ALL: Stories that had no consequence/movement.

[Winchester91]

Long-running soaps tend to have shocking stories that changed the direction of the series in an important way, for better or for worse. Examples of groundbreaking stories that added new dimension to the current canvass at that time period were: the introduction of Natalie Balsom (shaking up the Lord/Buchanan family and providing Jess with an important friendship/sisterhood/rivalry for years to come), Michael Cambias and his atrocities leading to his murder trial leading to the AMC Little Adam/Bianca switch which cemented JR Chandler's place in Pine Valley as well as brought the Kane women together in a way that tied all their histories together, and lastly the reveal of Jill and Katherine as "mother and daughter" which redefined their relationship even after it was retconned away. Examples of stories that negatively impacted their respective shows for ages were: the death of Jack in DAYS (2012), which brought on problems for Jennifer and her kids (problems that are still having ripple effects to this day), the conception of Summer which practically wrecked Shick on Y&R, and for GH the murder of Connie which has been a cancer on the show for a while now.

On the flip side, there were huge stories that, while important at the time, ended up having no lasting consequence:

AMC:
*Bianca/Frankie's romance

*The Proteus story with Vanessa.

*Chris being revealed to be Ryan's father.

*Ethan being introduced as the Cambias heir.

OLTL:

*Everything that happened in the Labine era.

*Ben Davidson's existence.

*Viki running for mayor.

*Jessica's Hep C.

*The Santi Family mystery.

B&B:

*Any Brooke affair after Bridget/Deacon

*Stephanie dying.

What causes resonance to happen with some big plots and not others?

[Winchester91]

Addendum-- I firmly believe that when the new writers come in (I haven't read spoilers), almost everything that is happening in DAYS right now will be forgotten with the exception of Theresa's baby mama drama. Considering they filmed today's episode in 1997, that would be understandable.

[DRW50]

ATWT - The Carolyn Crawford saga of 91-93

[YRfan23]

All of Victor Newman's stories 2009 onwards.....

[DRW50]

B&B - any Taylor story that did not involve her "dying" or popping out babies.

[Wendy]

Anything Ron Carlivati has written on GH.

[Cheap21]

id hardly call that a huge storyline. The relationship was something that was primarily handled and over exaggerated after her death

[YRBB]

Not a groundbreaking story. More like a horrid, character-wiping, show-destroying atrocity.

Negatively affected? Jack's death is one of the best things about DAYS in this decade. The fact that it was a death that mattered and not only stuck but brought on a second great development (JJ's arrival and his initial arc, not to mention his portrayer) precludes it from being something negative. Even Eve's arrival & her lawsuit were, in theory and not in execution, great consequences of that. Seeing ripple effects to this day from that is actually a good thing and a rarity in today's schizophrenic soaps.

[cct]

I sat here forever wondering if Eden Riegel and Cornelius Smith Jr. even shared scenes, let alone had a romance, until I read this post. Then it clicked.

And THAT'S how inconsequential that story was.

[cct]

All of these came around the time of Culliton and Rayfield/Cascio in the early aughts....nothing from that time period really affected the show. Hell, half the people in that time period were gone by the time McTavish was well into the baby switch.

It certainly wasn't a story, per se, but one thing I always found fascinating was how quickly the Merrick saga was forgotten. They were introduced in the early nineties, spread all over the canvas and by 2005 were barely thought of. The final blow came from Edmund's unnecessary turn and sudden death. (Or was it when Julia turned it into Myrtle's boarding house?)

I was happy Nader came back for the reboot.

[vote4llama]

The Bold and the Beautiful. It's like there's a reset button. Nothing has lasting impact.

[Soaplovers]

I was just gonna type that! B + B has great plots, great climaxes.. yet within a month or so.. the stories are forgotten. There is no way that Katie, Hope, nor Bridget would ever be able to have the close relationships with Brooke that they did before she slept with their husband/boyfriends.

I think the big problem with most shows nowadays is that there isn't anything long-lasting anymore. I will say the Gabi having a crush on Chad back in 2012 ended up kick starting a huge chain of events.. and the effects are still felt three years later with Gabi in jail, Rafe not on the force, Mel/Chad no longer a couple, Nick dead, etc.

[Michael]

Days has had quite a few of these in recent years, especially in its efforts to create new 30-something females:

- Taylor: Had an affair with her sister's husband, was revealed to have a past with the son of Vivian Alamain, left town with said son, and… Nicole got back together with EJ very quickly after Taylor left, plus Quinn returned months later and was just like, "Oh, we broke up." She's mentioned occasionally because she's Nicole's sister, but none of her 2011 story had any lasting effects.

- Madison: She was trumpeted as a major new heroine, had a huge romance with Brady, was rivals with Kate -- and yet, almost as soon as she died, she was completely forgotten. I guess her death pushed Brady toward Kristen, and her company, Mad World, is still around as a subsidiary of Titan, but nothing about the character "stuck" at all.

- Jordan: It's crazy how little impact on the show she had, considering she was around and on the frontburner for a year and a half. In 5-10 years, Jordan will be a totally forgotten blip in this show's history.

And I'm sure Serena will go the exact same way.

[cassadine1991]

I notice the etc. but I'd say half of Salem exploding leading up to Jack's death, and it served as the starting point for Will/Sonny finally getting together

[Gray Bunny]

Days of Our Lives' men with Nicole. No matter what, she'll be crapped on and kicked to the side. Wash, rinse, repeat.