Soaps You've Watched

[Soapsuds]

I've seen most if not all of them. Started watching ATWT and the CBS Lineup back in 78. The NBC and ABC soaps I didnt start watching until the 80's. My all time favorite soap is ATWT

All My Children

Another World

As the World Turns

The Bold and The Beautiful

Capitol

Days of Our Lives

Doctors

Edge of Night

General Hospital

Generations

Guiding Light

Loving/The City

One Life to Live

Passions

Port Charles

Ryan's Hope

Santa Barbara

Search For Tomorrow

Sunset Beach

Texas

The Young and the Restless

[Faulkner]

In order of my fandom:

Y&R - 1989-2010. The double doppelgangers did it in.

AMC - 1990-1998, 1999-2002, 2004-2007, 2008-2009. Always had a tempestuous relationship with this show. Never loved a show more, never hated a show more.

GL - 1990-1994, 1997-2001. Nancy Curlee's time was probably the best soap I've ever seen. San Cristobel killed it for me.

ATWT - 1991-1993, 1995-2003. Watched a lot of the Marland stuff with my mom. I remember a lot about the Royce/Lucinda/Neal Alcott story. Became a fan during the Behr/Broderick era and stuck with it until Sheffer destroyed it.

OLTL - 1992-1995. Loved the Viki/DID story and Marty's rape story. Watched a little bit of the Labines' and Gary Tomlin's eras, too. JFP and the Rappaports ended this show for me.

GH - 1993-1999. Was a huge Brenda fan. Stopped watching when I went off to college. Never got back into it, although I watched a lot of Brenda's return.

DAYS - 1993-1998. Left when Eileen Davidson left pretty much.

AW - dipped in and out of this show, but was never a fan. Thought the actors were great, though.

B&B - whenever the Brooke/Deacon/Bridget story was going on, I watched. Never been compelled to watch otherwise, even when Sheila was on.

PASSIONS, SuBe, and PC - watched the first few months of each.

Santa Barbara - my mom watched, but I don't remember much about it other than Jodie, Reese, and BJ.

[Pine Charles]

AMC:

I always remember seeing it because my mother was a regular viewer since the start, but didn't watch on a regular basis until Adam started gaslighting Dixie in 1989. Watched every day from 1989-1997. Watched sporadically from 1998-2000. Came back when Bianca came out as a lesbian. I've kept up to date with it since then, but there have been periods where I've gone weeks without watching.

LOVING/THE CITY:

On and off, but watched a lot in the early '90s when they did the AMC crossovers.

OLTL:

Starting watching around 2001, I think... whenever the chubby red head chick came on. Stopped when that Tico (?) guy came on. On and off since, but mostly off.

PASSIONS:

On and off, but watched every day when Beth had Sheridan in the pit.

[kalbir]

Y&R: 1981-present

B&B: 1987-1999

As the World Turns: 1985-1994

Guiding Light: 1989-1992

I also watched a good portion of the CBS game show block: The Price is Right (1980-2007), $25,000 Pyramid (1982-1988), Card Sharks (1986-1989), Family Feud (1988-1993).

I was never drawn to the ABC and NBC daytime shows. Days was the most popular show among most of my friends and classmates; the supercouple era and James Reilly's sci-fi era were going on during a good portion of our elementary and high school years, and college years as well.

[juniorz1]

I love this thread! Here's mine, in alphabetical order.

All My Children- 1993-2001; 2003-2005 Brooke's tubal pregnancy is what got me hooked. I fell in love with Julia Barr. I also got into the Alec/Gloria/Adam storyline, and LOVED the Hayley/Alec/Arlene storyline. Plus my Marcy returned in 1995 so I was all over that. I checked out in 2001, I believe during Jean Passanante's stint as headwriter. I'd check in periodically in between, but really didn't like Richard Culliton's tenure (LOVED him at AW though) and hated Rayfield/Cascio (sp?). Then Megan McTavish returned and I really got into the whole Michael Cambias storyline from beginning to end (including the baby switch). I continued to watch all the way up to Edmund's death, but after that, it was all downhill, with the Walking Talking Fetus completely ending it for me.

Another World- 1982-1999 I admit there were some times in the mid-90s where I wasn't avidly watching, but never gave it up completely. 1991 was a REALLY tough year for me there because my three favorite actresses at the time left the show- Anne Heche, Cali Timmins, and Julie Osburn. I will never understand why they dumped Kathleen so quickly- I absolutely loved her character. For my money, 1987-1992 were the best years of the show. However, Jensen Buchanan & Judi Evans were both miscast IMO and they were basically the leads from '92 on. As for the divas & vets, while most were fans of Vicky Wyndham & Linda Dano, my fave always was Anna Stuart. I hated Philiece Sampler in the part (another miscast) and was so happy to have Anna back. The ending was painful for me because I thought the show rebounded it's last 2 years on the air, save the Jordan Stark storyline. Sad it's not on Soapnet anymore but it was great to get to watch my glory period all over again.

As The World Turns- 2000-present I did check it out in the 90s a few times and again when the AW characters crossed over. But it was the Rose/Holden/Lily/Simon/Katie storyline that really got me hooked. Katie's comeuppance at the Endicott Awards remains my favorite soap moment of the 2000s. When Hogan first left, I almost did as well, but JPiss pulled me in with the whole baby switch storyline. I thought it was far better than the big AMC/OLTL baby swap. Of all the soaps I've watched in the 2000s, I've long thought ATWT had the best characters. Jack, Carly, Craig, Lucinda, Meg (pre-Paul & post-Paul), Barbara, Susan, Emily, Simon, Mike, Henry, Bob, Kim- the list could go on & on. I'll be quite sad to see it go, as it is currently my fave soap.

The Bold & The Beautiful- 1993-2001 The Brooke & BeLief storyline is what got me hooked- I LOVED watching Brooke stick it to Stephanie, plus I really enjoyed Scott Thompson Baker's Connor. However, for my years of viewership, I thought the Brooke/Thorne storyline was my absolute favorite. I was glued to B&B every day then. Winsor Harmon & Katherine Kelly Lang had some of the most, if not the most, electric chemistry I've ever seen on daytime. Why the show suddenly dropped it & refuses to revisit it is beyond me.

Days of our Lives- 1982-present Of all the soaps I watched, DAYS will always be the one closest to my heart. I grew up on it & it's the one soap my entire family watched at one point or another- my grandmother, my mother, my father, my aunt, her mother, my brothers & sisters- all of us watched or sampled it at one time or another. Stefano's first run is probably my favorite action/adventure storyline ever. When he & Roman struggled on that cliff- WOW! I loved DAYS best during the early to mid 80s- probably because of the characters. Marlena was always my favorite as a kid, but also LOVED Liz Chandler, Neil Curtis, Julie & Doug, Bo & Hope, Pete & Melissa, Chris Kositchek & Savannah Wilder, Gwen Davies, Larry Welch, Alex Marshall, Mickey & Maggie- they were all great in their own ways. I continued to watch in the late 80s, but never cared for Patch & Kayla, and they basically ran the show. I didn't enjoy JER's early work much- yes, some of the stories were very good but he also dumbed down a lot of my favorite characters. But once the whole Carrie/Austin/Sami & Kristen/John/Marlena stories started, things really got cookin. I even got my HS friends hooked- I remember the show was pre-empted during the climax of the Sami/Austin non-wedding (when Kate finally got the goods on her) and we all had a party at my friend's house to watch it at 2 AM (that's when those 2 episodes aired in St Louis, thanks to viewer complaints). Either way, I've never given it up completely and my parents continue to watch to this day.

Generations- 1989 I never could get into it, but I did try. But the only actors I ever found compelling were Kristoff St.John, Vivica Fox, Linda Gibboney (who they ended up dropping I believe), Anthony Addabo, and especially Robert Torti & Kelly Rutherford. Either way though, they never really hooked me.

Loving- 1986-1991 My grandmother always watched SFT, and when it was cancelled, she picked up Loving. LOVED Noelle Beck's Trisha Alden and her romances- First with Steve Sowolski, then Trucker. I also LOVED the Jack & Lily affair. Perry Stephens was so beautiful & a very solid actor. I never could get into Christopher Cousins in the part though. I also loved Ann Alden (anyone remember who played her?), Jack's mother. Christine Tudor Newman's Gwen was also a favorite, though I really did like Elizabeth Savage in the part. I didn't like Celeste Holm as Isabelle- they should have just left Augusta Dabney in the part. And while Lisa Peluso was jarring at first as Ava Rescott (Roya Megnott had a completely different look & acting style- the character was completely different!), I ended up falling in love with her as well. LOVED Luke Perry as Ned as well- he was a hottie even back then. However, when Noelle Beck left, I eventually did too, which was just as well since I moved to St. Louis in 1992 and Loving didn't even air then. Never watched The City for the same reason.

One Life To Live- 1993-1996; 1998-2000 I got into OLTL during the Marty's rape storyline and was enthralled. I continued to watch after that. I LOVED Max's gambling & his affair with Blair. Never could stand Luna. Also LOVED David & Tina, Cord & Blair, and Joey & Dorian. However, I remember in ONE EPISODE (!), all 3 of those couples were broken up by one of Viki's alters, I believe Jean. One of those couples breaking up I could understand, but ALL 3? In ONE DAY? I gave up. I came back when JFP took the reins (she's one of the few producers I tend to follow- it's an unpopular opinion, but I think she's a very talented producer- one of the best in the business). I really enjoyed Max conning Asa into believing he was his son and Patricia Elliot gave one helluva performance in that story. The only reason I gave it up is because I got completely hooked on ATWT. I've checked back in here & there since, but to me, the show hasn't been compelling enough for me to stick around.

Passions- 1999-2001 I only watched for Timmy & Tabitha and when Josh Ryan Evans died, so did my interest in the show.

Santa Barbara- 1985-1993 Gina pulling the plug on CC & trying to frame Eden is what hooked me- that episode was the very first one I watched. NO supercouple before or since did I have as strong an affinity for as Cruz & Eden. I fell in love with them. The Kirk/Eden/Cruz/Santana quad to this day remains the absolute best quad storyline I ever watched. It also helped that SB had the best characters & actors in the business. Not only did I adore Cruz & Eden, but also loved CC, Sophia, Mason, Julia, Kelly, Ted, Lionel, Augusta, Gina, Mary, Brandon, Kirk, Rosa.... I could go on & on. But they also boasted the funniest, most complex, most interesting male character in all of daytime television- Keith Timmons. To this day, it's Justin Deas' signature role and he deserved every bit of the two Emmys he garnered while on the show. I've never, ever, ever been hooked on a soap in the same way I was hooked on SB.

Sunset Beach- 1997-1999 Never my favorite, but Sarah Buxton's Annie Douglas kept me tuning in. I'm too much of a soap fan to truly get into a soap that basically makes fun of the genre. By the time SUN started becoming a traditional soap, it was too late.

The Young and the Restless- 1993-present After SB left the airwaves, I picked up Y&R and am SO glad I did. I loved that it was so dramatic, almost gothic in a sense. The Victoria/Ryan storyline is what hooked me, but back then, even the 'B' storylines were compelling. For example, I thoroughly enjoyed the lawsuit/Old Folks home storyline featuring Cricket. It had a lot of heart, which usually compels me to watch. Immediately though, my favorite characters were Jill, Ashley, and Brad. Back then, Brenda Epperson was playing Ashley and to this day, she's the Ashley I most identified with. Not sure why she left, but I'd kill to have her back. I do like ED in the part now, but my heart will always be with Brenda. She had such amazing chemistry with Don Diamont that they didn't tap into enough by the time I was watching. It still pisses me off that the only time I got to see Brad with Ashley was with ED in the part......and I didn't even like them together. He was just so good with Brenda. However, Jill was & is a HUGE reason that I watch(ed). Jess Walton is dynamite- I've never seen another actress like her. I have to say that my favorite storyline of all-time remains Victor's "death" where he ended up in Kansas with Hope and Jack & Brad took over the company. I'll never forget the episode where Victor gathered all the characters he effected (Brad, Jack, Ashley, Nikki, Victoria, Ryan, Jill, John) and revealed he was alive. Absolute FIRE!

As for my favorite soap of all-time, I think we all know what that is......

SANTA BARBARA!!!!!

[JackPeyton]

I grew up on NBC Soaps. Another World, Days of our Lives, Santa Barbara & later Susnet Beach.

I sadly dont remember anything from SB except the opening. With Another World i only really remember the last year or so, though i have gone back and watched from 87ish up until where they are now on Hulu, i am dreading Sandy Ferguson leaving as Amanda.

I remember all of Sunset Beach. Days has always been my soap though. It is the one i remember the most of (mostly from Bo & Billie in LA and forward).

I started tuning into GH around the time Liz was raped. Ive tuned off and on ever since then. That led to AMC, and i loved that during greenlee/leo. That led to OLTL but i never really cared too much about that one.

I somehow started watching Y&R during the Glow by Jabot storyline with the teens. Taht led into ATWT, B&B and GL. All three ive watched one and off but only really got invested in GL for a brief time from around 02-05.

[quartermainefan]

I started with GH, Luke and Laura and the wedding hype, was curious. Thanks to the great promos for the other shows I picked up AMC (Palmer had amnesia I think) and OLTL (Asa had a month long costume party maybe). But they were hit and miss for a while.

Stuck with the ABC soaps and eventually added Edge of Night around the time of Nora Fulton's murder. Only watched Ryan's Hope once in a blue moon because the time slot just was not good for me.

In the early 1990s AMC started to become crap. But it got better again around the time of Kendell. Then by the late 90s the show lost any reason to exist and I pretty much gave it up. OLTL I stuck with through all the Tinas, but that show started to lose me once Viki and Clint broke up and Sloane was on and the whole thing became dull.

GH I gave up for spells in the 2000s, especially when the drabs reigned supreme.

In 2004 or whenever the serial killer story was on I saw the reveal of Marlena on aol's home page and that looked good so I started watching DOOL to see Marlena kill Alice and then the whole Melaswen story. I sort of lost interest in DOOL during the summer that Shawn and Belle were on the island with the old crank (2007?) but tuned in again and watched up until the recent baby sydney story ate the show.

Tried watching ATWT to see what Nuke was all about, but the actor who played Holden irritated me so, I had to give up.

I watched Y&R only briefly, when Eddie Cibrian was a rapist and I think Victor had a blind girlfriend. But aside from Cibrian I found the whole show dull.

Passions. I watched the mermaid story, stuck around for the magical chalice, but then after that it started to lose me. I watched part of Vincent.

[EricMontreal22]

Not counting ones I've managed to see thanks to DVDs, or VHS, etc, meaning the older eps of my faves, or ones like Dark Shadows, etc, the only ones I've really followed daily are...

AMC from Fall 1991 till now (a few breaks, like in 2001 when I spent half a year in Europe, and my first year in Montreal for school when I had no tv and would maybe see it once a week or so--this was before it was online). It's *my* show and I probably will stick with it, no matter how bad it gets till it's gone. I got into it during a long weekend holiday (I was 11) when my twin sister's friend who was staying with us was watching. Then I'd watch it when I'd come home for lunch break, but really got into it that Christmas (end of Janet in a well story, start of the whole Merrick's story which I still love and wish was all online).

Loving I got into not too long after, when Jeremy and Ciara went to Corinth from AMC in Nov 1991 for a bit. But I wasn't taping my soaps yet, and usually couldn't get home in time at lunch break to see it so only caught it when I could--then in 1992 they did the whole Carter Jones week long crossover with AMC (again, I wish I could see this now online or somewhere) which got me fully hooked on Loving--I stayed with Loving all the way through to City and while it had rough years, the year Agnes wrote (1994), the murders, and the last year of City were all fantastic and vastly underated--it's prob my second fave soap still.

And OLTL I got into in 1992 when the Billy Douglas gay story started--by then I was taping AMC/LOV and not coming home from school for lunch anymore so just added it to my list. I've watched it on and off since then but I admit there are big years where I really had trouble watching regularly (cuz I found it so poor)--lots of chunks from 96-2002 (and chunks of the Higley years). Since then for thre most part I'm enough of a fan that I watch, sometimes half watch, even when it's having trouble eras like right now.

Otherwise I've followed other soaps for a bit. I did like Sunset Beach at its campiest, and it would air before I had to go to school. I tried to watch Passions--forced myself to watch its first Summer but just couldn't do it. Followed the P&G soaps to an extent, and have alwyas prefered the New York soaps though I did watch a lot of 90s Y&R. DAYS is basically the one big soap I never could watch consistently, and never have been able to.

(And I admit as a young obnoxious preteen soap fan, who would get every book I could about them from the library, the fact that the three soaps I watched were all Agnes Nixon soaps--I was an Agnes fanboy even then--was part of their appeal and the fact they were all in the same "universe")

[Cat]

Santa Barbara

Days of our Lives

General Hospital

Loving, so underappreciated

B&B

Y&R

ATWT

Sunset Beach so underappreciated x2

AMC

I only discovered AW after it had been cancelled. :(

[reallyhateskateonlost]

Dark Shadows. A neighbor turned me onto it. I still watch minisodes at youtube. Johnny Depp is suppose to start filming DS later this year. I became a soap junky with:

ATWT

Another World

Search For Tomorrow

The Doctors

General Hospital

All My Children

Y % R

One Life To Live

Santa Barbara

Guiding Light

The City

Port Charles

DOOL

Loving

Ryan's Hope

Bold & Beautiful

It makes me sad that soaps are dying. The only time I stopped watching a soap was OLTL during Higleys reighn of terror with Tess/Nash.

[JackPeyton]

I really wish soapnet would do a campy soap block with this, spyder games, and like port charles during the arcs.

[Ben]

In order of first viewing:

Sunset Beach: (entire run) - Don't think I need to say that this is/was my all time favourite soap.

B&B: (1996-2003; 2005-2006; 2007; 2008; 2009) - I've been very loyal to B&B, even managing to watch when it wasn't being broadcast, and this was before YT! Now I feel like it's trampling all over that loyalty, and it's sad.

Days Of Our Lives: (2000-2003; 2004; 2007; 2010) - There's something about Days, that I like. It never was a good SuBe replacement, but it has something that draws me back at one point or another. I couldn't watch after the SSK/Island implausibility crap; but tuned in again during 2007, when Celeste was majorly involved with Sami/EJ. Once that was over, and the letters started, it all got too boring for words.

Passions: (2002; 2007-2008) - I tried to like Passions, as people kept saying it was like SuBe, but I could never see it. It was too stupid for me to tolerate; not to mention, insulting at times (Princess Diana rip-off). Then for some reason, I started watching in 2007, when the S/he stalker started, and I was hooked. For the first time, Passions worked, thanks to the cancellation, which had JER "speed up" the stories. Then it all fell apart during Luis' execution, and the move to DirecTV, where things got worse. By the end, the show was a mess.

Y&R: (2008-2009) - Heard it was the best for years, then when I finally saw an episode from 2004, where Victor learned that Abby was his daughter, thanks to Oz TV fast forwarding the show, I knew it was in a league of its own. Then I finally tune in regularly in 2008, and the show hits the ski slopes. It soon became too much for me to bare (thanks Adam!) and I quit.

OLTL: (2009-Present) - This is the newbie; the show that pulled me in, thanks to its diverse cast. Clearly, that's over. How quickly this show changed. But, I will continue with it.

Knots Landing: I know it's Prime-time, but KL aired during the Daytime in England. I don't remember the early stuff, as I was too young, but I know I watched until the final season.

Sampled at one point: ATWT, GH - they never took, although I thought ATWT's special eps were quite good (I.e. 2007 Xmas ep). I did like most of the GH characters, but the Sonny overkill was an instant turn off.

[AdelaideCate007]

I grew up in Australia and South Africa til I was 16 (except for a few stints in the UK, Canada, and France), so as far as American soaps go we watched the ones you got overseas: General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, The Bold and the Beautiful, Santa Barbara, and The Young and the Restless. We also of course watched Home and Away, EastEnders, Neighbours, and this South African soap opera called Egoli that Gillian from AMC was on for awhile.

We were always 4 or 5 years behind the US (except for Santa Barbara and B&B, they were pretty caught up), so even though I was born in the mid-80s, I saw alot of late 80s stuff for myself, and the years are kind of confusing since, I know when they aired when I saw them but have no idea what years they aired in America.

General Hospital: my earliest memories of GH all involve Scott, Lucy, Felicia, Bobbie, Tony, the Quartermaines, Sean, Tiffany, and that whole crew. Scott and Lucy were my favorites. in those days. I LOVED GH in the 90s (I loved Lucy having Serena, who poisoned Katherine Bell, the return of the Cassadines, Brenda and Sonny- yes I was a Sonny fan at that time, the introduction of Jax, Lucy and Kevin, BJ's Heart, etc etc) and I liked in 200s until the Drab Four took over. I dont really watch anymore (mainly because I live in Australia again, and we no longer get it) but I catch it on YT when I hear something good has happened. I have such fond memories of 90s GH.

The Bold and the Beautiful: Back when Ridge loved Caroline, Katie had bad acne, and Sally Spectra was on. I still watch sometimes but its never been my favourite. I do have a story about B & B though: My parents work for the UN and B & B is HUGE overseas and in Europe. Anyway, we were in France for some reason, I dont really remember why, but I were at the Australian Embassy with my father and this lady was watching B & B in the breakroom, and since we didn't really watch B & B very much, and since DAYS was on at the same time in Paris, I asked her why she was watching this instead of DAYS, she told me she liked it better because they had prettier people, lived in California, Sally made her laugh, and because she was tired of seeing people cry on DAYS.

The Young and the Restless: it was during the Jack/Nikki, Victor/Ashley years, and John/Jill/Mamie years. Loved Drucilla, loved Ryan and Victoria, loved early Phyllis, early Nick and Sharon, Sheila (the FIRST TIME ONLY), LOVED Jack and Phyllis, Glo by Jabot, I really guess I loved pretty much everything up until about 2006. I've watched Y&R faithfully my whole life, but its getting pretty hard to watch now.

Santa Barbara: me and my sister wanted to live and California and be Julia, be friends with Gina and marry Mason. My mom loved Cruz and Eden. I remember liking Kelly too. My dad liked Augusta.

Days of Our Lives: DAYS was the favourite at our house. I have SO SO SO many memories: anything Bo and Hope; Bo, Hope, and Shawn D living on the Fancy Face; Melissa; Maggie and Mickey; Eugene disappearing in the time machine; Eugene coming back with a Calliope robot or something; Calliope's dogs getting married; Alice and Kayla getting arrested; anything Steve and Kayla; anything Jack and Jennifer (Matt Ashford and Melissa Reeves's version only); anything Anna DiMera; Shane and Kim; Marlena returning from the dead; real Roman coming back; the Alamains; Isabella; Vivian burying Carly; Sami and Lucas; the DiMera's coming back; early Carrie and Austin; KRISTEN!; Nancy and Craig- I liked pretty much everything up until like 2003, then my interest kind of waned, but I always watched, and Im really enjoying it these days (except for EJ/Sami/Rafe merry-go-round)

My grandmother lived in NYC and she liked Another World and OLTL, so when you went to visit, you watched AW and OLTL. On AW, I remember liking Cass, Felicia, and Cecile but thats about it, and on OLTL, I loved Alex Olanov and early Blair and Todd; I've never been a huge fan of OLTL, although I would watch it sometimes when I lived in the US for a couple of years.

[juniorz1]

I you! And I totally agree about Loving being underappreciated- as I said, when SFT went off the air (my grandmother watched it's ENTIRE run), she started on Loving. And I'm so glad she did. I only really watched for 5 years, but always found it fascinating. The only character I never really cared for was Lauren Marie Taylor's Stacey. And I forgot to mention her in my previous post but Nada Rowland was SO UNDERRATED as Kate Rescott. She & Roya Megnott had some of the best mother/daughter chemistry I'd ever seen.

[Cat]

Absolutely (and I loved Roya as Ava, BTW. It took me some time to get used to Lisa Peluso). I guess Kate and Ava were compared with and overshadowed by AMC's Mona and Erica. Ava was always seen as the "Erica Kane of Loving." But I didn't watch much AMC then so I thought the Donovans and Rescotts and Aldens were just fabulous, and Ava was this gloriously spoiled child who longed for wealth and prestige. I also like they way they contrasted Ava & Kate with Gwyneth & Trisha's mother/daughter relationship with was obsessive and ultimately tragic in comparison.

Also loved Susan Keith.