Inauguration Day: The Beginning of the Progressive Era in the Daytime Drama

I'm off work today and it seems very fitting. Not only is it Martin Luther King Day but it's Inauguration Day.  There is so much coming this year, so much change on the horizon, the rise of the new and the loss of the old, I can't help but sit on the couch and cry a little.

I'm in a basically empty house, looking at a family that is diminishing in numbers as the days go on, but for some reason, I feel more hopeful than ever.  But I can't help but mourn the past. I just feel as if there's a path to bring them together to move forward. As my political ties call it, I realize that it's time to declare this the New Progressive Era, or should we call it the Era of the Progressive.

So, it's time for progress in the daytime serial. It's time to move forward and let go of the old way of doing things. We need to realize  the importance of history but move beyond it. Like the country, and myself, if you want to remain vital and thrive and "progress", you need to not only accept change, but embrace it and incorporate it into your daily life.  It's time to let go, wave goodbye, show respect, cry a little, and then look forward. It's time to let go. The past is dead and those who cling to it will die with it.

Four years ago, I stood at Grant Park and cried with friends and strangers and  thought it was all possible. It was the new beginning of a new era. We hugged and wept and all thought of MLK's words that one day people "would not be judged on the color of their skin but the content of their character".  It seemed to all be happening. But there was a hesitancy. Was it a fluke? Would it last or was this a blip in history?  It didn't feel like that, but it was something that plagued me a little. I went through the next four years with my fingers crossed and wincing a bit at what lay ahead, as it could be bad.

But it wasn't a fluke. It was the shift in culture I thought it had been. It was time. The past was dead and, although some of it was wonderful, it was gone. It was truly an era of the progressive. And society finally acknowledged it. It was time to accept it. And that seems to be coming.

Okay, so this seems to have nothing to do with the status of daytime drama but, in fact, it does. The old way is over. Watching soap operas on television is done. It's not happening, at least for me, anyway. I am so excited to never watch ABC daytime ever again. I haven't in months anyway. I haven't watched any show in months as, well, they suck!! 

But I plan to watch AMC and relish the moment when, and if, it appears. I couldn't be more excited about that and OLTL. They seem to truly be the representation of the Progressive Era in Television, as they always were. Let the Phelps and Valentinis languish in the old world. They're drowning in red ink, anyway. Let them keep their bloated casts and moronic storylines and fascination with bare chests and boxing rings. Keep it, Dudes, and be happy. I don't like it. I don't support it. And I've moved on.

Give me the new era. I'm not going to be bogged down in the past. I'm not going to be "trained" and have to watch Nimnut's crappy stories and sick ideas about what makes "good soap". You keep that on the network that's killing you slowly. Go down with the ship. I've moved on and maybe out. But I'd rather be out than stuck in the past.

Like people who were lost in the past told me all Fall, and for four years, I was living in a fantasy. The President wouldn't win. He was only a voted in because that's HOW bad Bush was. He was a blip.  Yeah, right, okay. I saw the media claim that he didn't have the numbers and they lived in their fucking bubble telling them what they wanted to hear.

Valentini has become the Dick Morris of daytime. Keep telling yourself that  you're keeping those characters and they'll be back.  Yeah, right, okay.  Keep telling yourself that there's a future for yourself, Frank, you sound as tone deaf as the Republicans. And as relevant.

Your time is over. You're on your way to a 9% approval rating. No one cares about your attempt to hold on to your past. You failed. GH fans love their show. OLTL fans love their show. We're getting what we want. Not you, Frank. Move on. You look like a fool.

GH went up in numbers due to the focus on their VETS, not ours. GH fans are happy our people are leaving. OLTL fans are happy they're leaving. We want our show back and it looks like we'll get some of it.  OLTL fans are ecstatic about who's been named. If Howarth stays with you, good for him, we'll be disappointed but I'll take the others over him any day. You all need to realize the situation here. It's not about what you want, Frank, it's about what we want.

Tell me again about people with numbers who live in the past. Have fun on ABC. Hope you and Ron and maybe Howarth enjoy your time in irrelevancy. I'm a Progressive. The question for you is this:

Where do you want your moment to be- in the past or with future? That's your choice but holding on to a time that's gone or dying doesn't make a movement. It holds you back.

I'll say this as it's so fitting. And it's perfect.  "You take my ending, Frank, I'll take yours".  It's over.  Maybe it's for naught, I don't know, but I didn't accept what people told me about this election and I went out and fought for what I wanted and believed in it. The President's being inaugurated today for the second time. Martin Luther King may have been shot but he moved the world forward and is as relevant today as he was when he was alive.

Movers move forward. Losers stay in one place and refuse to give up ground.  Maybe this show isn't for you, Ron. You should move on. We'll stick around. Bring on Viki!!!She's always been a progressive.