Soap operas have graced the airwaves and television sets of dedicated fans for decades, producing dozens upon dozens of storylines that compel their viewers to sit glued to their screens (and those soap hunks aren’t too bad either).
RELATED:Most Iconic Soap Opera Supercouples Of All Time
But as dedicated as these viewers are, they often voice their frustration over the same old storylines being played on their favorite daytime dramas. From characters coming back from the dead to wedding disasters to love triangles that make you groan, soaps are full of overdone tropes.
New Person In Town Is A Long-Lost Relative
It’s always a double-take moment when a new face appears on screen in your favorite fictional town. The new character will often introduce themselves with an unfamiliar name and act as if they don’t know a single person in Port Charles or Genoa City.
But keen soap viewers are privy to this trope. While this isn’t true for every single new character that joins the scene, odds are they’re related to someone in town; the long-lost child of an older character or a scorned family member who missed out on the family fortune.
It’s common for soap characters to get killed off; it’s just second nature on soaps. But whether the character is actually dead depends on the need for that character’s presence and the possibility of recasting the role without an uproar from viewers.
In cases likeNBC’sDays of Our Lives,choosing the right the wrong of killing off Will Horton in 2015, they created a back-from-the-dead serum that, when injected, saves the person’s life but gives them amnesia, allowingChandler Masseyto reprise his memorable role in 2017. Then there’s the timeBilly Millertook over the iconic role ofGeneral Hospital’sJason Morgan fromSteve Burton. It was said Jason had been in an accident and given reconstructive face surgery to explain how no one (including him) knew he was Jason.
Fainting = Pregnancy
When a person is believed to be pregnant, plenty of symptoms can come along with it, and fainting can certainly be one. But in the world of soaps, when a woman faints, it automatically means they’re pregnant, whether they know it or not.
RELATED:Soap Opera Couples Who Dated In Real Life
It’s an overdone trope, especially when an affair is involved, and they most likely don’t know who the father is. Only recently onABC’sGeneral Hospitaldid the show sort of break the chain, making Willow Tait faint due to not only being pregnant but also being diagnosed with leukemia.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative Identity Disorder—shortened to D.I.D.—is a real mental disorder in which a person can develop multiple personalities and identities. These soaps take statistical improbability to a new level because several characters over the years have suffered from the disorder to explain their unusual behaviors.
One of the most memorable storylines involving D.I.D. was onOne Life To Livewhenveteran character Viki Lordwould turn into Victor Lord.General Hospitalhas also done its fair share of D.I.D. storylines, giving the disorder to Connie Falconeri, Luke Spencer, and most recently, alluding to it with Elizabeth Webber.
Baby Switches
If you live in Port Charles, Pine Valley, Genoa City, or Llanview, keep your children close because no baby is safe in these cities full of baby switches.
It would be impossible to list the number of times a child was switched at birth, raised by the wrong family for a portion of their life, or intentionally stolen, and as overdone as it is, it never stops being entertaining on daytime.
Brain Tumor As An Excuse
Brain tumors are a very real thing and should not be taken lightly, but on soap operas, it’s become a common storyline to make a person act out of character, sometimes even villain-like, just for the explanation to be that they’ve been suffering from a brain tumor that’s caused the odd behavior.
Two best-remembered cases of this were onCBS’Young and the RestlessandGeneral Hospital.In 2019, after a string of crimes, including domestic abuse, JD Helstrom was diagnosed with a brain tumor that became the excuse for his evil ways. OnGH,James Franco’scharacter Franco, then played byRoger Howarth,was diagnosed with a brain tumor as a way to redeem the character for his background as a serial killer.
Infinite Love Triangles
Hope/Steffy/Liam? Carly/Sonny/Jacks? Sami/Lucas/EJ? If any of those names ring a bell, that’s because they’ve been a part of famous love triangles on daytime dramas for decades.
RELATED:Times Soap Operas Tackled Serious Subjects
As thrilling as it can be when a happy couple like Sami and EJ are threatened by Sami’s latest affair with Lucas, love triangles are an incredibly overdone trope on soaps that need a little extra spice to be shocking nowadays.
Non-Weddings
No, not the kind of non-wedding had byGeneral Hospitalsupercouple Maxie and Spinelli. These non-weddings are the ones that are built up for months just for something - or more typically, someone - to disrupt the nuptials and end the episode without a marriage.
Every soap opera past and present has clung to this trope, with almost no wedding going to plan and ending in “I do"s—minus theiconic one ofGH’sLuke and Laura,of course.
SORAS-ing Children
Thegood old SORAS—also known as Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome—was given its name bySoap Opera Weeklyfounding editor-in-chiefMimi Torchinafter acknowledging the way soaps consistently recast baby characters with children and children characters with teens.
Most children born within the last couple of decades have been victims of SORAS-ing, most recentlyGH’sSpencer Cassadine with Daytime Emmy winnerNicholas ChavezandDOOL’sJohnny DiMera withCarson Boatman.
Devils, Vampires, Aliens, And More
Sure, sexy teen vampires were all the rage ten years ago, and aliens have blown up on theHistory Channel,but mythical and farfetched creatures are always lurking when it comes to soap operas.
WhileGeneral Hospitalhas been known for its vampires and several soaps have come face-to-face with aliens, only one soap has ever danced with the Devil.Days of Our Livesaired itsmost outrageous storyline in historyin 1995 when Marlena Evans was possessed by the Devil and endured an exorcism, just to get possessed again in 2021 when the show brought the storyline back from the dead.
