Where did these soaps go wrong?

[Ben]

Eldorado

Despite BBC bosses hoping the Spanish sunshine might be enough to make Eldorado as big as EastEnders, viewers could see straight through the bad acting and dodgy storylines and the show got axed after a year. Who says the Costa del Sol is better than Walford?

Crossroads

When Crossroads first hit our screens in the 60s viewers loved the controversial storylines and Acorn Antiques style comedy. But the revival in 2001 was a bit far fetched - even Madge from Neighbours wasn't enough to prevent it from being axed, two years later.

Howards' Way

A TV show about rich boat owners should be glamorous – but even Kate O'Mara couldn't bring the magic of Dynasty to the Hampshire coastline. The soap lasted for five years, but soon went into decline when the lead actor Maurice Colbourne died suddenly mid series.

Out Of The Blue

Replacing a soap like Neighbours was never going to be an easy task for the BBC – but no one could predict quite how bizarre Out Of The Blue was going to be. Even a murder at a school reunion didn't bring in the viewers and it was taken off air just nine months later.

Sons and Daughters

Long-lost siblings, look-a-like impostors, amnesia and suicide - the writers of Sons and Daughters created an award-winning hit. Unfortunately their bulging trophy cabinet wasn't enough to stop dwindling ratings and the show ended in 1987.

Family Affairs

Everyone knows murder, affairs, villains and arson are all the ingredients for a successful soap but even this and a glamorous makeover failed to boost ratings for Family Affairs. It was axed in 2005 after eight years on screen.

Brookside

Brookside loved shocking viewers with controversial storylines like lesbian kisses, incest and bodies buried under patios. But after 21 years, Channel 4's schedule reshuffling to make way for Big Brother ended up alienating viewers.

Night And Day

ITV soap Night and Day was plain bizarre from the off. The show had murder and baby swapping like other soaps – but plots like mysterious strangers arriving to stop time so they can read everyone's minds was more than a bit weird.

Dallas

There is no doubting that prime time American soap opera Dallas was a hit with viewers – who would have thought the oil industry could be so glam? The show ran for thirteen series – but bad ratings led to the end of J.R and friends.

Sunset Beach

Although Sunset Beach only ran for three years, it gained a cult following on Five. Viewers couldn't get enough of the tsunamis, murder mysteries and masked serial killers. But then NBC announced they were making cuts the sun was forced to, er, set.

Dynasty

Dynasty failed to impress when it first hit US TV screens – but that all changed when the ever glam Joan Collins signed up. The big hair, huge shoulder pads and dodgy 80s fashion lasted for nine seasons before ratings dropped.

Prisoner: Cell Block H

Forget fancy locations – all Prisoner had to offer was the grubby interior of Wentworth Detention Centre! But despite the less than glamorous setting, viewers loved the cult shows relationships, romances and fighting until it was axed in 1986.

Virgin Media

[Sylph]

So where did they go wrong?

[Chris B]

This list is stupid. Why do you have primetime soaps listed with daytime soaps? Dallas is one of the longest running primetime shows of all time! Most of these were daily daytime soaps. Now I have no idea why they failed, but based on what I've read about Sons and Daughters, it sounds great. The Crossroads remake sounded like a total disaster. Tenuous connections to the original, then the show went on hiatus, dropped all storylines and changed the focus on the show. That sounds like the mark of a bad, lazy writer. The original Crossroads I need to YouTube because the entire series is regularly being released on DVD, so I may check that out. Not the remake though! Howards Way has always interested me and I might purchase it down the road. Australian did their own Dallas/Dynasty inspired show, but it only ran for one season. Howards Way ran for five so it did well.

I seem to recall reading about Family Affairs winning several awards, so I was shocked to hear of it's cancellation. Brookside I hear is like a god among soaps, but I've never had the pleasure of seeing it. Seems nobody wants to release it on DVD.

[All My Shadows]

Hmm...of that list, the only ones I've ever seen are Crossroads, Sons and Daughters, Dallas, and Dynasty. Truthfully, I've only seen episodes of the original version of Crossroads, which was just as campy and fabulous as history treats it. It was like Are You Being Served, but in a soapy format. Hilarious, but also very melodramatic. Loved it.

Sons and Daughters, I was watching from the very beginning on a YouTube channel, but I fell out of touch with the show, and one day, I went to start watching again, but it was gone, unfortunately. I was really liking it, but I'd only seen the first six or seven episodes, so I have no clue when went wrong.

Dallas and Dynasty are legendary for a damn good reason. Two very different shows, but very good for what they were. I cherish them. If they want to know what went wrong with a less-than-successful US primetime soap, I can tell them what went wrong with Flamingo Road: NBC's whack scheduling and TPTB deciding that voodoo plots and black magic made for good primetime soap. Don't get me wrong, it could have worked, but they introduced it much too late into the series, and it just made it look stupid. I was perfectly fine with the politics/class struggle theme of the first season and the first half of the second season. Once Florida Evans appeared, things went downhill.

I need to start watching Howards Way. I was going to a few months ago when I discovered the episodes, but whenever I get online-TV time, I always max it out with wall-to-wall Dynasty and Melrose Place (with some random Adam-12, Emergency, Kojak, That Girl, Donna Reed etc, mixed in). I found a good bit of A Country Practice as well, but there really is not enough time in the day for me to watch everything I want to see.

[Ben]

I posted this b/c I thought it would be a good nostalgia trip, not necessarily b/c it makes sense.

And this why this list does not make sense, as they fail to say what went wrong. Probably b/c they don't know. They do all seemly have something in common: a less traditional feel, with a mix of outlandish storylines.

You mean: Why do they have primetime soaps listed with daytime soaps? Not my list, as I've stated. And if it was, I wouldn't be that stupid.

As for Family Affairs... after they won those awards, which garnered them publicity like they never had before, a new producer stepped into the role and began making big changes, again (he was even gonna change the name of the show!), but Five decided not to renew the show for financial reasons (or so they said)...