Daytime soap fans are growing tired of the “lazy” storylines from long-running shows like General Hospital and The Young and the Restless.
Due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, temporary staff has been hired to fill in and continue the dramatic storylines for the beloved programs – but viewers have been unimpressed in recent weeks.
Labeling certain episodes as “boring,” many fans have taken to social media and denounced the “hideous” lyrics, even claiming that certain storylines are “offensive to loyal viewers.”
In July, it was confirmed that General Hospital — now in its 60th season — is using temporary writers as the Writers Guild of America continues to strike.
One of the show’s writers, Shannon Peace, shared the news on Instagram when she revealed that the last episode of the show she wrote ahead of the strike would air.
Main cast: Michael Easton plays the role of Dr. Hamilton Finn on a recent episode of General Hospital
Disinterested: A specific storyline that General Hospital fans have had enough of involves Sasha Gilmore (played by Sofia Mattsson)
Not impressed: Viewers have also slammed recent episodes of The Young and the Restless
“As of next week, the show will be written exclusively by scab writers, which is heartbreaking,” Peace wrote.
“My episode that aired Thursday, July 20 was my last until the strike is over. Starting Tuesday, GH’s writing team will be watching with the fans to see what happens…for the sake of the fans, I hope the show is in capable writing hands.
But I also have to acknowledge the pain of knowing that the characters we’ve developed, the relationships we’ve built, and the stories we’ve planned are handled by others. Still, if you like GH, I hope you’ll keep watching. You can morally support the writers AND keep the show on the air!
Daytime writers face a unique conflict during strikes. We hate to see our characters and storylines handed over to “writers” who cross the picket line. But we are also well aware that stopping production could spell the demise of soap operas,” she added.
Episodes of General Hospital, written by replacement writers, began on Tuesday, July 25, and it seems the switch hasn’t gone unnoticed by viewers as they’ve been flooding Twitter with their thoughts for the past month.
“Ugh, #GH, how about moving some of these storylines forward?!; one person wrote.
Another tweeted, “#GeneralHospital is getting boring by the minute. So these episodes…” followed by the vomiting face emoji.
A third viewer ranted, “I want #GH to stop writing like we all started watching the show five years ago. This is an insult to loyal viewers,” and a fourth simply added, “#GeneralHospital has been boring.”
Not happy: One viewer described General Hospital’s most recent writing as ‘horrible’
Keep it up: Another pleaded with current writers to “move the storylines forward”
Fuming: Someone else claimed current writing is ‘offensive to loyal viewers’
Medical drama: General Hospital is a popular daytime soap that is now in its 60th season
The Young and the Restless has been facing similar reactions from viewers for several weeks now
Successful soap: The Young and the Restless first appeared in 1973 and has grown strongly since then
While I was tuning in, another person tweeted, “20 minutes later and I’m struggling to care about this episode.” #GH,” and another admitted, “I looked away from the timeline and thought I might enjoy it more, but no. Every story stinks to heaven.#gh.’
Referring to the ratings drop, another fan commented, “#GH ratings are what they deserve. The writing is horrible.’
One storyline in particular that fans are frustrated about involves Sasha Gilmore (played by Sofia Mattsson), who recently lost her newborn baby Liam, as well as the love of her life, Brando Corbin (Johnny Wactor).
In recent episodes, Sasha has suffered from hallucinations and a nervous breakdown and ended up stabbing Cody Bell in the back, and some fans have predicted that she will end up in the mental institution, Shadybrook Sanitarium.
One person shared his thoughts on the storyline, tweeting, “The frustrating thing about the Sasha story on #GeneralHospital is the worn out trope ‘let’s wrongly put someone in a mental hospital’.” It’s lazy writing at best.”
Another stated, “I don’t like Sasha Gilmore’s storyline, until her storyline gets better I won’t be watching General Hospital #GH.”
Another plot that has left viewers uninterested is the surrogacy storyline involving Molly Lansing-Davis (Brooke Anne Smith) and TJ Ashford (Tajh Bellow).
Recent episodes have seen the couple excited as they move forward with the plan to grow their family through a surrogate, choosing Andrea Gates (Lily Anne Harrison), who seems like the perfect match.
Fed up: A fan of The Young and the Restless claimed all dialogue now ‘sounds repetitive’
Ongoing: The Writers Guild of America strike began on May 2 and actors joined on July 14
One fan clearly didn’t enjoy it, tweeting, “Deep breath…. They should just scrap this surrogate story. I’ve lost all interest.’
Someone else answered and said, “The writers are always so heavy handed and preachy when they write for TJ & Molly. It’s unpleasant. And now the asinine geriatric replacement for HP is only making things worse. I FF through the whole storyline YAWN #GH I bet the surrogate in the end refuses to give them the child
Another fan pleaded, “#GH, I’m sure you don’t care, but I’m SO OVER Molly and this surrogate s/l. For the love of all that is sacred, throw this s/l away and put (only) Molly on a shelf so we can forget her (again).’
And when it comes to recent episodes of The Young and the Restless, fans aren’t holding back either, as one viewer claimed, “The strike is impacting the show. The dialogue sounds repetitive.’
Another person asked, “Why don’t they write these soap operas like every episode is their last?” Because it really could be someday. Soap operas could be on a downward spiral and they all act like they can afford to skip the ratings.”
And a third viewer predicted, “Maybe after this year or the strike something will change, because you’re right. Something must be done. The mold is ready and the sign is on the wall.’
And a fourth fan admitted, “I’m still so confused about what’s going on day to day. These are not storylines. All these false turns; issues were resolved immediately as if it were a sitcom. Who knows who works where and even the characters don’t care, so how can we do that?’
Despite many actors joining the strike on July 14, Deadline reported that production of the soaps would continue during the day because soap opera actors are employed under the National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting, also known as the Network Code.
The National Code, which is being negotiated between SAG-AFTRA and the four major broadcast networks and other producers, covers soap operas as well as morning news programs, talk shows, variety shows, reality shows, game shows, sports and promotional announcements.