Article taken from a 1992 issue of "Entertainment Weekly" magazine:
(courtesy of Ray Kowalski)
Young Love In The Afternoon
UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE in the backbiting, blackmail, and bed hopping that
sustain soap operas, kid characters on those shows have typically been
ignored-or sent away to school at 5 only to reappear a few months later at
18, all grown-up and ready for trouble. But with the June 29 launch of
Swans Crossing, a daily, half-hour syndicated soap aimed at the Clearasil
set(check local listings for times), teens now have their own outlet for
daytime drama.
Broadcast in 91 percent of the country, the serial will chronicle the
travails of a dozen upper crust 14-year-olds in the fictional East Coast
town of Swans Crossing. Co-executive producer Mardee Kravit(formerly a
writer for Ryan's Hope) promises "a series that will be pure fun and
adventure." What? No educational messages? "Enough already with the
messages for kids," says Kravit. "No one ever said Dynasty or Falcon
Crest had to be educational. Kids understand fantasy too."
To that end, there will be lots of plots about crushes, and crushed
feelings. According to Sarah Michelle Gellar, 15, who plays vain, pouty
Sydney Rutledge (picture a younger, blonder Erica Kane), "We do things like
your best friend is mean, or you have a guy your parents don't like, the
stuff we can all relate to." In a counterpoint to the regular soaps, on
Swans, grown-ups (called "Grownies"-get it?) will be seen but not much
heard.
Though Kravit and co-executive producer Ned Kandel (Encyclopedia
Brown) hope the targeted audience of 7-to-15 year olds will appreciate the
lack of mayhem and heavy breathing, the not-a-pimple-in-evidence unknown
stars-who range in age from 13 to 17-are already itching for somehting
racier. "They come to us every day," Kravit says, chuckling, "and say,
'Okay. So like when are we going to be able to kiss?' And I say, 'Relax.
. . Never!'"
-Alan Carter
© 1992 Entertainment Weekly