It seemed like just the right combination of all that was supposed to be compelling about the Web - a more personalized connection from fan to star, coupled with a regular update to foster addiction to the action. Unfortunately, none of the Web soaps that have launched so far have really taken off, and despite some devoted fans, none has reached the number of regulars once envisioned.
Sunk to the slippery bottom
The Spot: At more than two years and counting, the houseful of bikini-clad beach bimbos who frolicked on American Cybercast's show were the genre's oldest veterans, until it finally finished dying its prolonged death this month.
The Pyramid: Another ill-fated AMCY offering about the shenanigans of a high-tech company, which eerily mirrored the shenanigans of AMCY itself until it was killed when the company went under in January.
EON-4: Ditto above, except add aliens and space travel, and subtract the company.
Candidate '96: A flashy political soap that followed the candidacy of fictional everyman and presidential wannabe Jack Parrish. It was killed long before Election Day.
475 Madison Avenue: MSN's mostly-text Days of Our Lives-style soap about the glamour and back-biting within an advertising agency. On permanent hiatus as of March, when MSN's first season ended.
(914): The second of the short-lived MSN soaps. Think 90210, except it's in the 914 area code of New York City. "It's not an area code, it's an attitude."
Ferndale: Eight disturbed teens end up in a psychiatric retreat, courtesy of Songline Studios. The whining and overwritten angst ended, thankfully, just a few months after it started.
Grape Jam: From original Spot creators Lightspeed Media, Grape Jam's "improvisational comedy troupe" soap reached the end of its shelf life earlier this year. Lightspeed is now developing soaps for the upcoming AOL entertainment network "Asylum."
Madeleine's Mind: Gorgeous Shockwave-based psychic-woman-versus-conspiracy thriller, highly interactive but tediously slow to download, from Digital Planet. No new episodes have appeared since the end of 1996.
Still clinging to the surface
The East Village: Second only to The Spot for commercial soap durability, East Village follows a bunch of boho slackers and their borderline pornographic love lives in New York City. Once touting extensive video segments, the site's been slimmed down to reduce costs.
Geek Cereal: Real live diaries from six real live geeks, from those zany folks at Cyborganic Studios. Almost a year and a half old, it reads almost like a documentary of South Park life; but Cyborganic is rapidly going bankrupt, so its future is looking grim.
The Couch: Similar to Ferndale, but with older patients, The Couch follows the group therapy sessions of an angst-ridden group of Gen-Xers. Another Cyborganic soap, with another questionable future.
