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shadowkatHalf-watching the inspidly stupid and incredibly disappointing Gossip Girl, and came up with ways to know how the tv show you are watching is...a SOAP OPERA! The following are all without exception common staples of the soap opera genre...although a few have appeared in shows that aren't soaps from time to time.
1. Every romantic relationship that you become invested in is DOOMED! None of the romantic relationships end well or happily ever after, there is no such thing..unless of course the characters are lucky enough to leave town or are older than 50. And even then, probably not guaranteed.
2. People come back from the dead, usually the villains and the leads, and often without logic. (Creating NEW cool villains seems to be difficult in these things - so they just keep regenerating old villains, and I mean literally regenerate.). With the exception of: Good, pure, nice supporting characters that you adore to pieces and who die tragically to further a lead character's arc (their death turns them evil or good as the case may be)...often stay regrettably dead (because the writers can't figure out what to do with them.)
3. Good characters will turn evil often due to an evil curse, magic, addicition or just indigestion. There doesn't have to be a logical reason - as long as it is shocking. But not to worry, they'll turn good again - and often for the same reasons they turned evil: curse, magic, without logic - and no one will hold them responsible for the crap they did while evil - because hello? That was NOT really them. A nice alternative? The EVIL Twin - where we think the evil twin is the good character turned evil, but in reality it's just their twin separated at birth! OR a look-a-like.
4. There's usually a moralistic message about some big political trend topic of the moment - a whole series of episodes is focused on this message or theme - from abortion to cancer to homosexuality to addiction (addiction is a hot topic). And the show gets all sorts of awards for talking about them. We also have theme episodes: musicals, silent episodes, dream sequences, all based on the emotional conflicts of the characters.
5. Bad characters turn good often due to falling hopelessly in love with one of the really good characters, getting sick of always losing, suddenly getting a cool back story that makes them incredibly complex, or a near death experience or the near death experience of a loved one. Notably, their change in character makes more sense than the good character turned evil.
6. There's sexual violence. The good heroic female character either gets raped or someone attempts to rape her. Then the rapist or would be rapist is redeemed and often will become her one true love or love interest. Sometimes the rapist or would-be rapist is already her boyfriend or spouse, but years later they redeem him and the couple reunite, not to worry though, it won't last - see number #1.
7. A child mystically appears out of nowhere, in their teens, that is connected to the lead character - who didn't know such a child existed. This child is either a sister, brother, or their own kid.
8. If there's a kid in the story - they will disappear for a bit and come back much older, with barely any explanation.
9. There's usually a pregnancy storyline where the heroine has no idea who the Daddy is. It's can be because of a black-out drunken night at a party (this is the usual candidate), being drugged, and many other possibilities (the wildest was by turkey baster).
10. You cannot predict the story because the plot depends on the emotional arcs of the characters and often changes depending on actor availability, casting, and budget - as well as network approval and fan reaction. Spoiler boards are rampant. If a spoiler board, particularly more than one, exists...and the boards get fooled? Soap Opera.
If all 10 of these items appear in your favorite series? You are watching a soap opera.;-0
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - TV Series was in many ways a self-mocking parody/satire of the soap opera genre. It made fun of each of the points listed above and did not take itself or the genre too seriously.
1. Every romantic relationship that you become invested in is DOOMED! None of the romantic relationships end well or happily ever after, there is no such thing..unless of course the characters are lucky enough to leave town or are older than 50. And even then, probably not guaranteed.
2. People come back from the dead, usually the villains and the leads, and often without logic. (Creating NEW cool villains seems to be difficult in these things - so they just keep regenerating old villains, and I mean literally regenerate.). With the exception of: Good, pure, nice supporting characters that you adore to pieces and who die tragically to further a lead character's arc (their death turns them evil or good as the case may be)...often stay regrettably dead (because the writers can't figure out what to do with them.)
3. Good characters will turn evil often due to an evil curse, magic, addicition or just indigestion. There doesn't have to be a logical reason - as long as it is shocking. But not to worry, they'll turn good again - and often for the same reasons they turned evil: curse, magic, without logic - and no one will hold them responsible for the crap they did while evil - because hello? That was NOT really them. A nice alternative? The EVIL Twin - where we think the evil twin is the good character turned evil, but in reality it's just their twin separated at birth! OR a look-a-like.
4. There's usually a moralistic message about some big political trend topic of the moment - a whole series of episodes is focused on this message or theme - from abortion to cancer to homosexuality to addiction (addiction is a hot topic). And the show gets all sorts of awards for talking about them. We also have theme episodes: musicals, silent episodes, dream sequences, all based on the emotional conflicts of the characters.
5. Bad characters turn good often due to falling hopelessly in love with one of the really good characters, getting sick of always losing, suddenly getting a cool back story that makes them incredibly complex, or a near death experience or the near death experience of a loved one. Notably, their change in character makes more sense than the good character turned evil.
6. There's sexual violence. The good heroic female character either gets raped or someone attempts to rape her. Then the rapist or would be rapist is redeemed and often will become her one true love or love interest. Sometimes the rapist or would-be rapist is already her boyfriend or spouse, but years later they redeem him and the couple reunite, not to worry though, it won't last - see number #1.
7. A child mystically appears out of nowhere, in their teens, that is connected to the lead character - who didn't know such a child existed. This child is either a sister, brother, or their own kid.
8. If there's a kid in the story - they will disappear for a bit and come back much older, with barely any explanation.
9. There's usually a pregnancy storyline where the heroine has no idea who the Daddy is. It's can be because of a black-out drunken night at a party (this is the usual candidate), being drugged, and many other possibilities (the wildest was by turkey baster).
10. You cannot predict the story because the plot depends on the emotional arcs of the characters and often changes depending on actor availability, casting, and budget - as well as network approval and fan reaction. Spoiler boards are rampant. If a spoiler board, particularly more than one, exists...and the boards get fooled? Soap Opera.
If all 10 of these items appear in your favorite series? You are watching a soap opera.;-0
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - TV Series was in many ways a self-mocking parody/satire of the soap opera genre. It made fun of each of the points listed above and did not take itself or the genre too seriously.
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 01:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 01:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 01:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 05:05 pm (UTC)I was so spoiled in S6 Buffy, because I kept hoping the writers were better than that. They wouldn't play into these tried and true soap opera cliches. But I can't just blame Buffy, all these shows do. You'd think somebody would get a clue.
*former rogue falls for good girl, she breaks up with him or makes him jealous or sends mixed singles - he gets drunk and forces himself on her, is devastated by the fact he did it, goes off to change himself...comes back redeemed [OR] he reverts to his evil ways and they throw him off a cliff.
* sweetie dies from a bullet or gets raped or
something horrible happens to the protagonists sweetheart. Protagonist becomes obsessed with Revenge and goes on a rampage.
* Girl or Boy gets stood up at the altar, and decides to go all nasty and vengeful. (Actually they usually just mope and get vengeance by sleeping with someone else.)
no subject
Date: 2012-01-20 02:30 am (UTC)Buffy had lots of soap opera tropes from day 1. Getting worked up about season 6 having soap opera tropes when all the previous seasons had them as well seems a bit silly to me.
And soap opera basically just means an episodic serial drama with a focus on relationships. Shocking twists and emotional and moral conflicts are another trait. One would find it hard to find a show that has no traits of soap. I've heard Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Oz, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Battlestar Galactica called "soaps" and not always in a derogatory sense. Though Deep Space Nine is usually called a "soap" as a deliberate insult by some Trek fans, usually fans of The Next Generation or Voyager or maybe the Original Series, which is very funny because those shows have lots of soap opera traits and storylines, they just lack the genuine ongoing arc and don't develop character and relationships as well as DS9 did.
Generally, people using "soap opera" to insult a show and its fandom is one of the things that makes me roll eyes. What it really boils down to is "LOLZ it's girly stuff and that makes it stupid and eeky". Kind of like when people insult "shippers".
no subject
Date: 2012-01-20 01:18 pm (UTC)The cliches don't always work though. That's why they are called cliches - and we roll our eyes at them. ;-)
I liked S6. But those three plot lines were predictably dumb and overused soap opera tropes. I'd hoped they'd do something else.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 01:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 05:10 pm (UTC)To be fair, procedurals and episodic dramas are just as cliche and predictable, with tried and true story patterns that never change.
*The bantering detectives with "UST" that don't get together until near the very end.
* The lead characters are often in peril, kidnapped, target of a serial killer, wrongfully accused of a crime they didn't comit, shot, knifed, but turn out to be perfectly fine at either the end of the second episode or the next season.
*None of the lead characters die or change
*Each mystery is neatly wrapped at the end of one or two episodes.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 05:32 pm (UTC)Will give soap opera writers credit for being more imaginative and less formulaic writers than procedurals. One begins to wonder after a while if they were all given the same template or boilerplate script - with the statement: This is how you write a procedural, please do not write or color outside of the lines.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-20 02:34 am (UTC)*Well, not all procedurals - the UK ones are not so predictable - but the US ones totally are. That's why people love to tune in every week, they always know what they're getting and there's no risk involved.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-20 05:09 pm (UTC)US procedurals tend to be well...like Murder She Wrote. Plot driven, with some name B-list guest star as the killer. The characters are more or less the same each week and the stories interchangable. Watch one episode? You've seen them all.
There are few more character driven US procedurals in recent years: Burn Notice, House, The Closer, but even those after a bit...begin to recycle.
TV shows per average have about a 5 year life span. Go beyond that? The original writers either cycle out or the show starts to get tired. The exceptions are series like Grey's Anatomy or Law & Order...where you can switch lead characters out and bring in new ones. But it's rare that it works.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 01:19 pm (UTC)So was Sopranoes and Six Feet Under for that matter.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 03:06 pm (UTC)11. The whole idea is to jerk the audience around emotionally.
Which was often the case with Buffy.
Commentary
1. Despite fervent protestations of undying love, all romantic attachments are fluid in SO. The audience sometimes can rant enough in some cases to make some couples go back together. But it never lasts.
2. Oh, yeah. Death often lasts only as long as the contract for the actress/actor to be somewhere else. Bit parts often get played by different people over time. So if they come back from the dead it's amazing everyone recognizes them.
7. If this generally isn't a problem for you then "jumping the shark" really should never be an issue for you. It always will be for me. I accepted Dawn as a character, but the ending of Season 5, will always ring false for me, because of the way she was introduced.
8. It's amazing to me that an eight-year-old girl can leave for 2 years and come back 19, and start competing with mom for boyfriends. I cannot express just how idiotic the Connor-Cordelia story was for me. Bad as that was, the sight of Angel standing out in the rain, moping while watching them go at it was enough for me to swear off the show.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-19 05:28 pm (UTC)Oh yes. That's what propells ratings after all. And the jerking around must happen during Sweeps! (No accident Surprise/Innocence took place during February Sweeps!) The audience is masochistic, we must feed their masochism...or they will wander off.
The audience sometimes can rant enough in some cases to make some couples go back together. But it never lasts.
It can't. No conflict. All the conflict comes from emotional pain. If the characters are happy romantically...there's no romantic angst or UST. No friction. We must have ANGST! Will they or won't they kiss? Will they or won't they get back together?
Death often lasts only as long as the contract for the actress/actor to be somewhere else. Bit parts often get played by different people over time. So if they come back from the dead it's amazing everyone recognizes them.
Except in the case of boring nice characters that the writers can't figure out what to do with. They get to stay dead regardless of the actor's schedule.
If they come back from the dead and someone else plays them? Hey, that's what plastic surgery is for!
Regarding #7? Depends on how it is done. Connor didn't bug me too much - because of the metaphor. Dawn worked for me - because of the metaphors. But
the fact that her mystical beginnings weren't expanded upon or explored or even really investigated from a mythological and a plot context after S5 always annoyed me. Made her introduction more "soap operaish" than "sci-fantasy".
It's amazing to me that an eight-year-old girl can leave for 2 years and come back 19, and start competing with mom for boyfriends.
One of my pet peeves in Soaps. The moment they do it,
I find that I begin to lose interest.
I cannot express just how idiotic the Connor-Cordelia story was for me. Bad as that was, the sight of Angel standing out in the rain, moping while watching them go at it was enough for me to swear off the show.
Actually the Angel mope bit saved that scene for me.
It was just too hilarious. He has a hissy fit off stage in the stairwell. LOL! Angel was at his most adorable when had hissy fits.
Otherwise...yes, Connor coming back and hooking with Cordy, while Dad watches or catches them in the act...is an excellent example of a tried and true soap opera cliche. I've lost count of the number of times...you have a kid, rapidly grow up, come back from Summer Camp/Boarding School a 19 year old, and hook up with Mom or Dad's new sweetie/spouse.