The survival of soap opera [electronic resource] : transformations for a new media era / edited by Sam Ford, Abigail de Kosnik, and C. Lee Harrington.

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

Includes bibliographical references (p. 315-330) and index.

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 / based on an interview by Abigail de Kosnik -- The role of "the audience" in the writing process / Tom 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.

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 / Racquel 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 --

Capitalizing on history. Perspective : scholar Horace Newcomb on the pleasures and influence of soaps / based on an interview by Sam Ford -- Perspective : scholar Robert C. Allen on studying soap operas / based on an interview by C. Lee Harrington -- Growing old together : following As the world turns' Tom Hughes through the years / Sam Ford -- Perspective : writer Kay Alden on what makes soaps unique / based on an interview by Sam Ford -- Perspective : scholar Nancy Baym on soaps after the O.J. Simpson trial / based on an interview by Abigail de Kosnik -- 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 / based on an interview by Abigail de Kosnik -- Perspective : scholar Jason Mittell on the ties between daytime and primetime serials / based on an interview by Sam Ford -- 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 --

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 / based on an interview by C. Lee Harrington -- Perspective : historian William J. Reynolds on memories of The edge of night / based on an interview by Sam Ford -- Perspective : writer Patrick Mulcahey on changes in soap opera writing contracts / based on an interview by Giada da Ros -- Perspective : actor Tristan Rogers on changes in soaps' industry, audiences, and texts / based on an interview by Abigail de Kosnik -- 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 --

Description based on print version record.