Ranking the GOAT SOAP

[Planet Soap]

Of all the daytime dramas that were still on the air by 2000, where would you rank them in terms of overall quality for the entirety of their runs? (That includes writing, acting, and production value). And list some reasons why you would rank a particular soap in the order you did.

My list:

1 GH: able to balance romance, business, and action adventure storylines, great sweeps plots such as the metro court, Luke & Laura were extremely impactful to the genre as a whole

2 YR: best production value, background music, set design, and solid storylines especially in the 80s and 90s

3 ATWT: very effective at a multi generational cast like Bob, Kim, Lisa, Carly, Emily, Lilly, Parker

4 OLTL: effective at creating an urban and youth appeal, great attempts at socially conscious plots

5 AMC

6 DAYS: loved the 90s period which bread life into characters like Sammy Lucas Stefano, Bo & Hope, John & Marlena; silly super natural storylines muddy the reputation of the show and soaps in general

7 GL

8 B&B: Great production value in the 80s and 90s especially, heavily repetitive storylines revolving around romance leads to trashy plots and pairings.

Edited January 31, 2022 by ironlion

[Spoon]

Hard to argue with that list even if I wasn't a viewer of all of them.  I've watched plenty of classic GH to fall in love with its legacy.  I would rank Days a little higher, behind ATWT.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Spoon

[Marco Dane]

OLTL

[Planet Soap]

 

I always felt OLTL was underrated by non soap fanatics. In non nice circles like talk shows, game shows or when you ask someone to name a soap opera typically GH, DAYS, Y&R and AMC are the names that get mentioned.

[Faulkner]

Just for shits and giggles.
 

1. Y&R (a lush, cinematic, thoroughly realized soap, which had the rare benefit of the vision of one writer, Bill Bell, for over 30 years, including the work of his protégé Kay Alden)

2. AMC (like Y&R, helped modernize soaps with daring, progressive content, with the singular perspective of Agnes Nixon, delivered soap’s most famous modern character in Erica Kane)

3. ATWT (Irna’s baby and the first blockbuster soap originating on TV, kept a lot of her DNA even as the show declined, introduced the legendary Hughes family and Lisa the vixen; underwent a major renaissance under Doug Marland)

4. GH (reinvented by Gloria Monty, took the genre to pop cultural heights never seen before or since; balanced James Bond adventures with family/romance/workplace drama; Labine/Guza both elevated and grounded the show in the ‘90s. Still I’d rank Bell/Nixon/Irna’s creations ahead of it)

5. GL (the original, dating back to radio; probably the soap alongside AMC with the most warmth and heart and sense of community; too erratic quality-wise to rank much higher, but the Curlee era was perfect soap)

6. OLTL (beyond underrated for successfully reinventing itself many times over and for its inclusiveness; still entertaining but lost a lot of its social vision during the Rauch years, only to recover it splendidly during Gottlieb/Malone)

7. DAYS (where Bill Bell first truly soared with his larger-than-life yet grounded perspective in the ‘60s and ‘70s; reinvented as an engaging romance/adventure show in the ‘80s; re-emerged as a gonzo fantasy show under JER’s polarizing vision, which deteriorated into madness later on.)

8. B&B (underrated and overshadowed by Y&R but balanced intimacy and the grandiose gesture, e.g. the fashion shows and over-the-top set pieces, very well. Bringing Sheila on was a stroke of genius, and Brooke Logan and Stephanie Forrester are two of soaps’ most indelible creations.)

9/10. PC/Passions: Meh and bleh.

[Planet Soap]

I do see alot of similarities between Y&R and AMC in terms of having a core set of middle aged main players Erica/Adam/Brooke/Tad+ & Victor/Nikki/Jack/Ashley+, along with the glamour and romance element.

Y&R is my favorite soap but I always find myself ranking GH above it.

Edited February 2, 2022 by ironlion

[Faulkner]

I love GH but there’s something about it that lacks a core to me, at least as long as I’ve been watching. Maybe because aside from the Quartermaines, it’s been much more about the bonds between adult friends and lovers than the passage of familial bonds, at least during the years I’ve watched. Feels a bit less rooted.

[AllMyDaysatGH]

1). All My Children. Period. 

[BoldRestless]

I'll just quote this because you said it better than I ever could!

[DemetriKane]

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I gotta think about my list though. 

Yes agreed.

[AMCOLTLLover]

No one mentioned Santa Barbara so far. I‘m relieved lmao

It’s tough but I would say All My Children or GH! 

Edge of night gets an honorable mention for a great run! 

[Planet Soap]

I've heard one analyst say GH had the most masculine appeal amongst the soaps. I could definitely understand that given the mob crime and gun violence elements of the show, along with the action adventure. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by ironlion

[DaytimeFan]

So well said. Bill and Agnes were so different in style but equals when it came to talent and commitment to the medium. I remember when they tied for Best Writing in the late 1990s at the Emmys - so deserving. Their shows were the best. 

[vetsoapfan]

I always find this sort of question interesting and fun, but also difficult to answer for two reasons.

1. All the soaps have tremendous variances in quality during their lifetimes, with both excellent and atrocious years to consider.

2. Since many of the vintage soaps ran/have run for decades, many people responding to the question (myself included) have not seen the entire runs of the series first-hand, and I am always leery about critiques based on incomplete experience with any form of entertainment. Can we really give thumbs up or thumbs down to material we have not seen?

In my mind, I tend to rephrase the question as, "What do you consider to be the greatest soap of all time from your viewing history?"

With that being said, I would vote for The Guiding Light. It had an unparalleled run of quality from 1950 to 1982 (maybe pushing that to 1983, before the massacre of the vets), and then again from about 1989 to 1993-ish. So more than 35 years.

Granted, I felt the writing slipped in quality during James Lipton's runs (circa 1967 and 1974; I forget exactly, after all these decades), but stalwart producer Lucy Rittenberg was always there to keep the light shining bright and on course. So even when the writing was somewhat weaker, the series continued to be a good soap. For the rest of the 1950-to-1982 time period, the writing was quite good-to-excellent.

Knowing that Irna Phillips was guiding the show from 1937 to 1949, I'm tempted to opine that it was undoubtedly great then as well, but since my history with TGL only began in 1950, I won't try to critique the first dozen years which I did not experience first hand.

If I did go with my gut and assume the years 1937-1949 were as good as all Irna's other work during her heyday, then TGL's run of quality would be...half a century!

[Planet Soap]

That's an excellent way to phrase it.

Basically of all the Soaps that were on the air by 2000, which one (based on your viewing experience) do you consider the greatest of all time.