'Loving' went on air in June 1983. When producer Jacqueline Babbin joined the show in 1991, she readily acknowledged, "When I first took over the show...I (didn't know) what the show was about. To me, it was the quintessential Reagan show about rich, greedy, mean WASPs (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant). It was hard to care about any of these people." For any soap opera to be successful, Jacqueline maintained, "Soaps have to be about human emotions and people like you and me. The storylines need to be grounded in reality and the actors must appeal to the viewers." In the 1990s, Jacqueline believed, "People no longer want to watch storylines out of the '50s." In Italy however, actor Richard Steinmetz recounted, "'Loving' was the No. 1 rated show...surpassing even 'Dallas' in the ratings...'Loving' which they call 'Comé Siamo' or 'How We Are' runs about a year behind there. The show airs daily for one hour with 2 episodes shown back to back uninterrupted. Commercials appear at the beginning and end of the hour."
In November 1995, 'Loving' became 'The City'. "The network took drastic steps at great risk," one director disclosed. The reason: "The whole look of soap operas was established during the 1950s...The form just can't compete in this new age." At the time, one cameraman observed, "I think that the industry is hesitant to dive in to our style because it takes...risk." 'The City' featured MTV-style camera shots and editing and "film-look" videotaping. However one director confessed, "Sometimes we knew that the visual style was too noisy for the dialog but we learned as we went along. This style works better with MTV." On soap opera, it was said, "You have got to focus on the word." Hence "writing is harder than directing and producing. Good stories are hard to come by." Despite its quick cuts, daring camera angles and up-tempo scenes, it was said, "we did miss some key moments in the story because we had cameras flying everywhere." 'The City' wrapped in March 1997.
Producer Fran Sears shared, "I came of age and went to college in the '60s" because academia was the only area opened to women. While working as a girl Friday for a film company, "I saw a lot of women writing, doing hands-on production work...In the '70s, a lot of really talented people were doing commercials. It was an exciting time." Of 'Loving' she argued, "We're dealing with human drama. What we have is characters with real problems and the relationships between characters. If we can make audiences believe in and invest in these relationships with their own feelings, then we're moving them and entertaining them."
In November 1995, 'Loving' became 'The City'. "The network took drastic steps at great risk," one director disclosed. The reason: "The whole look of soap operas was established during the 1950s...The form just can't compete in this new age." At the time, one cameraman observed, "I think that the industry is hesitant to dive in to our style because it takes...risk." 'The City' featured MTV-style camera shots and editing and "film-look" videotaping. However one director confessed, "Sometimes we knew that the visual style was too noisy for the dialog but we learned as we went along. This style works better with MTV." On soap opera, it was said, "You have got to focus on the word." Hence "writing is harder than directing and producing. Good stories are hard to come by." Despite its quick cuts, daring camera angles and up-tempo scenes, it was said, "we did miss some key moments in the story because we had cameras flying everywhere." 'The City' wrapped in March 1997.
Producer Fran Sears shared, "I came of age and went to college in the '60s" because academia was the only area opened to women. While working as a girl Friday for a film company, "I saw a lot of women writing, doing hands-on production work...In the '70s, a lot of really talented people were doing commercials. It was an exciting time." Of 'Loving' she argued, "We're dealing with human drama. What we have is characters with real problems and the relationships between characters. If we can make audiences believe in and invest in these relationships with their own feelings, then we're moving them and entertaining them."
