Today’s soaps, like General Hospital, have large casts and tackle social issues as well as family stories. Soap operas have been around for over 80 years, but their format has changed considerably over time.Įarly soaps, like Guiding Light (which aired both on radio and television) had relatively small casts and focused exclusively on family stories. The term stuck, even after television assumed the mantle of America’s favorite source of home entertainment. The term “soap opera” was coined by the American press in the 1930s to describe the original radio dramas that were sponsored by soap companies. Soap operas are television dramas about the private and personal lives of a group of characters. In every soap, in every scene their is a fireplace in the background and a tote of wine.WHAT IS A SOAP OPERA What Is A Soap Opera? A soap opera is a show where you can't go 5 minutes without seeing a tampon commercial. Either they are business partners or elsewhere.

On most soaps there are between 15-30 characters broken down into 2 or 3 families. Soap operas are all about couples seeking to elope because their families are enemies. Every few years or so, the same episodic material is completely recycled.

(Yes, usually a 40 year old woman on a soap will have a son that is over 30) On any given soap opera episode there are anywhere from 3-6 different storylines, usually interrelated somehow. On a soap opera the average age difference between a parent and child is roughly 8 years.

Soap operas are known for their attrocious acting, their unrealistically attractive women who have had 5 or 6 plastic surgeries. A monotonous television drama that is on everyday, five days a week, 52 weeks out of the year.

The soap opera