ABC/Disney recently re-released the 1994 wedding compilations from their three soaps on a single DVD (but no post-'94 footage!!), so this may be a sign of things to come. A while ago, there was talk of a new SoapNet Classics channel, but I haven't seen any progress on it yet.Īs for DVD releases, special compilation discs are the way to go, as General Hospital did in 1994 on VHS with a 2-tape set on Luke & Laura, or as Guiding Light did on the notorious Roger Thorpe and heroine Reva Shayne Lewis.ĭays could easily do discs on couples like Doug & Julie (whose storyline goes all the way back to 1970!!) and Bo & Hope (with flasbacks from the past 20 years). I would love to see these two shows rebroadcast from their first shows. Longtime fans of these shows have seen in recent years flashbacks dating back to the 1970s and earlier. The fans of Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless are the luckiest: both shows are made through Columbia/Sony's TV division and ALL of their episodes have been archived in vaults, dating back to the 1st episode of Days (in living color!) from November 1965.

Both Dark Shadows and Ryan's Hope are about 99% complete because they were made by independent production companies (not a network or Procter & Gamble, though Ryan's Hope was later sold to ABC in 1981), and these were among the first US soaps to go into international syndication. This is why there are practically no color videotapes of General Hospital from 1967-77, and only a few existing color tapes from One Life To Live, As The World Turns, All My Children, Another World, Guiding Light and other shows prior to about 1978-79. Videotape was an expensive commodity back then, and no one thought of possible reruns (with a few exceptions), so reels of previously taped shows were taped over and reused to tape newer episodes in a very vicious cycle. Regarding the feasability of daytime soaps on DVD, the big problem is the huge gaps in network/producer archives of past episodes, especially from the 1970s. Kevin, you show good taste as to your 'Edge' storylines! I was 10 years old when the Serena/Josie saga took place and I still remember the shock of seeing Josie killing Mark on the courthouse steps (which was part of the memorable 90-minute ABC premiere episode in December '75), and was blown away by Louise Shaffer's performance.

Buy passions soap opera