I know soaps aren't your ...
Question: I know soaps aren't your beat, but perhaps you've heard something: Have any of the soaps run out of scripts yet? I heard at the start of the writers' strike that most shows had scripts stockpiled until January. And I understand that writers in the 1988 strike made undercover drops of scripts (in alleys and on dark street corners) to keep their shows running. But I've heard nothing since. What's happening?
Answer: From what I understand about it, which isn't a lot, the daytime soaps did stockpile several months' worth of material before the strike, and it's unclear which and how many shows have entirely used up their inventory. Since then, some writers have returned to work under a special provision and some shows may have kept going by bending if not breaking the rules to keep the lights on. Understandably, no one's going out of their way to shed light on the process, though the
New York Times did attempt to explain the situation in a story earlier this week. The bottom line for many of these shows is that going dark is not an option. Daytime soaps are very much an endangered species, and if some of the more marginal ones disappear even briefly, they may never return.
