By 1979, "TV is providing American audiences with the smaller human and emotional dramas that the movies seldom make anymore. You don't need sweeping vistas and exotic backgrounds to tell these stories of human beings in conflict." On reflection, Richard Hatch remarked, "...I want to effect people in a positive way and make them feel better for having seen what I’ve done. I see a lot of negativity and destructiveness, not just in television, but in movies as well. I’m optimistic. I want to be more meaningful." However it was stressed, "...A viewer cannot assume that he or she can at any given moment sit down in front of a television, turn on a network and find a program which is ideally suited to his or her entertainment interests. Viewers must become more selective about what they watch and what their families watch."
"Sex and violence," it was explained, "They are totally different. Criticism of sexual matters historically comes from more conservative segments of society, while the more liberal are more exercised about violence...People in rural areas aren't as much confronted with the presence of violence as those in the city, so they are more concerned about sex. When we get complaints sometimes we can read between the lines. When men and women watch television together – and I mean married couples mostly – the husband or wife is uncomfortable seeing this on television, restrained as it may be. The same guy might laugh at the worst kind of jokes at the country club locker room." One network chief maintained, "If I lived in a vacuum and the only knowledge I had as to what concerned viewers of television was the mail that I received or what I heard from our affiliates, I would say there was not a significant violence problem but there was a significant problem with how we portray the more personal human relationships."
'Days of our Lives' made its TV debut in November 1965. At the time Macdonald Carey observed, "We deal with life on 'Days of our Lives'. This is why our series and other soap operas are popular with women. Women are faced with life more than are men. This is why women have such a feeling for soap operas...On 'Days of our Lives', our people are really members of what could be a normal middle-class family. Their problems are typical and no different from those that the average family faces. But soap operas have a measurable impact. Why some viewers write to different members of the cast to warn them of something that's going on behind their backs. The characters on the show become real to many viewers. For instance, I’ve received letters saying so and so is dishonest and I must be aware."
By 1973, Macdonald made the observation, "Now we talk openly about abortion instead of making just timid, fleeting references to this important subject. In the old days, we dealt almost exclusively with, shall we say, affairs of the heart, people whose problems centered in the romance area. Now we deal in depth with people whose problems stem from alcoholism, from pollution, from racial matters." John Clarke added, "In addition to our treatment of the rape case, which has really been penetrating there’s the whole question of birth control. We’ve dealt with it very frankly. In matters of morality, we’re more like motion pictures or the theater. We’ve always been in the avant-garde."
By 1985, Al Rabin pointed out, "Things moved a lot slower in those days...Before it was talk, talk, talk. The doorbell rings. It's someone's lover. The scene ends. Then a new scene and more talk, talk, talk. Now, we’d switch back and forth between scenes. Keep it moving. We always have 5 or 6 stories going at once. The audience may like one story and not another, but they will get a few stories every day that they like..."
Between 1983 and 1984, Bill Bixby and Mariette Hartley starred in 'Goodnight Beantown' about 2 news people on a Boston TV news show, "This is drawing room comedy, not sitcom. There is a difference. Easy does it. We don't punch things up. 'Beantown' is a one-camera show. It's on film and is more expensive but it gives the actors a chance to control the pace. We've cut back on closeups because I want the performers to run things. The camera keeps its distance, Mariette and I go to work. Thus our timing is not chopped up by the cutting, it makes a world of difference."
Mariette concurred, "It’s a champagne kind of comedy, zany, off-the-wall, lifting stuff. It’s the kinds of comedy I do best and adore. It's reminiscent of the screwball comedies of the 1930s."
Of the on air chemistry, Mariette believed, "Those special relationships aren’t limited to the writing or the lines exchanged between performers. It is a personal, off-camera relationship too. But on camera, the actor and actress have to listen, receive, give and react to each in addition to acting out the scene. It works on 2 levels, personal and professional. Maybe that’s one reason there are so few romantic comedies on TV. The producers and networks really aren’t open to them because the casting and writing are very tricky."
John mentioned, "In acting, concentration is everything. If you’re worried about problems, scripts or if you’re unhappy for any other reason, you can’t concentrate." Macdonald expressed, "Our head writer, William J. Bell, keeps changing each character so much, though always so subtly – even as you and I change in real life." Bill theorized, "You have to have people involved with your characters – they must either love them or hate them or fantasize with them. There are all sorts of levels of emotional involvement, but there must be some involvement."
In the old days, "We tape at 1 o'clock and then read through the next day’s script and block and cut the shots until about 4 o’clock." By 1975, Elizabeth Corday outlined, "The hour format is very exciting and a real challenge. Particularly since the program will now consists of a prolog and 6 acts, rather than a prolog and 3 acts. Our stories will continue to be set in the mythical town of Salem located somewhere in the mid-United States..."
