Jane Lynch and Lisa Kudrow launch web comedy
'Dropping the Soap' goes behind the scenes of a struggling daytime drama
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"Dropping the Soap" takes a satirical look behind the scenes of struggling faux soap opera "Colliding Lives." Desperate to keep the long-running drama alive, network head Olivia Vanderstein (Lynch) and new exec producer Lindze (Mandy Fabian) will use every gimmick in the book. That leaves the cast of divas, including leading man Julian Drake (Paul Witten), with their own fight to stay in the game.
"As the TV soap opera itself circles the drain, I love how our crew of self-centered and desperate actors charge ever forward to save their show from the chopping block," Lynch said. "The writing is so sharp and witty as the off-screen shenanigans become almost more absurd than the storylines of 'Colliding Lives.' Simply put, it is pure joy working with this group of hilarious and smart people."
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The sizzle reel (above) makes several references soap opera fans will get. Not only is there a threat of being reborn on the net -- just like real-life "All My Children and "One Life to Live" -- but the reel features music that fans of "The Young and the Restless" will certainly recognize.
Lynch characterized the process of making the series as "guerrilla TV making," according to Variety. That fast-paced production certainly gave this series the jump on Josh Duhamel's primetime project. His ABC drama based on the same premise hasn't made any news since it was announced in November 2012.
Then again, "Dropping the Soap" has been a few years in the making. Co-creators and stars Witten ("Desperate Housewives"), Fabian (Upright Citizens Brigade) and Kate Mines ("Grey's Anatomy," "The Hurt Locker") posted a pilot teaser on the net in 2011, and the show's Facebook page was created all the way back in 2010.
Other executive producers aligned with the series include screenwriter Don Roos ("Marley & Me") and Digital Broadcasting Group's (DBG) Damon Bethel and Joseph Gomes.
"Dropping the Soap" will be distributed across the web in 2013.
I am surprisingly really grabbed by this! It's great to see truly talented people blazing trails here: and they are doing what the television and cable industries likely fear the most- bypassing them as required venues. Of course, just like cell phones could have been the death of groups like AT&T (but were embraced by AT&T), if cable companies focus on becoming internet providers and television companies focus on adapting to the new medium, they may find adapting to the new future quite work-able.
Technology and television is finally reaching that peak point its been racing towards- where there is no longer a line between a computer and a television (already televisions can be computer monitors, but now we have 'smart TVs' and TVs that stream web video- hence 'breaking the barrier' finally), where internet speeds are universally fast enough that high quality video streaming is widely available, and where digital video recording quality is affordable enough that anyone with an iPhone could- with the proper skill and freeware editing technology- make a video series.
So at the breaking point we reach the line forerunners are pushing - where television no longer is limited to one venue, and eventually I foresee a future where television as we know it, bound by timeslots, ceases to exist (thank you DVR! You're helping this come about!) Instead of an "airs at Thursday night at 8 PM", it will be "New episodes available for streaming Thursday nights at 8" :) Woo woo!
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Deanna Barnert | Los Angeles, Calif.
Entertainment journalist Deanna "TVDeeva" Barnert visits sets, interviews industry players and critiques the final product. Buzz's daytime TV queen covers it all for MSN TV, but loves her sitcoms, soaps and any juicy drama that doesn't call itself Reality TV.
