International Fan Spotlight.... ATWT Fan In The Netherlands

This week I am debuting a new feature, the International Fan Spotlight. I've always been curious about how American soaps that are popular in other countries are perceived, and why fans who live there enjoy the shows. If you are a fan of a U.S. soap in a different country and want to speak about the show and its following there, send me an email at [email protected].

AS THE WORLD TURNS has always had a big following in the Netherlands so I'm kicking off this new column by talking to a longtime Dutch fan of the show.

Can you tell me a little about yourself and how you became a fan of AS THE WORLD TURNS?
My name is Mark Knoop and I live in the east of the Netherlands. I'm 20 years old. AS THE WORLD TURNS has been on Dutch TV since 1990. I was too young to watch, but my mother and grandmother have been loyal viewers of ATWT since the beginning. So from time to time I would see an episode, but I didn't start watching everyday until later. It was the Lily/Rose story that got me interested in the show because I remember how amazing I thought it was to see one actress playing two completely different roles. I've been watching the show since that storyline (with one short break of a couple of months when I was too busy with school work). I don't know exactly how long it has been, but I think it's about 8 to 9 years (since 1999/2000).

How popular is AS THE WORLD TURNS in the Netherlands?
For a US soap, AS THE WORLD TURNS is doing really well. Right now there are only two US soaps: AS THE WORLD TURNS and THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. Other shows like DAYS OF OUR LIVES and THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS were all canceled due to bad ratings. B&B used to be the more popular show but that slowly changed over the years and now ATWT has the better ratings. What I think helped the show is that people have three chances to watch an episode. ATWT is broadcasted by RTL and they have four national channels. An episode will premiere around 10:30 PM on RTL8. The following day that episode will re-air on RTL4 at 5 PM and that same episode will air for a third time the day after that at 9 AM on RTL4. The 5 PM timeslot is the most popular one with 454,000 viewers on Friday. 10:30 PM had 137,000 viewers Friday and 9 AM had 125,000 viewers. A total of 716,000.

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Do you watch current episodes through the internet and know what is going on now?
The show is about a year and a half behind. Today the episode of June 1, 2007 will air over here. I have watched current episodes through the internet since April/May 2007. The show, like all other shows except children's TV, has subtitles.

Do you follow the show through the American soap press?
I don't subscribe, but I do read the scans other fans make of the soap magazines.

Have you met any of the cast from the show? And have any of the cast been to the Netherlands?
I've never met any of the cast members, but a couple of them have been here. Like Elizabeth Hubbard, she has been to the Netherlands a couple of times and from what I can tell she loves being here. She has done a couple of TV show interviews and did an online video chat on the RTL website where she answered a couple of my questions. Todd Rotondi (ex-Bryant) has been here too and after leaving ATWT he had cameo roles in the #1 Dutch soap GOEDE TIJDEN SLECHTE TIJDEN (Good Times Bad Times) and in the movie Phileine Zegt Sorry (Phileine Says Sorry).

What type of media coverage does ATWT receive there?
It obviously doesn't get as much coverage as Dutch soaps, but there has been some media coverage the last couple of years. When the 50th Anniversary was going to air over here there was a lot of media coverage. There was a radio interview with Elizabeth Hubbard, a talk show covered ATWT with two Dutch celebrities who are fans of ATWT and an entertainment show had a segment on their show about the special episodes. There was more coverage during the Nuke kissing ban media blitz. The fan campaign was mentioned on the news, on the radio, in a lot of articles in newspapers and in blog entries.

A TV show called TRY BEFORE YOU DIE did a set visit in 2006. In that show a group of young TV hosts are travelling all over the world doing things they always wanted to do before they were going to die. And being on ATWT was one of those things for Ruben Nicolai. He was playing a Lakeview bartender. In the episode he walked around the studio talking to cast members (Michael Park, Don Hastings, Spencer Grammer, Grayson McCouch), we saw him in rehearsals with Paul Leyden and we saw how they were taping his scenes (standing in the background of a Henry/Maddie/Louis/Eve scene and his scenes with Paul Leyden and Maura West.

How do you feel the sensibilities differ between the Dutch audience and the American audience? For example, would the Dutch audience be outraged over a Nuke kiss or sex as some American viewers would be? Are the Dutch soaps more racy than ATWT or the same? Do they cover any issues that American soaps would probably shy away from or vice versa?
I think there are always going to be people who are outraged by a same sex kiss, but I don't think it will be on the same level over here. Dutch soaps have had their gay storylines in the past where the characters (male and female) kissed and had sex but I don't remember too much outrage because of it.

I don't think the Dutch soaps are a lot more racy than the US ones. The way they handle love scenes are about the same. Maybe some of the dialogue or situations are more racy. Like in 2004 when a 17 or 18 year old girl was raped. The rapist denied it happened (he was drunk) and she wanted revenge. So she took a nail pistol and wanted to force him to admit what he had done. The gun went accidentally off and a chandelier fell on his groin causing him to lose one testicle. When her mother (one of the best bitchy villains the show ever had) found out what he had done, she lured him to a butcher and threatened to cut off his one remaining testicle. He got so scared that he wet his pants.

And I'm not sure if there are some issues US soaps shy away from, but some of the issues we've seen are:

HIV
One of GTST’s heroines is Anita. She has been on the show since 1992 and was infected with HIV about 5 years ago.

Gang rape
A couple of months ago a young woman was gang raped by three men. They didn't show the rape, only them throwing her on the bed and the next morning when she woke up with the three naked guys around her (they had drugged her so she was out during the rape).

Euthanasia
A couple of years ago they did a love story between two 60+ characters. It was really sweet and the actors were great. But she got cancer and didn’t want to suffer any longer. She chose to have euthanasia.

Psycho Nun
Not one of the best storylines, but a couple of years ago a character went to a monastery to get some peace. He was in a relationship, but one of the nuns in the monastery became jealous and very psychotic and wanted his girlfriend gone. So she tried to burn her like a witch. I’m not sure if the US would do something like that with a religious person.

Incest
I know, the Snyders are a little incestuous but there was one storyline on GTST that was even more incestuous. After her mother died, Isabella wanted to take her mother’s place. Literally. She thought she was in love with her father and wanted to have sex with him. It’s extreme, but I do think the writers did a great job with the story. Because some time later it turned out that she was mentally ill and very unstable (which gave us stories for a couple of years).