BEST SOAP OF 2008

[brimike]

I'm not sure anybody could possibly NOT pick OLTL as their #1, even if they DON'T watch the show and never have. This isn't about our "favorite" soap, but the "best" soap - and even if you don't watch OLTL, you can clearly see they have the most satisfied fans overall right now.

For years in the 90's I never watched Y&R. But I could acknowledge it was the "best" soap on the air because the majority of fans never had many complaints about it. Maybe it wasn't my favorite soap, but it was "the best".

I'd throw AMC and Days up there for the same reason, even though I believe both have had a really inconsistent year. As much as I'm not enjoying Days right now, it would HAVE to be at #4-ish, because at least I do see positive stuff about Days on the boards - unlike ATWT and GL, which I never see positive for.

Then again, we're back to the old "best of the mediocre" mentality, and I know how much people hate when I think that way on the boards. :-)

So far (and it is only six months in), my ranking would look like this:

1) OLTL

2) B&B

3) AMC

4) Days

5) Y&R

6) GH

7) ATWT

8) GL

But again... I think there are some pretty huge gaps between some of these.

[TC]

All we're missing is Jay, singing the One Life to Live theme.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Nothing on daytime really stands out to me anymore. Even though I think OLTL has been outstanding lately, I don't get the feeling that I'm apart of soap opera history when I watch it. I don't know how to explain it, though OLTL is certainly on fire, I don't think it's the best the show's ever been (like some are saying). It's just good soap, nothing innovative, which daytime used to be all about. It was daytime we have to thank for tackling many of the progressive social changes first. Yet, I feel like all soaps have regressed in that respect. When I first got into soaps in the late 80's/early 90's. Bill Bell was still at Y&R and B&B, Agnes Nixon was still heavily involved with AMC, Nancy Curlee was at GL, Douglas Marland was at ATWT, and Claire Labine would be at GH at some point. THAT was the last era, I think, soaps were considered a serious art form and were last at their best. Looking back, though I didn't realize it then, I as a viewer was witnessing soap opera history. I don't get that feeling now, not even when watching OLTL.

Thank goddness I still have my British soaps to keep me sane in why I'm a fan of serialized drama.

My rankings based on entertainment purposes only.

1. OLTL

2. B&B

3. The "Others"

[CassieFan]

I've personally never watched it. I'm not from USA.

[JackPeyton]

There are. I know a few people who hate it, think its awful.

they have valid reasons.

[dm.]

You definitely should try to watch it. It's amazing.

Getting to know a new soap and new characters isn't always easy but... that soap is on fire!

[brimike]

Oh, absolutely. I'm just looking at it in terms of "the bigger picture". And even if you don't like the show, you have to acknowledge that MOST are happy with it. Same as Days, even though I think it's awful. Most people on the boards are happy with it.

Although to be fair, I'm looking at this totally from an online perspective (as are we all, probably), and as Goutman pointed out, we are a VERY small percentage of fans.

[2shane8]

I know some people have always been put off by OLTL because it's a bit more female-centered than some of the dramas. I don't agree with this, but it's something I've heard over the years.

[All My Shadows]

Real [!@#$%^&*]? That's strange. If any soap currently on the air seems very female-centric to me, it'd be either B&B or AMC. Even when I was very little and B&B was still a brand new soap, trying to find its way, I could recognize that there were lots and lots of chickadees on the show and much less men. Maybe it was because the women on B&B have always been more fleshed out than the men.

[Cheap21]

hey I didnt write that! lol

[2shane8]

No, I did

[MoTheGreat]

1. B&B

2. AMC

Since the rest of the soaps storylines or characters haven't caught my attention they basicly can kiss my ass.

[Desertrose]

OLTL...hands down.

I love all the history that Carlivati is mentioning and USING!!!

AMC has improved tremendously.

Y&R....yawn.

GL... makes me sad to watch it.....

GH...gave that up last year after watching since it started in '63.

DOOL...its too much Higlification for me.

Don't watch B&B. Catch ATWT once in a blue moon.....

I'm just so happy with OLTL these days!!

[All My Shadows]

LOL! See, that's what happens when you're on a dial-up computer, so you use Fast Reply for every single post you make, and you have to be ghetto with quotes and stuff.

[2shane8]

I was using dial access until just last WEEK, and I thought I was literally the last person in the world.

Go you!