Likes & Yikes 2014 - Daytime Soaps Edition

Here is my version of best and worst for 2014 in regards to the four American daytime soaps: "The Bold and the Beautiful", "Days of Our Lives", "General Hospital" and "The Young and the Restless". This is far from a complete list and just how I feel today about daytime soap opera related items. First will be general soap opera thoughts and later I will have items for particular programs.

Yikes: The lack of really great couples. No offense to anyone who ships any current soap couple, but this year most pairings were on fumes. Why is it so hard to create a strong romantic pairing?

Yikes: The baby obsession continues, as there were more dovetailing pregnancies.

Likes/Yikes: Recasts are also difficult, and other than recasts by known actors, the soaps have had an issue with this in 2014. I hope this gets sorted. Y&R had a mixed year with this as with Days. Some of the new performers are great, but others had the characters changed way too much so they are barely recognizable.

The Bold & The Beautiful

Likes: How B&B regrouped since Hope left town. Hope (Kim Matula) has been one of the lead characters on the program for years. Rick and what is going on at the company is a huge story involving his wife Caroline, Ridge, Eric and Maya. It isn't just about a romantic triangle or quad though that is part of the story. B&B did a great job starting a new story and continuing before and after she departed. While the character is still mentioned, it was a good segue. 

Yikes: Hope's departure itself was due to a miscarriage. While it was said that she could have another child in the future, it was the same reason that Steffy left LA.

Likes: How Aly and Oliver are a bit of fun, same with Pam and Charlie. Not all stories need to be serious, some can be fun and romantic.

Yikes: Quinn's obsession with Wyatt's life and the grandchild that was ultimately lost. No offense to Rena Sofer, but the character she plays is stuck in a loop. Please let her find something new to do in 2015.

Days of Our Lives

Likes: The show finally put a kibosh on Jennifer and Daniel. I hope this is the end of them being involved romantically.

Yikes: The hole in the canvas when Eileen Davidson's Kristen left Salem (I said that last year, but it is true again.) Similar holes were created when James Scott's EJ was killed off and Ali Sweeney's Sami left town. The show didn't establish other interesting things to use up the airtime.

Yikes: The long lead time that Days has continues to cause problems. One episode preempted months earlier, still throws off stories. It also creates lame duck situations where we know people are leaving and then they aren't gone.

Likes: That Ciara continues to be snarky and awesome, and teams up with people to get what she wants.

General Hospital

Likes: That not everyone who left Port Charles died, so they won't came back from the dead.

Yikes: Stories that went on too long without a resolution like Luke/Fluke. It still isn't "finished" and there is no end in sight. I wish we had a timeline as to when a new story arc will begin as I just don't care anymore.

Likes: How Billy Miller fit into GH so quickly as Jake, who is Jason with amnesia.

Likes/Yikes: Sonny went to prison for a crime (killing AJ), but in the year he also had crypt sex with Ava. It looks like he's the father of Ava's daughter, and while I appreciate that Morgan isn't saddled with a child at such a young age, the story is messy. This was a situation where Ava had stronger chemistry with the father than the son, but it looks like that pairing is kaput.

The Young & The Restless

Likes: That Devon finally had a story and a love interest in Hilary. I'm not overjoyed about the plot, but it is about time. (Hilary being married to Devon's adoptive father Neil while in love with his son is "classic"soap, though the triangle needs to end.)

Yikes: The story involving Jill's inheritance from Kay was weird, and having Victor get the company was weirder. Please let 2015 be the year that Kay's legacy makes more sense.

Likes: That Y&R has an umbrella story with the taking over of the warehouse district.  It doesn't seem too exciting yet, but I enjoy hearing everyone's opinions about it.

That's my short list of some things I like and didn't like in soaps in 2014. Hopefully 2015 will be a good year for this genre of shows.