Turning Off the ‘Light’: The End of an Era is an Opportunity to Pioneer Change (Again)

Look, I’m just going to put it out there.  I’m a soap opera fan. There, I said it.  Stop judging.  I know, I know, it’s kind of expected that I’m into this because ABC Daytime is one of my all-time favorite clients I work with here, but, really, I flat out love the genre.  It’s fabulous and fun and unapologetically campy.  And as one of the only true multi-generational forms of entertainment out there – I was raised on General Hospital (mom’s show) and The Young & the Restless (grandma’s show) – soaps are incredibly unique. My mom and I will probably never agree on things like American Idol contestants (I’m a die-hard Adam fan; she’s more into Kris), but we both love Dorian on One Life to Live.  In college, my hallmates and I would actually schedule things around being home in time to see Days of Our Lives if something exciting was happening.

So, naturally, I was extremely saddened by the news that Guiding Light has been cancelled and will wrap its historic run in September.  For those of you who don’t know, Guiding Light is 72 years old.  It’s currently the longest-running drama in existence of ANY kind.  It began as a radio serial in 1937 and ran for 20 years there before making the transition to television in the 50s, when original episodes were only 15 minutes long. Can you believe that? It’s a piece of television history passing away, and even if you can’t stand soaps, as any kind of TV fan, you should be pretty sad about that.

Guiding Light was never “my” show; in fact, I never even watched it until I got the chance to work on several CBS Daytime campaigns here at NMS, but I can certainly tell why it’s so beloved.  Its cast is amazing and it has so much history behind its characters.  Plus, as a soap fan, I’m sad for the genre as a whole, because in this era of declining ratings and audience share, it’s kind of a scary time.  You worry if this kind of thing will domino, if another show - the one you love maybe – will be the next in danger.  In this age of DVR, streaming video and online recaps, soaps are in an extremely precarious position and some Daytime execs are going to have to start thinking about what next steps they are going to have to take to ensure the genre’s survival.

There are rumors that Proctor & Gamble (who owns the show) is attempting to shop GL and its sister soap As the World Turns (slated for cancellation next year, if you believe the internet talk) around to other networks like NBC or cable-only outlets like SOAPnet or Lifetime.  But I have a slightly different idea.  This soap was once a pioneer in television, leading the transition of the serial format from radio.  Think about it: TV back then was uncharted territory (hard to imagine, I know, but true).  More recently, GL was the first to pioneer a new, more “realistic” shooting format that incorporated handheld cameras and increased location shoots and made the characters people already loved appear more relatable and real.  My suggestion – my hope – for GL is this.  The show has always been a leader in terms of setting the pace for change within the soap industry and due to its network cancellation, P&G has been given a unique opportunity to do so once more   I’d love to see GL  become a pioneer again and “light” (I couldn’t resist the awful pun, I’m sorry!) the way to the next level of soap programming – whether that is another version of a cable channel like SOAPNet, that shows classic Proctor & Gamble owned dramas like GL, ATWT or Another World, or whether they truly take another massive leap and become the first online-only soap network, perhaps a Hulu-esque site in which new episodes are pumped out daily or bi-weekly online. 

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that P&G is putting added emphasis on developing its digital media efforts following the soap’s cancellation, so why not USE the beloved soap as the digital medium?  Popular soap blog Daytime Confidential has also recently speculated about this, noting the interesting timing between the show’s cancellation and P&G’s assertion that they are focusing on building their presence in digital media and through websites that specifically target women.  This seems a natural fit, as women generally and moms, specifically, form the bulk of the daytime viewing audience and are growing more web savvy by the day.   

A change such as this could really work, as soap fans are nothing if not both voracious and dedicated, and would certainly follow their beloved dramas into this bold new world of online production, even if it meant a reduced run time or smaller casts.  And online viewing opens up a whole new world for P&G – in terms of product placement within episodes, streaming “commercials” that viewers won’t be able to fast forward as they do now with DVR, in-page advertising efforts, or some sort of heavily branded micro-site.  Of course, such a move would present challenges, particularly  in terms of things such as casting, as its doubtful that a web-only version of Springfield would have the production budget to keep some of the more big-name (read: expensive) soap stars involved.  Most die-hard GL aficionados would probably be well aware of this risk however, and would likely be willing to make the sacrifice, as long as the core of the show remained recognizable.

But, I’d love to see something like a web-only GL happen – I dearly want the soap genre to survive – and thrive – in this era of ever-diminishing ratings and I’d be sad to see so much soap history lost (plus, hey, I still remember how upset I was when NBC cancelled Another World, so I feel for the GL fans out there.)  And, honestly, isn’t there something poetic about the possibility of the only serial that survived the transition from radio to television being the first to lead the genre into another inevitable format change?  It is, dare I say it, positively soapy.