Say goodbye to Llanview: Asa's ex-wives and other jokes

We've had a few days of high drama and sentimental favorites, something soaps are well-known for. But soaps can also be funny, funnier than you might imagine, and often more clever and hilarious than a lot of prime-time comedy shows. At least IMHO.

I thought the old NBC soap, Santa Barbara, especially in the mid- to late-'80s was quite comical. Consciously so. In fact, it was often a very sophisticated show, full of pop culture and political references a-go-go. It was the Dynasty of daytime, but even better. If anything, I thought sometimes they played it with a little too much farce and fabulousity, so much so that I suspect they left some of their audience blinded by the sparkle and glamor of it all.

It was a quirky, smart, cocktail party of a soap. When it ended its run in the early '90s, its glory had long been tarnished. But for a brief while, it was the quintessence of '80s fashion and attitude. Just ask Europe, where the show was number 1 for much of its run.

Sara Bibel, who writes the column Deep Soap for the Comcast/Xfinity network, has described One Life to Live in a similar way, framing it as being an "arthouse soap." No doubt at times the show's quirkiness, its out-there antics, its humor, and perhaps its more New York sensibility, haven't always appealed to the majority of soap fans.

Or so I'm assuming; I'm not convinced anyone, especially in the entertainment industry, knows what soap fans are like or what they want. Certainly, they weren't expecting the public outcry over the cancellation of both All My Children and One Life to Live, which happened in spring 2011.

Nonetheless, in the last year, the show picked up a cool half-million viewers according to official ratings, so they must have been doing something right. Plenty of people got the joke. And they were laughing with OLTL, not at it.

May I present to you a case in point--particularly, the one above, a scene from 2001, "one of" family patriarch Asa Buchanan's funerals. (It's a soap, after all; lots of people have multiple funerals, wives, children, and evil twins.) There are a couple of things to watch out for and laugh at--

• The fact that Asa has had something like 9 wives and 11 marriages and most of those wives showed up at his funeral.
• That one wife in particular, Alex Olanov, gets up "to speak a few words in honor of Asa," and ends up taking over the funeral and turning it into an ex-wives' club rally against the late patriarch.
• And the moment when ex-wife Blair Cramer reacts when she recalls her own wedding to Asa. The flashback is to Asa's wedding to the original Blair, who was played by a dark-haired Asian-American woman, not the Kentucky-accented blonde that is Kassie DePaiva.

Trust me, over the years, there have been a number of inside jokes about that casting decision.

But OLTL, at least in the 2000s, when I watched it heavily, has never been afraid to laugh at itself or to take itself lightly. At both funerals and weddings, such as Bo and Nora's remarriage in 2010. Some of this is a little too cute for its own good, especially Bo's son David's (Tuc Watkins) ongoing commentary, in which a little goes a long way. So skip ahead to 5:30 and focus on the beginning of the actual ceremony.

There's more, but this is a good taste of what you've been missing on TV while you're at work.

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And here's another example, a bit long--but "it's because I double-majored." The ridiculous premiere of Vicker Man (starring David Vickers Buchanan), interrupted by the ridiculous premiere of Hold the Diploma (starring, uh, Buster Ridge). Circa summer 2011.



And yet another, Christmas at La Boulaie, Dorian Cramer's estate, where "Santa" makes an appearance.



The comedy is broad, but, hey, I think it's funny all the same.