On Pretty Much Pop, a philosopher, an actor, and a sci-fi writer (often with entertainment industry guests) talk about media and how we consume it: TV, film, music, novels, games, comics, comedy, theater, podcasts, and more. Most of what (other) people like is pretty weird when you think about it, so thinking about it is what we do.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:46 — 51.4MB)
Writers Sarahlyn Bruck and Kayla Dreysse join Mark to discuss how this once very popular TV show type has simultaneously become niche yet has had a tremendous influence on current prestige TV as well as reality shows. We talk about soaps' story and structure conventions, the demands on soap actors and writers, and how changing market forces and technology have affected the genre. How much of a role does sexism play in the critical dismissal of soaps?
In addition to the daytime soaps like General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful, we touch on nighttime soaps like Dallas, teen soaps like Beverly Hills 90210, Downton Abbey, White Orchid, Breaking Bad, 24, Gray's Anatomy, and more.
Get Sarahlyn's novel Daytime Drama and follow her at @sarahlynbruck.
We all watched the 2020 documentary The Story of Soaps, which is available on YouTube. A fun podcast Mark listened to some of is A Trip Down Soap Lane.
Other sources that inspired us included:
- "How Soap Operas Changed TV Forever" by Matt Zoller Seitz
- "How TV Fell Back in Love With Soaps" by Margaret Lyons
- "For 70 Years, the Soap Opera Has Shaped American Pop Culture" by Lorraine Ali
- "How Soap Operas Pioneered the Depiction of LGBTQ Characters" by Lynette Rice
- "Why Don’t Soap Operas Look Like Primetime Shows?" by Calvin Motley
- "'GMA 40 for 40': Behind the Scenes at General Hospital" at ABC News
Sample the Muppets' fake soap opera that Mark's intro references.
This episode includes bonus discussion you can access by supporting the podcast at patreon.com/prettymuchpop, or now you can sign up directly via Apple Podcasts for a subscription for ad-free and bonus material for three of Mark's podcasts together on the Mark Lintertainment Podcasts Channel.
This podcast is part of the Partially Examined Life podcast network and is curated by openculture.com.
Sponsors: Use the code "Pretty" at Nebia.com/pretty to get 10% off a superior shower experience. Get a loan to lower your monthly payments at Upstart.com/PRETTY.
Leave a Reply