Can Soaps Survive Without Affairs?

Hi ya wolfie34 Hmm good question! I am not sure it glorifies affairs or condones (you found my dictionary yet?) them I think they want you to dislike a character and throwing them into an affair is a good way of doing that, along with murdering someone lol I think that in soapland a lot of things happen in a short space of time to so many people that just wouldn't happen in daily life. If people can just remember that is only a tv program then I think we will be fine. lol I have heard people talking about Eastenders as if it was someone they knew in their town, it's so funny!! lol

I know what you mean, I'm watching All My Children. Now remind me again how many husbands has Erica Cane had? I think that Zach and Kendal should just kiss and make up. I can't stand him keeping her prisoner in their house. But I kinda feel the same way in my own house. I hate that Adam has been paired up with Annie and they're going to marry. eww. As far as affairs, there's just one. It's between Ryan and Erica, double eww. Oh yeah and Annie and Scott, Adam's nefew are getting on. I guess if Adam can't get it there's always Scott to fall back on. Anyway I don't think the same way you do. I find soaps are a way of escaping my hard to live life.

Wolfie! xx I think it's a case of which came first egg/chicken. The soaps are reflecting real life right? So are divorces a result of the soaps ot are the soaps portraying the picture first?

Oh they probably couldn't survive without affairs. Or divorces. Or people switching partners. Or children whose parentage is called into question. Or deaths, illnesses, etc. Sometimes the writers take things way too far though. Sometimes I think they're really smoking something funny when they write some of that stuff.

Hi wolfie, don't kick me too hard but I just can't resist: my yogurt and my honey had an affair recently and now they've joined togther as a soap. True actually. OK I grew up on coronation street and I'm trying to think back to when the affairs first started, Ena Sharples, Hilda Ogden, I can't remember. Brian Tilsey, was he the first. It's entertainment Wolfie and it probably looks a bit seedy because it's the back streets of Wetherfield. In Eurpopean countries every one has affairs without destroying lives, well not everyone of course but the point is it is real life. I'm out of date with soaps now for quite a few years but the thought of some little twerp like Kevin the mechanic having an affair isn't exactly very realsitic. (Is Curly Watts back yet, he was always so amusing).

Hiya wolfie34, Affairs are the heartbeat and pulse of the soap operas what on earth would you do without them. Sure you can wind other storylines around the main soap affair. But if you take away the main affair in the soap then everyone will start to look to the others that are left to see what they do in their mini love affairs. That´s the way I see it. I loved Coronation Street but you cannot see it here or Emmerdale Farm both were my favourites. However we had a local favourite in the Midlands Crossroads lol. Can I hear a groan of oh no! But this was about us Brummies a least part of it was anyway. There was no end of love affairs going on in Crossroads as well. But the one that took my heart the most was "Take The High Road" lol it was more genuine like Emmerdale Farm. Affairs are everywhere in the soaps. Ages ago there was a Soap Opera on the Television here it was called the Pink Lady another translation could be the lady who was dressed in pink and everyone was taken over by this soap opera. The main two from Venezuela Carlos Mata played the part of Tito Clemente and Jeannette Rodriguez played Gabriela. This soap affair had everyone on the edge of their seats for weeks. People would try and skip work just to see it. Everyone in the Bars was there crowded around the Televisions watching every minute of it. A love affair beautifully written it had everything drama, love affairs besides the main one but the love affair that everyone was interested in was Tito and Gabriela. Heartbeat and pulse of the whole telenovela as we call them here. There has only ever been one since to compare with it. Do away with love affairs and you kill the series off I think anyhow. Take care.

Soap operas are certainly not a part of my viewing choice, although it is impossible not to be aware of their popularity on television. Most soap operas tend to depend on gossip, which seems to be the main attraction because there is insufficient gossip available in real life for many people. As a result their has to be something dramatic happening all the time to keep the viewers attention. There are several options such as catastrophes, marriages, family feuds etcetera, but without the presence of affairs then the scope would be more limited. I doubt if many soap operas could have maintained their success without the occasional affair to give people something to talk about.

Oh wolfie, I have to disagree with you. soaps are not just about affairs. I'm watching Days of Our Lives right now and someone has been murdered. I think affairs are only a small part of soaps....it's the case of the one I'm watching anyway. There are way to many other things going on ...there isn't an affair going on at the moment. To me, it's about the people and the dynamics of the various families involved and I don't see that anything is glorified ...except for maybe overdressing or perhaps there are too many functions where the cast get to dress up in lovely clothes. I love the clothes part of soaps, the hair dos, the jewellery. It depends too what you mean by affairs...do you mean who is cheating on whom or who is falling in love with whom. I still think that the whole thing is about the entire faMILY DYNAMICS, NOT JUST WHO IS WITH WHOM.

When I attended a writing course some time back, for a while we were writing film and stage plays. What I noticed was that the story varies very little, but the characters do. The message that our class was given was to first of all find a central character, then give him/her a problem, then find a solution. This didn't always have to be a happy solution. Yes, I agree there is a fascination with watching other people's lives getting torn apart through infidelity etc. These story-lines certainly attract high viewing figures. Newspapers are the same, full of doom and gloom and what they put in newspapers they put in because it sells. Many people who watch these soaps even think that the plots and characters are real. They are so real for some people, that they even send in threatening letters trying to get them to stop what they are doing. Do soaps entice people to emulate their characters? Or are soaps just reflecting everyday life? That was an interesting question we posed quite often in our writing workshops, and we never did really find an answer. I can think back to the 60s when I was a kid and Coronation Street first started. Divorce rate was already on a steep rise back then, and the show seemed to follow suit afterwards.. So maybe it was reflecting real life back then, but now has switched around? I don't know. It's anybody guess. - Derek

No they can't. It would be like having a cop show with no crimes or a doctor show with no one ever needing medical help. Affairs and multiple marriages are the bread and butter of the soaps and always have been.

Oh, they can't live the life of milk and water...Apparently, having affairs is not good! When people turn to be adults, they should know responsiblity...it means they have to give up what they want, so that they can choose what is right... Once comes to the soaps, all they want is the rate...They have already put the rating to the test...I guess what the soap ends up with...is the result of their experiment... However, not all people like these soaps...they are only popular for some people...there are still some others without affairs at all... Prison Break has no affairs , i guess..but I am not sure whether it is so-called a soap

Hey wolfie! I guess you are right! But, I don't know which comes first, the soaps imitating real life or real life just happening! I think that people would still have affairs no matter what the soaps would portray. I can't say that the soaps don't glorify affairs and other bad behavior because they surely do! But, I so do love watching all that stuff! I am now down to only following one! If you think about it everything on television is really bad! It is all taken from things that happen in real life, damn here in America more than half the shows are "real life" shows to begin with and they are really twisted! I don't think you can blame the soaps for what people choose to do or not do! It's just entertainment for those that want believe it or not believe it! I don't think by watching it that it will "make" someone go out and have an affair if they were never planning to in the first place!

hi wolfie .. well ... the story line will be boring without the spice of "affair" - i rememember during my very young age, my mother used to watch "Dallas" and the character of Sue Ellen and JR seem to be stuck on my head .. and following that there were alot more of this SOAP OPERAS that came and went .. but the story line and the characters seem not much different from what i watched with my mother ... after that ... "identical twins" this is another thing in soap operas, there are always one good and one evil .. cheers

Hello wolfie34 I have been watching soaps for years, I find them amusing and would never do half of what I see done on my favorite show, take General Hospital for instance the character Sam has slept with most of the leading men except for one, and I may be wrong about that, she slept with brothers, best friends mothers husband, its amazing lol I would hope anyone with half a brain would not follow in her footsteps,I honestly believe this is just one of the main purposes of soaps so without this they will be some what boring, it has been this way for years, in soap land this is considered the norm I am upset that it looks like they are going to put one of the good girls (as good as soap can get) with her long time loves/ex husbands brother this really pisses me off, but I will continue to watch lol I understand what you mean, but I do believe this plays a very important part in the whole concept of soap opera, they come up with the strangest pairs but this only draws us in just to see what will happen, alot of time I find myself screaming at the t.v yet I have to watch, when I miss it I need to know what happened lol Thank you, good question.

If there were no affairs, there would be no soaps. People aren't getting divorced because of the affairs on T.V. They are following their bliss and getting out of bad relationships. I love to see a good love triangle. For me that's when all three charaters are good people.It is better than when one is a B!tch or bast@rd.

Years ago, like about forty of them I used to listen to a serialized murder drama on the radio. It was the most interesting thing you could hope to hear and I followed it night after night along with hundreds of other Trinidadians of that day. I was about six or seven years old. That, I believe was the antecedent of today's soaps and it was a murder story. So there's your answer. You can " soap " anything. It does not have to be a breathless heart and scandal business.

This is the exact reason I stopped my addiction to watching Soaps. There is so much more out there to stimulate the mind and body; the 7th Commandment: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" almost seems forgotten. It's too easy these days to be easily distracted; "plant the seed, let it grow" is destructive to the family unit. Go about life, living, laughing, loving, without the stress. Love the one you're with. OK, by now you're all thinking, is this lady nuts? The quick answer is: yes. The not-so-quick answer is: strict catholic girl upbringing. PMSL In answer to your question: "Can Soaps Survive Without Affairs?" NO! Human nature is compelled to watch as opposed to doing. Soaps can be a means of escape for so many.

I do not watch soaps all that offten, but when i have the best part was who was with who next! Affairs are things that happen in real life all the time and people will gossip about them because it makes them feel better. Maybe watching them on tv also makes them feel better?

In my opinion "no", they couldn't. Affairs, murder, the occult, all of these are contributing aspects of soap operas. Marriage, in my opinion, is not held in the same high regard as in our parents lifetime. I think that a union similiar to a "lease" should be incorporated. You could draw up a lease agreement for a specified number of years and if the two people agree on the time frame then a contract is drawn up. It can incorporate a "pre-nup" along with any other condition the party of two want to include in the contract. At the end of the "lease" if either party decides not to renew the lease then each go their separate ways. But if the party of two decides to re-up, then, of course, everything is renegotiated. I think I just turned your discussion into one of the union of marriage. Sorry.

Without affairs and scanda ls no one would watch soaps. Thats what makes them so fun to watch.