As a loyal soap fan, writer and television advocate, I have seen the ABC lineup through some tough times over the past few years under the current head of daytime who has seemed hell-bent on destroying the network's legacy through shoddy storytelling, neglect of show history, mis-characterization of long time favorites and wholesale killing off of characters that could have been the soap's future (One Life to Live and General Hospital have killed off at least a dozen sons and daughters of legacy characters in recent times).

If the network doesn't care about their own show, why then, should we, the viewers? I watch GH for the Q's, Luke and Luara, romance, fun 'danger' storylines and for great characters but the mob took over and ruined my good time (who wants to see a 'hero' as mob enforcer who kills people?). All My Children took legacy characters and made them murderers (under no circumstance would Tad Martin kill anyone). And One Life to Live has had so many serial murderers over the past three or four years, I've thought I was watching Dexter, not a daytime soap.

If the network spent as much time on the, you know, script and storylines (and maybe a wee bit more time hiring actors who can, you know, act.. I realize that this is a business for good looking people but are they really saying that the casting people they use can't find good looking people that can act.. In Los Angeles and New York?? Really??) as they do on marketing, the viewers would follow. Soap fans are hungry for good stories told well. Honor the show's history, stop killing core characters just for shock value and for crying out loud know where the story is going before you begin it.

And, as they say in the soap mags, is not only my opinion!