Why do you watch soaps, and has the reason changed?

[MinnaH]

I started watching as a young kid with my late grandfather in the early 90s. We had about 5-10 channels on the antenna and CBS seemed to be what was always on. I mainly recall watching Y&R and B&B. I loved all the characters but the Lauren/Sheila storyline was what got me hooked. Sheila terrified me as a kid. The last I recall from that time period was the infamous “goodbye party.” I think I started elementary school right after that because I don’t remember seeing her again until she returned in 2002. I still watched both shows during the summer, long after my grandfather passed, and particularly loved the Glo by Jabot teens in the early 2000s. 
 

I occasionally watch because it’s fun to see characters I have “known” for 30 years but I don’t find the storylines very gripping. I returned to B&B full time when Sheila came back but we all know how that turned out. The classics were a godsend and I already miss them.

Edited August 13, 2020 by MinnaH

[titan1978]

I wonder if many of our habits would have remained and the stories been more interesting had the “in between” characters and actors been invested in by the shows.  It would have freed us from many stories where characters are stuck in plots that are not age appropriate (Sharon and Nick I’m looking at you).

 

Most of these shows have a core of vets regularly appearing, most of them from 1995 or earlier.  Then there are a couple of truly older vets from the 80’s or before, and then a mishmash of characters from each attempt at a youth grab over twenty years.  

DAYS is particularly bad in this regard- each teen to mid twenty group keeps getting decimated every three to five years, instead of recasting and rebuilding/rehiring those that left and did not make it in other media.  The mention of Glow By Jabot made me remember what a wasted opportunity that was.

Edited August 13, 2020 by titan1978

[Fevuh]

I still say this exact thing.  People think young people only wanted (and want to watch) young people.  My generation really didn't.    Yes, I loved, Rick, Mindy, Phillip, and Beth on Guiding Light. Harley, Frank, Alan Michael and Hart and Cassie. But I equally loved Henry Chamberlain and HB Lewis.  They were like the Grandfathers I never got to know.  On ATWT - I loved Emma Snyder and Cal Striklyn.  And the scoundrel John Dixon.  On Y&R I equally loved John Abbott/Jerry D. and when they did the classics I forgot how handsome he was and what a great actor.  We liked the shows for the stories and the generations of people, not just the young people.  They were all interesting.  Roger and Maureen's unlikely friendship on Guiding Light.  Lillian's and Ed's affair.  Things were just written differently then and you cared about what was happening on our "stories".  I don't care about Abby, Phyllis, Chelsea, Chance, Theo, and I can keep the list going on Y&R.  It's a shell of what it was.  This is blasphemy but I actually liked what they tried to do with the Rosales family.  At some point you have to get new blood in.  They're dying on the vine now.  When COVID lockdown started I said - Y&R is going to go down.  It's habitual for people and there isn't anything happening.  People called me crazy.  Well, we're about to find out.  I did see a commercial for Y&R about new episodes today which was the first I've seen - during Price is Right.  

[Winters Eve]

Sorry if this is kinda late, but I got into the soaps because of my mother (who passed away in 2017) when she was a fan of both The Young And The Restless and The Bold and The Beautiful. We'd often watch them together whenever I was off school, and during the school season I'd ask her what happened on the two soaps and she'd tell me all about it. Those were some good times...

Edited May 16, 2021 by Winters Eve

[Planet Soap]

Started watching because the women in my house did and I got hooked. The crazy storylines were the draw for me. Moreover the long-term storytelling and continuity were fainting. The fact that I could keep up with a community of charachters 5 days a week, in real time, whose stories go back decades was unique from any other genre on tv. I grew up on GH and the CBS soaps.

Edited May 28, 2021 by ironlion