Discuss Jerry Douglas
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RIP
posted by DRDMovieMusingsSTAFFMOD on November 12, 2021 at 12:51 PM
Soap operas created the illusion that we, the audience, are actually following the convoluted lives of real people at a sort of real-time scale. We grew with these characters over many years, longer than any movie franchise or even a weekly sitcom - while most shows fit a time and have a relatively short shelf life, soap opera characters can last a literal lifetime.
I remember "John Abbott" - of all the soap operas, my mom followed just one, The Young and the Restless, in part because it aired twice a day, which allowed her to catch it whether she was on her day shift or night shift. By osmosis, I got to know the characters, the story lines...and, while I ended up resolutely on team Victor and couldn't stand Jack, I always felt John was a reasonable guy who, unfortunately, had an idiot for a son. Douglas brought a humanity to this character that endured for decades and towered above all the crazy shenanigans amongst the Abbott brood.
Reply by genplant29
on November 12, 2021 at 11:34 PM
RIP, Mr. Douglas.
I never watched TY&tR, so am not actually familiar with this actor nor his work. I want, however, to comment (a bit off-topic, I realize [and for which I apologize]) regarding something you mentioned above.
You mentioned TY&tR used to air twice a day. That reminded me that, I don't recall when exactly though seems like probably was sometime during the last 10-15 years, at least General Hospital was broadcast, temporarily, during the early a.m., I believe from 2 to 3 a.m. (US Eastern time). I now and then encountered it and watched a bit when channel-surfing late night, and thought having an overnight soap broadcast, of a normally afternoon show, was a good idea; it made it possible, for a short while, for a whole additional set of viewers (night owls and some shift workers) to follow it.
If I recall correctly, during the relatively brief (probably was only a matter of weeks) period there were the early-a.m. soap broadcasts, it was due to something specific in the news having preempted afternoon t.v. for a while. May have been daily live telecasts of some type political hearings or something like that.
Reply by DRDMovieMusings
on November 13, 2021 at 7:35 PM
I would not have expected a late night broadcast to hit a soap opera's target audience, who were "housewives" - most of whom would likely have been asleep to get up in the morning and hustle everyone out the door.
For my mom (and all those like her), the two broadcasts in the day (the mid-day a recap of the previous day's late afternoon show) enabled her/viewers to keep abreast of the drama without missing too much.
What blew me away was, in high school, seeing my pals talk about the show at school - somehow, what was "my mom's show" through the 70s managed to become cool to a whole new demographic, teenagers in the 80s. But, they didn't talk about General Hospital or Days of Our Lives or As the World Turns or The Edge of Tomorrow - nope, just "The Y&R".
I'm not sure what the rational was for a late night broadcast for this type of show... but then, I'm not a tv executive, so what do I know?!