How To Watch Television

38. One Life to Live: Soap Opera Storytelling

355 38 One Life to Live Soap Opera Storytelling Abigail De Kosnik Abstract: Few genres are as associated with the television medium as the soap opera , which has populated daytime schedules for decades, often with the same shows running for more than the lifetimes of their characters. Abigail De Kosnik provides a long-term view of One Life to Live and the lifelong story of one character to highlight the unique narrative possibilities of soap operas and call attention to what might be lost if the genre continues to disappear from television. In 2012, only four U.S. daytime dramas, or soap operas, remained in production , while as recently as 1999, twelve soap operas were broadcast daily. The last decade has witnessed a wave of cancellations of soaps, most of which enjoyed tremendous longevity, especially in comparison to primetime TV programs, which rarely reach a tenth season. In recent years, four of the most venerable soaps were terminated: Guiding Light (CBS, 1937–2009) ended after seventy-two years of continuous broadcast (fifteen years on the radio and fifty-seven years on television); As the World Turns (CBS, 1956–2010) concluded after fifty-four years; All My Children (ABC, 1970–2011) ran for forty-one years before its last episode aired; and One Life to Live (ABC, 1968–2012) was forty-four years old by its final broadcast. With four soap operas still airing daily on broadcast television (as of this writing), and soap-like genres growing in popularity outside the United States, the long-running serial television drama is not yet obsolete. However, the cluster of recent forced finales indicates that U.S. television networks no longer believe that soaps are worth significant investment. The years 2009–2012 have been a “twilight” period for the American soap opera, with the genre’s ranks diminishing swiftly and audiences beginning to accept that soaps, which had always presented themselves as “worlds without end,” are headed for extinction. It is possible, even likely, that all U.S. daytime drama production will shut down in the next ten to twenty years. 356 Abigail De Kosnik Therefore, now may be an appropriate time to reflect on what soaps have been uniquely able to present in their extended runs—namely, lifelong stories, or stories that span some characters’ entire lives. Even though soaps have large ensemble casts, and regular soap viewers follow the plot arcs of dozens of characters, only a handful of characters on each daytime drama have “lived” their entire lives on the show. These characters, in most cases played continuously by one actor, form the core of their respective soap operas, serving as touchstones for all other characters and the fulcrums for many major storylines. On All My Children, modelturned -mogul Erica Kane was the most prominent lifelong character; on One Life to Live, it was the aristocratic-but-tortured Victoria (Viki) Lord; Guiding Light’s most prominent lifelong character was probably attorney Tom Hughes. Erica and Viki were integral to their respective shows from the premieres, and Tom was born five years after the show’s debut, but other lifelong characters appeared on their soaps at much later points in the shows’ runs, such as General Hospital’s (ABC, 1963–present) Robin Scorpio and Lucky Spencer, Days of Our Lives’ (NBC, 1965–present) Hope Williams Brady, and Guiding Light’s Lily Walsh Snyder. What defines lifelong characters is that they are featured on their shows for decades, so that many viewers have a sense of witnessing their entire lifetimes, or a very large portion it. Most of the aforementioned characters started as children or teens on their shows, so viewers feel as if they watched those characters “grow up,” or, if they started watching soaps at an early age, that they grew up with the characters . Different generations of soap viewers may attach to different generations of soap characters, and people may miss out on several years of characters’ lives if they stop watching soaps for a period of time and then resume regular viewing, but the intergenerational community of soap fans is available to fill in knowledge gaps. Oral histories relayed from fan to fan, as well as elaborate character histories published in book format and online, make it possible for a soap fan to follow, or retrospectively learn about, every major event in a soap character’s life. This essay focuses on the lifelong story of Viki Lord, the central character of One Life to Live. Viki’s expansive narrative...