In the end, the Soap Opera Supercouple ultimately was not as good for the soaps as they started out because by the 90s there was too much emphasis on coupling characters instead of building them.

 

In my opinion, the supercouple phenomenon did more harm than good.  It should've went out with the end of the 1980s.

I've come across some GH fans who believe bring back supercouples is the solution to saving the soap. As if most of the emphasis on soaps now isn't on couples. 

 

The Supercouple was mainly 80s phenomenon.  HW and execs wanted to copy what Luke and Laura wrought and who can blame them?  But before Luke and Laura, couples consisted of two well constructed characters who eventually got together, usually after a series of well written conflicts.

 

 

I'm not saying that it's  imperative that a character be single before pairing them off (if you can though, that's ideal) but the idea of bringing a character on a soap for the express purpose of being coupled with another character strikes me as unsustainable for the life of the new character as well as the coupledom and the show.  JMO but the focus on pairing couples is one reason why the writing for everything else deteriorated and eventually those same couples suffered in the long run.  

These shows now lack a sturdy foundation of characters built on strong personal narratives, no wonder why these writers struggle to create storylines on these soaps!  

 

The Supercouples were built up so much as destiny pairings that once they were married any conflicts had fans up in arms. They had been through so much to get together that it didn't ring true that the next problem would tear them apart.

That problem always existed though.

Bill Bell set up Bill and Laura and Doug and Julie as supercouples and once they finally were together it was hard to find more long term story for them.Bell was gone by then so who knows what he would have done but subsequent writers went with an unpopular interloper (Kate Winograd ) for Bill and rape/murder trial for Doug and Julie before splitting them up as a result of Julie's disfigurement and Doug's sudden marriage to Lee.

On AW once Steve and Alice were together he was killed off.

On Y&R Victor & Nikki were a hot couple but Bill Bell split them up successfully with the Jack/Ashley story.Although viewers were upset Nikki and Victor were being split,the quality of the writing kept us enthralled.It was character based.Victor was intrigued by Ashley,the business woman quite the opposite of flighty Nikki,who enjoyed the attention of Jack a charmer who offered her what Victor couldn't  or wouldn't.

I think Agnes Nixon was successful in splitting up Cliff and Nina by introducing Steve Jacobi and putting Nina in the workplace.It acknowledged that Nina was still young and inexperienced and challenged by a man completely different to Cliff.

The difference with these couples was the character flaws were used successfully so the break ups played out convincingley (while still leaving hope for reconciliation)

When I look at my favorite couples like from ATWT, Bob and Kim Hughes or Tom and Margo (before they became completely boring) and Lucinda Walsh and John Dixon they were all individuals first before they became couples.  That's my main and essential point.  When they did split up from each other (and each did sometimes multiple times and over the span of years) most writers weren't at a loss for what to do with them outside of a relationship, because the characters had strong personal narratives already in place.  

I like Liam on B&B. I can see why people hate him but I like him and Scott Clifton in the role. I tend to root for him.

I like Liam on B&B. I can see why people hate him but I like him and Scott Clifton in the role. I tend to root for him.

omg I thought I was the only one. I mean, he's still a douchenozzle often but, still... 

My UO would be that although I don't like Jean Passanante, and I especially hate her work on AMC (which was just heinously awful), I don't believe she ruined ATWT (I put that on Goutman #1, P&G #2, and that sick hack Sheffer #3, and even then the show still had real potential in the end), I don't believe she's ruined GH (which has been a mess since 1997 or 1998), I don't believe she ruined OLTL (which fell apart around 1994 or 1995, Gottlieb and Griffith left and when Malone began losing focus). She is a grindingly mediocre, forgettable scribe who has hung around because the soaps don't want any better. But all the excessive focus on her, especially here, doesn't match most of her actual onscreen output or track record. 

I actually liked ATWT's Oakdale Slasher storyline from 2006.

I actually liked ATWT's Oakdale Slasher storyline from 2006.

The ratings were actually good for it. I don't know if it was because of that story or Luke coming out to Kevin. 

I like Liam on B&B. I can see why people hate him but I like him and Scott Clifton in the role. I tend to root for him.

I don't hate any of the players (Hope, Liam, Wyatt, Steffy, Ivy) in this cesspool. I just wish that Brad made them more round, complex characters instead of being flat characters on a constant merry-go-round. All they have to offer is their constant switching of partners. 

 

Even when Ridge used to bounce back between Brooke and Taylor, all of them could stand on their own and had things to offer to the canvas out their triangle.

I don't hate Hope and Rafe together on Days. I am not a fan of the forced writing telling us, "LOVE THEM AS A COUPLE!!!!", but I think the characters and actors have a pleasant, easy chemistry.