I have noticed that a lot more peoplewatched soaps at some point in their lives, than admit (though by this I mean they followed a show for a few years--never got obsessed with the genre like me). I've been to parties where a bunch of people of my age range, drunk, suddenly reference something like Janet in the Well from AMC or, even more likely, Marlena being posessed. Of course both of those soaps were pretty hugely rated when those stories aired, so it was more likely they were aware of it being more part of the pop zeitgeist, but... And being drunk I guess, while laughing about the stories, people seem to have no worries about also showing how much they enjoyed them.

Funny this reminds me when my housemate and I were sitting watching tv one night, he didn't strike me as the type to watch soaps, from what I knew of him. We saw a commercial for Mark Valley's tv show (not sure if it is still on) and I said "He played Jack Deveraux #3 on Days" my housemate then says "No he was Jack Deveraux #4" I grinned and turned to him and said "You watched Days of Our Lives" he got a little embarrassed and wouldn't talk about it anymore. But a while later he would bring things up, or remember stuff I brought up. He was a big fan of Krista Allen's Billie, mostly because she had big boobs lol.

It's really not any different than any other fanbase type. You want to see deranged trash talk? Go into the comments on any sports story. You get pretty mean and personal within five replies.

It's an extension of the time we live in---when more people are preoccupied with being "right" than realizing everyone has the right to speak.

I don't think I'm crazy. I mean. I did make a drunk Youtube rant when AMC/OLTL were cancelled. But, I've never done anything rash.

Crazy for me would be stalking a soap star. Or, threatening to murder a bad writer. Now, that's crazy. Also, something else I don't like...and think is nuts. Treating an actor like they are your puppet. I tweet to the soap stars all the time. But, I write about things that they bring up. Or, I wish them a good day/ask how they are doing. Something nice. Not nuts.

The actors or not the characters either. I hated the story I heard about Alexa Havens being called a 'baby napper' while her and Justin (her husband) were in a children's store shopping for their child. I found that sickening. Alexa is not Babe...Dammit.

Also the story I heard about poor Roger Howarth being harassed all the time by people yelling 'Rape me Todd" That's f**king sick.

In my honest opinion. We are not crazy. The majority of us that is.

I wouldn't go up to MEK or JL and pants them or something. That's just fucked up.

OK, the end....damn, that was long.

Edited January 10, 201312 yr by weareclouds

Not all soap opera lovers are crazy and like others have mentioned, other mediums have their own crazy fans and followers, so it's not exclusive. That aside, with any interest, you've got to find like-minded people to discuss it with and that's what SON is for, to come and chat all you like about soap operas with others who like them. Nobody I know is interested in soap operas, so I discuss them on this board and that's enough for me.

me? im not crazy.

nope, not at all.

Maybe we gotta be crazy when Sherwood Schwartz thinks your'e nuts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANV-eeooQDE

Not all soap opera lovers are crazy and like others have mentioned, other mediums have their own crazy fans and followers, so it's not exclusive. That aside, with any interest, you've got to find like-minded people to discuss it with and that's what SON is for, to come and chat all you like about soap operas with others who like them. Nobody I know is interested in soap operas, so I discuss them on this board and that's enough for me.

Exactly. The whole point of boards like this is to help people of similar interests find each other. Ironically, I have people that I met on soap boards who have become some of my most treasured friends in real life. I have a friend who used to make fun of my involvement in soaps even though he paints his face orange and spends the entire day at the stadium whenever the Browns have a game. He thinks I'm crazy and I think the same of him.

Ha! Well said. And even when I know or meet casual soap viewers, they're rarely the type who you can argue things like headwriters, etc, about... (The internet has been good for that in general--before the mid 90s, as a teen, I would get as many books as I could about soaps--interlibrary loans, etc--and still you rarely found the details I was curious about--like who wrote what when, etc. The best, by far, was Schemering's Soap Encyclopedia but that only went up to 1987, and though he lists head writers he doesn't give dates... Of course online you find tons of misinformation, or information that's guess work and contradicts other information, but still...)