Daytime TV's 10 Best Soap Operas Of All Time, Ranked
all-my-children susan lucci
5. All My Children
The Vietnam War. Abortion. AIDS. There was no topic that, at its best, Agnes Nixon's trailblazing Pine Valley-set soap wasn't brave enough to tackle. And along with its teachable moments, it delivered bold characters (like yin-yang twins Adam and Stuart Chandler, Tad the Cad and the indomitable Erica Kane) and swoon-worthy romances (including those of daytime's first African-American supercouple, Angie and Jesse, and its first lesbian supercouple, Bianca and Maggie). Damn it, now we're pissed off all over again that ABC cancelled the show to spit out (ugh) The Chew.
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8. Ryan's Hope
It wasn't just the New York City backdrop of Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer's acclaimed 1975-89 soap that was real, it was the whole feel of the show, too. Instead of battle weather machines and demonic possession, the duo had the Roman-Catholic Ryan family and their friends deal with real issues (like son Pat's interfaith-dating difficulties) with real consequences (like daughter-in-law Delia's banishment anytime her desperate plotting was revealed). And since the goings-on were so grounded, our reaction to plots like Siobhan Ryan almost going there with her brother-in-law weren't just real, too, they were real intense.
Dark Shadows jonathan frid
10. Dark Shadows
ABC nearly drove a stake into the heart of its gothic serial after less than a year in the late 1960s. But once creator Dan Curtis flipped the lid on a coffin containing vampire Barnabas Collins, the show not only was raised from the (almost) dead, it became a pop-culture phenomenon that sparked companion novels, comic books and two movies. Even decades after its eventual cancellation, its fang base remained so ardent that it was rebooted in primetime, turned into a godawful Tim Burton comedy and paid homage by General Hospital spinoff Port Charles.
santa barbara a martinez marcy walker
1. Santa Barbara
We'll grant you that once in a while backstage drama at the NBC soap threatened to overshadow the on-screen goings-on. (For instance, four years in, creators Jerome and Bridget Dobson were locked out of their own show and replaced.) Nevertheless, what made it to air was brilliant, a magical mix of audaciousness (poor Mary Duvall, felled by a giant letter C), smarts (Patrick Mulcahey's legendary scripts for Pamela Capwell's dinner with her estranged family) and romance (Cruz and Eden... 'nough said) that daytime has yet to match.
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9. The Edge of Night
Don't you dare write off this 1956-84 sudser as merely the show that gave us, for better or worse, Lori Loughlin. Originally pitched as a daytime version of Perry Mason, the Monticello-set crime drama wound up being more like a pre-Law & Order Law & Order with love triangles and stalwart attorney Mike Karr standing in for Mason. And, especially during Henry Slesar's long run as as headwriter, the show was so killer (pun intended) that it was no wonder ABC picked it up when CBS dropped it after almost two decades to expand As the World Turns to an hour.
another-world george reinholt victoria wyndham
7. Another World
Three years after its rocky start in 1964, Irna Phillips and William J. Bell's baby hit a major growth spurt, thanks to subsequent headwriters Agnes Nixon, who introduced Erica Kane prototype Rachel Davis and thrust her into a wildly successful love triangle, and Harding Lemay, who redeemed the vixen through her romance with Mac Cory. Along the way, the show became such a runaway hit that it spawned two spinoffs (three if you count Lovers and Friends) and, briefly, was expanded to 90 minutes a day.
days-of-our-lives william hayes susan seaforth hayes
4. Days of Our Lives
NBC's lone remaining soap turned a lot of heads with late headwriter James E. Reilly's over-the-top plots. (During his tenure, you'll recall, Marlena Evans was possessed, and Carly Manning, buried alive.) But Salem has more so remained a hot spot for decades thanks to its dynamic duos. Since the show all but invented the supercouple when it paired Doug and Julie Williams in the 1970s, it's made one successful match (Bo and Hope) after another (John and Marlena) after another (EJ and Sami). The soap is so good at it, in fact, it's convinced us that the reformed Necktie Killer is Ciara Brady's Mr. Right!
general-hospital anthony geary genie francis
2. General Hospital
Over the course of its 56 years (and counting!), the Port Charles-set soap has shifted its focus somewhat from doctors and nurses to mobsters and molls. But it still boasts one of the strongest casts in daytime — or anytime, for that matter! And it retains some of the luster of its Golden Age, which began with the pairing of young lovers Laura and Scotty in the late 1970s, peaked with the wedding of Luke and Laura (the highest-rated episode in soap history) and continued into the '90s with the mega-popular Sonny/Brenda/Jax triangle.
the young and the restless mishael morgan bryton james
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6. Guiding Light
OK, it's true that the longest-running soap in American TV history once cloned "the slut of Springfield," Reva Shayne, sent her back in time (through a painting, no less) and made her both the princess of a fictional country and an Amish amnesiac. But for the most part, Irna Phillips' beloved daytime drama was blessedly real. Stories like Roger Thorpe's rape of wife Holly, Maureen Bauer's death and, in later years, Jonathan Randall's taboo romance with cousin Tammy Winslow kept the show down-to-earth even as the stakes rose to towering heights.