With three of the four remaining daytime soaps soon to run out of original episodes they can air in the coming weeks, soap veteran Wally Kurth (“Days of our Lives,” “General Hospital”) thinks the shows are running into “dangerous” territory.
Appearing on “The Freddie and Alyssa Show” earlier this week, Kurth said of the soaps, “They’re going to run out of shows, and I think that’s dangerous.” He adds, “During the O.J. Simpson trial we lost a lot of viewers because once viewers tune out it’s sometimes hard to go back.”
Kurth’s concern stems from the uncertainty of when the shows can resume production after the novel coronavirus pandemic shutdown filming last month.
Currently, “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “GH” and “The Young and the Restless” have been curtailing the inevitable loss of originals by airing classic or flashback episodes on Fridays. ABC announced that it will air flashbacks through at least Friday, May 22. Fans of the soap have also noticed a number of flashback scenes being included in the original episodes being aired. CBS hasn’t formally announced Friday as a day for re-airing classic episodes, but the network has aired re-runs for the past three weeks with more re-runs expected. Neither network has announced what will air in place of originals once they run out.
According to TheWrap‘s Rosemary Rossi, producers at “B&B” and “Y&R” are currently in the planning stages of the next steps to take if the production shutdown continues for an even lengthier period. Los Angeles remains under “Stay at Home” orders which were extended through at least Friday, May 15 by Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“DAYS” will be the only soap airing originals for the foreseeable future. Due to its advanced film-to-air schedule, the show has enough episodes to air through at least the end of October. “It will have the only original content for soaps,” Kurth says. “I have a feeling we may gain a few viewers.”
“The Freddie and Alyssa Show” is hosted by Kurth’s on-screen son Freddie Smith (Sonny Kiriakis, “DAYS”) and Smith’s fiancée Alyssa Tabit.
You can watch Kurth’s appearance, and read his response to our report, below.
On the other hand, people are watching in greater numbers while shows currently air. And that’s great! https://t.co/X3eiRV4cUs
— Wally Kurth (@wallykurth) April 18, 2020