Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome

[Paul Raven]

The arrival of Victor Jr on Y&R(born in 95-now in mid 20's) is the latest case of SORAS.

It's always been a part of soaps-Mike Bauer on GL was born onscreen in 1954 but had turned 18 by 1961,so I guess I should accept it but it really bugs me.

I think it's lazy writing-writers can't(won't) come up with anything for established characters so bring on the aged kids!!

It's also annoying when it's not done gradually-the last time they're seen,the kid might be 8 or 9 and then a few months later they're 19-20(often played by actors in their mid 20's)

Also,there is often no consistency-I remember Billy Abbott being brought on as a 16 yr old (he should have been 5)but Phillip Jr who was born about 4 yrs earlier was now about 6 yrs younger...

It screws up the ages of the parents-actors in their 30's are now supposedly parents of kids in their 20's.

I could accept it if the character was say,4-5 yrs older than they should be and tha ageing had happened on screen-if every few years 1-2 years was added to the character it might not be so jarring.

Some current examples

ATWT

Katie Peretti should be 19 this year

Aaron Snyder should be 17

Luke Snyder -13

Allison Stewart -14

DOOL

Phillip -13 (aged to a teenager when he was 4)

Belle -15

B&B

Bridget born in 92 turned 18 in 2001

Rick born in 1990 now in mid 20's

The list goes on.

What do you think of SORAS?

[Actor87]

I hate it.

Chris Hughes should be around the same age as Katie....19 or so. However, they're already in their mid- to late-twenties.

It's horribly endangering of the parent character's ages, but it also takes away from the stories being told because you're listening to a real-life 9 year old talking about going to college in a few months and you just get confused, I guess.

I think it's unnecessary, but it's also something that will (99% sure) never change.....only because it's been going on for so long now.

[Noel]

I don't mind it if only it's done appropriately to give the veterans more story. However, there are some BAD cases of Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome:

GL's Leah Bauer- She's been SORAS'D to 15 or 16, but her brother Jude Bauer should be older than her and he's still around Zach Spaulding's age. And Zach Spaulding was born before Leah Bauer too, so obviously this doesn't make any sense and also gives a nice slap in the face to GL viewers.

GL's Susan/Daisy Lemay- Not only was this character SORAS'D in 1998 when Brittany Snow played the character, but EP Ellen Wheeler thought it would be so much fun and genius to actually DESORAS her back to 16 years old in 2007.

Here are two video clips on YouTube:

This clip is when Susan/Daisy Lemay (then played by Brittany Snow) fought the horrible Nursery Rhyme Stalker Holly Reade. Also pictured is Ross, Phillip, Harley (back when she use to be cool instead of a selfish bitch), Ben, Alan, and Teri DiMarco etc. This was in 1998.

And here's when Susan/Daisy gets an abortion in 2007 and she's still the same age.

Nice, Ellen Wheeler! Real nice!

ETA: Don't remind me that Teri DiMarco was Annie Dutton played by Signey Coleman. I'm in denial with that!

[All My Shadows]

I hate SORAS and I think it is no-doubt one of the worst ideas in the history of soap opera, but as already stated, it's been around since the 1950s and it's something I've just grown to accept. To suddenly stop SORAS now would make timelines a hell of a lot worse than they already are, so I think soaps should just keep on doing it. My problem is with how ridiculous some shows are with it. DAYS and B&B are the two that stick out to me.

I'd love it if a production company made two or three soaps that didn't use SORAS. It'd add back some of the dignity that's lost when US soaps do SORAS.

[Phoenix11]

I understand it to a certain degree. After all, if characters aged in real time, we'd really only see a couple of generations of a family in our lifetime. But I do think it should be a gradual process. Maybe 2-3 years for each real year.

I do agree that the worst case of SORASing had to be Leah Bauer on GL. They not only aged her from a baby to a teenager, but made her older than her older brother Jude!! Not only that, she's now older than Jude's OLDER brother, Zach. Almost as bad was when Y&R SORASed Victoria and Nick and Little Phillip was still a little boy. But at least they weren't siblings!!

[LoveDays]

SORASing has always been a problem with me. And like someone else said, it happened so much that you tend to just accept it! But I still don't like it.

I definitely agree with this statement:

I have always thought that too. It is definitely lazy of the writers when they SORAS younger characters/children to create storyline. It takes away from the established veterans which in all honesty still have alot of story to tell. But I look at SORASing as a way for the writers to try and reach that younger demographic and at the same time phase out the older characters whom they have convinced themselves that we the fans don't want to see anymore. Which of course, is false.

I'm an avid DAYS fan and watch it like there is no tomorrow, as I did AW, GH, GL and so on! I just love soaps! I love the genre! Anyway, I know when I tune into my stories, I want to see characters like Maggie, Mickey, Victor, Doug, Julie, Marlena, Roman, John, Bo, Hope, Caroline, Shawn Sr, Stefano, Alice, Kayla, Steve, Abe, and so on hogging up the screentime. I want to see those veteran actors anc characters deep in stories of cancer, alcoholism, romance, danger, etc...I think you all get what I mean. I want to see them in powerhouse storylines thaat show off their acting chops and let the industry know that they still got what it takes. And this goes for all soaps. So when they age a character or characters, it pretty much spells adios to the vets airtime to me. The writers to me do not even know how to integrate those SORASed characters well anymore. They just immediately throw them into their own storyline, 3 to 4 days a week and boom have them trying to carry scenes themselves that really not even the younger demographic is invested in. Contrary to what TPTB think, younger audiences want to see the older characters alot of the time. I mean that's what got the younger generation watching soaps in the past, watching the veteran established adult characters was like a guilty pleasure. You knew you weren't supposed to be watching, but you would sneak to catch the stories anyway.

Yeah soaps got hip with the times and yeah they did SORAS in the past too. I think the writers then knew how to introduce SORASed characters better then and knew how to wove them into the adult storylines. I think ATWT did a fabulous job with that in cases of Lily, Lucinda, and the Snyders, Paul, Barbara, James and Andy, Kim, John, and the Hughes. I think when those characters were teens, they were written realistically enough and didnt hog up screentime away from the established. They were added and fit right in, but not overused. I looked at the teens in the past or SORASed characters of the passt as supporting players, their characters were affected by different elements of the storyline and played out as such, but the older established characters were who really felt the devastating affects of the storyline and how it affected everyone else around them. Think about when an older character had an affair with someone while they were married and how everyone was affected included the teenager and what the adulterers had to face. Classic stuff. I know you all know what I'm talking about.

I think that in some cases there were successful SORASing. Was it needed? Probably not! Could all soaps have done without it? Yes indeed! Since it happened, we have dealt with it and in alot of cases, especially in the past, we simply overlooked it.

[marla0518]

SORASing has been a part of Soaps for a long time...my most notables:

Jamie Frame on AW

Hope Williams Brady on DOOL

Sami Brady on DOOL

Brady Brady on DOOL

Belle Black Brady on DOOL (what is it about Brady blood!!!)

Nick Newman on Y & R (born in 1989 by 1994 he is 17!!!)

Victoria Newman on Y & R

Danny Romalatti on Y & R

Lily Winters on Y & R

and now Victor Jr on Y & R

I love that the character of Robin Scorpio aged right along with the actor, but it is funny that everyone on Y & R is SORAS'd along with their parent (Daniel and Phyllis - he should be 14 and she should be 34, but he is now 20 so she is 40!!!) except for Noah...guess they don't want to Soras Nick and Sharon!!!!

[DeeeDee]

34?

WTF?

[DaytimeFan]

I actually don't mind SORAS in some cases. For me the Bells soaps have done a decent job of it thanks to the Swiss Boarding School Phenomenon. At least when they SORAS characters on Y&R the kids have been offscreen for a while and I nearly forget how old they used to be.

The weird ones are DAYS, one minute Will is 6 years old and then WHAMO he's 16.

[stenbeck212]

They'd probably like to create new characters altogether, but they tell themselves that expanding on existing families is a good compromise.

[Khan]

IMO, SORAS'ing is only ridiculous when you have someone like GL's Leah, who magically went from 2 to (around) 15, and somehow became older than sibling Jude - not to mention, Will, RJ, Emma, James, Zach and the (imaginary) Marler kids - who was born several years before, and who (last time I checked) was still a toddler. (And don't get me started on how Coop, Lizzie and Marina all ended up at the same age - and older than SuDaisy, to boot. Yeah, GL-math is a little fuzzy these days.)

Otherwise, I look at SORAS'ing as a necessary evil.

[Cheap21]

SORASing is a necesary staple of soaps and I welcome it. The only thing I have a problem is when shows SORAS characters out of order. If a character was born ahead of another, then that character MUST ALWAYS be older. Days is the worst offense of this. I couldnt believe what they did with Belle/Shawn/Phillip/Brady when they SORASed them in the late 90s while deSORASing Abby

LOL...I loved her as Annie

[sheilaforever]

I consider it a necessary evil.

Bascially I don't like it at all but I understand the reason for it: Relationships change more often on soaps than in real life so a real-life aging progress amongst the kids would be boring (especially those cutesy years after the first word until they can become real character at age of 6 or 7 the earliest).

If done right with the Swiss Boarding School route or some side remarks in advance like "He/She is growing so fast" SORAS is okay by me. However, I HATE it when they mess up the ages with someone born 10 years later being suddenly older...

[JamesF]

I don't think it's a necessary evil at all and like others have said, is purely lazy writing. I think the American soaps are the only ones to rely on it as a staple and the only thing that can be said for it is that it "strengthens" core families. However it really goes against the whole process of investing in being a loyal soap viewer because it negates years of established history. In Coronation Street we saw Tracy Barlow grow up in real time (coming to the show back and forth) until she went to jail for murdering her boyfriend. There was an episode before her trial where she confessed everything to her horrified mother and they had 30 minutes worth of raking over history which was so brilliant because long time viewers had lived through it too -- being abandoned by her real father in the 70s, her mother's affairs in the 80s, needing a kidney transplant in the 90s. If she'd been born onscreen in 1994 and SORASed, the rich history that had turned that character into what she'd become would have been lost.

You can compare it to B&B which is another terrible offender with SORASing. On the one hand we have Stephanie decrying her 20 years of history with Brooke or 40 year relationship with Eric, while at the same time having to swallow Rick and Bridget pushing 30. It's all over the place and it cheapens everything that was built up in the show for the first ten years. Realistically, the "next generation" i.e. Rick, Mark, CJ and Bridget should have been hitting their adult strides this year and it would have been perfect timing as Ridge/Brooke/Taylor/Stephanie becomes increasingly played out.

But the thing is that is always going to happen because there will always be a child on the canvas that it would be too icky to SORAS. Nobody would have bought Sami Brady being mother to a teenager in the late 90s. Likewise on B&B, Little Eric (who drove the whole bloody show for nearly 2 years) has been forgotten because he'd have to be a teenager like Phoebe, therefore making Rick middle aged. SORASing is just too messy and should be avoided like the plague.

[kelly1142]

If it's done right, it's fine. It's when they screw up timelines (see ATWT's Brad now being YOUNGER than Jack when he was always the older brother) that it annoys me.