Do you/Did you ever watch a soap opera?

[mom2rtk]

I haven't watched a soap in years. But I used to watch "Edge of Night" after school in junior high, and "All My Children" for a while in college.

As an aside, how is it that Lori Loughlin never ages?

 

[Wendy31]

Growing up, my sister & I would stay at my grandmother's house during the day in the summer because both our mom & dad worked.

My grandmother was a faithful watcher of the CBS soaps - "Young & the Restless," "The Bold & the Beautiful," "As the World Turns," & "Guiding Light". Before there was "Bold & the Beautiful," there was "Capitol" & another one which I can't remember the name.

So we watched her "stories" w/ her, & my mom HATED that we were spending our afternoons watching soaps! LOL! My favorite was "Guiding Light".

And I remember watching "As the World Turns" when Meg Ryan was on it!

After we started staying home by ourselves during the summer, we discovered "Days of our Lives" which I LOVED! Jack & Jennifer were my favs! My freshman year of college, I even arranged my schedule so I could be home in time to watch, &, if we weren't going to be home, my sister & I would set the VCR to record it.

"General Hospital" & "Guiding Light" came on at the same time, & "As the World Turns" & "One Life to Live" came on at the same time as well. So we'd flip back & forth between the shows.

I guess I stopped watching about the time I got married.

 

[mom2rtk]

So we watched her "stories" w/ her, & my mom HATED that we were spending our afternoons watching soaps!

My grandma called them her "stories" as well. I still remember how mad she was when they were all pre-empted for the Watergate hearings.

 

[L&Lfan]

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?

The 2003-2004 Salem Stalker story was one of my all time favorites!
Thanks for your remembrances.

 

[L&Lfan]

My grandma called them her "stories" as well. I still remember how mad she was when they were all pre-empted for the Watergate hearings.

And OJ trial.

 

[dotfurio]

We'd spend summers with my grandparents and every day my grandma watched All My Children. When I was a teen I got hooked. I watched it on and off a few years but it's hard when you go to school or work during that part of the day.

 

[RangerPooh]

When I was young my mom watched ABC soap- All My Children, One Life to Live,and General Hospital. GH was her favorite. In the early 90s I discovered Loving and would tape it and watch after I got home form school. Stayed with it when it changed to The City, but was canceled. Watched Port Charles when it first came out, but stopped watching when I moved away for college as our ABC channel did not air it.

Also in college I had a roommate who was addicted to Days of Our Lives which I started watching in January 1998. I still watch it today, but on the NBC app so I'm a day behind in viewing. But I watch it on my iPad at lunch. Also watched Sunset Beach while in college, but only the last season as that too got canceled. Watched Passions from the start but didn't care for it and stopped watching about 3 years in. It was too hokey for me and I just didn't care for the characters.

 

[wenrob]

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?

Huh, I just never believed it. I do remember sobbing when Hope was crying over Doug. I think I quit watching it for a bit after Maggie. That was brutal.

We should do a spin off of soap scenes that made you sob.

Growing up, my sister & I would stay at my grandmother's house during the day in the summer because both our mom & dad worked.

My grandmother was a faithful watcher of the CBS soaps - "Young & the Restless," "The Bold & the Beautiful," "As the World Turns," & "Guiding Light". Before there was "Bold & the Beautiful," there was "Capitol" & another one which I can't remember the name.

So we watched her "stories" w/ her, & my mom HATED that we were spending our afternoons watching soaps! LOL! My favorite was "Guiding Light".

And I remember watching "As the World Turns" when Meg Ryan was on it!

After we started staying home by ourselves during the summer, we discovered "Days of our Lives" which I LOVED! Jack & Jennifer were my favs! My freshman year of college, I even arranged my schedule so I could be home in time to watch, &, if we weren't going to be home, my sister & I would set the VCR to record it.

"General Hospital" & "Guiding Light" came on at the same time, & "As the World Turns" & "One Life to Live" came on at the same time as well. So we'd flip back & forth between the shows.

I guess I stopped watching about the time I got married.

A group of us were all going to an REO Speedwagon concert on the day Bo and Hope were getting married. Everyone wanted to go off and party but I wouldn’t go anywhere until I saw them officially married.

My grandma called them her "stories" as well. I still remember how mad she was when they were all pre-empted for the Watergate hearings.

Yep, stories here to and I STILL get mad when they pre-empt Days.

 

[disneychrista]

I've been watching Days of our Lives since 1985/1986. I also watched Another World & Santa Barbara at that time until they went off the air. I also watched Passions and All My Children.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

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.

Many years ago I watched All My Children. I don't really recall why I stopped. Maybe I just felt the story was over at some point.

 

[Floridaman999]

My mom always watched them but I never have. The drama format just doesn't do anything for me personally.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

My grandma called them her "stories" as well. I still remember how mad she was when they were all pre-empted for the Watergate hearings.

How dare they preempt her stories for such garbage!!!

I don't remember which soaps my mother watched, but she also got mad that the Watergate saga was on every network channel. Why can't they put it on PBS?, she lamented.

Did the soaps continue where they left off after the hearings, or were those episodes lost forever?

 

[lorimay]

OMG...... "My stories" lol.
Yep, we had our stories too.

All My Children
One Life to Live
General Hospital
I started watching in 73-74 when we moved from NYC to Florida over the summer. My older cousin lived across the street and I loved hanging out with her and everyday she watched and so did I.

Watched AMC till the end. I use to take my lunch from 1-2 when I worked with another woman and we watched it together.
Sometimes I tune in to see whats new on GH, but not regularly.

 

[tvguy]

Dark Shadows, One Life to Live and General Hospital when I was in Junior High School.

Barnabas Collins, Larry Wolek, Jessie Brewer and Dr. Steven Hardy were my companions every afternoon. This would have been about 1968-1969 because the local ABC station dropped Dark Shadows in 1969 and replaced it with reruns of Lassie. It was still airing on other ABC stations. I was one of the pickets in front of that station. Ironically, 20 years later, I would be WORKING at that station.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Huh, I just never believed it. I do remember sobbing when Hope was crying over Doug. I think I quit watching it for a bit after Maggie. That was brutal.

We should do a spin off of soap scenes that made you sob.


A group of us were all going to an REO Speedwagon concert on the day Bo and Hope were getting married. Everyone wanted to go off and party but I wouldn’t go anywhere until I saw them officially married.


Yep, stories here to and I STILL get mad when they pre-empt Days.

Haha yes we should do that spin off.
Recall when John was hit by the car in 2007?
Deidra Hall said she was reading the script while on the treadmill and was sobbing from then until the filming was over.
That was probably the most I've sobbed too because it went on for several days of them just saying goodbye.
And when Maggie took a bullet for Victor was another time I cried.
Sometimes I felt like I was watching ER since almost every episode of that gives you something to cry about.

 

[kimblebee]

I watched Days and Another World. I also watched Eastenders with my parents when I lived at home.

 

[L&Lfan]

Dark Shadows, One Life to Live and General Hospital when I was in Junior High School.

Barnabas Collins, Larry Wolek, Jessie Brewer and Dr. Steven Hardy were my companions every afternoon. This would have been about 1968-1969 because the local ABC station dropped Dark Shadows in 1969 and replaced it with reruns of Lassie. It was still airing on other ABC stations. I was one of the pickets in front of that station. Ironically, 20 years later, I would be WORKING at that station.

That amazes me because DS reached its ratings pinnacle in '69 during the Quentin/1897 flashback storyline. Were they worried about it being "satanic" and children watching, I wonder? I've read .that argument as to why some ABC affiliates, especially in the South, refused to air it or showed it after 11pm.

 

[emmybee]

I've only watched two soap operas when I was much younger. Both were in Spanish, and they were very melodramatic. The first was Topacio, about a young, blind woman who finally ends up with the handsome, rich suitor after many ups and downs. The other was Maria Mercedes, which I don't really remember. It was probably about a lovely, young servant who eventually marries her handsome, rich boss. I do like the format of having a final resolution, rather than having shows run for decades. I did watch Ugly Betty, and I am watching Jane the Virgin. I cried and cried when Michael died. I thought he was safe, and then he was ripped from my heart so suddenly! My husband had a good laugh at that

 

[wenrob]

Haha yes we should do that spin off.
Recall when John was hit by the car in 2007?
Deidra Hall said she was reading the script while on the treadmill and was sobbing from then until the filming was over.
That was probably the most I've sobbed too because it went on for several days of them just saying goodbye.
And when Maggie took a bullet for Victor was another time I cried.
Sometimes I felt like I was watching ER since almost every episode of that gives you something to cry about.

Oh yeah, John “dying” was torture. I actually had swollen eyes from that. JT being given back to his birth parents. I would love to see him resurface in Salem someday. Zac dying, oh man. I just couldn’t believe they’d kill him. Baby Grace.

 

[tvguy]

That amazes me because DS reached its ratings pinnacle in '69 during the Quentin/1897 flashback storyline. Were they worried about it being "satanic" and children watching, I wonder? I've read .that argument as to why some ABC affiliates, especially in the South, refused to air it or showed it after 11pm.

That could be.