I find the oldest characters the strongest and have the most believability, maybe because they aren't always having to have affairs like the younger ones?
I'd like to see Craig and Bethany's relationship evolve into something meaningful, and I like Amy who will grow into the new Tracy. Simon is our future badass.
My grandmom watched The Doctors then, and it was live too. And in those days, they showed the Colgate-Palmolive logo (C-P inside a circle) superimposed over a hospital scene still. That's because C-P was the sponsor.
Days baby!! had a class in high school where the teacher actually had that on every day. got hooked and stuck with it-more or less-for over 15 years. some of the most outrageous stories and beautiful actresses ever on tv. not watching anymore
Dark Shadows. Wish I could say I saw all of it, but I didn't. Not until I bought the DVD's. I still love that program. I recently got interested in Peyton Place. It aired only at night, was never repeated until a decade after it was left the air. It was shot on 35mm film with all the meticulous care and attention to detail of a feature film. It was literately and intelligently written. Well-acted by everyone involved. Several beautiful women starred in the program, especially Dorothy Malone. My favorite is Barbara Parkins, an achingly vulnerable, beautiful, desirable actress with real dramatic chops. I like how Peyton Place, filmed on an outdoor / indoor set in Culver City, California, echoes the weather back east where it was set (in a New England seaport town). So you have the actors wearing winter clothes and shivering during the New England winter with snowflakes on the windows and fake snow on the backlot street. Spring and hot summer and the Autumn with changing leaves were also built into the story threads and the dialogue. Occasionally there were second unit shots of the weather from a New England location inserted. People watching the program on the eastern seaboard could see their weather on Peyton Place even though it was filmed in sunny California. Read all about the series here: Peyton Place (TV series) - Wikipedia Buy the DVD sets here: https://www.amazon.com/Peyton-Place-Part-Mia-Farrow/dp/B001O4KBNC/
I would have said 'only Guiding Light,' as it was a legacy from my grandparents, but then someone mentioned Dark Shadows (which I never thought of as a soap opera, but whadaya know, it was). Way back when, before DS even hit the airwaves, I would lovingly mock my grandparents for discussing soap opera characters as though they were real people. Now, I'm even worse. Oh, and PS, I did meet someone from DS. Two someones, actually.
I used to work in a TV factory, and while I mostly watched test patterns we did have one channel of broadcast TV available at the bench and while it was mostly just background I got caught up in one for a couple of months - I think it was "Days of Our Lives", but it was a long time ago. ETA - nope, it was "Ryan's Hope".
I was videotaping All My Children and General Hospital for a time in the 80s I guess, though I think I did AMC first then jumped to GH with Luke & Laura at some point. Only saw slivers of Dark Shadow scenes when I was young. Doug
Several. All My Children: Although I don't know if it is my favourite soap but I think AMC probably had the biggest highs of any soap I watched. The writing and acting wer top-notch. When Brooke (played by Julia Barr) learned her daughter was hit by a drunk driver was devastating. Great acting. I found Erika Kane often obnoxious and Susan Lucci could become very shrill but there were stories where Lucci really excelled. I thought her scenes with Sarah Michelle Gellar were some of her best and apparently they didn't get along but I think that tension added to their scenes. AMC was one of the first soaps to deal with the subject of AIDS. The Stuart/Cindy story was really touching. One Life to Live: This show is very personal to me because it was the first time I saw a gay teenager (played by Ryan Phillippe in an early role) on television so it was very inspiring to me as someone who was a teenager and in the closet. Erika Slezak did a great job playing Vicky and her multiple personalities. Santa Barbara: One of the most underrated soaps. Robin Wright was on the show before she starred in The Princess Bride. She was so beautiful and you knew she was going to be a star. Marcy Walker won a well deserved Emmy for her portrayal of Eden. Cruz and Eden were such a great couple. Robin Mattson, who has appeared on several soaps, was terrific as Gina. Always a scene-stealer. Loving: One of the first soaps I watched. One of Bryan Cranston's early roles. Some really good stories and it benefitted from its half-hour length. Near the end of the show, it went absolutely bonkers with a serial killer killing off a number of the show's characters, but it was a great story. Ryan's Hope: Another half-hour delight. Yasmine Bleeth had an early role on this show. Again, so beautiful and you knew she would go on to bigger things. She did Baywatch and then sadly her career faded due to drug use. Marg Helgenberger also had an early role (when I watched the show). Bold and the Beautiful: Some really terrible acting but I couldn't help watching. I loved the Stephanie/Brooke rivalry. Young and the Restless: Probably my favourite since I've watched it the longest. I started watching in 1983 and watch it only occasionally today. It used to be a great soap but for the last decade it's been mostly terrible. But from 1983 to about the mid-00s it deserved to be number one in the ratings. The Katherine/Jill rivalry in the '80s and '90s was delicious to watch (particularly when Brenda Dickson played Jill in the '80s, the tension was palpable but it worked so well). Bill Bell would draw out stories for years (as stated earlier, "glacial" is a good term to describe the plot movement). The Cassandra story was almost two years. The David Kimble story was long so well plotted and acted (especially by Tricia Cast who earned a well-deserved Emmy). The Lauren/Sheila story in the early '90s was also memorable, although they exhausted that story when they brought Sheila over to the Bold and the Beautiful and then brought her back to Y&R.
I'm not sure how I got started on it, but back in the latter half of the '80s I watched General Hospital for a spell. It was the era of Duke Harrington, Anna Devane, and the scheming Lucy Coe.
Oh good lord..I went through a phase in the 80's-90's. General Hospital Y And R As the world turns And I saw the premiere of the Bold and beautiful, and got hooked on that for awhile
I watched All My Children from around 1981-1987. I used to videotape a weeks worth of shows then edit down certain storylines. I didn't know anything about video quality so it was all in VHS EP but I still occasionally dig out one of those DVDs for a nostalgic trip.
When I was a toddler my Mom watched "Search For Tomorrow" and "The Secret Storm". In the early '70s, she watched "General Hospital" and "One Life To Live". In the late '70s and early '80s my sister watched "Ryan's Hope" "All My Children" and "General Hospital" during the "Luke & Laura" furor. After Mom retired, she watched "Young and the Restless". Everyday she fixed her lunch and watched it. The last time I was able to talk to my Mom we watched "Y & R" in her hospital room. After I left, she slipped into unconsciousness and she died that evening. I haven't been able to watch "Y & R" since.
All My Children when I was a teenager because my mom used to watch it. It started out with me ragging on her for watching soap opera garbage...then I promptly became hooked...typical.
Ryans hope all my children, one life to live, and general hospital . As child because i was sick a lot and kid shows like sesame street bored me... As teen to adult.
In the late 60's early 70's i would come home during lunch hour from school and watch my mothers favorite soap- Love of life- Then we would watch Jeopardy with Art Flemming. I recall having to run back to school when the Galloping Gourmet came on...
Well....I (and I guess only 2 other people on the planet) watched the brief "Never Too Young". Which by the way, Dark Shadows killed off...although I never saw DS. At the time, I was trying to figure out if I wanted to try acting...and Never Too Young was definitely....um.... not setting the bar too high. It was great to see Tony Dow full of angst and portraying a loser....like he moved out of the Cleaver house and right over to Malibu. I did catch some Peyton Place fever. We'd stop working in the studio to watch it on some nights. I thought it was creepy when they killed my honey Susan Oliver and showed her character dead on the beach after a cliff fall....that was my exit from watching the show. Dallas had me hooked for a while before Jock died. I'd have to watch it on vcr as I wasn't around on Friday nights.
Dark Shadows was it for me as well. I can see why soap operas were so popular: I could watch it every day after school, and understanding such a long, epic plot was kind of addicting. I never heard of Never Too Young, but that's an interesting idea for a show: basically a teenage soap opera with segments for live rock performances at a faux nightclub...
When I was in my early teens I got the 'Crossroads' bug. Took some shaking. I could see it was crap, but I supposed these days you'd call it 'car-crash' television. Also remember rushing home from school to catch the 4.15 screening of 'Emmerdale Farm'. Only got into that because it stared Frazer Hines who was one of my favourite Doctor Who companions back in the 60s. 'Crossroads' was cancelled and 'Emmerdale Farm' got trendy. That's when I got off those buses - thankfully. (Oh, and there was a really hot actress on 'Sons And Daughters'. Sort of started tuning in to that to see her, but bailed when she 'died' after being hit by a car).
My siblings and I liked “General Hospital” during the Robert/Holly period and the fun action/adventure stories (remember the Prometheus Disc?). They were a great couple - he was charming and she was so beautiful. We lost interest after they left. Mom watched “Search For Tomorrow”, “Days of Our Lives”, and “Young and the Restless”. She really liked Meg Bennett and Michael Nouri as Liza and Steve on SFT. Later, it switched networks and she stopped watching. She also dropped “Days” after her favorites, Doug and Julie, left in the early 80s. She still watches Y&R and B&B.