Five Reasons Not to Give Up on Soap Operas Yet

It's been a grim decade for daytime dramas; formerly a cash cow for television, this once mighty medium has suffered crippling ratings declines and the loss of historic shows in rapid succession ("Guiding Light" "As The World Turns"). While the days of Luke and Laura gracing the covers may be long gone and Emmy night no longer elicits suspense over whether or not Susan Lucci will finally get the gold, soaps still have rabid fans and inspire fierce devotion among viewers.

There's still a lot of life left in soaps; here are five reasons not to give up on soaps just yet.

1. SoapNet - While regular viewers of the cable channel may decry this, there are some bright spots on this network. Conceived as "daytime at nighttime," SoapNet reruns same day episodes of soaps at night along with weekend marathons. This option comes in handy for those days your DVR swallows your recordings (I hate to admit how many times this has happened to me). Additionally, since the channel's debut in 1999, it has rerun episodes of the classic drama, "Ryan's Hope." While SoapNet has strayed from its original vision by cramming its weekend schedule with cheesy movies not even Lifetime would deign to show and slashing the marathons, it's not all dismal. It has premiered critically acclaimed original series and I confess to watching an old episode or two of "Beverly Hills, 90210" on occasion, as well as getting my daily "Ryan's Hope" fix.

2. The characters - In this age of police procedurals and five million CSI's, character development on primetime shows leaves a little something to be desired. With reality shows, you're never really sure what's real, editing and "camera balls," so you have to take the characterizations with a grain of salt. Soaps allow you to spend every day with your favorite character and over time, they become like old friends you enjoy spending time with. Can't get that from a corpse.

3. The acting - Soaps are notorious for being one of the most difficult genres to master. Actors are required to memorize hundreds of pages of dialogue, with minimal rehearsal time and no such thing as a summer hiatus. While it's true soaps (like any TV show, movie or Broadway play) do have green actors, daytime is populated with some of the most brilliant performers around. There's a reason actors like Anthony Geary, Michael E. Knight, Eric Braeden, Susan Flannery, Robin Strasser are revered beyond the soap industry; it's because they're talented and powerful performers who respect the medium.

4. The stories - While soaps do have a reputation for outlandish plots and overdoing it with creative license at times, the bottom line is daytime TV has some of the most riveting drama around. Top-rated "The Young and the Restless," has kept viewers hooked with the tale of the Sharon/Ashley baby switch; "General Hospital" is in the midst of an enthralling story about teen violence and formerly on the brink "Days of Our Lives" has rejuvenated itself with baby-nappings, and the bust-up of one of its holdover 80's supercouples, Bo and Hope. No doubt about it, soaps still know how deliver drama.

5. The romance - Speaking of supercouples, romance is the hallmark of soaps. We long for our favorite couples to find happily ever after and get excited when we notice a spark between two established characters or learn two old favorites will be back on the canvas. Though we may not have Frisco and Felicia, John and Marlena or Josh and Reva anymore, soaps still know how to create couples with rooting value (Nick and Phyllis, Rafe and Sami and even popular gay couple, Luke and Noah.)