From “Cancelled: All My Children & One Life to Live” by James Poniewozik in Time’s Most Influential People issue:

“Soap operas, after all, are about immersion in the details and drama of a set of people’s lives. But they’re no longer alone in that. The Real Housewives shows, for instance, indirectly compete for the same mind space, offering a similar kind of serial storytelling, personal intrigue and shadenfreude—as do the offscreen narratives of the likes of Kate Gosselin and the Kardashians. For too many viewers, soaps are now just an alternative, which is why one of TV’s oldest formats is running out of lives to live.”

Images via Gamayca, Reality TV Magazine, Zimbio.