http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-964497.mp3
Albany, NY – In today's Academic Minute, Professor Paul Janensch of Quinnipiac University reveals the radio roots of a rapidly disappearing entertainment genre, the soap opera.
Professor Emeritus Janensch was a newspaper reporter and editor for more than 30 years, and retired in 2009 as an associate professor of journalism. He continues to conduct a senior seminar on the news media in other countries. In 1995, he was the first print journalist to join the Quinnipiac faculty. He designed the school's graduate journalism program and has taught all levels of journalism courses.
Prof. Paul Janensch - The Demise of Soap Operas
Soap operas left radio long ago, and now they are leaving television. NBC's "Days of Our Lives" was extended for another two years. But CBS dropped "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns." That makes me sad. When I was a kid and had to stay in bed with a cold, I listened to the radio soap "Wendy Warren and the News." The program began with an actual newscast and then segued into the messy life of the fictitious female newscaster. I thought, boy, being a male version of Wendy Warren would be fun. And so I became a journalist and later a professor of journalism.
From my bedside radio, I also heard "The Romance of Helen Trent" and "Our Gal Sunday" I loved these tales about the miseries of grown-ups. Later, I worked the late shift at a news agency in Chicago. I slept until 2 p.m. and became hooked on the afternoon TV soap, "The Edge of Night." It mixed crime with the usual soap opera themes of love, betrayal, amnesia and incurable disease.
After I moved to Connecticut, my interest in soaps was revived by the discovery that Leslie Charleson, who plays Dr. Monica Quartermaine on ABC's "General Hospital," lived nearby. I wanted to meet with her -- over coffee, of course, just like in a soap opera. But she departed. I bet she grew tired of having neighbors ask her about soap operas.