Includes interviews that provide various perspectives of the soap opera television.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Challenges to the Future of Soaps. Introduction: The Crisis of Daytime Drama and What It Means for the Future of Television / Sam Ford, Abigail De Kosnik, and C. Lee Harrington -- Perspective: Scholars Barbara Irwin and Mary Cassata on the State of U.S. Soap Operas -- Perspective: Historian William J. Reynolds on Memories of The Edge of Night -- Perspective: Writer Patrick Mulcahey on Changes in Soap Opera Writing Contracts -- Perspective: Actor Tristan Rogers on Changes in Soaps' Industry, Audiences, and Texts -- Daytime Budget Cuts / Sara A. Bibel -- Agnes Nixon and Soap Opera "Chemistry Tests" / Carol Traynor Williams -- Giving Soaps a Good Scrub: ABC's Ugly Betty and the Ethnicity of Television Formats / Jaime J. Nasser -- The Way We Were: The Institutional Logics of Professionals and Fans in the Soap Opera Industry / Melissa C. Scardaville -- Capitalizing on History. Perspective: Scholar Horace Newcomb on the Pleasures and Influence of Soaps -- Perspective: Scholar Robert C. Allen on Studying Soap Opera -- Growing Old Together: Following As the World Turns' Tom Hughes through the Years -- Perspective: Writer Kay Alden on What Makes Soaps Unique -- Perspective: Scholar Nancy Baym on Soaps after the O. J. Simpson Trial -- Of Soap Operas, Space Operas, and Television's Rocky Romance with the Feminine Form / Christine Scodari -- The Ironic and Convoluted Relationship between Daytime and Primetime Soap Operas / Lynn Liccardo -- Perspective: Scholar Louise Spence on Comparing the Soap Opera to Other Forms -- Perspective: Scholar Jason Mittell on the Ties between Daytime and Primetime Serials -- Preserving Soap History: What Will It Mean for the Future of Soaps? / Mary Jeanne Wilson -- Did the 2007 Writers Strike Save Daytime's Highest-Rated Drama? / J. A. Metzler -- Experimenting with Production and Distribution. "The Rhetoric of the Camera in Television Soap Opera" Revisited: The Case of General Hospital / Bernard M. Timberg and Ernest Alba -- It's Not All Talk: Editing and Storytelling in As the World Turns / Deborah L. Jaramillo -- Guiding Light: Relevance and Renewal in a Changing Genre / Patrick Erwin -- The Evolution of the Production Process of Soap Operas Today / Erick Yates Green -- From Daytime to Night Shift: Examining the ABC Daytime/SOAPnet Primetime Spin-off Experiment / Raquel Gonzales -- "What the hell does TIIC mean?" Online Content and the Struggle to Save the Soaps / Elana Levine -- The Evolution of the Fan Video and the Influence of YouTube on the Creative Decision-Making Process for Fans / Emma F. Webb -- Learning from Diverse Audiences. Soaps for Tomorrow: Media Fans Making Online Drama from Celebrity Gossip / Abigail De Kosnik -- Soap Opera Critics and Criticism: Industry and Audience in an Era of Transformation / Denise D. Bielby -- Hanging on by a Common Thread / Julie Porter -- Perspective: Fan Site Moderator QueenEve on Fan Activity around and against Soaps -- The Role of "The Audience" in the Writing Process / om Casiello -- The "Missing Years": How Local Programming Ruptured Days of Our Lives in Australia / Radha O'Meara -- As the World Turns' Luke and Noah and Fan Activism / Roger Newcomb -- Constructing the Older Audience: Age and Aging in Soaps / C. Lee Harrington and Denise Brothers.