TV Line's Lists of Best of Daytime Soaps

TVLine did five recent lists about soaps as a follow-up to what they did with best couples back in 2016. Below are my thoughts.

The more recent lists are for best soap, and then best characters for "The Bold and the Beautiful", "General Hospital", "Days of our Lives", and "The Young and the Restless".

I'm one of those people who don't really do best lists, because sometimes my best and favorite are not the same. So I'm just going to make my opinions on each of the lists provided.

The top 10 soaps listed were:

10. Dark Shadows - ABC
9. The Edge of Night - CBS/ABC
8. Ryan's Hope - ABC
7. Another World - NBC
6. Guiding Light - CBS
5. All My Children - ABC
4. Days of Our Lives - NBC
3. The Young and the Restless - CBS
2. General Hospital - ABC
1. Santa Barbara  - NBC

When reading this list I was surprised by how few CBS shows were included. They got 2.5, ABC got 4.5 and NBC 3...I wonder what shows the editors/writers at TVLine watch(ed) and if they had a network bias. Not that there is any issue I have with that. Since Dark Shadows has been in reruns and then later VHS, DVD, and streaming, one could not have been alive during its run and have viewed it. EON sadly only has a very limited amount of its episodes available though some later years have streamed. Ryan's Hope, the early years were on Soapnet (how I viewed it) and since it aired after VHS became a thing, a lot of the run is available the grey way. Another World was the highest rated for a lot of the 70s, and had a lot of spinoffs. Guiding Light was the only long running soap to have moved from radio to television. All My Children had the first performer to win an Emmy (though from the primetime Emmys) for their work. Days of Our Lives being the supercouple show, first to be on the cover of Newsweek, and still being on the air being listed is understandable. Young and the Restless has been the highest rated show for 30 years, (the last to break in was Days in 1988), General Hospital has the highest rated single episode of a soap. Santa Barbara was the Emmy darling of the late 80s-90 before it fell apart. If you are within a certain age group having it on the list makes perfect sense. I do think 25 years since its death having it as number one is a bit of a surprise.

To me the biggest omission was As the World Turns as that was the highest rated soap for about 20 years, was parodied on The Carol Burnett show, was the first soap to premiere at 30 minutes (though the same day as EON), and had a lot of famous alumni. The next biggest would have been One Life to Live, which never was the number one show for many years, but lasted over 40, and had a cultural impact and controversial stories.

The top 10 Days characters listed were:

10. Alice Horton
9. Ben and Ciara
8. Vivian
7. Steve/Patch
6. John
5. Stefano
4. EJ
3. Sami
2. Bo
1.  Marlena

I was surprised that they included Ben and Ciara together or at all as Ciara was born in the 21st century and Ben is a newer character. Yes I know they are popular, but the show started in 1965. When it comes to the others, only Alice and Marlena appeared in its first two decades, so I think I'd have a list with more Horton characters.

The top 10 General Hospital characters listed were:

10. Alexis
9. Frisco
8. Anna
7. Bobbie
6. Jessie
5. Scotty
4. Sonny
3. Steve
2. Luke
1. Laura

The newest character on this list was Alexis who has been on the show for over 20 years now. The next newest character is Sonny who has been around about 25. Steve and Jessie are original characters, and Scotty was a child character in the 60s, so when it comes to making sure the older years were covered they did well.

The top 10 Young and the Restless characters listed were:

10. Paul
9. Jill
8. Dru
7. Lorie
6. Sheila
5. Neil
4. Jack
3. Nikki
2. Katherine
1. Victor

This list wasn't really surprising and there were no surprising omissions, though I think I would have only had Sheila on the B&B list. Lorie being the sole Brooks character, well I get that also. 

The top 10 Bold and Beautiful characters listed were:

10. Ridge
9. Deacon
8. Maya
7. Amber
6. Sheila
5. Caroline
4. Brooke
3. Bill
2. Sally
1. Stephanie

I was surprised that both Amber and Deacon were on the list due to their most major stories were years ago. Having only three male characters though is noticeable, as only Maya is premiered as a younger character in the last decade.

The Supercouple list from 2016 was listed here:

10. Mason and Julia - Santa Barbara
9. Ridge and Brooke - B&B
8. Angie and Jesse - AMC
7. Bo and Hope - Days
6. Sonny and Brenda - GH
5.  John and Marlena - Days
4. Victor and Nikki - Y&R
3. EJ and Sami - Days
2. Luke and Laura - GH
1. Eden and Cruz - Santa Barbara

Only EJ and Sami were from the 21st century, and Sonny and Brenda are from the 1990s, all the rest were over 20-25 years old when the list was written. Then again perhaps they're of the opinion that most couples these days are no longer written in the super couple style.