Soapers - E-book - ePub

'Soapers' is the story of a social movement that emerged in April, 2011 when Disney/ABC simultaneously announced the cancellation of not one but two popular daytime soap operas, 'All My Children' and 'One Life to Live.' At first soap fans were numb and in shock. Then they got angry. ... And then they got organized. On Friday, September 23, 2011 the last network episode of All My Children aired and on Friday, January 13, 2012, the end came for One Life to Live.
For over forty years these stories and characters had been in the homes, lives, families, and hearts of Soapers. Using social media platforms Soapers began to organize, plan cross-country protests, and initiate widespread campaigns and boycotts. There had been outrage before about soap operas being canceled but never had fans joined together like this. With hundreds of Facebook groups and pages, websites, countless Twitter accounts, and tens of thousands of fans, a true David and Goliath story emerged.
No one started out to be a soap opera activist but as the movement to have these shows reinstated grew, many became just that.'Soapers' offers a 50, 000-foot view of the soap movement from its humble beginnings through resurrection on a new media platform - the Internet, and a second heartbreaking cancellation. It also offers a view of Soapers and their hopes for the future. In true soap opera style, the soap movement is a roller coaster of emotional ups and downs, twist and turns, victories and defeats.
No real on-air soap opera could contain more drama than the story of the soap movement, replete with rumors, innuendos, plot twists, left turns, sponsor targets, mainstream media spotlights, lawsuits, fan wars, and even a dose or two of Oprah Winfrey in the mix.'Soapers' chronicles the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly side of the soap fan world. Soapers take down names and take no prisoners when it comes to their beloved stories (ask the people of one of the network replacement shows).
Underneath all the high drama of the soap opera world 'Soapers' reveals a very unexpectedly diverse, broad, passionate, and complex fan base fueling it all. While soap fans will enjoy 'Soapers, ' non-soap fans may gain even more from it. The derogatory stereotypes of Soapers being lazy, mumu-wearing, bonbon eating couch potatoes watching mindless, meaningless television gives way to a new understanding and sometimes surprising revelation of the value of soap operas.