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Passions Discussion Group
I want to see more witches on other soaps.
Hyacinthe
IMO, the most important impact Passions had on soap operas is that it came in with the specific aim to attract younger viewers 12 - 24. I don't care if the show used fantasy, parody, or even perpetually shirtless guys to do this, it worked.
It's been well-documented in marketing studies that if a television viewer doesn't begin the habit of watching any daytime soap opera before they reach the age of 18, then each year beyond that the likelihood that they'll ever develop the daytime habit declines. And what Passions was able to accomplish on this demographic front didn't just keep the show on the air longer than most people ever imagined, but it helped introduce a younger generation to network-based, daytime soap opera.
It's been said that one of the problems going on in Daytime right now is that, as older soap viewers die off, they aren't being replaced at the other end of the channel by younger viewers. IOW, the candle is burning at both ends - making the decline in total viewers even worse. At least Passions was doing something signficant on that front. I wouldn't doubt that at least some of the growth in viewers that's going on at Days of Our Lives right now is due to former Passions viewers tuning-in to see ''Ethan,'' '"Teresa,'' and ''Luis,'' on another soap. Talk to a lot of older soap viewers today, and they'll tell you that they were once among the group of kids and teens who ''ran home to watch Dark Shadows.'' That's similar to what Passions was able to accomplish during it's run, which btw, was almost twice as long as Dark Shadows.
Another thing the show accomplished was that it proved that - even today - a niche soap can survive for almost a decade. I think one of the worst things about Daytime these days is that too many of the soaps ''look alike,'' and they're all basically chasing the same audience with the same type of stories. At least with its ongoing parody, humor, and supernatural bent - involving three decidedly different-looking core families - Passions was different. Daytime drama might actually have more total television viewers interested in it if there were some niche soaps like there used to be (e.g. ones focusing on crime-mystery, medical, legal, supernatural, coming-of-age, ethnic-based stories, etc. etc. etc.). Oh, right. Most of that type of serialized drama has shifted to primetime and cable.
No. Passions wasn't the greatest show -- primarily suffering from horrendous pacing, repetitious dialogue, and then towards the end, a weird venture into some pretty sick and twisted stuff, but it certainly had it's share of totally unforgettable and entertaining moments. In fact, I don't think I've ever enjoyed musical production numbers on a daytime soap more than what they gave us on Passions. If someone collected all of those and put them on a special DVD, I'd probably buy it. .. lol! So I'd say, add the show's ability to do ''That's Entertainment'' to it's list of accomplishments as well.
Gone, but definitely not forgotten - jmho.
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