As most of you know, many soap fans have been asking Oprah to help save All My Children and One Life to Live by possibly moving those shows to her newly created network OWN (humbly titled Oprah Winfrey Network.) In a YouTube video she's just released, not only does Winfrey say No, but she essentially tells fans soap operas are dead calling them "an institution that for all intent and all purpose indicates that that time has come for it to be over."
Watch the full video:
DISLIKE! I find it interesting that Winfrey could have just said she wouldn't be able to help, but she decided instead to tell fans that there was no hope for the soap genre. A little strange, no? I've heard people say that OWN is funded in part by Disney, but I'm not sure of that (if someone has a link to that info, please post it in the comments!) But I do know this - Oprah has had a long and profitable relationship with ABC/Disney - they helped make her rich and famous, so with that in mind, this script - oops, I mean message - isn't such a surprise.
I'm certainly not going to let the Big 0 discourage me. She's not right about everything (remember "Beloved"?) Good luck to her and OWN - I hear they have tons of reality shows - oh boy, just what we need more of! I won't be watching...
What do you guys think? Was Winfrey just telling it like it is? Did she go too far in declaring the genre to be over? Do you think Anne Sweeney or Brian Frons wrote that script for her? (I'm only half-joking on that one)
Keep the Faith Soapies!
-Melanie/SoapOperaBabble/daisyclover
I don't understand why she didn't just say buying the soaps didn't fit into her business plan and leave it at that. I always thought it was a bad idea to waste energy trying to get her involved. All the people who spent time bombarding her website with comments would have helped the cause much more by concentrating on Disney and its advertisers. I can't help but believe her financial relationship with ABC/Disney is at the root of her sudden disdain for the soaps.
ReplyDeleteExactly! Obviously she had other motivations for making this statement. Too bad, from what I've heard OWN needs more viewers... Oh well, moving on...
ReplyDeleteSure, Oprah.....you can sock millions of your dollars into a substandard cable station called OWN but you can't spare a few dollars to make millions of soap fans happy. You make yourself out to be this great woman but in reality you do not impress us. Take OWN and shove it. You are what we call a 'false prophet'. You preach to your audience about doing the right thing and making a difference when in fact you do not follow these teachings yourself. Your tears are as fake as you are. Can't wait for OWN to go off the air!
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