Do you/Did you ever watch a soap opera?

[L&Lfan]

I know daytime soaps are a dying genre on American television, but I was curious if you ever followed a soap on a regular basis. I would also be interested in knowing why you stopped watching.

I love the continuing drama format. I started watching Dark Shadows in 1968 when I was in 3rd gtade. At one time or another I watched Secret Storm, Search for Tomorrow, Doctors, Passions, As the World Turns, One Life to Live and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
I also loved the nighttime soaps of the '80s and watched Dallas, Dynasty, Colbys, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest.
Currently I watch The Young and the Restless, General Hospital and my favorite, Days of Our Lives. I record them while I'm at work and watch them at night.

Please share with me your soap opera viewing history. Thanks.

I'm also curious to know if any of you are guys like me...

 

[LVSWL]

My aunt was a faithful watcher of General Hospital, so we kids always had to be quiet when her "story" was on. I have also watched GH since college. Love it!

 

[Meriweather]

My mother watched several. I watched with her and continued watching several until about 1999 or so, then stopped

Adding shows watched

The Doctors
One Life to Live
All My Children
Days of Our Lives
Another World
Edge of Night
Santa Barbara
General Hospital
Dark Shadows
Sommerset
Ryan's Hope
Loving
Port Charles
plus some prime time ones

 

[ronandannette]

My aunt was a faithful watcher of General Hospital, so we kids always had to be quiet when her "story" was on. I have also watched GH since college. Love it!

Wow, good memories. There were only two channels when I grew up; each had one daily soap - my aunt talked about the characters from "Edge of Night" as if they were real people she knew. As a young teen my school friends and I lived for "Another World". It came on at 4:00 pm and only a few of us got off the school bus in time to actually see all of it. We'd demand a complete run down in minute detail on the bus the next morning.

 

[asta]

I watched All My Children in my teens and in college. I stopped watching when I got a job and was never home during the day. I loved Susan Lucci and the first actor who played Phillip Brent.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Days of our Lives, One Life to Live, and General Hospital. Young and the Restless if I was at my grandparents. I went through phases watching As the World Turns, Another World, and Capitol.

 

[trip]

I'm an ABC fan. All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. Sadly General Hospital is the only one that has survived.

 

[Summer2018]

I know daytime soaps are a dying genre on American television, but I was curious if you ever followed a soap on a regular basis. I would also be interested in knowing why you stopped watching.

I love the continuing drama format. I started watching Dark Shadows in 1968 when I was in 3rd gtade. At one time or another I watched Secret Storm, Search for Tomorrow, Doctors, Passions, As the World Turns, One Life to Live and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
I also loved the nighttime soaps of the '80s and watched Dallas, Dynasty, Colbys, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest.
Currently I watch The Young and the Restless, General Hospital and my favorite, Days of Our Lives. I record them while I'm at work and watch them at night.

Please share with me your soap opera viewing history. Thanks.

I'm also curious to know if any of you are guys like me...

My mother and grandmother always had soaps on, so I have watched them since birth. I remember Secret Storm, Love of Life, Somerset, As the World Turns (so upset when that went off the air), and Another World. I used to watch General Hospital in high school, and The Bold and the Beautiful in my 20’s.

The most important soap for me is The Young and the Restless. I have watched it since it came on the air in 1973 when I was 8 years old. I still watch it faithfully, taping it on the DVR. There are times, like right now, that I cannot stand the storyline. I will always continue to watch it no matter what.

 

[luvsJack]

All My Children was my favorite. I watched it for years until I started working during the day. It it seemed like it was one that I could miss for months and then be home one day, watch it and figure out exactly what was going on! Lol.

I liked General Hospital for awhile. In the days of Luke and Laura and their wedding.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Back around 1980-81, watching General Hospital was trendy with many college students. The Luke and Laura days.

I watched semi-regularly for a while, but then grew bored. The plot line was getting ridiculous. A mad scientist was going to put the city under a deep freeze, or some nonsense like that.


As for nighttime soaps, I did watch Dallas, Dynasty, and Falcon Crest off and on. I never made it to the end of any of those series.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I LIVE in a soap opera -- we call it, "As the Stomach Churns."

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I remember growing up watching All My Children and General Hospital and my sister's favorite - Dark Shadows. That one always creeped me out!

 

[Kellykins1218]

I've been watching the British soap Coronation Street for about 10 years now and it is so much better than any of the American soaps I've watched.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

I started watching Another World when I was about 12 years old and followed it on and off until it was cancelled about 20 years later. During my teenage years I followed General Hospital as well. I do not follow any daytime soaps now but, like a pp said, I do watch the British soap Coronation Street which plays in the evening.

 

[wenrob]

I have literally watched Days my entire life. All my grandmas, great aunts, my mom, stepmother and MIL all watched. Before dementia took hold my maternal grandma would call me at least twice a week to discuss Days. I miss that. I’m pretty much “last woman standing” though. My mom(s) and sister no longer watch and the rest have passed.

I watched The Doctors, Another World and Santa Barbara until they all ended. I have the very last episode of AW on VHS tape, I’ve never watched it. I remember my family watching Dallas but otherwise I never got into the nighttime soaps.

My DH’s grandma watched General Hospital, One Life to Live and The Young and The Restless. I only watched them when she was visiting or we were visiting her but kept up on them through the Soap magazines so I could discuss them with her.

 

[momto2girls]

I often stayed with a neighbor in the afternoons when was a kid, and she watched All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital. I think she watched Ryan's Hope too. So, I started watching them sporadically then. I vividly remember the Luke and Laura time period. I was about 11. I watched these soaps off and on through high school.

In college a friend got me hooked on Days of our Lives. I watched through college and after. I probably stopped watching in the late 90s.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

When my son was young I got hooked on Passions and then would sometimes get to watch most of Days, if I was lucky and his nap ran long I don't remember exactly when I stopped watching, or why. Not much interest in daytime soaps anymore, but i still love primetime soaps.

 

[wenrob]

I forgot:

I did have two periods when I stopped actively watching Days. The possession storyline and when they killed all the older regulars off trying to “refresh” it. Then they had to backtrack and everyone was on an island. I’ve never bought that the island was the plan all along.

I watched Soap. A sitcom but still a Soap.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I've been a Days Of Our Lives fan since before I was born.
My mom started watching it when John Aniston left another soap a moved to DOOl.
The actress that plays Maggie Horton was even on an epsisode of Night Rider when my mom's water broke for me.
I've never stopped watching.
I won a bracelet they were giving away in like 2003.
Its just a blue rubber one that says Days of Our Lives on it.
I also have a Marlena Evans barbie doll which is so funny because in the last week they had it on the soap!

I also was a Passions fan but couldn't watch anymore after they went exclusively with DirectTV (I think that's what happened?) although episodes have surfaced on youtube so I have seen how it ended.
I was absolutely delighted when Passions actors started coming to DOOL.
"Ethan" and "Theresa" had gotten to be together for a while on DOOL as Brady and Arrianna.
And Rafe and Sami had a similar start to "Luis" and "Sheridan".

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I forgot:

I did have two periods when I stopped actively watching Days. The possession storyline and when they killed all the older regulars off trying to “refresh” it. Then they had to backtrack and everyone was on an island. I’ve never bought that the island was the plan all along.

I watched Soap. A sitcom but still a Soap.

Frances Reid did an interview saying she was the only one that knew they were all coming back and who the killer was so it was planned.
To me that was an amazing time for the show.
So much emotion.
I'll never forget the camera panning up to Marlena with the IV.
And when she killed Doug and then Doug's ghost sang "Always" while Julie and Hope stood over his body that was raw and you know Julie didn't have to do much acting thinking about her real husband being dead.
My mom has called me "darling cupcake" ever since Celeste told Hope her father would die.
And we joke saying "I'm taking a tub" because that's what Victor said before he was electrocuted.

My dad constantly complains about killing characters and bringing them back but he keeps on watching lol.

Bonus: Did you know Bill Hayes sang the Davy Crokett song?