In a curious overlap of two audiences which, I am told, don’t often overlap to a large degree, Julia Quinn’s novel The Lost Duke of Wyndham is featured in the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest because the cover features Norwegian actress Ewa da Cruz from As the World Turns. Several SBTB readers pointed that out when we discussed the cover awhile back, which I never would have known, as I don’t watch soap operas. The article in the Digest is part interview with da Cruz, and part review.
Which brings me to my next question: how many of you who are romance fans also follow a soap? I never got into them, though I admit to being totally enthralled with possessed Marlena with those freakass creepy contact lenses on Days of Our Lives all those years ago. But I’ve never been a big soap fan. I went to college with a large core of viewers who would tape them and watch together at the end of the day, but I couldn’t stomach the fact that anyone who earned a happy ending wouldn’t stay blissful for more than 2 episodes. There would be a fireside lovemaking scene with the L-shaped sheet (covers her from clavicle to thigh, but barely covers his manly pelvis, ahem), and a really opulent wedding, then, commence angst, drama and unhappiness! I just couldn’t take it. Are you a soap fan? Which one?
And where can I get some of Marlene’s freakass creepy contact lenses?
SonomaLass, I understand what you’re saying about the story structure on soaps. Like someone said earlier in the thread, I tend to like my stories with a beginning, a middle & an end. Popping in & out of the various shows allows me to sort of create artificial endings in a medium that doesn’t have them naturally.
About Marlena being possessed—-I’m pretty sure she was only possessed by the devil once. She was evil at other times because she was under Stephano’s mind control or had been replaced by her evil twin (played by the actress’s real life twin sister).
Humph. They did all the paranormal stuff first and better on good ol’ Dark Shadows in the 60s.
Sign me,
Still in love with Barnabas Collins
Romance and soaps have always been linked in my mind—but that’s probably because my mother is heavily into both. She even named my brother after a character on Guiding Light. I recently found out that my friends’ moms gave her grief about letting me watch soaps and read her romances (my friends weren’t allowed to do either), saying that they would “rot my brain” and give me “wrong ideas about men.” According to a good friend, my sweet librarian mother very tartly replied, “I choose to believe that my daughter has the ability to decide what entertains her. She’s smart enough to know the difference between fantasy and reality. When she comes home with a wicked count or something, then I’ll start worrying.” My mom is awesome.
I’m a primetime soap girl. It’s sad, really. I’ve scheduled my grad classes around One Tree Hill. I love it—it’s insane! Psycho Derek, anyone?
I don’t really watch the daytime soaps now. I just don’t have time. I watched General Hospital in high school and college; my friends and I just had to know what happened with Liz and Lucky. (I don’t care who’s playing him now. Jonathan Jackson will always be Lucky to me.) My best friend obsessed with Days of Our Lives. I watched it with her during college—we’d eat lunch in the dorm so she wouldn’t miss it—but I couldn’t get into it. I do wish I’d been able to watch possessed Marlena!
Whoops. *was* obsessed.
Yep, I’ve watched soaps for many, many years, and will probably do so for many years to come. My level of commitment has gone up and down, but somehow I always come back to them. And it usually takes only one couple or character to turn me on the rest of the show. I’m coming off a five-year run with General Hospital, mostly due to Nikolas and Emily. And talking about the lack of HEA, well, when it comes to this couple, don’t get me started. I’ve watched Days of Our Lives for Jack and Jennifer and Chloe and Brady, watched All My Children for Dixie and Tad (ANOTHER HEA pissed away). And others have come and gone.
To me, soaps are the equivalent of comfort food. They take no effort to watch, they give me a small pleasure in my day, and, unlike mac and cheese, they don’t they don’t make me feel guilty after indulging.