The soap opera, one of U.S. television's longest-running and most influential formats, is on the brink. Declining ratings have been attributed to an increasing number of women working outside the home and to an intensifying competition for viewers' attention from cable and the Internet. Yet, soaps' influence has expanded, with serial narratives becoming commonplace on most prime time TV programs. The Survival of Soap Opera investigates the causes of their dwindling popularity, describes their impact on TV and new media culture, and gleans lessons from their complex history for twenty-first-century media industries. The book contains contributions from established soap scholars such as Robert C. Allen, Louise Spence, Nancy Baym, and Horace Newcomb, along with essays and interviews by emerging scholars, fans and Web site moderators, and soap opera producers, writers, and actors from ABC's General Hospital, CBS's The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, and other shows. This diverse group of voices seeks to intervene in the discussion about the fate of soap operas at a critical juncture, and speaks to longtime soap viewers, television studies scholars, and media professionals alike.

Since the debut of These Are My Children in 1949, the daytime television soap opera has been foundational to the history of the medium as an economic, creative, technological, social, and cultural institution. In Her Stories, Elana Levine draws on archival research and her experience as a longtime soap fan to provide an in-depth history of the daytime television soap opera as a uniquely gendered cultural form and a central force in the economic and social influence of network television. Closely observing the production, promotion, reception, and narrative strategies of the soaps, Levine examines two intersecting developments: the role soap operas have played in shaping cultural understandings of gender and the rise and fall of broadcast network television as a culture industry. In so doing, she foregrounds how soap operas have revealed changing conceptions of gender and femininity as imagined by and reflected on the television screen.

The renowned actress who played Nikki Newman on The Young and the Restless opens up about her sixty-year career in this scintillating memoir. Melody Thomas Scott admits she is nothing like her character on The Young and the Restless, who’s seen it all in her forty-year tenure on America’s highest-rated daytime serial. But there’s plenty of drama beyond her character’s plotlines. In this captivating memoir, Melody reveals the behind-the-scenes saga of her journey to stardom and personal freedom. As Nikki went from impoverished stripper to vivacious heroine, Melody underwent her own striking transformation, becoming a household name in the process. Raised by her abusive grandmother, Melody acted in feature films with Alfred Hitchcock, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood—and endured abuse of industry men before taking control of her life and career in a daring getaway move. Melody shares all this, plus juicy on-and-off-set details of what it’s like to be one half of the show’s most successful supercouple, “Niktor.” In witty, warm prose, readers meet the persevering heart of an American icon. Prepare to be moved by a life story fit for a soap opera star.

As the notorious Reva Shayne on the daytime television drama Guiding Light, Kim Zimmer portrayed a vixen, a manic-depressive, an Amish woman, a time traveler, a Civil War belle, a talk show host, a cancer survivor, a loving mother, and a devoted wife. In her more than two decades on the show, she earned eleven Daytime Emmy nominations and four wins, not to mention a legion of loving fans. Now, in this heartfelt memoir, Zimmer delves into her experiences as a daytime diva. Packed with on- and off-set photographs and behind-the-scenes information, blatantly honest and wildly indiscreet, I’m Just Sayin’ tells all in an insightful journey through the parallel lives of Reva Shayne and Kim Zimmer—and the true stories behind the longest-running drama in television and radio history.

Soap opera has become the most popular form of radio and television drama and now constitutes the biggest market for modern day dramatists. For the new writer, as well as those experienced in other genres, this book reveals how Soap works. As well as covering the specifics of Soap writing, Chris Curry guides the writer through the uniquely collaborative process from storylining to finished script. 'A clear, honest, practical and funny guide to soap writing' - Valerie Windsor.

A dispute of the simplistic illusion of soap fans as bored housewives or losers.

Soap operas have captured loyal, often lifelong viewers since the first American daytime serial debuted in 1949. In this collection of 29 new and five classic essays and recollections, authors and soap opera insiders delve into the passion for television melodrama that compels viewers to "tune in tomorrow." The contributors include iconic soap star Thorsten Kaye, journalist Leigh Montville, authors Elinor Lipman and Ann Hood, and editors of Soaps in Depth magazine. They explore the soap phenomenon from a range of perspectives and consider the appeal of a venerable genre in which, as novelist Jacquelyn Mitchard observes, "everyone's life was more depressing than mine."