Ellen Wheeler knows a thing or two about reinvention and survival.
In the 1980s, the Emmy-winning actress portrayed twins Marley and Vicky Love Hudson on the soap opera "Another World." She moved to "All My Children" as one of the first characters on TV with AIDS. In the late 1990s, she reprised her role as Marley Hudson on "Another World." Because she didn't resemble her on-camera twin, the writers decided that Wheeler's Marley would be crushed in a car wreck and then, while recovering, burned and disfigured in a horrible hospital fire.
Wheeler is still blazing soap opera trails.
Now working behind the camera, the 46-year-old executive producer of "Guiding Light" early this year ditched the format used since the 1950s to produce soaps: three large pedestal cameras to shoot scenes in a handful of studio sets. As part of her gutsy gambit, "Guiding Light" crews now use hand-held digital cameras to rove the three dozen small sets constructed within the hulking CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan and outdoors in nearby Peapack, N.J.
Wheeler is trying to create a more modern look to attract younger viewers -- and keep the show alive.
"This is all about making sure that soap operas stay vital," Wheeler says, sitting in a wooden pew in her sparse New York office, which has been converted into a set. "We just couldn't sit quietly and let ourselves slide away into the night."
As the world turns, so do the soaps. They're struggling. Audiences are shrinking, and getting gray. There is more competition for viewers' attention, including the Internet, a myriad of TV channels and everyday chores.
MTV's docu-soap "The Hills," network hits like ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and even such real-life dramas as Britney Spears' escapades contain themes that soap writers have long used to hook viewers.
Daytime mainstays "Another World" and "Santa Barbara" have been canceled, and in August final credits are set to roll for "Passions."
"Guiding Light" itself has seen brighter days, especially considering its history. It holds the record as the longest running television drama. Owned by Procter & Gamble, it was created for radio in 1937 to help sell the company's soap -- giving the genre its name. It moved to CBS television in 1952 and has been there ever since.
