First up

The young and vulnerable romantic heroine.

Liza SFT

Cal LOL

Kitty AMC

Peggy Y&R

Trish DOOL

Hope GL

Leslie Y&R

Tara AMC

I can't believe that Jenny Wolek from OLTL didn't make that list in 1976. You wanna talk vulnerable!

Mr Right

Mike GL

Linc AMC

Tony OLTL

Bob ATWT

Gary SFT

Dan ATWT

Julian SOM

Frank RH

*Linc, Tony and fFank are currently married but that doesn't alter their Mr Right status. Mr Right tends to marry women who are Wrong for Him, or who are doomed by fate. And soon he's in the running again.

Believe it or not, soap opera characters allude no and then to "Mr Right" (or more delicatelt to "the Right Man'). To soap heroines, Mr Right resembles the man invariably recommended by one's parents and grandparents:good family, good manners, good job, and three piece Brook Brothers suit. This is no place for quirky romantic heroes with uncertain tempers. Mr Right is a doctor, lawyer or newspaper magnate. h

He is tall, slender, attractive, and maybe even sexy. But his appeal is stability. He is professionally and financially secure; and he likes nothing better than to spend time with deserving members of his family. The soaps may play out fantasies and day dreams, but in male-female relationships, they don't cater to adolescent tastes. The dark,brutal-but-gentle stranger has been outclassed by the boy next door (fine young man,they call him)

This is one category that definitely doesn't apply these days. They are in short supply, and when they do exist are seen as a lesser choice for female leads.

I think Rafe on Days (whatever your feelings on the character might be -- I don't HATE him, but I find him a bit boringly drawn) is pretty close to that "Mr. Right" archetype. No, he's not as polished as a doctor or lawyer, but he's certainly a hero in the mold of old-school Roman Brady, and he's written as this unshakably loyal husband, sort of a fantasy for hot-mess Sami.

ETA: I think Days would like to be grooming Nathan Horton as much of the same, and he actually is a doctor.

Edited January 29, 201114 yr by Michael

Mr Right

This is one category that definitely doesn't apply these days. They are in short supply, and when they do exist are seen as a lesser choice for female leads.

How about Joey Buchanan? He pretty much has always been the ultimate prize any woman in Llanview could ask for: Honest, decent, handsome, heir to a fortune. He even tried to be a priest--he is just that moral. It is amazing the entire cast of characters didn't line up to take their shot at tricking him into getting them pregnant.

How about Joey Buchanan? He pretty much has always been the ultimate prize any woman in Llanview could ask for: Honest, decent, handsome, heir to a fortune. He even tried to be a priest--he is just that moral. It is amazing the entire cast of characters didn't line up to take their shot at tricking him into getting them pregnant.

He has been written as a loser and a failure for about 12 years now, because the show always prefers to hype bland smirkers like Rex and Cutter.

Frankie Hubbard could have been a great continuation of that archetype, but IDK about that now. He's still generally good, but I hate the way they write him as part of the anti-David lynch mob, so that kinda takes away a lot of the good things I like about him.

The Reformed Hero

A relatively good guy with a past that often struggles to remain "good".

GH Luke, Mac, Sean, Rick

Y&R Nathan, Lucas, Paul, Ryan

OLTL Max, Hank, Antonio, Kyle

ATWT Isaac, Dusty, Simon

AMC Tad, Ryan, Aidan, Zach, Leo

Passions Hank

The Suffering Antagonist

Delia RH

Brooke DOOL

Vicki SOM

Susan ATWT

Cathy OLTL

Stacy TD

Not quite villians,these ladies may be properly called antagonists. They create trouble for our favorite characters, and very often display selfishness,jealousy, and other unattractive traits. Nonetheless, they are among the most popular and durable soap opera characters. Like us, they have needs and weaknesses,like our friends, they provoke complicated emotional responses, ranging from momentary annoyance to deepest empathy. These are people who make mistakes and seem to pay for them. we can't afford to identify with them all the time.

The Suffering Antagonist

Delia RH

Brooke DOOL

Vicki SOM

Susan ATWT

Cathy OLTL

Stacy TD

Not quite villians,these ladies may be properly called antagonists. They create trouble for our favorite characters, and very often display selfishness,jealousy, and other unattractive traits. Nonetheless, they are among the most popular and durable soap opera characters. Like us, they have needs and weaknesses,like our friends, they provoke complicated emotional responses, ranging from momentary annoyance to deepest empathy. These are people who make mistakes and seem to pay for them. we can't afford to identify with them all the time.

I guess a modern day embodiment of that would be Greenlee from AMC. The only thing is she doesnt pay for her mistakes. When Lindsay was on OLTL, she'd have been a more perfect description for this.

Edited January 31, 201114 yr by Cheap21

When Lindsay was on OLTL, she'd have been a more perfect description for this.

As would Passions Ivy.

DOOL's Nicole seems like a good fit for that one, nowadays.

The Career Woman

Laura DOOL

Pat AW

Vicki SOM

Amy SFT

Maggie TD

Sarah GL

Mary RH

Lesley GH

Susan ATWT

Nancy EON

The carrer woman is not so much an archetype as arole model.She is strongwilled but feminine; successful in her work, but pleasingly vulnerable in love and family life. Although most of the career woman are, like their male counterparts, doctors or lawyers, thee are novelists, architects,executives and secretaries as well. A list of all soap opera women who work happily outside the home would be so long as to resemble a "Who's Who" for daytime. The Career Women we've chosen are among the more attractive role models, and represent a variety of careers. Aside from their career image, and their good taste in clothes, these women are not necessarily similar in character or dramatic function. They inclide heroines like Laura Horton and Jill Coleridge as well as unsympathetic types like Gwen Parish and Vicki Paisley.

Who was Amy on SFT?

Something I notice with these women is that their careers were a part of their life. They were not presented as stifling their men, as not deserving jobs because they are just stupid wimmin, and so on. I miss that.

Amy was Steve Kaslo's sister who married Bruce,Jo's ward. She got pregnant with Bruce's baby and it began as a marriage of convrnience. Amy had to choose between donating bone marrow to Steve and endangering her unborn child,

In the 70's soaps seemed to be getting on board with woman having jobs,but that began to change in the 80's as soaps became more escapist.Marlena in the 70's was often seen dealing with her job as psychiatrist but by the 80's she was more into being kidnapped,fighting arch-enemies etc.She seemed to be able to leave her job for weeks on end at a moments notice.

Thanks. I had forgotten about Amy.

You're right, soaps did make more of an effort to integrate career into daily life. By the 80s that usually was more with women in big corporations. By the 90s and on it was none at all.