Audio suds: Eye of the Storm, Scripts and Scruples, Manhattanites, Westways, The Archers, and more…
It’s amazing that Rodney Dangerfield never guested on a soap, to my knowledge, during his long and colorful career. Like Rodney, some of the best storytelling of the past and present doesn’t get no respect. Yep, I’m talking suds, sirreee. Soap opera.
During the 1970s and 80s, soap opera was not only at the height of its popularity, but also a quiet innovator for social issues and troubles of the day. There were great performers of all ages — some of whom crossed over into the mainstream, like Alec Baldwin, Demi Moore, and Meg Ryan. Even today, you’ll find some of the best performers anywhere working on soaps. You have to be good to work on a soap – you can’t last if you can’t get through a half hour or hour of script every day.
The question is, are the scripts, and storylines as fresh and as solid as they could be? If you really love soaps, today, the hottest place to find and enjoy them is online – through podcasts and internet radio… and soon, through indie film and perhaps web “TV”.
First, some background. Today, even though there’s a cable channel devoted to soaps and daily rebroadcasts, soaps in the United States have suffered from dwindling audience numbers — and, judging by the outcry over “missing kisses” on As the World Turns, the American soap genre is no longer innovating. Yet soaps from Great Britain and other countries, namely the vibrant telenovelas of South America, continue to find eager viewers. We can thank the telenovela, for example, for the massive US hit Ugly Betty.
British Audio Soaps
In the United Kingdom, “Corrie” and The Archers are also doing quite fine, thank you very much. After a head to head battle, the aged Corrie, in fact, hastened Doctor Who’s 1989 “nap” — which is saying something, considering the draw Who has on the British imagination.
It’s not hard for a new listener to get up to speed on The Archers, a rural soap that has been on the air since 1951. The BBC’s website includes a page just for FAQs and for updates on the latest storylines.
Westway was another innovating soap. Like Archers, it started as an educational soap, but developed into a slice of multicultural life in London. It was very popular with international listeners and expatriate Britons listening over BBC’s World Service. I’m told that some Britons didn’t care for it on the national BBC channels, perhaps expecting overseas listeners to tune into a simple ESL show like The Flatmates. Instead of a simple format that encouraged rote learning, foreign listeners heard a solid, continuing drama that covered both a medical practice and the adaptation of immigrants to a new country. Enough complaints were lodged over Westway’s premature death by budget cuts, that BBC continues to air it in reruns on BBC 7, three years after its end. If you like ER, St. Elsewhere, and were charmed by Bend it Like Beckham, which clarified some of the issues for first generation Britons – it’s worth checking out.
I’m hoping that there are other British audio soaps out there, especially those that are independently produced, just waiting to be dug up.
American Audio Soaps
Long time viewers in North America, posting on various websites and forums, are not happy with the state of soapdom. Their beef is not with the traditional soap format, where ordinary people shared extraordinary problems — but with bad writing, casting and lowered expectations by networks.
What’s an fan of American soaps to do, then, when things look unsteady for continuing favorites, and many of the innovative, well-written soaps are long off the air…? Start supporting independent soaps that bring back the classic style.
Eye of the Storm should appeal to fans of Dallas, Capitol, The Edge of Night and Santa Barbara. These were shows thriving in the 1980s, which were as much about villainous business strategy as they were about torrid love affairs. There are explanations of the Storm characters on the website, but I found it instructive to simply dive into the podcasts, centering on the lives and loves of oil-connected folks in Lafayette, Louisiana. It especially compares well with Texas, the spin-off of Another World that followed the popular anti-heroine Iris Cory (no relation!) to Houston — and it’s solidly plotted.
Amazing casting certainly plays a part in Rockland County, a continuing soap project created by Roger Newcomb of Loger, Inc. Each episode is recorded via telephone voice mail by the performers, a seeming limitation which actually enables many well-connected actors, as well as up-and-comers, to participate. Since Newcomb’s long-time favorite soap is the aforementioned Another World, it is a happy surprise to hear the solid soaper Kale Browne (ex-”Michael Hudson”, AW, and currently starring on Days of Our Lives) on several episodes of Rockland County.
Newcomb’s other project is Scripts and Scruples, which has continued for several years, most recently culminating in the connected indie film Manhattanites, a film which ended primary photography this past December. Judging by the trailer, it looks like a lot of fun for fans of soaps both past and present. I’d mention that the actors here have great chops, only it looks like someone will get chopped during the run-time of the film. Forbes March and David Fumero of One Life to Live, and Aiden Turner of All My Children are just some of the familiar faces here. Darnell Williams, ex-AMC, co-directs with Newcomb’s long-time collaborator Gregori J. Martin.
Frankly… The thrill here for me is spotting March’s castmate Ilene Kristen, who older viewers remember as the instigator of much devilry on Ryan’s Hope. You just know Kristen’s going to be fun to watch when you spot a still like this.
