Have soaps that are left run out of ideas/stories??

[Soapsuds]

Watching Days as of late and I noticed the same stories rehashed again. Not that I hadnt noticed when more soaps were on but now with so few left is stands out. We have a murder mystery.....a fake stalker....etc...etc........

[Khan]

DAYS' current stories feel rehashed for the same reason all current soaps' current stories feel rehashed: TPTB are focused on plot and not character. As long as you listen to characters (which the shows don't anymore) and let them tell you what they want to do, you never run out of ideas. And if things still feel rehashed, then it's because the characters are "done" and need to be phased out, something else these shows have forgotten. Simple as that.

[theherowithin]

I would call it professional fanfic. The ship is still sinking but instead of plugging the hole we'll get a bigger bucket.

[Soapsuds]

Then all characters need to be phased out....lol...not one character has a fresh hip story.

[gtru1981]

Yes

[quartermainefan]

I don't have a problem with this because as the years go by and a new generation arrives the story is now new to them. Murder Mysteries are something that have been done for over a century and if told well they don't go out of style. DOOL has this one, but when was the last one? Not since I have been watching from 2004 at least. GH has a baby switch story, but when was the last one? I don't think GH ever had a baby switch story to be honest. It's always going to be the same story retold again and again, just hopefully retold for a new audience. THE KILLING is on now, but 20 years ago it was TWIN PEAKS.

[gtru1981]

Yeah u got that right. It's not like they ran out of ideas, they are still using the same stories/ideas from like 40 and 30 years ago. It's the same crap, over and over and it gets boring ad stale after 20 years lol. I don't understand why they aren't up wih the times , our world has changed so much in the last 10 years. Than they wonder why they cant get new viewers and keep the small viewship they have now!

[Gray Bunny]

I think it's a lose/lose situation. Longtime fans--- the only ones still watching these aging dinosaurs--- want to see their favorites. But all that seems to be left is stale, wash-rinse-repeat storylines for the same characters, same couples, etc. etc. Even with better writers--- as a few shows have had actual decent writers in the past 5-10 years--- it hasn't solved the problem or breathed new life into a show to a point that viewer interest (and ratings!) went up and stayed up.

But on the other hand, if you did a complete overhaul and brought in brand new characters, the remaining viewers would have no interest and would tune out.

Watching DAYS, I totally see your point. It really does seem like the time is right to end them all. I'd gladly watch reruns from 20-30 years ago instead.

[aMLCproduction]

For Y&R its very apparent MAB and hacks are out of ideas.

[Cheap21]

Unfortunately that's the point. The writers came on with the goal of recapturing 90s magic but have failed miserably

[Soapsuds]

I dont think MAB ever had any ideas. She got the job because of who she is married to not because of her brilliant mind. MAB is the worst Y&R has had....it was bad enough that it drove me away. But I really dont miss the show. It kind of reminds me of the last year or so of GL when I stopped watching it and didnt miss it at all.

[DRW50]

I don't think it's as much about running out of ideas as it is poor execution of ideas. Bad pacing. Bad directing. Bad acting. If that is ever fixed, the stories will work.

All they need to do is stop killing people off if they don't stay dead, and stop having so many pregnancies. And stop believing everyone must be related, or men and women can never be friends.

[Khan]

IA.

[frequentsoapfan]

Those back from the dead storylines really need to stop at this point I don't even want to see my old favs rise from the dead. Stuff that was shocking and new in the 80s is old and stale in the 2000s. Ugh and stop making everyone in town related to everyone else. Not everyone needs a full family on the show to be a character. It's annoying and makes it harder to pair certain characters up with anyone. I mean look at Abby Newman related to half the town some way.

[juniorz1]

Frankly, I think they were trying to recapture the 80s magic and failed miserably. But I see your point, considering some of the stuff they ended up writing was just an update of a major 90s story, like Will witnessing Sami with EJ.