Who are soaps' 25 most powerful players?

pow•er \ pau(-ə)r \ n. & v.
• The ability or capacity to perform or act effectively.
• A specific capacity, faculty, or aptitude; often used in the plural (powers of pursuasion).
• Strength or force exerted or capable of being exerted; might (see synonyms at strength).
• The ability or official capacity to exercise control; authority.
• A person, group, or nation having great influence or control over others (the western powers).
• The might of a nation, political organization, or similar group.
• Forcefulness; effectiveness (a novel of unusual power).

Who controls and influences this disastrous and dying industry? While some may argue “soap power” is an oxymoron, we beg to differ.

In soaps, it’s not the size of your power, but how you use it that matters.
Or that’s what Barbara Bloom keeps telling herself! [Insert laugh track here]

Our criteria? Power sources include, influence, autonomy, buzz, publicity, ratings impact, talent, vision, and groundbreaking achievements.

Falling off the charts in 2009 are: The Nielsen Ratings (the five big networks, who are tired of its inaccuracy, are looking to create their own measurement model); Sony/Bell Productions (their respective show runners have taken back control of their serials); writing agent James Sarnoff (mainly because of the lack of writer turnover this past year); P&G fans (hello, GL); B&B’s Heather Tom/Jack Wagner (thankfully, the show is now more of an ensemble); former DAYS producer Ed Scott; and ex-blogger, Y&R writer Tom Casiello.

With the industry in flux and bleeding out, and narratives traversing from networks to online faster than anyone imagined, it’s no surprise how different the 2009 list is from last year’s. At press time, the soap community is now down to an anemic seven daytime TV serials. Read on to find out who lit up the past year and who suffered a power malfunction.

1. Crystal Chappell / Actress-Producer-Gay Icon-Entrepreneur 2008 Ranking: — The Emmy winner tells TVGuide.ca, “Thank you so much for this honour! I’m really enjoying this time right now. My work as an actor on DAYS and as an actor/producer/storyteller on Venice is very rewarding on various levels. Next season on Venice, I also hope to direct parts of the series. I owe all my success to the amazing fans I have.” Power Plays: Embracing her GL Otalia fan base. Creating a new lesbian-centric web series Venice to appease her cult-like Otalia following. Without even trying, Chappell attracted major mainstream coverage in The New York Times, CNN, and other respectable outlets, platforms every soap publicist would kill for. Reprising her breakout role as Carly Manning on DAYS. Liabilities: At this point, zero — unless, of course, DAYS typically screws up another superstar comeback, as many pundits are fearing. However, Chappell says she’s happy with her return storyline … so far. And she’s never lied to us before. Outlook: Gay and bright.

2. Maria Arena Bell / Y&R Executive Producer-Head Writer 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Restoring daytime-TV’s No. 1 soap to its former glory — for most of 2008-09. Maintaining autonomy from CBS and Sony. Bringing a touch of the rainbow to Genoa City. Re-hiring out actor Thom Bierdz in a gay role as daytime’s first major out contract player. Featuring vets on the front burner. Mining the show’s rich past. Bringing back fan favourites like Tricia Cast and Beth Maitland in key plots. Recasting Chris Engen on a moment’s notice with talented newcomer Michael Muhney. Liabilities: A recent creative downturn. Shrinking Nielsen Ratings. Viewer backlash. The industry snubbing Y&R in all key Emmy categories. Killing off legacy characters and — gasp! — pets. Not bringing back Victoria Rowell when it can matter ratings-wise. A little too obsessed with LML’s reign of terror (let it go, Maria, you’ve fixed all the damage from that era). Lacklustre storylines for her black cast. Questionable casting choices. Outlook: Depends on whom you ask, but Bell’s well-equipped to deal with the challenges she’s currently facing and those that lie ahead of her. Never underestimate a Bell!

3. Jeanne Cooper / Actress 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Carrying Y&R for an entire year. Nominated for an outstanding lead actress 2009 Emmy Award after winning last year in the same category. Finally blossomed as a genuine, formidable thespian during the near-perfect Marge/Kay storyline, an epic tale that helped Y&R net a 4.1 rating last November. La Coop’s honesty and candor in interviews. Proving life begins at 80 in a youth-obsessed industry. Liabilities: The fact that she’s seemingly not human (ha — we kid!). Asking to star as a glorified extra during GL’s last week, which was very jarring because it took viewers out of the moment and felt very self-serving on Cooper’s part. Outlook: Long live the Duchess!

4. Bradley Bell / B&B Executive Producer – Head Writer 2008 Ranking: 6 Power Plays: Still manages the world’s most watched daily show. Finally winning an Emmy for best drama series. Hiring more leading men. Well-produced location shoots. Creating a breakout romance that doesn’t involve a Forrester (Owen and Jackie). Hiring Doug Marland’s protégé Martha Byrne as a part-time scriptwriter. Allowing the back-burnered Lesli Kay to jump over to World Turns to reprise Molly. One of the few soaps that still allows rehearsal and blocking. Liabilities: Repetitive storylines. Sinking ratings. Letting actors dictate story. Needs to fire his costume designer. Employing far too many hair models. Rick and Ridge’s feud went on for far too way too long. Susan Flannery stating Bell would retire if he finally won an Emmy. The whole Brooke and Ridge fiasco/debacle (no one cares anymore, Brad). Outlook: Bolder. The big question is: Will Bell’s Emmy win inspire him to write a more engaging, character-driven show instead of a campy, plot-driven serial? Stay tuned …

5. Paul Rauch / Y&R Co-Executive Producer – Daytime Legend 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Making daytime’s No. 1 soap look like a winner. Working closely with actors on the set. Bringing a touch of old Hollywood glamour to daytime. Acting as a perfect ally in realizing his boss Maria Arena Bell’s vision. Making everyone — vets and superstars included — take necessary pay cuts without succumbing to their egos. Liabilities: Zilch. Outlook: The Emperor Wears New Clothes

6. Brian Frons / ABC Daytime President 2008 Ranking: 2 Power Plays: Saving AMC from cancellation by moving it out west where it’s cheaper to produce. Seemingly allowing One Life to write its own show — this year at least. Hiring Sri Rao to head-write Night Shift. Making The View a ratings sensation and cultural phenomenon. Promoting his soaps on The View. Not cancelling any of his soaps … well, not yet anyway. Liabilities: Hiring Chuck Pratt as AMC’s head writer. Favouring AMC and GH over critical darling and ratings bully One Life. Not firing AMC boss Julie Hanan Carruthers. Not hiring a co-head writer for GH’s Bob Guza. Not green-lighting a third season of Night Shift. Dismantling SOAPnet with non-soap programming. Turning down an opportunity to air the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on SOAPnet and ABC. Outlook: Pay attention, Anne Sweeney!

7. Frank Valentini / One Life Executive Producer 2008 Ranking: 4 Power Plays: Winning another best directing Emmy for the second consecutive year. Coming under budget without sacrificing a damn thing. Letting his head writer write. Keeping his vets on contract and relatively on the front burner. Unlike P&G, producing beautiful, film-like location shoots old-school style, ‘yo! Hiring the best crew in the business. The ability to still attract big names like Gina Tognoni and Tuc Watkins back to the show. Firing Patrica Mauceri when she objected to acting out gay subject matter. Blatantly going after GL’s audience. For the first time in eons, One Life beat GH and AMC in the ratings and demos, albeit for a few weeks. Liabilities: Submitting the wrong Emmy reels two years in a row for best show. A larger, new studio may mean less time on set for the hands-on producer. Rumours that One Life will be the first soap ABC will cancel within the year. Outlook: Llan-tastic, but in this town a rapemance is just a few months away …

8. Gary Tomlin / DAYS Co-Executive Producer 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Improving DAYS and keeping the ratings in the black. Production is more efficient. Bringing on popular Passions stars in order to absorb James E. Reilly fans. Submitting the right Emmy reels and acting pre-nominees. Realizing that the only star who can really save DAYS is not Deidre Hall or Alison Sweeney but Crystal Chappell. Liabilities: Losing high-profile actors like Emmy winner Darin Brooks and Rachel Melvin. Allowing Ken Corday to keep Dena Higley on its writing team even though she reportedly doesn’t head-write the show  thus costing the show mucho dinero. Aging sets need to be replaced. Less rehearsal time for actors. Wasting the discernable talents and the once-insane popularity of former soap superstars Nadia Bjorlin and Shawn Christian on storylines I wouldn’t let my dog watch. Any other soap would have seen the potential in this promising, once sizzling-hot pairing instead of subjecting them — and us — to this sophomoric soap crap. Outlook: So far, so good, but the jury is still out.

9. Eric Braeden / Actor-Producer-Director 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Involved in the most enduring and well-written super-couple romance in soaps’ history, Nikki and Victor. Infuriating Roger Newcomb by gracing the majority of Soap Opera Digest covers in 2008. Directing, producing and starring in the film The Man Who Came Back. Still the most popular leading man on  daytime TV. If the Emmy winner ever left Y&R, TVGuide.ca believes that he is the only star who could truly destroy a show ratings-wise (Straight men and women watch for one reason and one reason only, and that’s Victor Newman — men want to be him, women hate to love him); plus, he’s still sexier than those twinks on his show. Liabilities: Not earning a pre-nomination from his cast cost him his second Emmy Award as lead actor. Outlook: Contract expires next year, so the big question is: Will Y&R make the actor take an unfair pay cut?

10. Jill Farren Phelps / GH Executive Producer 2008 Ranking: 10 Power Plays: The Carnival sequences. Approving the casting of Martha Byrne. Going HD. Remodeling the iconic nurses’ station. Liabilities: Firing the majority of her veteran cast — or back-burnering them. The inability to fire her head writer. Lack of 2009 Emmy nominations. Outlook: Like it or not — ABC’s favourite child is here to stay.

11. Ron Carlivati / One Life Head Writer 2008 Ranking: 3 Power Plays: Writing daytime’s current best soap. Introducing more diversity on the canvas. Keeping his vets on the front burner. Beating GH and AMC in the ratings, albeit momentarily. The breakout Kish storyline. His current GLADD/gay-marriage storyline involving Dorian, despite the huge risk factor. Spotlighting gay and lesbian storylines. Being an openly out gay writer. Putting out gay actor, Scott Evans, on the front burner. Listening to his fans — well, most of the time. Writing the most perfect — and dysfunctional — family on daytime, The Cramers. Referencing the past. Hiring the best writing staff on daytime (Carolyn Culliton and Elizabeth Page are gold mines). Turning One Life into a deeply sick and funny dramedy soap — the first of its kind since Santa Barbara. Marketing to those disenfranchised GL fans by luring Gina Tognoni to the dark side. Oh, and he’s kind of cute. Well, for a soap writer and all … Liabilities: The controversial rapemance. The much-hated Stacy storyline. Submitting the stupidest best writing Emmy reel in recent Emmy history. Seriously, dude — stop smoking crack! Oh, and the rapemance. Let’s not forget the painful John and Marty storyline. And being Italian is always a liability — joking. Did we mention the rapemance? Outlook: Rosier than ever, but don’t quote me!

12. Alison Sweeney / Actress-Host 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: If Sweeney doesn’t like you, you’re in trouble. Delivered a tour-de-force performance during Grace’s death, which should secure the actress with an Emmy nod for the first time in her career. Has chemistry with every leading man she’s ever been paired with. Hosting one of prime-time’s biggest reality shows, The Biggest Loser. Now that Deidre Hall has been fired, Sweeney is DAYS’s top star. Liabilities: Two words — Crystal Chappell. Also, her pal, Ben Silverman is not the big kahuna at NBC anymore. Outlook: Fat-astic.

13. Michael Bruno / Talent Manager-Judge 2008 Ranking: 12 Power Plays: Securing vets in pivotal, albeit short-term roles on soaps in a budget-strapped world. One of the sweetest and authentic personalities, yet boasts one of the wittiest tongues in the business. Liabilities: Shrinking budgets and ratings. Less soaps to cast his clients on. Outlook: Bruno is only as healthy as the industry, but he’s finding a way to make it work, Obama-style!

14. Anthony Geary / Actor 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Originally Ethan was supposed to be Robert’s son but at the last minute Geary reportedly demanded the storyline be rewritten to make the Aussie queen Luke’s spawn. In the press, Geary infuriated fans by defending his self-serving and blatant egotistical rewrite. Almost won his seventh Emmy Award as lead actor, which would have made him the most honoured actor in daytime-TV history. Liabilities: Ditto. Also, he’s only on air for what seems like half the year. Outlook: Geary’s pissed off a lot of fans, but he’s still the top dog at GH. Like the American dollar, the soap superstar’s currency has taken a major hit — critically and publicly. We’ll have to wait and see how he’ll fare …

15. Thom Bierdz / Actor-Artist-Gay Activist 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Proving coming out doesn’t have to hurt your career. Bierdz has become the first major out gay contract player in soap history. Will he inspire others to follow? He certainly has inspired the gay community — both in front of and behind the camera. Liabilities: He could take a couple of acting classes (to be fair, he has apologized for his “arrogant take” on the character in a recent Soap Digest interview — and he has improved enormously).  Outlook: Depends on whether or not Y&R will extend his six-month contract — and write for his character.

16. Barbara Bloom / CBS Daytime VP 2008 Ranking: 13 Power Plays: We can’t think of one — can you?  Liabilities: Her friendship with AMC executive producer Julie Hannan Caruthers — and unhealthy obsession with ABC. A relentless fascination with casting ex-Port Charles actors on soaps no one watches. GL and World Turns’s drastic ratings decline. Lying to Ellen Wheeler regarding GL’s cancellation and allowing P&G to employ show killers in key positions. Cancelling GL on April Fool’s Day. Her scary hair. Oh, and casting her husband on World Turns. At least Les Moonves fell in love with Julie Chen after she was a CBS employee! Outlook: Simply tragic.

17. GH’s Mark Teschner and DAYS’s Marnie Saitta / Master Casting Directors 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Despite craptastic storylines, these two pros prove they can still find and create stars out of newcomers in this dying business (Drew Garrett and Taylor Spreitler, for example). Bringing star power back to daytime with the likes of Crystal Chappell and Martha Byrne has solidified their incomparable talents in the eyes and hearts of fans, critics and the industry alike. Liabilities: Network execs playing amateur casting director. Decreased budgets and vet pay cuts. Outlook: Steady.

18. James Romanovich / ATI President-Emmy Saviour 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Saving the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards with his hands-on approach and unconditional love of the soap genre.   Liabilities: Pissing off of fans by allowing The CW to cut off the GL tribute, Brad Bell’s acceptance speech and not including an In Memoriam segment. Outlook: Romanovich reports that the 37th annual Daytime Emmy Awards may air! More in November!

19. Roger Mooney / One Life and AMC Set Director 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Not allowing today’s depressing budget realities affect the look of his show, which is simply beautiful to look at. Winning his fourth — second for AMC — 2009 Emmy Award for his Herculian efforts this year for creating last year’s tornado sets (he previously won for One Life in 2007). Liabilities: Mooney tells TVGuide.ca he will not be moving with AMC to L.A. but will be sticking with One Life. “I love working with Ron Carlivati and Frank Valentini,” he adds. Phew. Outlook: Inspiring.

20. Andrew Miller and Eden Riegel / Producer-Writer-Director and Actress 2008 Ranking: 16 Power Plays: Earning an Emmy nomination for web series Imaginary Bitches — and inspiring NATAS to create a new media category — for the new approaches in the genre. Showing the unimaginative industry where the future of soap opera is. Riegel’s fans are not to be messed with as evidence shows in the hilarious, laugh-out-loud Pratt Falls series. Also, a soap needs to secure the insanely creative mind of Miller to head-write a soap, most specifically AMC. Liabilities: Losing in the aforementioned Emmy category. AMC has yet to ask Riegel back since it announced the show was moving to L.A. Outlook: High-larious!

21. Daytimeconfidential.com and welovesoaps.com / Bloggers Extraordinaire 2008 Ranking: 21 (DC) Power Plays: The industry and fans pay attention to everything they write. Their respective podcasts are more entertaining than the shows they cover. Welovesoaps.net’s Roger Newcomb has two radio serials and a film under his belt. Jamey Giddens was an Emmy red-carpet expert, and WLS's Damon Jacobs and Newcomb filmed a cameo on Imaginary Bitches. Liabilities: Welovesoaps.net’s podcasts aren’t as entertaining without Michael Goldberg. Outlook: When all is said and aired, they will be the last men standing.

22. Lynn Leahey and Stephanie Sloane / Soap Magazine Editors 2008 Ranking: 15 Power Plays: Adding more opinion to their magazines. Laying off the ridiculous and relentless Eric Braeden/Joshua Morrow covers. Increasing original content and breaking news on their shared website, soapoperadigest.com.  Liabilities: Not spotlighting gay super-couples enough on their covers. With the print press losing steam in general — how long can they survive in this in this increasingly online world of ours? Other than Carolyn Hinsey, Soap Opera Digest and Soap Opera Weekly need to hire more superstar columnists who aren’t afraid of telling the truth. Outlook: Bumpy.

23. Larry Carpenter / One Life Director 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: In light of GL’s amateurish production model, Carpenter has elevated soap directing to new heights — a perfect marriage between art and aesthetics. Carpenter won his second consecutive Emmy Award for best directing — a category GH usually dominates with their stunt episodes.      Liabilities: Nada. Outlook: Uncompromising.

24. Martha Byrne / Actress-Producer-Writer 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: Being one of the very few soap actors who didn’t succumb to the dumbing down and blatant disrespect of the genre by quitting World Turns — and speaking her mind in the process. Plus, knowing that when you jump off the cliff, the net will appear. Like Eden Riegel and Crystal Chappell, creating her own web series, Gotham. Producing TIFF hit, Bye Bye Sally. Landing a big-profile role on GH as Andrea Floyd, which was against type. Securing a part-time gig as a scriptwriter for B&B. Liabilities: The world is still turning, so zilch. Outlook: Like Bruce Wayne, the world is her oyster.

25. Tristan Rogers / Actor-Soap Activist 2008 Ranking: — Power Plays: His tour-de-force performance as a cancer-stricken Robert Scorpio on Night Shift should have earned him an Emmy nomination as best actor. Becoming an unlikely soap fan advocate and critic thanks to his must-read website, www.tristanrogers.com. Liabilities: He’s too talented — and outspoken — to be on a soap. Outlook: Down under, but not down and out.

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Nelson Branco is a Toronto freelance entertainment journalist, who regularly contributes to Hello! Canada, The National Post, The Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, TV Guide USA, tvguide.com, Inside Entertainment, OUT, and fab magazine, along with spearheading the soap coverage for TVGuide.ca's popular daytime TV hub. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1997, he moved from Toronto to New York in 1998 to take on the roles as senior news editor at Soap Opera Update. Branco first freelanced for Soap Opera Weekly as an intern in 1994, and after leaving Soap Update to help create and launch Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly in 2003, Branco continued to freelance occasionally for its sister publication, Soaps In Depth. Most recently, he helped create and launch Canada's first celebrity magazine, Weekly Scoop in 2005 as its news and entertainment director. Branco is also a contributor to a new TV show titled Planet Soap to air in Canada and America.