Still More on the Half-Year in Soaps

Lest anyone think I am anti-Carolyn Hinsey, let me assure you that I am not.
I just think she is misinformed about what constitutes the crime of rape.
Actually, most of her recent columns have been pretty good. I'd link you to them, but it appears that the SOD site does not have them archived. If you want to send her your opinion about any of the soaps, you can reach her at sodopinion@aol.com. (That is not a link). Don't send her mass e-mail messages to campaign for such and such an actor/actress to stay on a show or to change storylines. She doesn't like that sort of thing. (Neither would I). If you're really funny, you could get published in SOD. Who knows? You could be the next Marcia from Arkansas.

More on the soaps later

Mimi Torchin Returns to Soap Opera Weekly

After a three-year absence from the magazine she helped to launch, Mimi Torchin returned to
Soap Opera Weekly starting with the August 19, 2003 issue, which just hit the stands a couple of days ago. (In some areas, the new SOW won't hit the stands until
Tuesday the 12th, but there are a couple of stores here that get the Tuesday mags out on the
Thursday or Friday prior to their official newsstand date.)

I was dismayed about Torchin's departure from SOW, as her "Speaking My Mind" editorial in each issue was always a treat. Torchin cares passionately about soaps and about free speech. I am not a soap insider, so don't know the real story of her departure. I do suspect, however, that it was not entirely voluntary. Not long before she left, SOW was involved in a dispute with Days of Our Lives regarding a column written by Marlena De LaCroix.
De LaCroix (a pseudonym) had written something about another soap being unwatchable. I believe the show was General Hospital, but my memory is a little foggy on the details. For some reason, Ken Corday, Executive Producer of DOOL, became enraged. Corday believed that De LaCroix had gone too far. He thought that the mags were to support the soaps, not criticize them harshly. With soap ratings falling, the mags had a duty to be cheerleaders. He declared that DOOL would not do any promotion with SOW, supply pictures, etc. Torchin stood by De LaCroix and criticized Corday pretty harshly for his attempts to quash free speech. Although I was never a huge fan of De LaCroix's, she did have a right to write whatever she wished about the soaps. And I was glad that Torchin stood by her.

I don't remember the timeline exactly, but Torchin left not too long after the dispute with DOOL--I believe it was within a year. De LaCroix left soon after. Lynn Leahy was made Editorial Director of both SOW and Soap Opera Digest . "Speaking My Mind" was replaced with "Dueling Divas." Some time later P.K. Waddle took over De LaCroix's "Critical Condition" column. SOW took a decidedly fluffy turn. If it weren't for fan letters, "Critical Condition" and Carolyn Hinsey's role in "Dueling Divas," there would be little serious commentary in the magazine at all. The same goes for SOD. There, Hinsey and the Mail Bag and "Love It/Hate It" are what save the mag from being a gossip and fashion rag. Both mags do have feature articles that sometimes touch on controversial issues such as how soaps portray rape and the integration of ethnic minorities into mostly white soap towns. But the majority of space is taken up with fashion and make-up tips, puff piece interviews, who wore what where, etc. And if you believe everything you read in SOD, most soap stars are also gourmet cooks. Yes, there is actually a regular feature that shows a soap star cooking a favorite recipe. SOW even devotes a few pages each issue to prime time shows, as if there is not already enough coverage of them in other magazines.

Torchin is going to be writing a weekly opinion column, aptly titled "Still Speaking My Mind." It appears that it will replace "Critical Condition," although there was no mention of this in the magazine. P.K. Waddle's column was not in the most recent issue. If the people at SOW have any sense, they will team Hinsey and Torchin in "Dueling Divas." I suspect that those two very opinionated ladies would bring a lot of attention to the magazine.

Speaking of soap criticism, P.K.Waddle's column in the August 12, 2003 issue of SOW was about As the World Turns , one of two soaps that I tape. The other being Port Charles, of course. Waddle's point was that ATWT is even better now than it was last year, the year for which it won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in May. I only saw about the last quarter or so of last year's ATWT. I can agree that the show is better now, mainly because the bus tour storyline is over. The not particularly interesting teens are now in different storylines, which showcase why the bus tour story never worked.

Star-crossed lovers Aaron and Lucy look more like brother and sister than boyfriend and girlfriend. That might not be so bad if they generated more romantic chemistry than siblings. Unfortunately, they don't. Lucy would be more interesting on her own. I like Lucy (Peyton List) in scenes with her father Craig and new stepmother Rosanna.

Meanwhile, immature and moody Alison--the wonderful Jessica Dunphy--is in a budding romance with Chris Hughes, played by Grant Show lookalike Bailey Chase. (Chase is improving day by day). If fan comments in the soap mags are any indication, Alison and Chris are becoming popular. The bus story would have worked only if fans had had reason to root for the boring Lucy and Aaron and had believed that the normally reasonable Hal would become obsessed with pinning Aaron with an arson charge.

Waddle thinks that ATWT is near perfect. I don't. The stories now are all engaging but there are is one very serious problem with all of them: characters who ought to be involved, even if marginally so, are not seen. Jack and Carly got married in Montana with only Craig, Rosanna, Mike, Molly, Katie, Parker, and a Native American midwife in attendance. Because Lily and Rose were stuck down a well, none of the Snyders could attend. Emily and Hal also could not go.
Bob Hughes is in his second coma. Yet only Kim and Chris have been by his side. His son Tom and daughter-in-law Margo have been almost completely absent from the hospital--I think Tom was shown there once. Margo went there to get information from Susan about the Lily/Rose kidnapping--not to check on her father-in-law. Barbara and Kim are on the outs, so it might be awkward for Barbara to show up, but she should anyway. And where is Lisa? Eileen Fulton made some very public comments about the current ATWT regime not wanting to use her. No matter what is going on behind the scenes, Lisa should be there for her friend Kim and her ex-husband Bob. Hogan Sheffer and his crew know how to write great stories and great dialogue, but they do have problems with isolating stories and with not knowing how to deal with certain characters, thus dropping them. They killed off Jake McKinnon because he didn't have any connections on the show. New characters with few or no connections to existing families appear on soaps all the time--including ATWT. What connections did Marshall and his daughter Sara have? Yet they are now fairly prominent characters.

The ATWT serial killer story would be killer but for the facts that there were not enough suspects and all of the people who died were minor characters. Gordo, who had come to Oakdale Memorial because of his admiration for Bob, was an obvious red herring. Chris could not be the murderer. So that left the charming, good-looking, and oh-so-reasonable Dr. Eric (Rick) Decker, played by former Dynasty hunk John James. And again, this story seems to take place in a its own little world. (Perhaps the name of the show should be changed to As the Worlds Turn.) Emily, who is supposed to be Carly's good friend, has had virtually no contact with her since the disastrous fashion show. Hal is the lead investigator on the serial killer case, yet he rarely talks to Margo, whose family is directly affected by it. And you'd think Paul would drop by to say a few kind words to Kim. Sure he's just back from the dead and bent on getting revenge on Barbara, but he ought to find some time to comfort his great aunt--especially since she is on the outs with Babs too.

What I like about ATWT far outweighs what I don't like. The dialogue is smart and witty. All of the stories--except for Lucy and Aaron's--are interesting, even if they are taking place on little islands. Some stories are ending as others are about to begin. People are on to Rick now, so the murder mystery will end soon. But the fallout from Paul's return promises to affect his relationships with his family, Rose, Dusty--and now Craig and Rosanna--for a long time to come. I am looking forward to more scenes between Cady McClain's Rosanna and Roger Howarth's Paul. Theirs is an inspired pairing. So is the partnership between Craig and Dusty. Hunt Block and Grayson McCouch are hilarious together. And no doubt that both Rose and Rosanna will oppose their business liaison. Sara and Marshall's story should be a humdinger, too.

ATWT deserved the Emmy, although its winning ensured the demise of PC. It should also get the prize next year for this year's work. I've a feeling that The Young and the Restless and GH will be strong contenders too.

Rape, Incest, Murder

Those are hardly staples of soaps, at least in the minds of most fans. But several shows have taken decidedly violent and just plain icky turns with recent storylines. Carolyn Hinsey recently complained--with justification--about how dark soaps have become. I am not copying her, since this topic was planned for posting several weeks ago. She just beat me to the punch.

ATWT has been praised for its rape storyline, but I question why the rapist--who admitted to the crime but got off due to a mistrial--was then "pardoned" of all of his other crimes, for which trials were still pending after the rape mistrial. Actually, he was not pardoned, the DA inexplicably dropped the charges, as if by doing so, viewers would forget what had happened. At least the rapist, T. Marshall Travers, does not have a leading lady yet, but that could be in the cards. Last spring, it appeared that Marshall was going to be killed, thus solving the problem of what to do with this corrupt, violent character. Instead, poor Jessica--Marshall's victim--was shot and almost killed by her daughter, Bonnie.

Marshall has never paid for his crimes and remains on the show in a prominent storyline. Keeping Marshall out of prison--or alive--just so that his presumed-dead daughter could become Bonnie's foster child (or adopted child) denies the viewers justice. How ironic (situational irony, I mean) that Roger Howarth left OLTL for ATWT because his rapist character committed murder and other crimes, yet was made a romantic leading man and never paid the consequences. (He was briefly imprisoned for the rape, at least). I hope that ATWT is not on that track with Marshall. I don't want to see anyone out of a job, but the writing team should have thought about what they were going to do with Marshall's character before they made him into a rapist. Of course, they did think about it. They thought that Marshall's criminal past would deepen the drama now that Sara knows who her father is. But characters not paying for their crimes doesn't deepen drama. It cheapens it. Is rape an unforgiveable crime and is Marshall an irredeemable character? No and no. But Marshall should have had to face the consequences of his actions. Otherwise, they look just like devices to advance the plot.

ATWT is wrapping up a serial murder storyline--see above for details. GL just finished its own serial killer story a few weeks ago--when Ben was revealed to be the murderer and then killed himself. (What a sad end for the son of one-time lead character Fletcher). Now DOOL is gearing up for its own serial killer story. On OLTL, villanous Mitch was killed earlier this summer. Murder mysteries can be compelling, but are soap viewers getting too much of a good thing? Viewers of both ATWT and GL have probably wondered which show was which for a while. (Not really, as the two P&G soaps could not be more different now. But that's another topic).

Incest, or near incest has been featured on The Bold and The Beautiful, Y&R, OLTL and GH this year. B&B and Y&R were daring, but in different ways. B&B had Bridget (Jennifer Finnigan, who looks could be Jennifer Ferrin's sister) and Ridge (Ronn Moss) were paired up as potential lovers. The problem? While Bridget was artificially aged from being say 10 to a teenager and then into her early 20's, she "grew up" thinking that Ridge was first her father, and then her half-brother. A recent plot twist revealed that Eric Forrester was not Ridge's father, meaning that there were no blood ties between the two characters. Once Bridget found out the truth, she started having romantic feelings for Ridge, a man she has always thought of as family, one way or another. Blood relationship or not, this was pretty wild, even for soaps. Fans objected to the storyline and TPTB (Bradley Bell) wisely chose to drop it.

On Y&R, the incest story was the result of another bit of revisionist history, only this time, characters who were thought to be unrelated--sworn enemies, in fact--were found out to be mother and daughter. Jill Foster and Katherine Chancellor have a history of enmity that dates back to the early days of daytime's most popular soap. I haven't really watched the show in years, but it used to be almost required viewing in my household when I was growing up, so this revelation was a real shocker. The incest that could have happened was the result of a storyline that predated the plot twist by a few years: Jill's son and Katherine's granddaughter (Jill's new niece) had been dating and had actually gotten married. My understanding is that the couple had never had sex and were interrupted just in time on their wedding night. However, the characters had already committed incest in some way. While they may not have ever had sex, surely they had kissed and made out during their romance. Of course, their romance was written before the show decided to make a dramatic shift in character relationships.

On OLTL, Joey and Flash (who was revealed to be his cousin) had a brief flirtation that included some kissing. He was paired with someone else and become involved in a triangle with a character who we can only presume is not a long lost relative. The trouble with this story was this: Joey and the viewers did not know Flash's true identity. But Flash did know who she was and did know that Joey was her cousin. So why was she after him?

On GH, two teenage cousins, who are not blood relatives, but who grew up thinking of each other as family have been paired romantically. Unlike the rest of the soap fandom, I don't really watch GH, so I am not sure of exactly how the characters are related. Nevertheless, the thought is still icky. I have cousins who are not blood relatives. I would never even think of becoming involved with any of them romantically.

Both the Y&R and OLTL incest stories show how soaps can get screwed up when juicy stories are produced before being fully thought out. Any soap, given the continuing narrative structure and the many years of production, can make the mistake of romantically linking characters who later turn out to be related. On both B&B and GH, the stories were more about people living and relating to one another as family, even if there were no shared bloodlines. No matter how it is written, incest--or potential incest-- is not something viewers welcome. Soaps would do well to avoid it in the future.

More on the Half-Year in Soaps

Carolyn Hinsey writes the "It's Only My Opinion" column in Soap Opera Digest and serves as one-half of the "Dueling Divas" in Soap Opera Weekly.
I would love to have her job. She gets paid to watch soaps and write two catty (kinda) columns in two national magazines. Of course, I'm sure there is much more to her job than that, but wouldn't it be fun to find out.

Hinsey's SOD column reads like a blog. She writes in a breezy, webster style. You know, the same way any soap fan would write if given the chance. Just like a some blogs, e-mailed opinions from her many readers appear at the bottom of her column. And Hinsey must have struck a nerve. Most of the people who comment write in her style.

Hinsey can be a bit reactionary and just doesn't get it about the crime of rape. Memo to Carolyn: The victim does not have to scream, fight, bite, etc. for the act to be rape. Battery is intentional, unwanted touching. It does not require that the victim respond in any particular way. I hope you never are called to serve on the jury of a rape case. No matter what the judge instructs about the law, erroneous pre-conceived notions can be hard
to put aside.

Hinsey relies on stock phrases a lot. "That's funny," "I'm not buyin' it," and "play all the beats" are just a few of the comments she uses over and over. I am guessing that working under a deadline and with few constraints are the reasons for this.

One annoying web habit is the practice of combining the made-up prefix nu- with a soap character's name whenever a new actor is cast in an established role. Grayson McCouch of As the World Turns is nuDusty for just one example. Hinsey didn't create this usage, but she could do her part to retire the term if she stopped using it.

Also, I am not sure why soap fans cannot accept recasts. Shows have to recast roles because young, good-looking actors want to move on to greener pastures. Is this anything new? Fans (and critics) strain for any reason not to like someone: He/she looks nothing like the previous actor; he/she looks just like the previous actor but doesn't sound like him/her or hasn't grasped the role; is too old (nuLucky on General Hospital) or too young (nuJoey on One Life to Live); his/her personality has changed; the actor is okay but the powers that be botched his/her backstory. Those last two accusations have been unfairly hurled at McCouch. Oh sure, McCouch's Dusty Donovan is cute, sexy, etc,. But ATWT fans know that Dusty was not best friends with Paul. Paul's best friend was Andy. And Dusty is evil now. So those things are McCouch's fault? Turn in Hogan Sheffer (ATWT's Head Writer) to the Continuity Police. Don't blame McCouch, whose swaggering, sleazy take on Dusty has made a huge splash on ATWT. (A quibble with the wardrobe people--when Dusty debute it was cold outside, yet he was often shirtless. Now it is summer and he is always in dark colors and wearing a jacket.) Perhaps Sheffer can be forgiven. When Brian Bloom left the show years ago, his Dusty was a good-looking, honorable young man. But he had debuted as a not-terribly-good-looking pre-teen brat. Young Dusty hung out with younger kid Paul and tried to lead him astray. Maybe they weren't best friends, but neither were they strangers. Young Master Donovan was a bad kid. McCouch's incarnation could be Dusty returning to his former relationship and the nasty behavior that went with it.

Casting About

Casting changes are a big story in soaps this year. ATWT and other CBS shows have benefitted mightily from actors moving around. Along with McCouch, ATWT has recently acquired Real Andrews as forensic investigator Dr. Walker Daniels (recently Taggart on GH), John James as Dr. Eric (Rick) Decker (James was my hero as Jeff Colby on Dynasty in the 80's. Alas, Dr. Decker has been revealed as a serial killer, so James will be leaving the show), Bailey Chase as Dr. Chris Hughes, and Roger Howarth (Todd from OLTL) in the oft recast role of Paul Ryan. He is nuPaul to McCouch's nuDusty. (Yeah, I know I'm not doing my part to retire that no-longer-clever term). Jennifer Ferrin just debuted as Paul's half-sister Jennifer. I am going to withold judgment for now. She appears to be better than the previous actress who was anemic, but at times she seems to be looking past her scene partners at cue cards. (I was under the impression that ATWT didn't use cue cards). Hope I'm wrong about what she is doing. Chase is the weakest of the bunch. Many times, he doesn't seem to know what to do with his eyes (cue cards again?). Worse, he can barely talk. One day I clearly heard him save "lifes" as the plural form of the noun "life."
My dictionary and thirty-odd years of readin' and writing' tell me that the plural is "lives" with a "v!!!!" My opinion must not count for much, however. Chase tied with veteran Michael Park as favorite ATWT actor in one of SOD's fan polls.

Howarth's switch from OLTL's Todd to ATWT's Paul has to be the biggest casting story of the year thus far. (Vanessa Marcil leaving GH after just a few months would be a strong candidate for a tie. But Marcil's departure was not all that unexpected, given the conditions of her return). Howarth is one of a slew of ABC actors to "defect" to CBS this year. Actually the trend started over a year ago when Cady McClain left her role as Dixie on
All My Children supposedly to pursue other career options. Shortly thereafter she ended up on ATWT as nuRosanna. Other ABC actors who have come to CBS are Sydney Penny, Keith Hamilton Cobb, and Real Andrews. Penny has played roles on other soaps, and was not on contract at AMC, so her choice to go to The Bold and the Beautiful is not surprising. Andrews was not being used much as Detective Taggart on GH, so again his decision to go to a show that immediately showcased him in a big story makes sense. Cobb is a bit of a mystery. He left AMC with some pretty public remarks about not being used. He had refused returning to the role that made him a soap star and had refused opportunities to go to other soaps. Maybe he could no longer afford to hold out for
movies and prime time roles. I don't watch B&B or Y&R, so I have no idea how Penny and Cobb are doing. I do watch ATWT and can report that Andrews is pretty good. His sometimes halting line delivery takes some getting used to. I'd like to believe that he is making a conscious decision as an actor to make it appear that his character chooses his words carefully. At least he hasn't made up any words yet. Both SOD and SOW have speculated that all the ABC actors going to CBS shows has to do with former ABC daytime executive Barbara Bloom taking the VP Daytime position at CBS. Bloom claims that CBS is not going after ABC actors. The network is simply trying to get the best actors for each role. (Ms. Bloom, please explain Bailey Chase).

But back to Howarth. He won an Emmy playing OLTL's Todd as a menacing rapist. The show then attempted to turn the character into a romantic lead, albeit with lots of demons. Howarth had left the role several times over the years and had voiced displeasure at changing Todd from a villain to a sexy anti-hero. However, he'd always returned to OLTL and had never appeared on another soap during his absences. Howarth stopped talking to the soap press years ago, so fans have heard nothing from his mouth about why he chose to take over the role of Paul Ryan. In the July 15, 2003 issue of SOD, ATWT's Head Writer Hogan Sheffer says, "We knew that he hated playing Todd and hated the fact that there was an attempt to take such a violent, base character and turn him into a romantic hero." Leaving his signature role was an act of conscience for Howarth. If so, he is not the only soap performer to do so this year. The same SOD issue reported that Deanna Wright, who plays Kay on Passions, has decided to leave her role because the character is at odds with her Christian beliefs. I applaud both Howarth and Wright for taking stances in favor of moral uprightness, something so rarely seen these days, even among the self-righteous. I don't know if Howarth is a Christian or just an enlightened male who understands rape and its ramifications.

Howarth's predecessor, Scott Holroyd, would have been more than capable of playing the embittered, transformed Paul whose fiance, best friend and mother have done him wrong. But I would not have wanted to miss Howarth's take on the character. He's smart-aleck and passionate, ready to take on his father, his mother, Dusty, Rose--anyone who crosses him. No longer the voice of reason, Paul has no qualms about starting a fracas over his family's dinner plans or asserting his agenda to protect sibs Jennifer and Paul from their blood-sucking mother. (Turns out Port Charles is not the only soap with vampires.) Yet he is playful, too. Loved his sparring with McClain's uptight Rosanna. When he told her "This is fun," I wondered if he meant that in character or as a comparison to what he had to do at OLTL. Howarth's Paul seems capable of evildoing without being truly evil. Is this nuandimprovedTodd, perhaps?

Links I Like

The following is a list of links to websites I like to visit. I'm just a bit too lazy to construct
links using HTML in the sidebar. This list will be updated periodically.

Update: August 10, 2003

Please note that I have updated this blog's template. Since I wanted to try out my HTML
skills, I also added a list of links to the sidebar. It did not take as long to do as I thought it would, so from now on new links will be posted in the sidebar. I may write a new article about interesting links as I find more of them.
Soaps

I keep up with all the soaps without watching all of them by reading the soap mags and going online. My favorite soap sites are The Port Charles Explosion (as noted below) and
Soap Central's PC section. Soap
Central is a great all-around soap site. Soap Central's Port Charles Page is listed as
GH2 Online on the "Links" sidebar.

News

For news I go all over the place. I tend to search out sites beyond the mainstream. The sites I visit most often are: Google News,
USA Today, Slate, Underreported.com, American Journalism Review, and Arts & Letters Daily

Google's news site is one of those places that one can easily get lost in. It has oodles of links to stories on numerous topics. One of the nicer features is that Google will often go to local or regional newspapers, which sometimes have a different take or more in-depth coverage on stories than national news outlets. Slate has lots of links and covers a variety of topics. It also has a slew of regular contributors--many of them top writers and experts in their fields-- and a lot of commentary and reviews. Its smart-alecky tone can be annoying at times, but its analysis of both national and international papers and their top stories makes the site worth dropping in on. USA Today may seem to be an odd choice, but it can have surprisingly good articles on a wide-range of topics.

Underreported.com is just what the title says, a compendium of underreported news stories on topics of interest to the site's creator. Many of the underreported stories are on politics, civil liberties, constitutional rights, and the like. I gather that the creator is a concerned citizen with strong pro-life views. However he (or she) cannot be pigeon-holed as being liberal or conservative--at least not conservative as it has come to mean nowdays. His (or her) dedication to following up on stories that fly below the radar is astounding.

American Journalism Review (AJR)covers journalism. It is a sort of the stories about the stories site. AJR also has a print magazine that is hard to find, but worth reading if you do happen upon it.

Arts and Letters Daily used to be affiliated with the defunct Lingua Franca , but is now a service of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Like most of the other sites I like, it has lots of links to other news outlets. You can also get lost in it for hours. The main page features intriguing little tidbits that trail off into ellipses. You have to link to another site to get the rest of the story. And then of course you get lost in that story, and then another and another, etc.

Search Engine

Google, of course. Is there any other search engine? I'm not just saying that because Google owns the company that hosts this blog--really. My sister told my mother and me about Google a few years ago. Other than site specific search engines, it is the only one I use. (Well, that's not entirely true, but Google is best for most routine searches. I like to use EBSCO and other academic data bases, too.) Of course, I'm no web expert, so take that with a grain of salt.

Blog Related Sites

Other than Blogger (duh!) I am still not really familiar with the blogosphere. (Picked up that word, though!) Popdex, looks pretty good.

In the interest of full disclosure, I know someone who works for Slate and Popdex indexes this blog in exchange for a link. ( Alas, I am not above a little shameless self-promotion).

The Half Year In Soaps

Port Charles Will End In October

The cancellation of "Port Charles," one of two soaps that I tape, has to be the biggest soap opera story of the year thus far. My original plan was to do a brief overview of the first half of the year in order to avoid trying to cram things in at the end of the year. I was going to start a review of the half year in soaps soon, anyway. PC's untimely demise moved things up a bit.

I've only watched Port Charles since the latter part of 2002--toward the end of the "Naked Eyes" story arc/novella. Unlike some viewers who had watched the show morph from a sister show to "General Hospital" into a new version of "Dark Shadows," I had no real interest in what had come before. I read two soap mags and had followed PC's storylines since its inception in 1997, but only became interested in watching the show after reading about its turn toward the supernatural a couple of years ago. Being a neo-Luddite, I only recently purchased a VCR. I couldn't wait to start taping the show.

It is hard to explain why the vampire storylines intrigued me. I generally don't like SF and fantasy books or movies. I am not a fan of "Buffy." And I grew up watching traditional CBS soaps such as "Search For Tomorrow," "The Edge of Night," "As The World Turns," and "Guiding Light"--back in the days when it was called "The Guiding Light." But there was a brief period, when I was too little to even tell time, when my older brother and two older sisters started watching "Dark Shadows." I don't remember much about the show, other than Barnabas Collins, Angelique, Quentin, and a bunch of stuff about parallel worlds. It was my assignment to tell my sibs what time it was (the big hand is on the five, the little hand is the three), so they'd know if there was more to come or if the show was over. My best friend and I developed a crush on Quentin. We even named a favorite pillow after him--don't know why. Perhaps it was PC's taking up where "Dark Shadows" left off that made me want to watch. I'm glad I did watch--and will watch until October 3, 2003, the day PC airs its last episode.

PC never really had a chance. It airs at 12:30 p.m. in most markets, a time slot that puts it in direct competition with "The Young and the Restless," the highest rated soap opera. YR has been number one for years. The ABC soaps that previously occupied PC's time slot, "Ryan's Hope," "Loving," and "The City," did not do well in the ratings, either. RH had a fairly long run, no doubt due to critical acclaim and Emmy awards. "Loving" and "The City" did not do better than RH, perhaps they did even worse. ABC should have learned a lesson when it killed off many established (read "older") characters on "Loving" and moved the younger actors to a new version of the show--"The City." Soap fans, no matter their ages, are not necessarily attracted to shows that attempt to be younger, hipper, fresher, etc. "The City" floundered. Soon enough, rumors surfaced that ABC wanted to replace it with a new version of GH. There were supposedly two competing concepts. In one, Ned and Lois, a popular couple, would leave Port Charles, GH's fictional upstate New York setting, and move to NYC. "Port Charles," a show that would focus more on the hospital than "General Hospital," got the go ahead. PC was to focus on the lives of seven interns at the hospital. It was to be, in essence, a younger, hipper version of GH. At least one soap website still refers to PC as GH2, a reflection of its ties to the venerable and still highly rated "General Hospital."

PC was always a weak sister to GH, however, at least as far as ratings go. Lynn Herring and Jon Robert Lindstrom took their characters, Lucy and Kevin, over to the new show. They were an off-beat couple, but very popular. Their popularity did nothing for the ratings, which should have been a clue to ABC to shore up the show by sandwiching it between its other shows, rather than using it as a lead-in to their afternoon soaps. Crossovers of GH characters, occasionally crossing over storylines, and even transplanting wise-cracking lawyer Scott Baldwin from GH to PC (for a time) did not improve the ratings, either.

In desperation (well, one can only presume it was in desperation), the show took a major turn away from its origins by changing from a traditional American soap opera format, where stories can go on for months or years, to a telenovella format. The storylines would be made into books that would last approximately twelve weeks a piece. Each book would have a definite beginning and ending. About two years ago, vampires were introduced in one of the books. After having flirted with supernatural in earlier books, PC went full force into the fantastic, complete with angels, vampire slayers, magic candles, etc. Although the show is nominally set in the same city as GH, the two shows may as well be taking place on different planets. A truncated taping schedule has made it just about impossible for GH and PC to share storylines or have characters cross over from one show to the other without major planning ahead.

I found myself watching PC out of more than just habit. Although the sun never shines in Port Charles, and the characters never seem to go to work or deal with normal, everyday stuff, I have to admit that the show has hooked me. Michael Easton, as the charismatic, husky-voiced vampire-cum-rock star Caleb Morley is fascinating. He can be funny, dramatic, tender, angry. But he never goes over the top. He's made Caleb's shifting motivations and ever changing backstory believable. (It was revealed a few months ago that Caleb was a reluctant vampire--he never wanted to take on his family's heritage. However, he hated being mortal--he was turned back for a brief time--so I guess he revels in being a vampire now.) His great love was once Olivia, then Livvie, then Tess (a kinder, gentler version of Livvie), then Livvie again. Livvie is played by petite brunette Kelly Monaco. She's a find, a beauty who can act. She and the dark-haired Easton are the antagonists to the fair-haired hero and heroine of the show, Rafe--a vampire slayer and former angel--and Alison, his spunky good-hearted girlfriend. Brian Gaskill as Rafe and Erin Hershey Presley as Alison are also strong actors. PC's cast proves that being young and good-looking does not necessarily mean being untalented. Lucy and Kevin, now estranged, are still on the show. But it is the four characters--Caleb, Livvie, Rafe, and Alison--representing darkness and light in both physical appearance and roles, whose relationships form the heart of the show. PC, no matter what supernatural wanderings it takes, is at its heart a show about relationships: friends, family, exes, lovers, husbands and wives, vampires and mortals. And of course there is good vs. evil here, too.

There is a lot about PC that can be annoying, too. The arc format means that storylines are often dropped from one novella to the next. Alison has a long lost sister. That storyline was completely dropped during "Desire," the arc that just ended. Jack, a former vampire who has been burned by Caleb taking both Livvie and Tess away from him, recently went over to the dark side (kind of). Yet we've seen little of the consequences of his choice. Victor was made the building commissioner and then turned into a vampire. It seemed as if his position of power would have lots of storyline potential. We've seen little of him since he was turned. As mentioned before, few of the characters are ever seen going to work, shopping, etc. Soaps have never shown the work world realistically, but at least most shows have characters involved in the real world to some degree. And of course, for the fans of GH, it must be strange to watch PC. No one on the sister show seems to be aware that vampires have taken over the town.

PC's cancellation came on the heels of several nominations for Daytime Emmys. Unfortunately, PC was shut out. The show was favored to win for best drama, but lost to As The World Turns. It seems unfair that the fate of the show could have rested on the shoulders of the few members of a blue ribbon panel that picked best daytime drama. In this case, being nominated was not enough. It is a shame too. The episode that aired on Monday June 30th was nearly Emmy worthy (except for a few abrupt scene changes, it was one of the shows best in months). It stands as a rebuke to the suits at ABC who don't think PC is worth the expense of continued production. Lucy was dying, the only thing that could save her was the blood of an angel. This blood was provided by Karen, one of the original interns (played by recast actress Marie Wilson). Lucy was saved at the last possible moment, of course. Angel Karen kept her vampire ex-boyfriend from killing good guy Jamal, Casey--not your grandma's ange--led Karen up to heaven. Lucy had to tell Scott Baldwin, Karen's father, of his daughter's death. Frank, another original character, said a heartfelt good-bye to Karen's body. The episode was a mix of the new and the old--vampires, angels, interns, GH characters, PC's original characters.

Alas, PC won't have the chance to air a finale. The cast and crew were due to return for production in August. The final arc, "The Gift," is already in the can and will be PC's epitaph. I can only hope that it will be a fitting end to the series. Long live "Port Charles" in reruns and on the internet!

A good PC website is The Port Charles Explosion. This is not only a good PC website. It is one of the best soap opera websites I've come across. There is a forum--very active right now, as one can imagine, recaps, history, petitions to save the show and to have the songs of the show's fictional band, The Stephen Clay Experience, released as a CD. Nice people, very welcoming.

Update: The Port Charles Explosion website has recently changed to encompass all the soaps currently on the air and "Dark Shadows," "Ryan's Hope," and Another World, three defunct shows that still have loyal fans. That group will soon include PC. I was a bit surprised to discover that the site is now covering all the soaps, but it makes sense, given PC's pending demise.