The Soap Opera

By Laura Onofrio

The term "soap opera" emerged from the melodramatic, larger than life nature of the genre that was allowed to develop as result of the willingness of soap manufacturing company's to sponsor daytime programming that would appeal to the risky, daytime housewife audience. Hobson defines the soap opera as "a radio or television drama in serial form, with a core set of characters and locations, which, through its continuous narrative structure, creates the illusion that life continues in the fictional world even when viewers are not watching. It is based on fictional realism that explores and celebrates the domestic, personal and everyday in all its guises. Through its characters the soap opera must connect with the experience of its audience, and its content must be stories of the ordinary (Hobson: 2003:33)." The soap opera genre has undergone significant changes since its emergence in the 1930s. Over the last 60 years the plotlines and characters have developed and changed in response to the changes occurring in the 'real' world. The soap opera is a reality-based genre that uses plotlines, themes and characterization as devices to reinforce the realism of the genre. Soap operas are designed so that audiences are able to relate to the experiences and emotions of the characters in the soaps. Although the soap opera genre has successfully evolved over its history and has been able to sustain the concept of realism, the essential characteristics of the genre, the importance of family and the emphasis on interpersonal relationships, births, marriages, deaths, good vs. evil, and the cornerstone theme of love and romance, have remained constant through the history of the genre.

Soaps are now such an integral part of TV programming that it is often forgotten that they evolved out of a specific set of cultural and broadcasting circumstances which had a shaping influence on the genre's development (Kilborn: 1992:24). The soap opera has established characters, settings and an unfolding narrative whose plots and storylines continue from one episode to another. Soap operas are a form of serialized dramatic television broadcast daily, usually in the one-hour format, over three television networks - ABC, NBC, CBS - during the afternoon hours. The soap opera has undergone significant changes over the last 50 years. The increased presence of television in more and more household eventually led to the end of radio daytime dramas. Although the structure of daytime dramas continues to be faithful to formula created when this genre was first introduced in the 1930s by the Hummerts and Irna Phillips the content of the genre is always changing as the genre is premised on the fact that the storylines explored in soaps are a reflection of the 'real' world. Therefore, the content has always reflected the ways in which the social and economic conditions surrounding the genre have changed over the years. Hence, it can be said that although the genre sustains its essential elements, the soap opera is a constantly evolving genre that creates and re-creates itself according to the world which it is situated.