Daytime's Biggest Soap Cliches

[Susan Hunter]

Eden on SB had DID as a result of seeing Lionel and Sophia doing the do. Remember she turned into some kind of a crunchy artist.

Here is another one:

The hooker/stripper with a heart of gold who eventually leaves the life and marries an upstanding guy. After she settles into domestic bliss and puts the past behind her, an ex pimp/strip club owner will show up to blackmail her usually, but not guaranteed, with either naked pictures or a sex tape. The pimp/strip club owner will end up dead. Cue the murder mystery, the arrest, the trial and the ex hooker/stripper admitting on the witness stand to the entire town that she used to be a big ho.

[Quent]

Evil Twins: This has really been done to death. If twins are to be done, they should do it the way ATWT did it with Lily and Rose. Lily was the show's heroine, but they didn't make her twin "evil", just completely different.

SORAS: Yes, sometimes it has to be done, but slowly and logically or else it becomes ridiculous. I always thought the aging of Bonnie on ATWT was the worst (she went from a toddler to a 21-year-old in record time.) And the effect this has on the parents is never thought of...for instance , how old did Jessica Griffin become in our eyes when she had this adult child? Look what happened to poor Ellen Stewart, when they started SORASing the Stewarts. As a relatively young woman, she became a great-grandmother! But the more I think about it, the SORASing of E.J. is the worst. He was married to a woman old enough to be his mother (Sami).

Back From The Dead: Sometimes it can be done right (I loved the shock of seeing Shannon O'Hara alive when Duncan was expecting to meet his current wife, not his presumed-dead former spouse), but was there any impact at all when Stefano or James Stenbeck did their yearly trip to the grave? Think of the difference you felt between James' first death (fell out of the plane) and his last. Night and day.

Pregnancy Cliches: It's to the point where as soon as you see people who do not belong together have a one-night stand, you just know there is a baby on the way. One time is enough in fruitflies , not humans. As for the abortion storylines, I'll go with the cliches. I have no desire to see the death of a baby used as a plot point.

[DRW50]

I think rapid aging is stupid but it doesn't bother me as much if they get some story out of it, and if it doesn't affect the canvas too much (Elvis was an isolated character, being the child of Susan and one of Stefano's many kids, so he had little impact before his aging). But rapid aging and no actual storyline is pathetic. Abby on Y&R is now 30 years old and has had no story to show for it.

[frequentsoapfan]

I hate when the "evil" twin is used as a back from the dead plot too!

[marceline]

Women passing out because they're pregnant. I hate this one. Ten seconds after the sperm hits the egg, the mom-to-be is written to do a faceplant--usually in front of her worst enemy. It's usually just an excuse to get the poor dimwitted female to a doctor so he can tell her that she's knocked up. Out of all the times my friends/relatives have been pregnant, not one of them has ever passed out in public. Not even the ones with difficult pregnancies. In fact, most of them have exhibited Herculean levels of strength. (One of my friends sang a solo at a community concert four weeks after her caesarian. Another puked up her guts right before a presentation on business contingency planning.) Honestly I think fainting should become vomiting because that's been the reality I've observed but I guess it's more romantic for the hero to rush a woman to the ER than it is for him to stand outside the ladies room while she pukes.

Switched DNA tests. I hate this for several reasons: 1.) DNA tests don't have to be done in a hospital. They can be ordered at a strip mall lab or even done online and 2.) Even If they are done at a hospital, most viewers' experience with the health care system makes it impossible for them to suspend disbelief enough for this cliche to be acceptable. If soap writers want to pen a story where a test is wrong, there are a million other scenarios they could use.

[Delia]

Everyone's Rich: it always bothered me that over the last 25 or so years blue collar characters on soaps largely disappeared. If characters did have jobs they were some kind of fancy corporate executive especially in the cosmetic industry?

[DRW50]

This may have already been mentioned, but I've never understood why in recent years soaps decided to give some characters 500 children. I have no idea what story was gained out of giving ATWT's Lily about 6 children. GH's Carly had enough pointless children that one was shipped off for good. I guess you can say that DAYS got a lot of story out of Sami's pregnancies, but even then she had twins for no real reason beyond a "cute" twist (twins by different fathers).

[frequentsoapfan]

Ali, Sydney, and Johnny are all plot point children. Apparently Morgan no longer exists on Gh because a few weeks ago a newpaper article Starr read stated Sonny only has two sons and a daughter!

[Cheap21]

The term DID was never used but on AMC, Hayley developed an alternate personality of her presumed dead mother, Arlene

GH's Alexis faked DID about 10 years ago and used Viki as a frame of reference to do it

[DynamiteKiddo]

Tell me about it. The only thing worse for me is when characters with excessive wealth suddenly find themselves broke to facilitate some kind of relatable story. I remember when Hogan Sheffer took over at "Days", Belle and Billie were dead broke. Belle's parents are supposed to be filthy rich, and her ex-husband came from mega wealth, too. Plus, she was allegedly some big up and coming fashion designer (at her billionaire father's fashion company). How is SHE supposed to be broke?

And Billie was couchsurfing until this point (since she returned in '04), but I can accept that as a plot and budgetary thing. But she started having all kinds of money and unemployment issues when she was the FOUNDER of a cosmetics corporation. However, I know that feeds into your complaint, that someone with no professional experience like Billie could've started a corporation in her early twenties just off drugs.

[SweetPea36]

I passed out when I was pregnant, although I was in church, it was too warm and the older woman next to me was wearing enough Yardley English Lavender to choke a horse (I still can't smell that scent without my eyes rolling up into my head). No nausea, only that single fainting spell. Second pregnancy, no fainting and no nausea.

It happens, but I'm sure it's pretty rare if my friends and family are any indication.

[tubeviewr]

Paralysis storylines are pretty cliche. But oddly enough, Jack's storyline currently on Y&R is kind of decent compared to the other trashy stuff that is going on with the show right now. No miracle cure, which I thought the writers were going to have him walking by this May sweeps.

[Quent]

And of course, the blindness stories. Except for Hope on Y&R, did anyone ever stay blind?

[Cheap21]

She didnt stay blind but Angie on AMC was blind for a year which is alot longer than most. Here's pretty much seemed permanent till she got a quick miracle in time for series finale. I think the show did a good job at having her readjust and portrayed as a functional blind person in society

[marceline]

I passed out in public once, under a similar set of circumstances. Not pregnant but in a warm room where I'd been inhaling fumes. It turned out that I was anemic. I have no doubt that pregnant women occasionally pass out but on soaps they drop like zombies on The Walking Dead.