Have soaps had their day?

It's been announced that Neighbours is making a very, very speedy comeback so I would say I don't think soaps have had their day! LOL!

Well I don't really watch soaps altho once apon a time I did. I was born in the early eighties and those of us who grew up in that time will no that alot of TV was dominated by soaps or sport! But these days it's not really something I watch. So I guess I'm not really the best person to ask but I'm sure there's still a lot of people who watch them so maybe there is still a demand for them.

I'm in agreement with a lot of the people here who feel that soaps haven't had their day. They just need to improve and get better! That means better scripts, more interesting storylines, more talented actors... Also soaps need to go back to doing what they did best which were to entertain viewers rather than ram issues down people's gobs. It was always nice to unwind by watching an episode of your favourite soap but now a lot of them just seem to wind you up!

If you've lived through the decades that I've lived through, you'll understand how popular soaps once were. The fact that Eastenders had a repeat showing on Sundays and Neighbours and H&A were on twice a day days it all.

It's true that soaps are not anywhere near as popular as they used to be but I think a lot of that is because of the quality of writing and acting. Or should that be lack of? Get more talented writers and actors and the soaps might get back to being what they used to be.

Soaps take me back to living with my mom! Haha! growing up we all watched a lot of soaps. And if there was someone totally hot in it, that definitely kept you watching! I used to love shows like Beverley Hills 90210 and Melrose was unmissible! I could still watch reruns of those shows because of nostalgia and also because they were pretty good shows. But now I prefer other kinds of shows rather than soap operas. There is something that's kinda dated when it comes to soaps, so as some people have mentioned, if you want to keep people watching then changes need to be made to keep soap operas up to date.

An interesting question but a difficult one to answer!

As someone who grew up in the eighties, I know that soaps were very much a thing. Everyone watched them, everyone talked about them. Soap stars became the cover girls and boys for countless magazines. They often appeared on shows like Wogan or Parkinson, as well as variety shows. We even had magazines dedicated solely to soap operas. People used to talk about the characters and storylines as though it was real life! Believe me, soaps may have been make-believe but they were very much ingrained into our society, culture and daily life. At least for those of us in Britain anyway.

But fast forward to 2022 and it's not quite the same. Although there are social media accounts dedicated to various soaps, I don't really hear people talking about them the way they used to. Most people I know don't even watch them. There might be a few like me who keep up with maybe one or two, and even then it's mainly out of habit.

I'm not sure why soaps aren't as addictive as they once were. maybe the new generation just isn't into them. Perhaps with the demands of episodes that are on four times a week, the quality of writing isn't there. But then I see the outpouring of grief for a soap like Neighbours which has already filmed its final episode, and maybe, just maybe soaps aren't on their way out after all...

I still think there's a place for soaps in today's televisual landscape but it will absolutely have to keep up with the demands and preferences of todays generation - which might cause soap fans of previous generations to switch off. But then as we all know, you can't please everyone.

I don't watch a lot of soaps although I did when I was much younger. Everybody did. To be honest I don't know if anyone I know is a big soap fan or not as I don't hear anyone talk about them much. But I'm not sure if soap operas are going to cease to exist as they have been a part of or TV habits for such a long time now. There's still a generation of people who grew up with them so for now at least, I believe that soap operas will be sticking around.

I'm not a soap addict but since moving back to England where it seems to be more of a tradition, I do catch up with certain soaps when I have the time. Although more often than not, I don't!

I come from a very creative family where most of our jobs centre around the arts industry, so the concept of story telling is very important to us regardless of whether the medium is books, photography, music etc. Storytelling has been around since the beginning of time and that is actually what TV soaps are - a means of telling stories that keeps people entertained. So for that reason, I don't think that soaps are on the way out. No they're not as popular as they once were that's true but I do think that there's still an interest in them.

I think the reason that they're not watched the way they once were is because most people today just don't have the time to get caught up in long-running shows. And also because maybe the format needs updating somehow. The kind of kitchen sink dramas that my nan used to watch in the 60s don't hold as much interest for people today especially for my generation. So I think it needs to be updated and reflect life more as it is today. Maybe then there will be more interest but I think it's a type of TV genre that can be saved.

I’m hardly a typical soapie watcher, and I very rarely watch any contemporary TV these days anyway, but I wouldn’t think that soaps have had their day. I’m actually waiting for the day, some time after Neighbours’ demise, maybe a year or two, that Channel 10 in Australia come out and announce “a bright, new, fresh, exciting serial, in the tradition of Neighbours, coming soon”.

And I’m only half-joking.

Serials, by nature, should be able to theoretically just run-and-run, like Coronation Street and a few others, they just have to change with the times, change the cast occasionally, bring back the odd old-favourite, and stick with the old soapie storylines of births, deaths and marriages. Throw in the odd love-scandal, the odd death by misadventure, ensure plenty of conflict between the characters and there you have it.

I’m sure there’s a little bit more to it than that, but why some serials can just run interminably and others can’t, I don’t know.

My mom was really into soap operas when I was growing up so of course I watched a lot of them with her. Bold & the Beautiful, Dallas, General Hospital, As The World Turns etc. My mom still watches alot of them but it's not really for me now. Partly because I don't have the time and partly because I just lost interest. I prefer non-soap type drama series.

I don't really know about other countries but in India where I am from, everybody loves soap operas or serials as we call them over there. Everything comes to a standstill when their favorite show is on. For me it is not something I really watch. However I have noticed that my girlfriend's mom, who is American, is equally addicted to her favorite soap operas. So I guess there are people all over the world who love such shows.

I personally don't watch soaps the way I used to. I tend to watch every now and again. It's only because Neighbours is finishing up that I've been watching more of that. I think that maybe because we've got more channels and more choice that people aren't so glued to soaps the way they once were. As anyone who grew up in Britain up until the 21st century will know, we only had up to five channels and most of those tended to show more soapy based stuff. Now there's a lot more variety especially with all the streaming channels and everything.