6. Struggles for Survival: Stagnation and Innovation

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgments vii
4. Introduction 1
5. PART I. THE NEW TV SOAP: Late 1940s to early 1960s
6. 1. Serials in Transition: From Radio to Television 19
7. 2. Daytime Therapy: Help and Healing in the Postwar Soap 44
8. PART II. THE CLASSIC NETWORK ERA: Mid-1960s to late 1980s
9. 3. Building Network Power: The Broadcasting Business and the Craft of Soap Opera 73
10. 4. Turning to Relevance: Social Issue Storytelling 106
11. 5. Love in the Afternoon: The Fracturing Fantasies of the Soap Boom 153
12. PART III. A POST NETWORK AGE: Late 1980s to 2010s
13. 6. Struggles for Survival: Stagnation and Innovation 199
14. 7. Reckoning with the Past: Reimagining Characters and Stories 236
15. 8. Can Her Stories Go On? Soap Opera in a Digital Age 280
16. Notes 299
17. Bibliography 357
18. Index 369