I have known those websites to class them as soaps. I could go on and on about other places and forums that class these as prime-time soap operas but i won't waste my breath.

I think you are being difficult and very argumentative. I won't bother to go onto have a civil conversation with you, if you are going to act in this rude and arrogant manner.

Ok, then. Keep your opinion, I was just giving mine in a very serene (for me) way, if you care so much about this to get upset by a normal disagreement, I won't bother either!! It's not like determining whether some shows I watch are soaps or not is going to change my life. Have a nice life!

I think the best of the US soaps was "Soap", each episode tried to explain "the story so far" which was so convoluted that they would then exclaim "Confused? You will be" .

Loved it, would love to see some of its storylines in ED, especially the Alien abduction of one of the leading characters. Any nominations?

I would like to nominate Laurel and Aaron to be Alien abducted please and not returned

Dross Barton
Kerry
Tracey
Paddy
Pearl
Awful April
I thinkthat's s it

Robert could use all his money and Liv could use her "inheritence" to buy a redundant space shuttle and head for the stars after them. Result!

thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I don't think Emmerdale is gonna be put on Hulu though, you know they removed Corrie and Hollyoaks a few months ago.

Lol I listened to them talking on that podcast ; lots of ' ripe' language lol

" Farm people are the horniest guys in the World!!"

" Full of really hot bad boys!!"

" OMG it's Satan !!! They are so gorgeous! And the actings great! "

" Ross Barton !!! Hot !! Omg!!! Unbelievable!! "

" Steamy and we don't see this psychological acting storyline in US soap !!"


It's funny hearing Americans talking about the Yorkshire Television soap!

I thought that was the funniest thing and really accurate if your only knowledge of British "Farm" people is Emmerdale.

I keep hanging around outside barns hoping a Cain - type will pass, but it hasn't t happened yet The local police are starting to take an interest in my activities though

LMAO

Keep at it! Attagirl! You may strike lucky one day

Watch the ratings soar!!

Worthy entries but not really what people think of in North America when we talk about soaps here. They're more "primetime dramas" or as a stretch "primetime soaps". I can get why they'd be lumped in as soaps in the UK when during their runs the UK soaps were only running twice a week and they aired in similar timeslots as your own soaps. Soaps here are generally the shows like Days of Our Lives, All My Children, Bold & The Beautiful, As the World Turns, Young and the Restless, General Hospital, etc. Airing in the daytime, 5 days a week, shoestring budget.

As a Canadian who grew up with the US genre I've come to follow the UK ones as I've grown up. They're better written, the characters are stronger, they mimic real life and are generally storytelling for adults. The US soaps used to do this back in the 50s through 70s but that all went out the window in the 80s mainly due to influences of shows like Dallas and Dynasty. From there they basically all morphed into campy Melrose Place knockoffs in the 90s and as of 2016 they haven't changed from that identity. They shifted to escapism, the fantastical and the absurd and have unfortunately never looked back. Shows like Days of Our Lives are still rehashing the same love triangles, scifi plots, global super villains who take control of peoples minds and die and resurrect 4 times per decade.

I grew up all my life in the US and Dallas, Dynasty and Knots Landing were very definitely considered soaps. They were Prime Time soaps.

exactly, they are always referred to as PRIME TIME SOAPS. They borrowed a lot from daytime soaps. I mean if it wasn't for All My Children's Erica Kane, there would have never been a Alexis Carrington or Abby Cunningham.

As neutral to this argument as I can be as someone living in North America this is very true. Primetime and Daytime are heavily segregated here. The ratings are very low due to the daytime scheduling. Soap actors don't get press coverage, stories and spoilers are not getting coverage in mainstream press like they are in the UK. The only time you'll ever see soap coverage in the mainstream press is if it resolves around a cancellation (and it's barely a footnote), or something involving one of the 30+ year vets leaving or having contract issues and even then there's only about three who'd get a mention (Susan Lucci, Anthony Geary, Eric Braeden, maybe Deidre Hall but that's a stretch). 90% of actors who appear on soaps never have a post-soap career because of the stigma surrounding the quality of acting.

They're not integrated into mainstream culture like they are in the UK. Coverage is pretty exclusively covered by websites and blogs dedicated to the genre and that's why in the US the actors are so open with bloggers and podcasters and grant them lengthy interviews and interactions. There's even an actress who posts on one of the message boards. It's all just a very different culture to the UK soap machine.

Yeah I never watched american soaps, they all seem to focus on whos got the most money, found then boring.

Thanks both of you

Glad to see i am not alone in this.

You not, those shows are most definitely considered soaps.

I knew it
I think people assume that soaps are shows that air 5 times a week all year round. That was how they originally began. But the likes of Dynasty, Dallas, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest helped change this and really helped to create what we know as PRIMETIME SOAP OPERAS. And today's shows like Jane The Virgin, Empire, Scandal and Grey's anatomy also belong in that category.

There were actually prime time soaps that predated those of the 80's. In the 60's they had Peyton Place and there was a short lived prime time spin-off of As The World Turns.

Of course. I forgot Peyton place.

Yes! Our shows started to become sensationalized in the 80s even though there was still realism in them. It wasn't until about '94 (around the OJ Simpson trial) that the soaps here became absurd and never recovered b/c they had to compete with the growing fascination of court TV and reality TV.

All I can advise UK fans to do is to go look at old clips of US soaps, and you'll see too that they were rooted in just as much realism as the UK soaps were. They centered around working to middle class families dealing with real life issues. The acting was once on par with performances you'd see in theatre.

Soaps (in the US) were once compelling, daring dramas that rivaled anything on TV at their height.

My only knowledge if the daytime stuff is Joey from Friends getting an acting job on Days Of Our Lives.

On the whole I agree. The shows I listed were largely daft escapism, all though Knots Landing when it began was more reality- based.