Greatest Soap of All Time?

[Faulkner]

ATWT, Y&R, GH, AMC, GL, and DAYS feel like the right top six, in any order, with AW and/or OLTL right there behind. If we were doing a top 10, the other two spots would be harder choices, with TEON, SFT, and maybe even B&B vying for spots. I get a sense that RH and SaBa had amazing peaks but couldn’t sustain them over time.

 

I dunno: the ‘90s were rough for almost everyone, but it feels like it’s a toss-up between Y&R, GH, and DAYS in terms of either impact or sustained acclaim. I almost think their ability to navigate the ‘90s would make them a solid top three (or top four with ATWT). For me, there just isn’t much to consider at all post-1999, save for a few good stretches here and there.

[EricMontreal22]

I actually think the first half of the 90s were very strong--especially since the end of the 80s were largely a mess due to the long 1988 writer's strike.  ABC for example was very strong from 91-97 or so for all their soaps creatively.

[teplin]

Harding Lemay's AW will always be the pinnacle of soap production for me. I only wish it had proved more influential -- but no soap ever followed his lead into sophisticated drawing-room drama. 

[Gray Bunny]

 

Definitely agree. If we focus by decade, DAYS' buzz and shaking up of the genre (for better of worse, long term) cannot be ignored. 

 

Interesting you said Y&R for 70's. I wasn't around during that time but I can see your point. It seems by the 70's, the distinction for "most influential and/or popular" is up for grabs, as you had ATWT as No. 1, but Another World and Days tying them a couple years, but the late-70's upswing of AMC and GH. 

 

Indeed they were. Ratings were up nearly across the board in '93 and '94 (before June of 1994....) versus their 91-92 numbers, save for AMC which enjoyed numbers in the 7's during 91-92. 

[Faulkner]

I thought OLTL declined *very* sharply after around ‘94, and McTavish’s first HW stint at AMC was wildly uneven (that’s just IMO - I know many disagree). Not that GH didn’t have major ups and downs, but I thought it had a stronger overall decade than the other ABC soaps. But everyone became mortally wounded in some way around 95-97 and ‘98 was really bad for everyone.

[titan1978]

I agree that things got real rough around 1998.

 

 GH did have a strong decade in the 1990’s compared to the rest of ABC.  

I even think the stuff with Riche as EP but before Labine was pretty good.  I was all in on Karen/Jagger/Brenda/Jason as a teen, and the original Ryan story.  Once Labine arrived the show just became even better, and the first round of Guza was great too.  Only when he came back after Sunset Beach did I start to think it was just too dark all the time, and it got even worse once he came back without Riche.  That period he was gone though, after Culliton’s first six months and the team after him was pretty bad.

 

I think AMC lost some of its footing once Behr was gone, and OLTL had the strangest decade. GH went realistic (for the most part) and dark and was a critical darling and took back the top spot of ABC’s ratings.  AMC went kind of all over the place but felt like AMC for the most part.  But the 1990’s on OLTL were wild.  We had the end of the Rauch era, then Gottlieb/Malone, then JFP, all within less than 10 years.  That’s three wildly different eras of storytelling and as a viewer it really wore me down on that show.

[Bill Bauer]

As the World Turns 1985-1993

The Guiding Light 1948-1977

Days of Our Lives 1965-1982

Another World 1964-1975

The Young and the Restless 1973-1985

 

Those were the best soaps, in my opinion, and the years that they were at their best. Pretty much in that order. 

[All My Shadows]

Purely for curiosity's sake, when did you start watching ATWT? I always find it interesting when people say that those years were its best when its greatest heyday was obviously the 60s and 70s.

[Bill Bauer]

Hey there!

 

i started watching in 1984 but I have seen a lot of episodes prior to that and am completely familiar with the story from its beginning. I think ATWT was excellent from 1956-1980 and ok from 1981-1984. However, during the years 1985-1993, which were obviously the Marland years, I felt like the show was at its best-written. One of the reasons was because it richly incorporated its past into the current storyline better than any soap ever has. So, those years were the best in my opinion because it used all the great writing that had gone before while still having great current  characters, dialogue and storylines. To me, what makes a great soap is not not just good writing. Any show from any genre can have that. But only daytime soaps can have great writing that incorporates (and doesn’t ignore) decades of backstory. ATWT simply needed to be on for decades to get to that point, its zenith, in those Marland years. None of the writers after Marland could do that or wanted to do that. Although I find the story excellent in prior years, especially years 1956-1961 and 1969-1976, I didn’t list those years because I found ATWT a bit dry compared to the other soaps/time periods I listed. 1985-1993, however, is when it all came together and was daytime drama at its finest. Yes, ATWT’s heyday was in the years prior ratings-wise but I never consider ratings when deciding on what’s best. 

[RavenWhitney]

Many of the TV soaps that had a period where they became a phenomenon with viewers and broader media attention. No one soap was the greatest IMHO.

 

Edge of Night in late 60s esp. under Henry Slesar (had a huge male audience)

Dark Shadows from Barnabas reveal through about a year before cancellation.

GH under Gloria Monty/Pat Faulken Smith

Days (James Reilly's first head writing stint around Marlena's possession) and earlier when Marlena was murdered but it was her twin.

ATWT for decades at number 1 from the early years till 70s

GL for longevity and under Marland, then later Pam Long had a huge resurgence despite being up against GH

AMC and YR for consistency of vision and top ratings under Nixon and Bell, respectively. through 80s