When & How did You Start Watching Soaps?

[Bright Eyes]

My mom watches Y&R and DAYS. When I wouldn't go to sleep for my afternoon nap after kindergarten finished, I'd stay up and watch her soaps with her. I didn't start watching Y&R with any regularity until Hogan Sheffer started in 08, where I only watched it until it got stupid with Kevin the chipmunk. As a kid, the only thing I remember loving was Jill, her big hair and her smoky voice. As for DAYS, I'd watch it during school breaks. I loved Kristen and was saddened when she "disappeared" and I thought Christie Clark was so pretty. When Victor Webster came on the show, he and Ryan Phillipe did a lot to help me realize I was gay. But the first real memory I have of being hooked by a story was the Franco Kelly saga. I watched it pretty faithfully from then until Dena Higley came on in 2008.

In 2003, I was browsing the soap central message boards and just immersed myself in soap history wherever I could find it. Thanks to The Edge of Night Homepage and the AOL airings, I consider EON to be my favourite U.S. soap opera.

In 2007, Alvin was always blathering on about Hollyoaks, so he basically forced me to watch it. Like I had done with the US shows, I gathered and watched all I could of the show and have watched the big four off and on since then. I have also paid particular attention to the cancelled soap, Brookside.

In 2012, I dabbled in Home and Away and Neighbours and still regularly watch the world's most underrated soap, New Zealand's Shortland Street.

Still, I keep up with the 4 US and 2 AUS soaps, while currently watching all 4 of the UK shows and my Shorty!

[jam6242]

The first soap I remember watching was "Never Too Young," and then its replacement "Dark Shadows." That was around 1965/1966. Both came on after school was out and I would watch with my sister. I think we started watching because we watched a sort of "American Bandstand" spin-off called "Where the Action Is" that used to come on right after those shows on the same network and we had the tv on waiting for that. My mom watched the NBC soaps so I started watched those with her when I wasn't at school. We all three watched "General Hospital" around that time (which came on right before "Dark Shadows"). Oh. and we watched "Peyton Place" at night.

[Days22]

Days and Y&R use to come on at 3 here when I was a kid so when I would get off of school and go to my grandmas house she would eb flipping back and forth. Thing was she still had a turn dial on the tv and would some how use that. She had it down to a science going back between CBS and NBC. I use to enjoy both but of course once Marlena became possessed I was much more into Days and hated when she would turn back to Y&R even tho Marlena scared me to death.

[YRBB]

I was visiting at my grandma's house when I first watched B&B. It was probably during the 1994 episodes because I remember Taylor in Omar's palace with amnesia. My grandmother had been an avid fan of the show and it was hilarious watching with her because she would whisper the subtitles as she read them and then would gasp at shocking moments or tsk-tsk her way through Brooke's shenanigans. I couldn't watch regularly because of school & my age but I have memories of James in the dungeon kidnapped by Sheila, Brooke and Thorne's affair, etc... Eventually my grandma stopped watching and moved on to another soap (this time, a Greek one) because, as she put it, "Brooke has slept with everyone. There's nothing more for her to do." She would do that a lot with soaps. She'd watch for a few years, then feel that they just keep doing the same things and move on lol

I started watching regularly during the 2001 episodes, when the show was finally brought back on a different channel. I remember the episodes always started around 1:58pm, and school was out around 2, so my sister and I would race home to catch as much of it as we could. Whoever got home first would turn the TV on and leave both doors to the house open so the other didn't have to waste time getting the keys and opening up. We'd drop our bags right there and stand in front of the TV, transfixed, catching each other up on what we missed. The first episode back was Ridge & Taylor's renewal of vows and Steffy's "death." Morgan kidnapping Steffy and Taylor got us thoroughly hooked. I still remember the craziness of Ridge figuring out where Taylor was & crashing his car into Morgan's living room! Soon after, Sheila returned. Sigh, the memories.

The very first time I watched Y&R was a 1997 episode probably and the first scene was with Dru and Neil. I believe it was canceled soon after only to be brought back a couple years later. I will never forget looking through one of the TV guides and noticing "Y&R" was on at that very moment. I ran to the living room, turned the TV on despite my dad's protests, and wouldn't you know it--Jill was on. I mean, how could you not get hooked? She was in her office and, as far as my memory goes, they ended the episode with her as well. I never looked back. It was such a great time to get to know the show, with the fight for the Chancellor mansion and the Newman takeover starting. I got my sister and mom addicted as well and my dad, though he wouldn't admit it, enjoyed it occasionally.

DAYS I also remember catching at my grandma's house, during the Marlena possession. Fascinating stuff to a young kid. The show was called DAYS OF LOVE. lol But I never really saw it again (canceled). When they brought it back, it was the same channel that had Y&R on. It would come right after and they advertised it heavily (probably hoping to repeat Y&R's success). They started it in August 2003, right after something happened at the fashion show--the beginning of the Salem Stalker storyline. It was very different from Y&R and I remember being initially excited. After all these years, I vividly remember the police showing up at Tony's house to arrest him and Megan, followed by DAYS in which Sami and Lucas were arguing and Sami started throwing stuff at him. I was watching with my mom and was so excited at DAYS' over-the-topness that I proclaimed DAYS to be an even better show than Y&R. Which was totally wrong & my mom had the good grace just to nod. Hey, I was young, and that opinion lasted basically two episodes because DAYS was the new, exciting thing. I cheated on my Y&R for a second but corrected that real fast. lol

[kalbir]

My daytime television watching began with the CBS game show block, The Price is Right, $25,000 Pyramid, Card Sharks, Family Feud. During the game shows I would see promos for the CBS daytime dramas so naturally I was drawn to the lineup. One by one the game shows ended and I gave up most of the soaps when I got bored of them. Right now my CBS daytime watching is Y&R daily, The Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal if I'm home when they're on, and The Talk if they have any celebrity guests I'm interested in seeing interviewed.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

Mine go as far back as 1990. I was also three when I remember watching soaps for the first time.. I was raised a soap viewer.

[Dana]

I started watching my first soap All My Children because my mom watched it. The first thing I can remember from that show is Phil coming home from the war (he was thought killed in action I think) and Tara opening the door to him, so sometime in the early 70s around Christmas time. I couldn't watch that often because I was in grade school so I watched more in the summer and holidays. Once I got out on my own in the late 80s, I was able to get a VCR and watch the ABC lineup every day.

[kathyj]

I started watching As The World Turns with my mother. During high school I watched Secret Storm, Edge of Nights and General Hospital. Then I moved on to Y&R, Days, and Another World. Due to work and all the real life nonsense I had to stop watching altogether. Now I only watch Days. I went back to Y&R for awhile thinking I should watch because everyone said it was the best but I couldn't get into it. I'll stick with Days as long it lasts (or as long as I do).

[dragonflies]

My grandma watched Y&R and Days, she loved Cricket and Danny on Y&R lol. She's the reason I watched those. She also loved Another World, she got me hooked on it too.

My sister in law loved the ABC soaps. For some reason I never could get into AMC, but always watched OLTL and GH. I didn't start watching AMC till Leo joined the show. Josh Duhamel was so charismatic he got me hooked.

So basically I've watched soaps since I was like 7 or 8 so over 30 years lol

ATWT I started watching on my own because OLTL got so bad, and Bold and Beautiful I started watching cause Days pissed me off so bad(haven't watched Days in like 3 years)

[JtSmarts]

My first memories are of Guiding Light with my mother in late 1989-1991, she watched all the CBS soaps and my grandmother/aunt/uncles watched NBC soaps. Therefore my first memories are Reva Shayne, Lucinda from ATWT, and Jake and Vicky from AW. My first memory from Dool was 94/95 with John I believe at a graveyard with the desecrator??? Finally in 1996/1997 I spent summers with my grandmother and got hooked on Dool/Sami Brady and Dool which would become my favorite soap of all time. It was cool because many of my family members including my grandmother, and two of my uncles all watched Dool and I really enjoyed when we could watch it together.

[Titus Andronicus]

We always gravitated towards NBC. I started watching Days towards the end of the summer of 1993 because that was on TV. School started back, but Vivian was poisoning Carly's patients and then Carly was buried alive started and I had to start recording it every day.

I never got into Another World, but Mom watched it and Passions. I know she used to watched Santa Barbara, too, because I remember that distinctive intro.

[Soapsuds]

LOL...I can just hear it....DONT TOUCH THAT REMOTE..GET AWAY.....LOL

LOL..thats cute...our own Alvin....he has the power...lol

[All My Shadows]

Nah, this grandma was really sweet and quiet lol it was more like "Can we watch The Puzzle Place???" "Hmm idk what time does it come on?" "2." "Ah okay, well y'all can watch whatever you want at 3. Now y'all want some lemonade??"

[sivad40]

My Mom would watch the ABC soaps and when I came from elementary school, GH was on. My earliest memories of GH are of Alan, Monica, and Rick. The Edge of Night came on after GH and I had a huge crush on Raven. When I visited my maternal grandmother for the summer, she watched all of the CBS soaps. My first memories of Y&R are of Victor holding some man hostage in the basement. My first memories of GL are of Alan and Hope stranded on a deserted island. I started watching Days on my own because I had a crush on Kristian Alfonso and Mary Katherine Stewart (Kayla).

[Ryan Chamberlain]

I watched Y&R, B&B, ATWT, and GL with my mom. Skipped some days of ATWT when I had got a tv in my bedroom when I was 5. And, watched AW instead. Also started watching Loving on my own. (Because it came on after reruns of Perfect Strangers on my ABC affiliate) When I was 20 I started watching GH, OLTL, and AMC...in that order of when I started watching them.