Most of the soaps are a mixed bag. There are also soaps I feel emotionally invested in and soaps I don't care about, so I tend to want to see the best (or feel more anger if I see the worst) in a show I care more about.

I've watched Y&R off and on for 20 years but I've never had that investment in the show. I think it's much improved over the past 2-3 years, even if it had nowhere to go but up. Some parts I enjoy more than others. The writers seem to be inspired by the Chancellors. I'm pleased that so far they haven't taken the bait of making Phyllis go completely BSC. They seem to be trying to fix the hole the Baldwin/Fisher clan were written into, hopefully they will soon manage to figure out to write for Lauren and Michael. I'm happy they have kept Daniel and Amber together and I'm hoping Michael G. will stay on the show because Daniel has so many layers which haven't been explored. On the other side of the show, Victor's become boring and the writers seem uninterested in Nikki or Jack. I'm disappointed at how they've wasted Ashley so far, and I'm even more disappointed about what years of bad casting or stagnant actors have done to what should have been key characters. I don't know if Y&R's casting department has changed recently, or, considering the poor acting ability of Eva and the Edens, if Y&R just lucked out with Noah, but Noah is a better actor than all of Victor's children combined. Abby still deserves some slack, but I don't get what happened with the other three. Most of them are either flat out bad, or they have to have their weaknesses well hidden by the writers. All of them are basically lumps on the screen, immovable objects to be veered around. Even Josh Morrow, after fifteen years on the show, has to be carried by his leading ladies. The Newman family has never been this hollow.

I guess if I had to rank them, I'd say:

1) Y&R

2) GL

3) OLTL

I don't watch ATWT, DAYS, GH, or B&B often enough at this moment to rank them, and I'm not going to put AMC because I hate some of their current frontburner stories (the lesbian wedding sham, David's ruined return) and characters (Tad, Ryan, Zach) to the point where I'm afraid I can't be unbiased.

Edited February 8, 200916 yr by CarlD2

In terms of ABC soaps, One Life To Live has been amazing. Everyday there's either something new or something to watch for. Maybe it's because of the great storylines in progress (Janet/Lee's death, baby switch, Tea's return, David/Dorian) but OLTL is definitely the soap to watch.

GH is back to being 'blah'..maybe that's because I'm a Liz/Jason Kate/Sonny fan that hates to see two great couples destroyed and back to the old mob ways. The hospital storyline is OK to watch, but nothing special.

Here is how I would rank the soaps:

1) All My Children

2) Bold & Beautiful

3) Young & Restless

4) One Life to Live

5) Days Of Our Lives

6) Guiding Light

7) General Hospital

8) As the World Turns

I think ATWT royally sucks right now and even though GH ranked 7th to me I still find it entertaining.

AMC IMO is not the best but has IMPROVED!

Heres my ranking.

1)AMC

2)Y&R

3)OLTL

4)GH

5)B&B

6)GL

7)DAYS

8)ATWT

After a REALLY short view on all soaps (like 2 minutes of each here and there) I came to the conclusion that Y&R followed by AMC will probably be the main shows I look into. And of course I always follow B&B spoilers even though I don´t watch it very often these days. I love that Stephanie Forrester but she deserves so much better!

One Life to Live.

It has really surprised me, because I almost expected it to go off the deep end. But it took risks that have paid off. And the fact that it catches me off guard in a good way, and so often, is really impressive.

As I mentioned elsewhere, it's part contemporary, part 80's heyday (think the flawlessly-excuted, Dynasty-esque slaps and confrontations - which AMC can't seem to pull off nearly as well...), and yet it is emotionally driven and character-centric. Like any soap, it's never perfect (l fast-forward through the current David Vickers stuff, which surprises me in a bad way since I love Tuc Watkins), but it is fun to watch.

Many times I get excited about seeing the next episode... and there was a not-too-long-ago period that such a feeling almost never happened in watching soaps.

the best> idk... but here is the order that i enjoy them...

1. Days

2. AMC

3. GH

4. Y&R

5. GL

6. ATWT

7. BB

8. OLTL

Y&R

OLTL

B&B

1. YnR

2. GL

3. OLTL/DAYS

4. BnB/ATWT

5. GH

6. AMC

Y&R is the best IMO, it's the only soap I can watch all the way through without FFing through 98% of it.

From best to worst:

Y&R

ATWT

OLTL

GH

AMC

GL

Days

B&B

Y&R

1. Y&R

2. OLTL

3. GL

I can't believe after two years I've placed GL back on my viewing schedule.

Y & R is the absolute best right now, and not because the others suck. But because it's rich with history, wonderful use of history and unrivaled use of vets. The cast looks great, and they can act! I have tuned back in, and I hope it's long term because I love soaps. It pains me to see what has become of them.

ANDREA

I'm only watching Y&R, and it's absolutely divine right now.

I follow Days through spoilers and that show sucks dirty ass.

We all know Y&R is the golden standard right now. I dont think any other show can hold a candle to it.