On 9/26/2023 at 8:14 PM, Beetle Bailey said:

OLTL- Having Bo be in a clear case of police brutality with RJ and the show explaining it away as Bo having a "midlife crisis".  Since Antonio was an old enemy of RJ, it kind of made sense when he ignored Bo's treatment, but when Hank even took Bo's side over his own brother, that really turned me off the show.

I remember this. Unbelievable and could never happen today. It was horrendous and treated as just a minor plot point to get Bo out of town to meet Melanie MacIver.

For me it was when DAYS started to turn Ben, the serial killer, into a hero. Even with all the insanity of the show's usual plots, that one was too much for me. It made all the characters involved in his story idiots: Ciara, Marlena, etc. I've never been a regular viewer since.

B&B with the excessive Liam/Hope/Steffy repetition, especially after 2012.

GH (2015-2017) Just too many characters, no focus, stunt casting, show looked really cheap. Didn't tune in again until Jason returned. 

17 hours ago, Planet Soap said:

B&B with the excessive Liam/Hope/Steffy repetition, especially after 2012.

GH (2015-2017) Just too many characters, no focus, stunt casting, show looked really cheap. Didn't tune in again until Jason returned. 

I agree completely. My country cancelled the show after airing since 1994 after season 2013-2014. The rating was so low there were basically less than couple of hundred people watching. Liam, Hope and Steffy triangle was the last breath of the show. 

I thought Marlena as the Salem Stalker on Days was a real mistake for the show narratively, but I have to admit it got me to tape the show again every.

I was glad that all the "dead" residents of Salem returned, but the explanation was so nonsensical that I stopped watching again.  

3 hours ago, teplin said:

I thought Marlena as the Salem Stalker on Days was a real mistake for the show narratively, but I have to admit it got me to tape the show again every.

I was glad that all the "dead" residents of Salem returned, but the explanation was so nonsensical that I stopped watching again.  

Well, supposedly Reilly wanted them to stay dead & they told him that couldn't happen so he had to unwrite what he'd written. At least that's why I've always thought it was weird. 

GUIDING LIGHT:

My first break began in the fall of 2000 with Claire Labine's work in full swing. The storylines just seemed so pointless and bad to the point where I just didn't have any enjoyment out of the show. This was when there was that underground club at Millennium that Danny was running with that May girl always saying, "cigars, cigarettes, cigarillos!". Meanwhile, Reva's job du jour was being a refugee crusader, Harley/Philip were imploding... I really can't remember the other stories at the time (San Cristobel, etc.) but I just felt it was a waste of my time and I was busier in life so I had limited TV time to spare. In hindsight, I wish I had stuck it through because I know there was some good stuff I missed in 2001 and early 2002. I finally got back into the show in June 2002 for its 50th TV anniversary. 

My second and basically final break was around August 2007. Like @althea-davis I can't recall a specific story as to "why", it was just overall an unenjoyable program again. It became a chore to watch, the stories were bad, the low budge look of the show and its limitations made bad stories look worse (I do remember Reva getting "hit" by Olivia's car, even though Reva was standing on Main Street. Oy.) 

I only checked it out the following summer when they were doing that movie recreation story of Josh & Reva's 1989 wedding, and again during the final few weeks of the show. 

 

Edited October 27, 20232 yr by Gray Bunny

1 hour ago, Gray Bunny said:

GUIDING LIGHT:

My first break began in the fall of 2000 with Claire Labine's work in full swing. The storylines just seemed so pointless and bad to the point where I just didn't have any enjoyment out of the show. This was when there was that underground club at Millennium that Danny was running with that May girl always saying, "cigars, cigarettes, cigarillos!".

 

Supposedly everything Labine pitched that she wanted to write got shot down. (She pitched a love story between Holly & Olivia.) Supposedly, again with the supposedly, the only thing she created while at GL that she really liked was, yep, you guessed it! Mae, the cigarette girl in that after hours club of Danny's! I love Claire Labine, but OY!

I really disliked what I call uber-villains; they terrorize practically everyone to the point of absurd plots and events. In saying that...

I stopped watching OLTL when they kept bringing Mitch Laurence back. First time was when he was going to marry Natalie. I didn't return to the show until years later when Jerry verDorn joined. Then when they brought Mitch back again and he killed Jared Banks, I was done. I never watched the show again.

I was never a fan of the permanent Cassadine presence on GH and I took some time away from that but I ultimately stopped watching the show some 20 years or so ago, I think. Just had enough of the Sonny & Jason Show.
 

OLTL killing off both Jessica and Natalie's best love interests is still so bizarre to me.

On 9/20/2023 at 1:18 PM, NothinButAttitude said:

I just think 2006 and onward as a whole started to damper my love of soaps. I feel like 2005 was the last year where anyone actually tried to give soapy drama that was centered in reality. 

For me, it was really when Y&R sent Dru over that cliff, followed by Brad being killed in the ice pond, and Adam heinously gaslighting Ashley, etc. 

Then on World Turns, we had Luke and Noah constantly petting each other or yearning for each other to the point they killed any momentum. Then we had Janet Ciccone and her brat, Liberty, eating up the show alongside Katie. And the stories felt more episodic than long-term. 

B&B had bored me for the longest with the constant Taylor v. Brooke over Ridge. The halo being knocked off Taylor's head brought me back in for a second, but that was nuked with embryo crap with Nick, which went nowhere (we don't even get a mention of the child). And Stephanie (even though I loved to hate the character) inadvertently causing Brooke to be raped. The icing on the cake was Oliver banging Brooke and not being able to tell the difference between her or Hope. 

Guiding Light was just painful to watch after Ellen Wheeler took over. Tammy/Jonathan was gross. Gus/Harley grew tiring. I didn't even care for Josh/Reva, and Cassie getting with Josh was so out of character for her. 

 

Other soaps:

*AMC and Dixie dying via pancakes. I just felt that was a waste of Cady McClain's talent and time. 

*POC characters being tossed aside for White counterparts on OLTL. I grew tired of watching Evangeline and Antonio getting cast aside for Natalie and Nash getting the upper hand. But I guess they got the last laugh as Natalie later caught hell from Marty and Nash died, so there's that. 

*Like many others, I grew tired of the show being all about Sonny/Carly/Jason/Sam. What really ended me watching GH was when they heinously murdered Georgie and made Diego the killer. They totally tossed aside the fact that Diego once had strong feelings for Georgie and would've never killed her. Per usual, Georgie always got the short end of the stick under Guza. 

*With Days, it was Sami falling for her rapist (EJ). Then it propelled to Lucas being the third wheel to their pairing and being cast aside when he is a HORTON. Lucas should be driving story and be the actual lead on this show. I never understood how Days didn't see the value in Bryan Datillo. 

Their explanation for Diego killing Georgie was that Maxie was his intended target and Georgie came in her place. 

1 hour ago, SamandWillowFan said:

Their explanation for Diego killing Georgie was that Maxie was his intended target and Georgie came in her place. 

Doesn't matter the explanation it was still stupid and short-sighted. And that explanation makes no sense as Georgie and Maxie looked nothing alike body wise, height, and hair color. Diego would've been able to tell the two apart. 

Edited November 1, 20232 yr by NothinButAttitude

1 hour ago, NothinButAttitude said:

Doesn't matter the explanation it was still stupid and short-sighted. And that explanation makes no sense as Georgie and Maxie looked nothing alike body wise, height, and hair color. Diego would've been able to tell the two apart. 

He could tell them apart. He killed Georgie because she would’ve seen him and known he was alive when she came in Maxie’s place. I agree that writers had no clue who the killer was from the start.