Best US Soap Scenes

[DramatistDreamer]

 

NO!

[DramatistDreamer]

I was looking through this thread to see if this scene had been posted and I didn't see it, although I believe someone mentioned when Shannon O'Hara dunked arch-nemesis Barbara Ryan's head in the toilet.  I found the episode that contains the scene which I queued here. 

 

 

There's another funny part a few minutes later when Shannon and Harriet return to join Shannon's fiancé Brian at their table in the restaurant.  

 

BRIAN:  Well, there you are.  What took you so long?

SHANNON: We ran into a friend in the powder room.  She wasn't feeling very well, she was a little flushed. 

 

 

Shannon and Barbara had some great battles back then but this was one of the times it got physical. 

Edited July 25, 2019 by DramatistDreamer

[Planet Soap]

On many ranker lists including a 20/20 people magazine special years ago, I see GH hailed as the greatest soap of all time. Curious as to which soap you all would consider the GOAT.

imo ranking  all the final soaps (though I like them all): 

 

1 GH

2 Y&R

3 ATWT

4 OLTL (4/5th place debateable)

5 AMC (4/5th place debatable)

6 GL

7 DAYS

8 B&B

(Passions

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Edited August 8, 2019 by ironlion

[DramatistDreamer]

Yes, music can be an important way to convey emotions and Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire is perfect for this scene but really, IMO, the scenes without musical accompaniment, just the sound of the thunder, are somehow even more intense because there's no filter through which the characters are expressing themselves to each other.

And sometimes music can be a crutch for lazy writing or lazy acting but without it, the actors have to work under their own power, without a device.

 

 

[titan1978]

I used to love when music was used on soaps.  Not just a super couple theme, but when they picked a song that added to the scene.  GH used a couple of Chris Isaak songs for Sonny/Brenda montages and they were perfect.  Back when I actually cared about Sonny.

 

Primetime and streaming shows have totally stolen the multiple character montage at the end of an episode with music playing over it.  They can afford the music.  This used to be a soap staple.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

It's one thing to use pop songs for a montage but sometimes writers can use it to paper over ineffective writing or the director will stick it on in post-production to cover up for weak acting. 

Sometimes primetime shows like Grey's Anatomy overuse and abuse the use of music as a shortcut to emotion and it's painfully obvious. 

 

I really appreciate how the music drops out in the next scene between Reva and Josh when there is dialogue, I couldn't imagine music being put in that scene, it would absolutely kill the dialogue.  Back then, scenes were longer and there was more time for the actors to build emotion through the dialogue. 

[Planet Soap]

Speaking of Josh & Reva, powerful scene from 1996. Still stunned at some of what Josh said to Reva in public!

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by ironlion

[DramatistDreamer]

Looking for something for a different thread and came across this sequence from ATWT and wondered whether it had been posted in this thread. I wish there were a playlist of all the scenes that CBS posted of classic moments before the show got canceled, so that they were easily accessible.

 

Anyway, a warning, there are some brutal parts of this sequence. 

 

 

 

[Vizion]

I never got a chance to contribute to this thread and I'm up so a few of my favorites

 

 

Guiding Light - Vanessa reads Henry's letter.

Maeve Kinkead was just brilliant. I think pound for pound, the acting on Guiding Light was consistently a cut above the rest of the soaps. Other shows had better stories, better production value, but I always felt like there was such a massive emphasis put on letting performances really breathe. 

 

 

 

Guiding Light - Reva "pushes" Annie down the stairs

Annie Dutton will forever be one of my all time favorite soap villains. Cynthia was just brilliant and I was so 

 

 

 

Santa Barbara - Julia talks about her father's alcoholism

IMO it's one of the best performances Nancy Lee Grahn has ever given

 

 

OLTL - Kelly Confesses to Blair

 

And there's not nearly enough Lynn Herring in this thread

 

 

 

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

This is a great sequence between Fletcher Reade (Jay Hammer) and Alexandra Spaulding as portrayed by Marj Dusay (RIP).

It's not lost on me that, as youth obsessed as soaps can often be, a tender smoldering love scene was crafted with a mature couple in mind and the idea of a long-awaited consummation of a relationship between seemingly star-crossed lovers is not just reserved for the flower of youth.