Declining but Still Good Enough to Watch?

[Planet Soap]

Was there a time that a soap of your choice was clearly past its prime, but still interesting enough to watch regularly.

My answer:

Bold and the Beautiful after 2003. The show's best days were behind it, but Bold hadn't fallen down the Liam/Hope/Steffy rabbit hole yet.

Edited August 13, 2023 by Planet Soap

[ClassicsSoapFan]

I was a die hard ATWT fan . I watched for over 30 years.When Hogan Sheffer took over it got hard to watch and for me ,almost unwatchable the last 2 years. I tried to hold on but I stopped watching every day and read the boards and magazines to catch up on what I did not see.

Still, I miss As the World Turns. In its' heyday when it was ran by good writers and producers who cared, it was must watch,don't miss TV.

The Young and The Restless is at that point now!

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by ClassicsSoapFan

[Faulkner]

To me, that defined most soaps from the mid-‘90s to around 2005 or so.

Edited August 13, 2023 by Faulkner

[Contessa Donatella]

Currently I watch DAYS & GH & I think both have problems but I think both are worth watching. 

My first soap to get canceled was AW. I was what we called a Last Gasper, there till the very last intake of breath. I was with GL to the bitter end. Loved ATWT but Chris Goutman effectively ruined the last 2 years for me. 

 

[kalbir]

I still watch Y&R and will probably stay until the end, even though I consider 2006 onward to be not classic.

[BoldRestless]

In the early 2000s Y&R had some legitimately good storytelling (original Mac and Billy, Kevin revealed as Michael's brother) but I thought they were jumping the shark with spermgate, Brittany getting eletrocuted on the pole, and Jill and Kay being mother and daughter, but all that stuff is very watchable now. They weren't good ideas long term, but they were well executed. Cassie's death and John's death were also major blunders but well executed and acted. Even as late as 2008 I was enjoying Heather and Adam hooking up and Kay thinking she was Marge and falling for Murphy. And the last storyline I honestly liked was Nina reuniting with Ronan in 2010. That era had some horrific stuff though (Cane's ghost, chipmunk, reliquary...).

 

To be fair, I still watch Y&R, B&B, and GH so I guess I have to say they are still "watchable" now.

 

Y&R has some good ideas but they don't play the beats. B&B has some good action scenes but bad storytelling. GH is just... a lot. A lot of stuff happens, but I don't usually care about it because there's too many characters and even after 18 years of viewing I still don't get all the obscure GH universe references, lol.

Edited August 14, 2023 by BoldRestless

[Contessa Donatella]

You say "reliquary" & I respond "Red Swan" & an AMC fan trumps us both with "Labidizone". 

[Planet Soap]

2005 tends to be that year when most soaps hit a steep nose dive.

Cameron's return has been the most exciting thing in years on Y&R. 

I feel like through all of its trials General Hospital has still remained watchable at the very least.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Planet Soap

[Bright Eyes]

I think DAYS' last great story was the Zack/Isaac baby switch. After that, there have been good moments, but even those became fewer and fewer as the years went on.

[will81]

Y&R well into the 2000's had great production, acting and stories - if you discounted history/back story and character development.

Jill being Kay's daughter was awesome if you didn't know these characters well enough or had jumped on in the late 90's, say around the time they were fighting over the Chancellor estate. If you didn't know Liz Foster, you would never feel betrayed by what they did to her.

I did watch again briefly in 05/06 and the show was solid still, but being so well versed in the shows history and what it had been, made it harder for me to get into it as a whole. 

It wasn't that Y&R was a bad show, it just was a show that had in many ways begun to ignore its history, more so with character development. If I had begun watching in 1998, I would have loved this show throughout most of the 2000's. 

Edited August 14, 2023 by will81

[DaytimeFan]

B&B: After 2003 till 2012 was that era for me. The Marones were an attempt to move the show forward and although in the long term they were a total flop and Jack Wagner, in particular, became an albatross for the show, it had its moments. I always enjoyed Stephanie sticking it Jackie Marone whenever she could. However, I really feel that Darlene Conley and Susan Flannery took the show with them with their respective exits in 2007 and 2012. 

Y&R: The show was true to itself till 2005, the year Bill Bell died and the Bell family's management of the show ended and Sony's presence grew. In hindsight, the era from 2005 to 2010 was quite watchable, even though the show faltered. From 2010 to 2013, the quality deteriorated further, but there were still great scenes in isolation. But ever since Jeanne Cooper's death, it's become what it is today.

DAYS: I still find the show watchable because it's a true melodrama. It's been larger than life since the 1980s and has this familiar, comfortable feel. It hasn't touched the quality of Y&R for decades. Just a totally different show and style. A lot comes down to the cast who make even the most preposterous stuff easy to watch. 

[Planet Soap]

 

You echoed my exact thoughts on Y&R and B&B. The removal of classic music cues for Casio keyboard chimes exacerbated Young's decline.

I would much rather watch the Maorne and OG Spectra family than the current Spencers. If Bill weren't written so corny, I could appreciate his antics more. I loved his scenes when he crossed over to Y&R.  Maybe he should stay there and be evil Brad, giving Victor hell. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by Planet Soap

[YRfan23]

Yeah I think in some aspects all the shows are watchable. I appreciate at least with Y&R you still get multiple stories, even if they aren’t that great. I wish B&B would stop focusing on one story at a time, but it still moves fast for being the only half hour show. 

Edited August 15, 2023 by YRfan23

[SteelCity]

I'll one up with DAYS "Elephant"

[Contessa Donatella]

Hmm, that must have been on one of my breaks from DAYS. Tell me about it!!