"General Hospital: Night Shift" -- The Future of Soap Operas?

amp160Industry doomsayers continue to hint that daytime dramas will become extinct during the next few years destroyed by a perfect storm of changing lifestyles digital competition escalating budgets and aging demographics amp8211 not to mention terrible storytelling But there may be a way to save them In fact the model for their salvation is already in place on SOAPnet a basic cable network initially conceived as a secondrun showcase for ABCamp8217s soap operasamp160Iamp8217m speaking of General Hospital Night Shift the nighttime spinoff of ABC Daytimeamp8217s longrunning serial General Hospital that just concluded its outstanding second season Under the very skilled guidance of head writer Sri Rao and executive producer Lisa De Cazotte Night Shift served up all of the elements of a perfect daytime drama and even though SOAPnet debuted only one new episode per week the experience of watching it and thinking about it brought all of the rewards that used to come with following a daily serial and required only 15th of the time commitment It was so entertaining in fact that I found myself wishing that SOAPnet had produced two episodes per week during its three month runamp160Perhaps this is the new model that might save the eight soap operas currently on broadcast television ABCamp8217s General Hospital One Life to Live and All My Children CBSamp8217 The Young ampamp the Restless The Bold and the Beautiful As the World Turns and Guiding Light and NBCamp8217s Days of Our Lives Maybe they all have a future in a stripped down twiceweekly format if not on their current networks where two installments a week would dismantle historically rigid daytime schedules then on SOAPnet or other cable outlets like USA Network or Oxygenamp160Regardless if scaled back versions of these shows proved to be as superior to their original formats as Night Shift was to General Hospital soap opera fans would have much to celebrate Advertisers might also be happier with a more concentrated and focused audience for these franchises Of course maintaining the networksamp8217 current daytime dramas while developing weekly spinoffs of same and amortizing their production budgets is another interesting optionamp160One canamp8217t help but give thought to the business and creative opportunities that Night Shift appears to have made possible I say this because Night Shift has in recent months given me as much to smile about as any soap opera has in many years It reminded me why I became a passionate fan of General Hospital 30 years ago and it did so in a manner nobody could have predicted transforming what had been in its freshman season a perfectly putrid spinoff of a soap opera that is now a mere shadow of its fantastic former self into a sophomore series that embodied almost everything that was sublime about its mothership back in its heyday It was a threemonth treat filled with characters from and references to that glorious period delivered in a storytelling style that was as sophisticated and respectful as it was heartfelt and thoughtfulamp160Like hundreds of thousands or could it be millions of GH fans I have felt increasingly beaten down by the showamp8217s dark dreary and sometimes depraved storytelling during the last ten years which has glamorized criminal activity and pathological behavior while dishonoring doctors nurses police officers military personnel and other everyday heroes But Night Shift lifted me out of that abyss and allowed me during the last three months if only on a weekly basis to experience some of the perfect pleasure that GH served up on a daily basis until it went so terribly wrong For the first time in years I couldnamp8217t wait to visit the town of Port Charles and hang with the staff at General Hospital Thatamp8217s what a good soap opera is supposed to do Rao and De Cazotte brought back the heart the humor and the community of it all It was as if they heard my personal complaints heeded my professional advice and did what they did just for meamp160Night Shift only got better as the season moved along especially in its mature thoughtful telling of super spy Robert Scorpioamp8217s battle with cancer and the efforts of his exwife Anna Devane and pregnant daughter Robin to care for him during his time of need On GH the Scorpio family was rudely ripped apart over 17 years ago but this summer we got to watch as it pulled itself back together Tristan Rogers has been playing Robert off and on since 1981 and Finola Hughes has played Anna on GH and on All My Children since 1985 but they were never better individually and their chemistry together was never more powerful than during the last few weeks of Night Shift Rao and his writing team even managed to make good use of Antonio Sabato Jr a likeable actor who is not exactly known for his dramatic skills as Jagger Cates the largely forgettable character he played on GH in the early Nineties who hadnamp8217t been seen since 1993 Just as the storyline about Robertamp8217s cancer brought closure to the longrunning separation of the Scorpios so did the tale of Jagger and his autistic son give voice to unspoken feelings about the deaths of the two people Jagger loved most His exwife Karen who died from supernatural causes on the shortlived GH spinoff Port Charles and his brother Stone who passed from AIDS in 1985amp160But the retro respect didnamp8217t stop there In the first half of the twopart Night Shift season finale Rao and De Cazotte gave longtime fans multiple closures of their own During a fever dream brought on by the torment of his cancer and its treatment Robert was surrounded by the characters he and we loved best in the Eighties Robin Anna best friend Luke Spencer former fling Tiffany Hill and World Security Bureau colleague Sean Donnelly along with younger bro Mac Scorpio The only significant characters missing were Frisco and Felicia Jones and Robertamp8217s other wife Holly Sutton amp8211 though Hollyamp8217s name was gingerly dropped by Tiffanyamp160amp160The Scorpio and Jagger stories and the actors in them werenamp8217t the only laudable elements of the vastly improved Night Shift There were many new characters on hand who felt like old friends after the first few weeks played by an exciting group of highly appealing young actors Adam Grimes and Ethan Rains as battling brothers Kyle an intern and Leo Julian a doctor Carrie Southworth as intern Claire Simpson and Azita Ghanizada as Dr Saira Batra all excelled in highly emotional storylines Grimes was especially good in the story of Kyleamp8217s tentative relationship with gravely ill patient Eric Whitlow played by Chad Allenamp160I donamp8217t know what Rao and De Cazotte have in mind for Season 3 I donamp8217t even know if there will be a Season 3 But I would be just as happy to see these amp8220newamp8221 characters again as I would be thrilled to see Robert Jagger Tiffany and Sean return If they really want to rock us Rao and De Cazotte should consider additional appearances by Leslie Charleson as Dr Monica Quartermaine she showed up twice this season and guest turns by Denise Alexander as Dr Lesley Webber and Jaclyn Zeman as Nurse Bobbie Spencer As for other blasts from the past isnamp8217t it about time for Dr Jeff Webber and his son Steven Lars to return to Port Charles And what is Audrey Hardy up to these daysamp160amp160amp160amp160amp160

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"General Hospital: Night Shift" -- The Future of Soap Operas?

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