Can "Guiding Light" and "As The World Turns" Survive The Big Change?

amp160This week Procter and Gamble announced its two classic soaps 55yearold Guiding Light 70 including radio and 51yearold As the World Turns both on the quotbubblequot of cancellation that39s programming talk for quotmaybe may notquot will institute new cheaper production techniquesamp160New smaller and less expensive digital cameras and other technology will be used to shoot the new soaps partially outdoors on location in real towns around the New York City area and on sets with four walls instead of threeamp160Will this kind of radical production change save GL and ATWTamp160Artfully executed opening up stuffy old studiobound soaps like ATWT and GL could have its benefitsamp160American fans of the cult British soap Hollyoaks rave about the realism of the show which is regularly produced on outdoor locationsamp160Plus GL executive producer Ellen Wheeler and ATWT executive producer Christopher Goutman who started their soap careers as actors twenty five years ago on PampampG have always been careful intelligent producers whose shows are produced meticulouslyamp160In contrast SoapnetABC39s latest soap General Hospital Night Shift put together cheaply was a sloppy production nightmareamp160ATWT39s Goutman has done a superb job with recent location work shot with digital cameras such as Luke39s accident and three other storyline events all shot on Staten Island over a threeday periodamp160The casts of both ATWT and GL are both solidamp160trained acting veterans who could perform anywhere under any circumstancesCan39t you just see GL39s Kim Zimmer Reva in fur of course mushing a dog sled through the frozen New Jersey tundra in the middle of a February blizzardamp160quotBuck BuckquotOn the other hand one of the major mistakes that can be traced down through soap opera history is penchant survivalthreatened producers and networks have for changing the surface values of a show rather than review and change key elements of its core drama such as writing quality and styleamp160When ABC reworked its failing soap Loving into The City in 1995 network executives crowed about the hip modernizing benefits of moving the cast of a Midwesternbased soap into a hip Soho New York City loftamp160The show was canceled in 1997amp160When ABC39sPort Charles originally a General Hospital spinoff faltered in 2001 several of the key characters were turned into vampires and the show became quasi fantasyscifiamp160It was canceled in 2003amp160These two late soaps are extreme examples of soaps that made stylistic changes and failed anywayamp160By the time both original shows were reworked neither soap was older than twelve yearsamp160GL and ATWT are iconic American classics that have been around for decades amp160Can the radical production changes planned by Procter and Gamble save these showsamp160Or will soap fans who historically hate change just tune outCramp232me De Lacroixamp160Bruce Weitz Anthony Zacchara General HospitalCan I be the firstamp160Although we39ve only heard super Mafioso villain Anthony Zacchara39s voice from behind the closed double doors of his mansion on GeneralHospital actor Bruce Weitz already seems sublime to meamp160Just the highpitched tone of his crazily agitated voice suggests many entertaining scenes to comeamp160His skill as an Emmywinning character actor he played barking detective Becker on Hill St Blues portends all kind of hilarity and solid drama as he faces down mob rival Sonny and everyone else in Port Charles Zacchara comes face to face with Sonny on October 19amp160Marlena sincerely hopes that Zacchara39s madness is of the comic kind and not an excuse for one of those preachy mental health stories

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Can "Guiding Light" and "As The World Turns" Survive The Big Change?

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Jacki Garfinkel

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

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Can "Guiding Light" and "As The World Turns" Survive The Big Change?

Jacki Garfinkel

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

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