The state of our soaps is to say in a word is DEPRESSING.....I thought it was just THIS soap, but after talking to alot of others of various forums, I find a growing # of ppl aren't happy with THEIR soaps either...Alot of us have been watching for ages. Mostly at our mothers knee, we ALL know the theme music when we hear it. But what the heck is going on? The loss of beloved characters, whether by salary disputes, being taken off contract, the bad economy, BAD WRITING, you name it. Everythings a changin' and not for the best. You have to wonder is this just a blip on the radar or foreshadowing of events yet to come? If GL can be cancelled after what 70+ yrs on the air (radio & Tv) what is that saying for the current state of soaps as a genra? Of course the economy has alot to do with it...Has anyone noticed that the minute car companies, and others stopped running their ads, things slowly started sliding downhill? And now things have snowballed....At 1st it was the little things,less fresh flower arrangements, less sets, or reusing the SAME set over and over? Then even the clothes have changed. And we're losing beloved characters left and right, for what? Martha on ATWT, both MST & EB in serious contract disputes that meant we ALMOST lost these characters which are the heart of the show? All because they aren't being paid what they feel they are worth, or the shows can no longer AFFORD to pay them what they are worth? You have to wonder if we'll be talking about Y&R in the same terms as GL in 5 yrs or less. It's scary, cause it seems that the writers are only using the tried and true plots to keep their ratings up....but we can all see it isn't working.. Once upon a time...you WAITED is suspense to see what was gonna happen next, but now you can see things coming waaaaaaaay ahead of when the story finally unfolds .There was a time when Y&R was never lower than a 4 at best in the ratings race, now it's 3.3. And are TPTB even LISTENING to us fans?. We are the ones that KNOW what works and what doesn't...no matter how long or often you do or don't watch....and we also BUY the products that are advertised. Perhaps TPTB don't think that we're paying attn, but we are...and Houston we HAVE a PROBLEM!!!!!. Message boards and forums are FULL of discontented viewers. We NEED our love in the afternoon!!!!Show us fans some of that love and LISTEN to us!!! I can't imagine a world without soaps but I have to wonder if that is where we're headed. And replacing GL with a GAME SHOW? Are you serious? Hey but it's JMO...I'm hoping for a HAPPY ENDING.....