5 Years Later - Are the Soaps better or worse?

[Cheap21]

Complaints about the soaps is nothing new. It feels as if there's been quite a bit of criticism about daytime and the delcine of the soaps for near a decade now. But looking back 5 years ago, do you feel the various soaps are better or worse than they were in 2006? 5 years later did they ever improve or did they just get worse?

AMC

Then: The unabortion; JR and Babe reunited; Adam and Krystal in love; Dixie returns and searches for Kate; Lily and Jonathan marry; Ryan and Annie's romance begins; Spike's birth and Zendall get closer, Julia and Jamie get together; Aidan and Erin's romance continues; Satin Slayer story

Now: Erica's kidnapping, Griffin/Kendall/Ricky and Zach's murder; Tad and Cara get married; Angie's blindness and baby switch; Annie goes insane again; Bianca/JR/Marissa triangle; Greenlee/Ryan/Madison/Scott quad

Verdict? Now! Despite some hiccups, Im thoroughly enjoying the show. Back then, MMT only had 2 great stories, Cambias murder and baby switch and once the latter finished up, the show started to go downhill. I remember the balance being horrible and heavy on the Zendall stuff. Im finding 2011 to be a stronger year so far

B&B

Then: Taylor's downward spiral and alcoholism; Darla's death; Stephanie's abuse story; Nick and Brooke marry; Jackie vs Stephanie; Ridge and Donna date

Now: Amber/Liam/Hope/Oliver quad; Steffy/Bill/Katie triangle; Stephanie and Nick's lung cancer stories; Brooke and Thomas potentially hooking up

Verdict? Then! I do appreciate the Steffy/Bill/Katie triangle but by and large this year has been very unimpressive. The show was much better back then

GH

Then: Hospital epidemic; Lucky gets hooked on drugs and cheats with Maxie, Jason and Liz have sex, while Sam and Ric do the same. Lulu's pregnancy; Sonny and Emily become a couple; Robin and Patrick's romance begins

Now: BBB (Brenda, Balkan and baby) business; Jake's death; JaSam want a baby; Michael and Abby's romance; Luke's alcoholism; Lisa stalks Robin and Patrick

Verdict? Then! GH is a boring, unwatchable mess. 2006 was so messy in terms of its plots but in a good way. The affairs, and scandalous plots were exciting to watch and there was actual drama. Today its way too repetitive and not all that interesting.

OLTL

Then: Start of Starr/Cole; Paige searches for her son; Antonio/Jessica/Nash/Claudia quad; Rex/Adriana; Todd/Blair/Spencer triangle; Margaret's death

Now: Eddie Ford's murder; Return of Tess; Viki/Charlie/Echo triangle; Shane's bullying; Tale of Two Todds; Insane Marty vs John and Natalie; Starr/James/Deana triangle

Verdict? Now. I wasnt too impressed with Higley's material and it was around this time I started checking out. Despite some silly decisions, Im actually enjoying the current OLTL

Days

Then: don't know. Show was completely unwatchable

Now: Nicole/EJ/Taylor triangle; faux Rafe; Victor and Maggie start dating; Chloe and Carly spiral out of control; Bo and Hope reunite; Melanie's marriage fizzles and she moves onto Dario

Verdict? Now!

Y&R

Then: Victoria/Brad/Sharon triangle; Nick gets Phyllis pregnant; Sheila continues to torment Lauren; Davetta joins as Lily and her paternity comes out; Dru/Neil/Carmen triangle; John dies; The Reliquary; Victor's temporal lobe epilepsy

Now: Not sure; show is unwatchable

Verdict? Then! I actually loved Y&R back then. I know some thought this was around the time it went downhill but that material seems leaps and bounds better than what we are getting today

I guess there for me AMC, OLTL and Days are better whereas GH, Y&R and B&B are worse

[Soapsuds]

I'll say worse since all if not most are already canceled.

[soapfan770]

Well, five years ago we had soaps to talk about. 3 of the 6 soaps I had followed either regularly or occasionally in 2006 are long gone.

Both B&B and Y&R were bad then and they're still bad now. For me Days in 2006 was a mixed show and I think today it remains the same but it's definitely miles ahead of where Days went in 2007 and 2008.

Aside for Stephanie's abuse story, none of these stories were any good at all. I think the worst had to be Massimo the sudden environmentalist; it's no wonder why Mascolo finally quit B&B.

[quartermainefan]

Then for sure. 2005 was insane goodness. Sami as Stan, Sami in Iraq, Kate and Eugenia, and even the clunkers were at least interesting like just who was Alex North and why were there Roman Brady flashbacks.

Now, well lets see..."Sydney" "Johnny" Nicole and EJ bullshit day after day, and the worst offense of all, skeletal Tamara Braun stinking up the joint.

[Eric83]

Days has gotten worse.

[quartermainefan]

it isn't even close. Back then the show was about telling stories. Ridiculous stories maybe, but stories nevertheless. And the show was insanely efficient at juggling all the characters so that even ones way on the backburner had some sort of status quo to revisit if the time came--like Victor and Caroline trapped in the castle.

Now, thanks to the hack, it is just like all the ABC shows from which she came--couples on daily whether they have a story or not. Just being a couple is reason enough to show people these days, as we have seen forever with Sami, EJ, Rafe and Nicole. Just tally up the airtime Nicole and EJ have notched the last year or 30 and then someone please tell me what story it was that required such exposure.

[All My Shadows]

I was thinking about this not too long ago and came to the conclusion that soaps are better now than they were for most of the middle part of the last decade. 2005-2009 was a hideous time for these shows.

[DRW50]

For me it's not so much about today's soaps and about finding some soap boards I enjoyed (the last time I'd really been to any was some of the newsgroups) and finding Youtube. That's the main reason I got back into soaps. I had stopped watching soaps pretty much altogether, with a few exceptions like AMC's 35th anniversary episode or Phoebe's funeral, somewhere around 2003, when most of the ones I had most loved like GL and ATWT became too wretched for me to face.

[Cheap21]

I forgot but 2006 also had Felicia's cancer storyline and Bridget and Dante's romance, both of which I enjoyed. Either way, I thought it was more entertaining back then

[Steve]

I highlighted the stories I hated. There were so many back then and you're right the balance was horrible with Zzzendull dominating most of the show. AMC has gotten much better since those dark days!

[Sindacco]

HELL NO! Spring 2006 is when DAYS got better again after the awfulness that was 2005. We had the showdown on Morgan Island with John/Marlena/Alex, Hope and Patrick hot sex, Frankie and Jennifer's wedding coming with Jack returning from the dead, Steve and Kayla's returns were right around the corner, the arrival of EJ. The show has never been as bad as it is now in 2011.

[DaytimeFan]

Whereas I feel exactly the opposite. Everything that happened in 2006 made me stop watching DAYS.

DAYS in 2011 is fun, it's low budget, but I enjoy it.

[JtSmarts]

Dool: Definitely Then

OLTL: Now

AMC: Now

Y&R: Then

[YRBB]

In regards to Y&R and B&B, I feel like I'm asked to decide which cancer is best. Well, no, clearly 2006 was still acceptable in regards to B&B. So I would say I preferred it, then. lol

[LoyaltoAMC]

I only watched two shows regularly 5 years ago, AMC & Y&R, so those are the only two I can rate. AMC, while far from perfect, is miles ahead of how it was five years ago at this time. The balance is so much better. Rylee unfortunately are still going strong, but they're not front and center continuously. And the Zendull overload was ridiculous. Also there seems to be some vision for the show, a feeling of them trying to put stuff in place for the long term, which is obviously ironic now with the cancellation. As for Y&R, just the opposite. I find the show in its current state totally incomprehensible. It's just ghastly, made all the more cringeworthy by a pompous and pretentious MAB thinking she's somehow carrying on the tradition of Bill Bell's Y&R. Conversely, even though LML's Y&R had tons of problems, there always seemed to be a clear focus and the storylines moved along logically for the most part.