Is There Still a Future for Soap Operas?

With the immortal words "Good morning, dear," actress Helen Wagner (Nancy Hughes) opened the CBS soap opera 'As the World Turns' on April 1, 1956. Alas, in light of the show's cancellation on Dec. 8, longtime soap fans are wondering if they'll be saying, "Good-bye, dear," to the beloved daytime genre entirely.

Martha Byrne, who played Lily for over 20 years on 'As the World Turns,' counters that working moms are still watching daytime. "I'm a working mom and I have been my whole life," the actress says. "I make sure I find time to watch 'Y&R'; my friends do, too. They watch SOAPnet. They like having the freedom to watch after their kids have gone to bed."

Given that shift in viewership, the future of soaps may ultimately lie in the Web. Byrne is one of a handful of actresses who've created Web soap operas. Her program 'Gotham' utilizes familiar faces from daytime, as does Chappell's 'Venice.' "I certainly think that we're going to see more shows pop up on the Web," says Chappell, who hastens to add, "I'm not convinced that daytime network TV won't survive. It'll have to tweak itself and do it for less money."

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