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(via primetimesoapjunkie81)

I don’t think soap operas get enough credit for doing things primetime shows don’t have the balls to do.

Two years ago, As the World Turns set one of its Christmas episodes during the Victorian era based on one character looking longingly at an old dollhouse. It would have been fun without a secret gay affair, but that was how the writers decided to bring Luke and Noah into the past, and I will take any chance to have Van Hansis roll his eyes and say “I haven’t the vaguest.” If ATWT does go off in the air in September, CBS should just bring in this torrid Victorian drama instead. I think I would like it much more than the actual show.

Ugh, now I just want to re-read Brideshead Revisited, even though that’s not quite the right time, but of course because of secret gay affair. This might end up on my list of media kinks; the list is long but now goes something like: orphans, circus folk, magic, secret gay affair. I have such particular and peculiar taste.

On the subject of my soaps: I could use your help.

I’m fairly vocal here about how great One Life to Live has been lately, specifically in the treatment of its gay couple, Kyle and Oliver. ABC Daytime has been nothing but supportive of the way the writers have chosen to write the couple, and that means something: both As the World Turns and Guiding Light, owned by Proctor & Gamble, feature(d) gay couples that never receive(d) the studio support. Natalia and Olivia of GL were only brought together shortly before the show’s cancellation, and the network used that as an excuse to never fully develop their relationship. Luke and Noah are unrealistically chaste for teenagers. Both have seemed out of place within the landscape of their shows.

OLTL has made no effort to hide or under-represent Kyle and Oliver, and even introduced other gay characters to flesh out their storyline. They featured the first male love triangle on daytime television. They planned a gay wedding storyline over the course of several months. Most importantly, they told the Advocate Kyle and Fish would have sex before the New Year.

Kyle and Fish wouldn’t be the first gay couple to have sex on daytime television, but with the touch OLTL has used throughout this storyline, they could be the first to have satisfying sex on daytime television. Every other show has cut away from a kiss to couples fully clothed.

Today Kyle and Fish thought they might be getting lucky—the fans knew better—but were interrupted. This happens in soaps a lot. As another character put it last week, the anticipation makes things exciting.

But today, on the day when Kyle and Fish didn’t even get to have sex, they did get to talk about it, did get to mention condoms, did get to grope horizontally on a bed before circumstances forced them to stop.

Fans, well, we did not see that coming. This was an unexpected, pleasant surprise. With the history of how daytime television has treated same-sex relationships, fans and soap aficionados did not expect to see something like this at all, let alone on a day when they didn’t even end up having sex. All of the soap operas on television have made announcements on their plans to treat their gay couples just like their straight couples, but One Life to Live is the first to put their money where they mouth is. They delivered. Kyle and Fish will have sex later this month, and that scene has already been filmed. If today’s scene was an indication, it seems likely that there will be more gay intimacy on daytime television in the near future.

But just because a sex scene has been filmed doesn’t mean ABC can’t back out of this storyline. Just a few years ago OLTL backed out a storyline featuring an interracial couple due to viewer backlash. Daytime television viewers are conservative, older, and don’t tend to come from the coasts. Daytime television depends heavily on viewer feedback. It’s still extremely likely that after what aired today stereotypical fans will speak up about what happening on their televisions.

Here’s how you can help me: you can call the voicemail for ABC Daytime, or the voicemail for One Life to Live and say “I’m a fan of the Kyle and Fish storyline, and I’d like to thank you for your show on Monday. Please keep airing this couple.” I’m making it easy for you! I didn’t get the chance to call yesterday but I will when I wake up today. Or, you could just watch the clip and pass it along to someone. I won’t pretend soaps are without their problems. I won’t try to convince you that you’re missing out on something phenomenal. But please recognize you’re missing out on something important. This is the moment for daytime television. You don’t have to like them to know this is how things are going to change. Please, call.

ABC Daytime: (818) 460-7477
One Life to Live: (212) 456-3338

One Life to Live, just the Kyle and Fish and Nick parts (part 1 of 2), 12/2/09

1. How great is Nick now that he gets to be the jilted lover? He used to be boring, now he has lines like “You sound just like a straight guy.”
2. Ugh, I want Kyle’s coat. I know I’ve said this before but it’s a really, really great coat. It doesn’t hurt that he wears it well.
3. This bullet point was originally fifteen sentences long, full of rambling and declarations of love, but I will condense to this: America, let us acknowledge that One Life to Live is doing everything right with this couple because they actually mention sex. You probably don’t watch daytime, because as far as I can tell no one sees them, because these posts are never reblogged or liked or brought up in real-life discussions, but back to daytime that you don’t watch—this doesn’t happen. Luke and Noah had sex almost a year ago and it was the lamest thing in the world, preceded by some innocent-innuendo-filled-conversations, and then quickly never mentioned again. It was great because guys had sex, but lame because it aired on CBS… and now, less than a year later, ABC has outdone everything CBS did in two years in a matter of months. ABC is killing this story by making it explicit that Kyle and Fish had a sexual relationship in college, having the two of them interactive with other characters discussing their sex life, and revealing in promotional materials that Kyle and Fish are going to have sex by the end of the year—which is exciting, because it is becoming more and more likely that this will not just be random shots of mussed up sheets, but perhaps two people lying in bed together in the afterglow, which is exactly what any viewer sees with every straight couple. Anyway, the point is I am rambling and declaring my love, again, but fact: every time I watch OLTL I talk about how great it is, and then the next time I see it I find it has gotten even better. That is enough of a reason to tune in, person-who-isn’t-reading-this. That is enough.

I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY NONE OF MY FRIENDS BELIEVE ME WHEN I EXPLAIN HOW EXCELLENT THIS SHOW IS, MY GOD. THE MINUTE THE MUSIC STARTED WHEN ANNETTE AND INGO WERE IN THE POOL I KNEW WHAT WAS COMING AND I DIED LAUGHING. THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN A GOOD TITANIC REFERENCE, PEOPLE! NOTHING.

Backstory: Annette and Ingo finally got together but decided to wait to have sex. They then quickly realized this was a dumb idea… but before they could do anything about it, they got interrupted a few times at their flatshare and decided to go to Ingo’s place of work to avoid anyone coming in and killing the mood. AND… ACTION!