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From: gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner)
Newsgroups: net.tv.soaps,net.tv
Subject: Re: here's your group
Message-ID: <1800@mit-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 10-May-84 15:33:44 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.1800
Posted: Thu May 10 15:33:44 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 12-May-84 09:48:17 EDT
References: <146@fisher.UUCP> <649@pyuxn.UUCP>
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 31

>> I, in my limited wisdom, have created net.tv.soaps.  Now perhaps we in
>> net.tv can get back to discussing the exact whereabouts of HSB... :-)

> I thought HSB *was* a soap...

In the most traditional definition of a soap, HSB is not a soap because
it's sponsors are not soap products. 

In the more recent definition of a soap, the line between "continuing
episode drama" and "soap" is not very fine.  I tend to think of shows
like HSB, St. Elsewhere, etc. as continuing episode dramas, rather than
soaps, because their intent is not so much to leave their viewers
spellbound at the end of each episode (although they do that anyway, it
was not their original intent), but to provide the continual daily
activities of the characters in their environments.  On the other hand,
Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest (and others I have not
mentioned) wish to leave every watcher with the feeling "I've just gotta
see what happens next week!"  The environments of the aforementioned
television shows are much different also -- HSB and St. Elsewhere are
realistic views of police and hospital life, whereas Dynasty, Dallas,
etc. are fantasies of how the rich double-deal each other and fight for
economic/political/social control of their respective environments.

-- 
					Be ye moby,
					for I am moby.

Greg Skinner (gregbo)
{decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds

You can't trust anyone around here with the su password these days.