or maybe, soap websites just can't be bothered? Or maybe they don't think the status of soaps situation is serious enough to warrant such a big campaign? Denial Island Bloggers don't believe that for a second - anyone who takes any interest in the soapworld knows that the future of daytime soaps is not looking rosy.
So we want to know: do you guys think soap media sites/pods should be doing more to spearhead the Save Our Soaps campaigns? Or do you think keeping us up-to-date on the gossip and encouraging us to mobilize is more than enough?
NB: To the soap websites, we're not trying to have a go at you, honest. Ok, maybe just a little bit :P but really, it's just to spur you into action!
P.S. If anyone wants to let us know about or advertise any Soap Saving campaigns, please leave the info in the comment box!
Without a doubt these magazine should be helping spread the word about these groups, we really all should be on the same page. It's not just about AMC or OLTL, it's all ABC soaps, heck it's even all soaps at this point. I'm terrified to see a genre that's been in existence for 40+ years keep fading away PLEASE SAVE OUR SOAPS. Thank you for posting these links, as a creator of one of these groups I find it difficult to spread the word on my own. All I am is One little soap fan who has just introduced my 14 year old to the shows.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, thanks so much for creating one of these Saving Soaps groups! You may be 'one little soap fan' but you're choosing to *do* something about the situation and you're giving fans an outlet to support their shows!
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right - we really are fighting to save *all* soaps at this point, because the whole genre is in danger. And we here at Denial Island definitely feel that if we can combine the passion of soap fans (like yourself) with the power to mobilize that soap media (mags, sites) has, there'd be no stopping us!
Thanks for reading & commenting - and for doing all you do for our shows!!
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble