Most of the soaps were reality based up until the 80. When Gloria Monty became EP of General Hospital she really changed the game with the super couples and over the top stories like Luke and Laura stopping the Cassadines from freezing the world. Those stories made GH a cultural phenomenon, it was the highest rated soap at the time so many of the soaps started manufacturing their own super couples and crazy stories. Not all of them went in that direction though, All My Children stayed reality based and was able to remain reality based, probably due to the fact that creator Anges Nixon was still writing the show.

Am I right about Knots Landing? I seem to remember in the early days you're d have scenes with Val and Karen n their gardens talking about their families, then suddenly Karen was some high flying businesswoman and Val was an internationally renowned author!!! Heck, it all went a bit Emmerdale

Greys Anatomy is no more a soap than ER, LA Law or The Practice. They're workplace dramas. A continuing story does not define something as a soap.

LOL you are right. I read some interview with Donna Mills where she went to creator David Jacobs and told him that people weren't interested in watching people work at a Ford dealership. And from there they started incorporating those business stories which I think all started when Abby tried to con Gary and Karen out of the land that Lotus Pointe was built on.

You are wrong a bout that, soaps have serialized format which is one of the reason's why Grey's fall into that category but also for its focus on the romantic lives of the characters. Also what About General Hospital, would you call that a work place drama?

They seemed to all unanimously jump up a few social strata, you know? To begin with, except Gary they all seemed to be upper working class, lower middle class types, then they were all millionaires

Yeah that definitely happened. When Abby came on the show she was a single mother driving a station wagon and by season 5 she was a high powered business woman and Val went from being a barely educated housewife to an award winning author.. In fact Laura was the only one of them that worked and that was an issue for her husband Richard.

I wonder if Dallas and Dynasty hand't been more popular than Knots if they would have stayed more true to its roots instead of embracing the glam and wealth of the 80's.

From what I remember, it was better when they were all more down to earth I see the actress's point though!

So every show on every network is a soap then?

House of Cards? American Horror Story? The Walking Dead? Game of Thrones? Battlestar Galactica? Babylon 5? They all have or had continuing elements.

really? I thought the show was boring its first couple seasons. I didn't think it got good til season 4 when you had the Gary/Abby affair and the Ciji stuff and it was at its best with the Lotus Pointe and Wolfbridge story.

The only one of those shows I've seen is the Walking Dead which does have some soap elements to it. I will say that most of ABC's prime time line up has consisted of soaps over the last decade with Desperate Housewives, Grey's, Scandal, Ugly Betty, How to Get Away with Murder ect...

I don't t remember in great detail ( I was a kid when they showed it over here, and I think it was daytime, so you only saw it in school holidays) but I'M m always of he more down to earth, everyday stories Although I enjoyed the glamour and silliness of Dallas and Dynasty, I preferred KL.

So just female demo skewing shows with serialized storytelling is a soap?

Ok, I watched it about 10 years ago when they were showing reruns of it on Soap Net so my memory of it is pretty fresh. I'm like you in that I preferred Knots, it was more down to earth and seemed to progress with the times where as Dallas and Dynasty seemed to be stuck in the 80's and not able to move beyond the stuff that originally made them a success.

Yes absolutely. That is in fact the history of the soap opera they were serialized melodramas created to sell cleaning products to women. Serialized format focused on the romance and relationships between characters appealing primarily to women. The daytime US soaps have always focused primarily on housewives. Notice the time of day they air - adult men wouldn't be the demographic.

Trying my best to run past these posts about Knots Landing. Still haven't see it and want to go into it spoiler free

Ahhh

LOL you gotta watching Knots Landing was the best.

and what did you think of the podcast?

Still haven't heard it Mark. Sorry. I will tomorrow, i promise. I have a habit of bookmarking things and never bothering to click on them again.

Oh god Knots Landing! I loved that show. Edie Brit used to be in it.

Are they showing it over here just now?

CBS Drama used to show it. Not sure if they still do