The Soap Effect
September 25, 2009 12 Comments
Way back in my post, Gone West (Wing), I first mentioned ‘The Soap effect’ – the way in which watching a long running series can destroy your objectivity – and thought it was about time I looked at it in some more depth. I’ve attempted to define the phenomenon:
The lack of objective opinion on a long running serial story brought about by prolonged exposure to that same serial. This also incorporates the reluctance to cease watching\reading a long running serial story line because of a false sense of loyalty induced by prolonged exposure to the previously mentioned serial.
In the UK this effect is most clearly seen in the prime time soaps themselves and it isn’t surprising that these are our highest rated shows. This isn’t exactly a ground-breaking revelation. Where I think it becomes interesting is in relation to US television. American TV seems to be undergoing a golden era, and there are undoubtedly lots of quality shows being made. There also seems to be a more loyal fan base for lots of ‘cult’ shows at the moment, but how good are some of these shows really? I think the fact that many US TV shows have seasons of 20+ episodes, and that they often have a strong serial element has vastly over inflated the stock of some programmes.
My anecdotal ‘evidence’ for this theory comes directly from my own viewing habits. Since getting in to shows like The Wire and Battlestar Galactica years after they started I have become ever more vigilant in recording the opening episodes of new US TV shows. Some of them are deleted almost instantly, like recent examples Harper’s Island and Warehouse 13, but some are watched and the series stuck with, with little enthusiasm. Sometimes you can be two seasons in to a programme before you realise you don’t actually like it. As a pop culture addict, there is a fear of missing out on ‘the next big thing’.
I mentioned in Gone West (Wing) that I had an early encounter with TSE with Star Trek: The Next Generation, a show that I can’t even bear to be on the screen these days. Another example would be mega-popular ‘sitcom’, Friends. The few episodes that I saw of the early seasons I absolutely loathed, and it seemed to be the antithesis of everything I look for in a comedy. It seemed to consist of nothing more than six inordinately good-looking people sat around in a coffee shop, each taking turns in delivering yawn-inducing ‘zingers’. Somehow though, I started watching the show regularly around season five and watched them all through to the end, in season 10. I suppose I must have warmed to the show a little, but I seriously have no idea why I watched it. It possibly had something to do with fancying Jennifer Aniston, but that could hardly justify 6 seasons of a show you don’t like. The thing is, I never watched it and saw it as a comedy show, more of a mildly amusing soap opera about totally unrealistic twenty\thirty-somethings. Just the thought of watching it depresses me.
There are other shows where the concept of ‘loyalty’ and investment have kicked in. I started watching Heroes as a life-long comic book fan, and found it rather mediocre. It did, however, have a strong serial element and, unusually, had a decent pay off to season one, and no annoying cliffhanger, this being enough for me to look forward to the programmes future. Sadly, seasons two and three were uniformly awful, completely muddled and lacking direction, and I should have given it up as a bad lot. Yet, I’m still watching it, seemingly having forgotten how mediocre I thought it was originally and expecting it to get back to a standard that it never achieved in the first place.
Another super-hero themed show in which I’ve experienced a similar feeling is Smallville. I watched the first few seasons of the young-Superman based show with some interest, but somewhere during season 3 I gave up on it. I just couldn’t bear the poorly handled will-they-won’t-they relationship between Clark and Lana. Years later, I caught up by watching repeats on T4, on Sunday afternoons, and quite enjoyed seasons 5 and 6. Then came season 7, perhaps the worst season of US TV that I’ve watched in its entirety. I won’t go in to all the reasons why it was so bad now, suffice to say that it was a stinker. And yet, I still watched season 8, which was an improvement in parts, but still had its exasperating moments. I will watch season 9, whenever we get it over here, purely because I’ve watched 8 full seasons (more or less) of the programme and it would feel weird to give up with just one or two seasons to go.
The current master of this phenomenon is True Blood, HBO’s vampires in the deep south drama. It’s a interesting concept and is obviously well made, with a good cast. I still don’t really like it. Nothing seems to have happened and I don’t care about any of the characters (besides the gay vampire chained to a sunbed), and by all rights I should stop watching. But, I’ve watched 9 of the 12 episodes in season 1, and it seems a waste to give up now. I’ve also heard that season 2 is an improvement and so I’ll probably end up watching that too. Completely mental.
The least offensive programmes fall in to the category ‘programmes that I like but wouldn’t cry if I never saw again and wouldn’t contemplate watching twice’, some recent examples being: Chuck, Life, Psych and A Town Called Eureka. How many shows are you watching that would fit in this category?
I don’t know if I’ve been able to prove my point, I’m not sure that I even have a point. From a personal view, I don’t really know what I should do about it. Should I become harsher and stop watching any programmes that I’m not enjoying? It seems the obvious solution, but, if it’s so obvious, why am I not doing that already? I suspect I’ll just end up carrying on as I have been, but I’ll just be more aware that what I am doing is slightly mental. I also hope that this doesn’t come across as an attack on US TV, the fact that I watch so many American programmes is why I’m writing about them and not British soap operas. I just wonder if certain British TV shows would be more highly-rated if they ran over more episodes.
About sherby57
I understand how you feel. I used to watch a lot of US TV series. I don’t understand why ppl love “Friends” and I find “Heroes” boring, “Lost” island inhabitants perpetually haunt by invisible threat, “Desperate Housewives” morphing into lives of annoying insecure irritating housewives, and many others. The only one I like is CSI esp. Las Vegas. and they say “24″ is good. Many years ago “Ally McBeal” was good as well until she turned more and more psychotic (not to mention anorexic!). I watched “ugly betty” sometimes, but the prettier ones turn ugly, and the ugly ones became uglier.
Your entry reaffirms why I always resorts to good 2-hour movie for entertainment, even if I watch “ratatouille” “happy feet” or “bug’s life” for hundred times, watch reality TV, I remain objective about what I like and what I hate.
Yeah, I guess that watching movies is a good way to stay objective. My main problem is that I love TV so much more! There are plenty of TV programmes that I genuinely love, and I can’t think of a movie that makes me feel the same way (Amelie excluded).
I think that the problem is not watching shows that you don’t like outright, but the creeping death of having stuck with something for a while before you realise you don’t really like it, and then how difficult it can then be to stop watching.
Great article – it is a strange phenomenon that we “stay with shows” for some very odd reasons. Do stay with Chuck and Eureka though, both well worth it. (and some inside scoop from Smallville, which is shot here in Vancouver, is that the new season starting tonight is a good one. Looking forward to seeing Callum Blue as Zod) I also think there’s a “grass is always greener” element as well. From a Canadian standpoint I can’t wait until a North American broadcaster decides to show BBC shows – Torchwood, Being Human, etc. In many ways, the shorter season run compared to US shows is often compelling and leaving you wanting more, whereas some seasons of US shows seem to drag after a certain point.
Thanks for the feeback
I think a lot of people do think that the grass is always greener; you can pick and choose good and bad TV from any country. I do think that there has been a bit of a shift in recent years with the ‘mutli-channel revolution’ having opposite effects on the UK and the US. The UK isn’t large enough to support so many channels and maintain the quality, whereas, in the US, the expanded market has allowed HBO to flourish. I’m still proud of what the BBC manages to accomplish though, although all these points are for a post I have planned for the future!
I think I will stay with Chuck and Eureka (not sure why we have the slightly different name in the UK). I enjoy them both, it’s just that I don’t think I’d be upset if they got cancelled. Actually, I just watched the Eureka season 3 finale this week and it will be intriguing to see if anyone will be left in Eureka for season 4!! There was also a good episode of Chuck this week; actually it was a decent episode with an excellent ending. I won’t give any spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, but it was the one with the Tron poster.
I second the Chuck love – stick with it, Sherby. But then I really liked Friends…
Heroes is a tricky one. I adored season 1, but since then, even I, no.1 fan, knows it has gone downhill like an avalanche. And yet still I watch it and stick up for it, and enjoy it more than anyone else does over on Unpopcult. I’m not sure if it’s the soap effect for me, it’s more that if I start off really loving a show, it becomes a bit more than a fun way to pass an hour sometimes. I can develop a loyalty to them, however mad. So these shows become more like a relative or a friend who’s started to get on my nerves a bit – I stick with them anyway, out of loyalty and a hope that either we’ll get back what we had, which sounds absolutely demented, or at least we’ll get to the end and there will be closure. Which is equally crazy. So I watched ER till the very end, despite the distinct patchiness of later years (astonishingly good finale though), I’m still watching Without a Trace despite loathing its central character, and I continue to watch the often irritating Grey’s Anatomy. Weirdly though, I managed to cut Gossip Girl off cold turkey after a few irritating episodes. I wonder why?
Anyway, I think you’re right about the “pop culture addict, afraid of missing the next big thing” part of things with some shows, Sherby, I definitely fall into that category, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered with the first eps of Harpers Island or Pushing Daisies (both of which I was glad I gave up immediately), and I also think the soap effect can kick in with shows you never really love but always just seem to watch (like Voyager and JAG, as I’ve commented before) but I don’t think British shows would do any better if they had longer seasons. I think longer seasons often mean a drop in quality and shedding of casual viewers who are not as obssessed as we are….
Hmmm. You’re saying that I might have dreamt up this whole phenomenon and that it only actually applies to television obsessives? Frightening, yet staggeringly plausible! lol
I think that your slightly demented love for Heroes is related to TSE, but is a sub-branch. There is definitely the idea of an unwarranted sense of loyalty that keeps you watching when you shouldn’t, but your case is different in that it seems that it is your loyalty that is making you watch, and that’s almost the enjoyment of it!
I think there is definitely a point where the amount of time you’ve already invested in something means you’re going to stick with it. I had the same thing when I used to read monthly comic books; I’d start reading a title because of the creative team on it, the team eventually leaves, the book goes downhill, yet you stick with it because it *might* get better again. If you give up and then go back to it when it starts getting positive reviews again, then you have the headache of trying to catch up with what you missed.
I think Friends is certainly a show that I always seemed to watch despite never really liking, I know that there are other examples but I can’t think right now (just thought of The Big Bang Theory – no idea why I watch it). The opposite of that is when you occasional watch a programme and really enjoy it, and yet never start watching it regularly.
I agree that often the quality drops with longer seasons, but the point is not quality but the fan loyalty!!
Y’know, I think you’re right about my Heroes love being a sub-branch of the phenomenon – mine is a particularly virulent strain of TSE with the added deadliness of a compulsive urge to try and persuade everyone else to stick with the show too. I’m CONTAGIOUS.
Luckily as I’m already afflicted with TSE I’m able to withstand your contagious genes.
Do you think that there is anything that Heroes could do to stop you watching?
Hm. Possibly if they killed Peter, Angela, Claire, Noah AND Sandra Bennet? Then there would be no one left in it I could bear. Unless you count Ando and Mr Muggles, but even I wouldn’t watch it just for Ando and Mr Muggles.
Or would I?
Dear God, I think I might.
*hangs head in shame*
Hmmm, ‘The Adventures of Ando & Mr Muggles The Super Dog’, sounds like a great idea for a show. I’m sure the networks are working on it now.
I’m beginning to think that your Heroes addiction might be incurable.
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