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Soap: Gossip Girl, What/If, Pretty Little Liars, Revenge

 

Non-Soap: Orphan Black, Man in the High Castle, Humans, Halt and Catch Fire

Soap: Gossip Girl, What/If, Pretty Little Liars, Revenge

Non-Soap: Orphan Black, Man in the High Castle, Humans, Halt and Catch Fire

But the writing makes them a "soap" - it is hasty, and all about interpersonal relationships, because that's universally appealing and easy to film in simple sets. There is high drama amongst the characters with arcs across many episodes. But not a lot externally - No high-concept stories, no epics, no world-changing story arcs. Johann might spend a season stealing Karen's inheritance, but they'd never spend a season helping the CIA catch Iranian spies.

Soap opera was the (sarcastic) name, since they aired between 11 am and 3 pm, were mainly watched by homemakers (housewives), and so the commercials were homemaking supplies such as soap. As the definition was broadened to include things like Dallas which were not midday daily shows, critics latched on to the term "soap", and it stuck.

But the writing makes them a "soap" - it is hasty, and all about interpersonal relationships, because that's universally appealing and easy to film in simple sets. There is high drama amongst the characters with arcs across many episodes. But not a lot externally - No high-concept stories, no epics, no world-changing story arcs. Johann might spend a season stealing Karen's inheritance, but they'd never spend a season helping the CIA catch Iranian spies.

The prototypical soap opera was a show like General Hospital. These aired for 30 minutes every weekday. They were cheap shows to begin with, and at that tempo, they pretty much had to be done live, or in a live (3-camera) format with very simple editing. They were so cheap they didn't bother filming or videotaping the as-aired episodes. Needless to say, they're not meant to start watching at episode 1; you're expected to join the fun today and then tune in tomorrow. They certainly didn't deal with "big head" stuff like revolution plots or intergalactic wars, because that's too hard to join in the middle. That's what makes House of Cards not a soap.

But the writing makes them a "soap" - it was hasty, and was all about interpersonal relationships, because that's universally appealing and easy to film in simple sets. There is high drama amongst the characters with arcs across many episodes. But not a lot externally - No high-concept stories, no epics, no world-changing story arcs. Johann might spend a season stealing Karen's inheritance, but they'd never spend a season helping the CIA catch Iranian spies.

The prototypical soap opera was a show like General Hospital. These aired for 30 minutes every weekday. They were cheap shows to begin with, and at that tempo, they pretty much had to be done live, or in a live (3-camera) format with very simple editing. They were so cheap they didn't bother filming or videotaping the as-aired episodes. Needless to say, they're not meant to start watching at episode 1; you're expected to join the fun today and then tune in tomorrow, and they're written to encourage that and to "hook you in". For that reason they avoid "big head" stuff like revolution plots or intergalactic wars. That's what makes House of Cards not a soap.

But the writing makes them a "soap" - it is hasty, and all about interpersonal relationships, because that's universally appealing and easy to film in simple sets. There is high drama amongst the characters with arcs across many episodes. But not a lot externally - No high-concept stories, no epics, no world-changing story arcs. Johann might spend a season stealing Karen's inheritance, but they'd never spend a season helping the CIA catch Iranian spies.