Daytime Romance 5 . 6 . 00
Usually, that decision was based on which romantic coupling intrigued me the most at the time. Back then, I didn’t know too much about “themes” and “layers” and “symbolism”. Perhaps it’s because the shows didn’t give them to me, perhaps I didn’t care as long as the couple was pining for each other and couldn’t be together – I’ll never know. These romances were always the biggest attraction for me in all of these years. I’m sure I’m not alone in this, because romance is daytime’s biggest draw, its most important aspect – it’s moneymaker, if you will. At least, it used to be. When I grew into adulthood and started college, I started viewing the shows in a different way. Gone were my fairy-tale wishes for unrealistic love stories that satisfied the little girl in me, to be replaced by a need for reality-based couples and stories that fed my mind and touched my heart. As the decade of the 90’s wore on, soaps in general seemed to have matured with me. With the success of Guiding Light’s masterful storytelling in the early part of the decade and General Hospital’s respectful and beautiful storylines about breast cancer, the loss of a child and a love being lost to HIV, we were treated to a new kind of soap opera – the kind that didn’t speak down to its viewers and dared to break new ground by taking away the fantasy and putting up a mirror to its audience. I, for one, was thrilled. Some, however, were not. The argument has been made that soap operas should give viewers the fantasy, because they have enough of reality in their own lives. Some people watch daytime as an escape; I watch to be captivated by characters that I’ve come to love and to possibly learn more about myself than I did before through the mistakes and triumphs of these very same characters. This does not, of course, mean that I didn’t continue to look for that magical love story that would take me away like Luke and Laura did 20 years before. I did. I kept looking but was rarely satisfied. With the exception of Todd and Tea on One Life to Live in the late 90’s, no couple over the years really got my attention. I suppose my tolerance for unrealistic romance had dissipated. It took more than a look across a crowded room, a feisty confrontation, or a sexy roll in the hay to get me hooked. I needed that sweeping love story that would make me care again. Todd and Tea were a fabulous couple, and given the chance, could’ve been a towering force in the future, but they’re gone now. Last year (1999), a friend of mine kept mentioning a couple of names to me and couldn’t stop talking about how much she enjoyed watching them. As a fellow soap viewer, I was not naïve to her new love for this couple; I could appreciate it as much as anyone could. At the time, I wasn’t watching the show this couple was on, but their names (and faces) were ingrained on my brain so much by my friend that I figured I’d check them out. I didn’t have the time to watch another show, as it was on opposite General Hospital (the soap I’d watched since I was 10, and had always considered “home”). One day last May, I decided to check out her show and see if perhaps I would come across this couple she couldn’t stop talking about. I left the safety of ABC and General Hospital and ventured over to CBS during a commercial break. There it was – Guiding Light – my temporary home in the early 90’s before the Simpson trial took it all over my schedule, making it impossible to watch. I knew most of the characters, as I always kept up with my soap magazines, but I didn’t know too much about this love story my friend kept mentioning. Knowing their faces, I was pleasantly surprised when, during that commercial, I found myself smack dab in the middle of one of their scenes. From that moment on, I was hooked. What I saw was Danny Santos, mobster with a heart of gold, throwing Michelle Bauer, pillar of the community, into the shower, forcing her to sober up. When I look back now, I see that as one of those perfect dramatic moments that every viewer should have the pleasure of viewing once in his or her life. And what ensued was my everlasting gratitude toward that friend for pointing me in their direction. I never thought that anything could take me away from General Hospital, but Danny and Michelle did. I’ve watched soaps for almost 20 years, and my views on romance and love stories have been skewed toward the growing trend in any given year. I watched Luke and Laura on the run, I watched Tad and Dixie first fall in love, I watched Bo & Hope, Steve and Kayla and all those other “supercouples” on soaps… and in all of their own ways, I did adore them. But never had any of them made me say “I want that” until I came across Danny and Michelle. Until now, I never realized how good a couple could be. Two people, diametrically opposed in lifestyle, but truly connected in their hearts – they are a textbook example of the kind of love that everyone should be lucky enough to find. They’ve touched my heart and made me see that people deserve that kind of love. Is that unrealistic? Some would say yes. Do I plan on going out and finding the nearest mob prince who looks good in a leather jacket? No. But I will continue to look for the kind of love that I know exists – in Danny and Michelle. I may never find it, but at least I won’t settle for someone who simply looks at me across a room or stands toe-to-toe with me in a feisty confrontation. I made the mistake once of writing you a letter and comparing them to Luke and Laura. In retrospect, there really is no way to compare. The times were different, the genre was different, and the viewers were different. What Danny and Michelle have now, in the 21st century, may not have been feasible in the late 70s; and part of me doesn’t believe that Luke and Laura, in their early years, could translate well to present day. But isn’t that what makes daytime so special? Aren't we captivated by the idea that these unique encounters and stories represent a moment in time when every element comes together to form the perfect story? The writing, the characterization, the setting, the direction, the actors, and the social structure of its viewers and the world they live in are all integral factors. In Luke & Laura, they were conducive to the time in which they thrived. Because of that, and the incredibly rare occasion that occurred in finding two actors who connected on the level that they did, they established a firm groundwork that has enabled them to grow magnificently into this new century. In Danny and Michelle, I see a similar situation. Paul Anthony Stewart and Joie Lenz have found their acting soul mate. I believe this so much that I’m willing to dare any fan of any other on-screen couple to show me scenes that can elicit the sense of adoration and one-ness that Stewart & Lenz convey on a daily basis. I don’t believe it can be done. When I watch other couples (on GL, or even on other shows), while the couples themselves may be intriguing, the acting chemistry is nowhere near what Stewart and Lenz have. All of this, coupled with the right timing for their storyline and amazing writing during their first six months (when the couple was being established), and interesting character exploration ever since (though not as much as there could be – but that’s for another letter), has given Guiding Light a piece of gold. It’s a piece of gold that every other show should be striving to attain. It saddens me to think that just because there are people who have never “watched” Guiding Light, that they will never get the opportunity to experience the truest love I’ve ever seen examined on daytime. In my years of soap watching, I always did so in private, never sharing with co-workers or anyone outside of one or two friends. But since I found Danny and Michelle, I have become a proud viewer of Daytime TV. Candy
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