In my seven decades of soap watching, one refrain has remained constant among newer viewers: they wish they had been around to see legendary storylines that their friends and family have raved about; storylines that had aired before these newer audience members became acquainted with daytime dramas.

I was lucky to have witnessed, first-hand, some of the best material the genre has offered throughout my lifetime.

--Meta Bauer's murder trial, THE GUIDING LIGHT

--The Alice/Steve/Rachel triangle, ANOTHER WORLD

--The Mickey/Laura/Bill/Mike's paternity saga, DAYS OF OUR LIVES

--The Jonah Lockwood/Keith Whitney reign of terror, THE EDGE OF NIGHT

--Victoria Lord's murder trial/Karen Wolek's breakdown on the witness stand, ONE LIFE TO LIVE

--Chris Brooks' rape, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

--The Leslie/Brad/Lorie saga, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

--The Liz/Dan/Susan/later Kim story, AS THE WORLD TURNS

--The Julie/Doug/Addie tragedy, DAYS OF OUR LIVES

--BJ's Heart, GENERAL HOSPITAL (IMHO, the last time daytime gave us a real masterpiece)

I am curious, however, for people who are "newer" viewers, who began watching in the 1980s, 1900s, 2000s, what do you consider the best of the best; the most riveting material soaps have offered?

What are the masterpiece moments you have personally seen?

17 minutes ago, j swift said:

This legitimately deserves its own topic, but here's my unrequested ranking.

Everyone's opinions are always wanted and appreciated; no requests are needed!🙃

The best thing about all these characters was that they were multi-faceted and layered. Drama is always more absorbing when we see conflicting dimensions to both the protagonists and the antagonists.

Cardboard, cartoon villains quickly outstay their welcome. These ladies never did.

@vetsoapfan @j swift Thank you for the answers.

3 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

characters...multi-faceted and layered. Drama is always more absorbing when we see conflicting dimensions to both the protagonists and the antagonists.

Cardboard, cartoon villains quickly outstay their welcome.

Totally agree. All soap writers need to note this.

1 hour ago, kalbir said:

@vetsoapfan @j swift Thank you for the answers.

Totally agree. All soap writers need to note this.

Do you think any of the current soaps have scribes talented enough to write truly complex, three-dimensional characters? I think some actors can and do being nuances to their roles, but for the most part, the writing does not support them.

Edited September 27Sep 27 by vetsoapfan

9 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

Do you think any of the current soaps have scribes talented enough to write truly complex, three-dimensional characters?

Honestly, no.

Josh Griffith needs to go. Bradley did not inherit his father's talent. 

11 minutes ago, kalbir said:

Honestly, no.

Josh Griffith needs to go. Bradley did not inherit his father's talent. 

As a life-long soap viewer, it pains and baffles me to see that mediocre (or, worse, truly weak) scribes are allowed to continue writing the shows year after year. Just as frustrating, a handful of hacks keep getting shuffled around from series to series, regardless of how atrocious their previous material has proven to be.

Granted, most of the master writers are no longer with us, but even hiring outside, new talent and giving them a shot would make more sense to me that allowing proven failures to remain employed forever.😡

4 hours ago, j swift said:

 

• Brooke - yes, she has slept her way through an entire family of brothers, more than once, and some of her daughter's lovers as well.  However, the Forresters would be nothing without BELIEF (sp?).  Brooke's prior degree in chemistry, or industrial engineering, fabric witchery made them wealthy.  So, one could say that Ridge, Thorne, and Eric are actually the vixens of B&B and Brooke is the sugar-momma.

It brings tears to my eyes seeing my girl The Whore Of Beverly Hills... Get acknowledged like this. Can I put a heart emoji somehow on this post? 

 

On 9/27/2025 at 3:47 AM, Maxim said:

It brings tears to my eyes seeing my girl The Whore Of Beverly Hills... Get acknowledged like this. Can I put a heart emoji somehow on this post? 

 

This GIF is hilarious.

@Maxim Your girl Brooke has an heiress apparent in Beyond the Gates Vanessa McBride. I pointed out in the BtG thread that Vanessa makes Brooke look angelic.

6 hours ago, kalbir said:

@Maxim Your girl Brooke has an heiress apparent in Beyond the Gates Vanessa McBride. I pointed out in the BtG thread that Vanessa makes Brooke look angelic.

Call me when Vanessa sleeps with an entire gene pool and then all her female relatives's husbands. ❤️ 🤣

7 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

This GIF is hilarious.

 

She is a savage. 😍

13 hours ago, Maxim said:

Call me when Vanessa sleeps with an entire gene pool and then all her female relatives's husbands. ❤️ 🤣

Hahaha, for sure

I am curious: are there any changes TPTB could make on the current soaps to elevate them to greatness?

Once upon a time, DAYS, Y&R and GH were masterfully done. I can't honestly say B&B was ever a "masterpiece," but it was certainly better under William J. Bell than Thudley.

How would you polish up the existing soaps to elevate their quality and status? What characters/elements would you eliminate/introduce or reintroduce? Could you recommend any specific changes in the writing regimes? Would you change the length or frequency of episodes per week?

Give your imagination and creative juices free reign!

 

I’m nostalgic to say that Two Todds on  OLTL was a masterpiece for me, if only because that was the first time I got to watch Roger Howarth as he created new Todd stuff.

On 10/9/2025 at 2:56 PM, vetsoapfan said:

How would you polish up the existing soaps to elevate their quality and status? What characters/elements would you eliminate/introduce or reintroduce?

With Y&R the first thing that needs to happen is to move away from the business stories and focus again on relationships. Given the dire budget, scaling down the scope of the stories would make sense.

They need to drop a few characters eg Phyllis who have outlived their usefulness and concentrate on newer characters with more potential. 

eg Nick and Sharon married and parents to Faith/Noah etc with the younger characters as the focus.

When Y&R began there were only a few characters above 40 yr old. Now most are in their 50's and beyond.

It's great to have vet performers but they need to move to a more supporting capacity, stepping into the spotlight when appropriate, instead of coming up with dumb stories to keep them at the forefront.

On 10/12/2025 at 11:35 PM, Paul Raven said:

With Y&R the first thing that needs to happen is to move away from the business stories and focus again on relationships. Given the dire budget, scaling down the scope of the stories would make sense.

They need to drop a few characters eg Phyllis who have outlived their usefulness and concentrate on newer characters with more potential. 

eg Nick and Sharon married and parents to Faith/Noah etc with the younger characters as the focus.

When Y&R began there were only a few characters above 40 yr old. Now most are in their 50's and beyond.

It's great to have vet performers but they need to move to a more supporting capacity, stepping into the spotlight when appropriate, instead of coming up with dumb stories to keep them at the forefront.

ITA with all of your points.

Y&R needs to move away from the dry, tedious boardroom plots and return to the lush romance and interpersonal relationships that brought the show its ratings success in days of yore. Do the majority of viewers even care about corporate takeovers and infighting? In a secondary capacity, perhaps, but not at the forefront of the show.

Like all the remaining soaps, Y&R could easily clean house, and do away with some actors/characters who have long since run their course.

Viewers are strongly attached to their vets, but having the bulk of their characters well over 50 leaves Genoa City feeling lopsided. TPTB have failed for years to nourish and replenish the younger generations and keep a solid balance of youth and maturity intertwined on the canvas.

Its past time for Victor, Nikki, Jack, etc., to move into supporting-character status and for the writers to develop viable, charismatic romantic leads upon whom to build rich and emotion-based drama.

With savvy PTB in charge, Y&R could regain its former glory.