Post by Niki on Apr 28, 2009 19:46:02 GMT -5
www.news-press.com/article/20090428/LIFESTYLES/90428053/1075
April Fool’s Day this year was no joke for the cast of “Guiding Light.”
That’s when the actors found out their soap opera will be canceled.
Their bubble burst.
Born in 1937 as a 15-minute radio show between soap commercials, “Guiding Light” is the longest-running soap opera ever.
Or was.
“We held our breath to see if it was someone’s bad idea of an April Fool’s joke, but it wasn’t,” actor Jeff Branson, 32, says from his cell phone as he takes a cab during a shooting break in Manhattan to get a tuna salad sandwich on seven-grain bread.
Branson plays Shayne Lewis on the daytime drama.The last episode will air in September.
“Right now, nerves are really raw,” he says. “Everybody’s really shocked at the timing because the ratings have been going up.”
Branson is referring to the last few months.
Before that, the CBS show was sliding along a downward trend, according to Pat Berry, creator of the 11th annual SoapFest on Marco Island, which kicks off May 2.
The show scored 2.1 million viewers an episode this year, Berry says. Five years ago, about 3 million people watched the daytime drama.
“It’s a shame. People have been watching for generations,” Berry says. “What are they going to put in its place? Another game show or talk show? Boring.”
Berry doesn’t buy the ratings reason.
She believes the cancellation is money-related.
CBS cut costs in recent years when it changed production to a digital format.
That move included using hand-held digital cameras and permanent, four-wall sets as opposed to the traditional, constantly reconstructed three-wall sets built by soaps to accommodate bulky pedestal cameras.
Rather than expensive lighting and sound equipment, the show also began using hand-held lights and microphones.
The changes resulted in a look vastly different from the traditional soap, with more camera movement, more muted lighting and much more use of outside locations.
“In the daytime genre, our fan base typically doesn’t like change much, but they were coming around,” Branson says.
Branson attributes the snuffing out of his soap to viewers’ shorter attention spans, more choices, the flailing economy and the emergence of low-cost reality shows.
(2 of 2)
Even so, he and the rest of the cast plan to give it their all to the very end, he says.
Acting in a soap opera is tough work.
Shooting lasts eight to 10 hours a day, and memorizing the ever-changing script takes three to five hours a day.
“I’m memorizing 80 pages a week,” he says.
Born in St. Louis, Branson didn’t have acting aspirations while growing up.
If you asked him then what he wanted to be, he would’ve said a professional motor cross driver.
Then Branson broke his kneecap in football, and he had to take strong pain medication. The coach’s wife taught drama at the school, and Branson was told he could sleep it off in her class.
One day Branson started paying attention, and the seeds of his acting future were planted.
But for 10 years, Branson struggled to pay his rent in New York City while he studied acting, auditioned and bartended.
He landed his first big role on “All My Children” in 2004.
After his character took a backseat in the story line, he joined “Guiding Light” and his first scenes aired in December 2008.
John Driscoll, 27, took another route to his “Guiding Light” role as Coop Bradshaw.
A native of Fort Belvoir, Va., Driscoll was plucked by a talent scout at a Nautica store in the Potomac Mills Mall.
“It was my first day on the job, and a talent scout came in and said ‘You’ve got great looks. Have you ever considered modeling?’ I laughed at the guy at first,” Driscoll recalls.
Soon Driscoll was modeling for Armani and Versace. Then came the commercials and teen TV shows such as “Dawson’s Creek.”
Driscoll joined “Guiding Light” in August 2004.
His character died a dramatic death four years later, in January.
“There were no hard feelings,” Driscoll says about being written off the show. “It was my time. Everyone has their time. It’s not about the actor. It’s about the character and the story.”
Still, it was an emotional time.
“It was tough. I was crying. We all did everything together,” he says.
Driscoll has a similar equable attitude about the show’s cancellation.
“I couldn’t believe it. I really thought they were making some progress. But this ball had been put into motion a couple months beforehand,” he says. “It’s frustrating, but it’s a business.”
Berry thinks the decision will set off a domino effect on the whole soap opera industry.
“If ‘Guiding Light’ goes, I think it’s the first of many,” she says. “It’s the end of daytime.”
April Fool’s Day this year was no joke for the cast of “Guiding Light.”
That’s when the actors found out their soap opera will be canceled.
Their bubble burst.
Born in 1937 as a 15-minute radio show between soap commercials, “Guiding Light” is the longest-running soap opera ever.
Or was.
“We held our breath to see if it was someone’s bad idea of an April Fool’s joke, but it wasn’t,” actor Jeff Branson, 32, says from his cell phone as he takes a cab during a shooting break in Manhattan to get a tuna salad sandwich on seven-grain bread.
Branson plays Shayne Lewis on the daytime drama.The last episode will air in September.
“Right now, nerves are really raw,” he says. “Everybody’s really shocked at the timing because the ratings have been going up.”
Branson is referring to the last few months.
Before that, the CBS show was sliding along a downward trend, according to Pat Berry, creator of the 11th annual SoapFest on Marco Island, which kicks off May 2.
The show scored 2.1 million viewers an episode this year, Berry says. Five years ago, about 3 million people watched the daytime drama.
“It’s a shame. People have been watching for generations,” Berry says. “What are they going to put in its place? Another game show or talk show? Boring.”
Berry doesn’t buy the ratings reason.
She believes the cancellation is money-related.
CBS cut costs in recent years when it changed production to a digital format.
That move included using hand-held digital cameras and permanent, four-wall sets as opposed to the traditional, constantly reconstructed three-wall sets built by soaps to accommodate bulky pedestal cameras.
Rather than expensive lighting and sound equipment, the show also began using hand-held lights and microphones.
The changes resulted in a look vastly different from the traditional soap, with more camera movement, more muted lighting and much more use of outside locations.
“In the daytime genre, our fan base typically doesn’t like change much, but they were coming around,” Branson says.
Branson attributes the snuffing out of his soap to viewers’ shorter attention spans, more choices, the flailing economy and the emergence of low-cost reality shows.
(2 of 2)
Even so, he and the rest of the cast plan to give it their all to the very end, he says.
Acting in a soap opera is tough work.
Shooting lasts eight to 10 hours a day, and memorizing the ever-changing script takes three to five hours a day.
“I’m memorizing 80 pages a week,” he says.
Born in St. Louis, Branson didn’t have acting aspirations while growing up.
If you asked him then what he wanted to be, he would’ve said a professional motor cross driver.
Then Branson broke his kneecap in football, and he had to take strong pain medication. The coach’s wife taught drama at the school, and Branson was told he could sleep it off in her class.
One day Branson started paying attention, and the seeds of his acting future were planted.
But for 10 years, Branson struggled to pay his rent in New York City while he studied acting, auditioned and bartended.
He landed his first big role on “All My Children” in 2004.
After his character took a backseat in the story line, he joined “Guiding Light” and his first scenes aired in December 2008.
John Driscoll, 27, took another route to his “Guiding Light” role as Coop Bradshaw.
A native of Fort Belvoir, Va., Driscoll was plucked by a talent scout at a Nautica store in the Potomac Mills Mall.
“It was my first day on the job, and a talent scout came in and said ‘You’ve got great looks. Have you ever considered modeling?’ I laughed at the guy at first,” Driscoll recalls.
Soon Driscoll was modeling for Armani and Versace. Then came the commercials and teen TV shows such as “Dawson’s Creek.”
Driscoll joined “Guiding Light” in August 2004.
His character died a dramatic death four years later, in January.
“There were no hard feelings,” Driscoll says about being written off the show. “It was my time. Everyone has their time. It’s not about the actor. It’s about the character and the story.”
Still, it was an emotional time.
“It was tough. I was crying. We all did everything together,” he says.
Driscoll has a similar equable attitude about the show’s cancellation.
“I couldn’t believe it. I really thought they were making some progress. But this ball had been put into motion a couple months beforehand,” he says. “It’s frustrating, but it’s a business.”
Berry thinks the decision will set off a domino effect on the whole soap opera industry.
“If ‘Guiding Light’ goes, I think it’s the first of many,” she says. “It’s the end of daytime.”