US Daytime Soaps on HD

barbiwil

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As an avid US daytime soap fan (In fact avid soap fan in general) I recently followed up a lead from somebody pointing me in the direction of a store online that was selling just about all the daytime soaps on a hard drive. I was skeptical,,, BUT, now Over the moon! I bought the Days of Our Lives drive which started at 1980 through to now / 2024. It is awesome and it's just about every single episode. Days was treated so badly here in The UK with where and when it was shown, and then stopped, then started again that I had given up hope of ever being able to watch it but that dream has come true. They also have General Hospital, All My Children, Santa Barbara (which will be my next purchase!), Passions, As The World Turns, Bold and the Beautiful, Young and the Restless, Guiding Light, Port Charles and then some which I am not familar with - Search for Tomorrow, Loving and Edge of Night.

My question is what would you recommend from the above list as worth a watch? I know of Bold and Young as did watch them when they were on at different points here in The UK but again gave up as they were stopped, started etc. and just became impossible to watch! Just seems the UK really don't seem to be able to make the US soaps work as far as popularity is concerned which is a shame because even Australia show a lot of them and have done so for years
 

ChrisSumner

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Edge of Night I believe the last 5 years is available. That is an interesting one, but I haven't personally watched much of it. This soap was special for being a daytime version of Perry Mason, so it's focused more on crime stories. Santa Barbara is a fun show, but I do think the quality was up and down. B&B would be a good choice if only because the entire series is available, or close to it. It was very good through about 2005. The problem with B&B is that is can be very repetitive with the focus on love triangles always taking over.

Passions is fun, but I'd watch a couple episodes on YouTube to see if you'd like it first. It's more of a comedy soap and stories can move very slow at time. Port Charles was excellent from 2000 until the end, but the early years I found a bit dull. It's very hospital drama by the numbers.

Guiding Light and ATWT were both big soaps and I'd highly recommend either of those. You really can't go wrong with anything on the list, but they're all so different I'd sample some episodes to see what you like first.
 

Carrie Fairchild

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Edge of Night
Edge of Night I believe the last 5 years is available. That is an interesting one, but I haven't personally watched much of it. This soap was special for being a daytime version of Perry Mason, so it's focused more on crime stories
I’ve been watching 1979-80 era Edge of Night and I love it. I’d definitely recommend it but check it out online first, as it’s not your standard daytime soap. As @ChrisSumner said, the focus is more on crime, with personal lives & romantic entanglements mixed in.
Bold and the Beautiful
There’s an official B&B YouTube channel that has uploaded everything from 1987 to 2020.
 

DallasFanForever

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I would say starting with 1987 B&B would be a great choice. The early years of the show are terrific but once we get into about 1994 or so it does start to feel a little repetitive. As mentioned though almost the entire series is now available.
 

barbiwil

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I’ve been watching 1979-80 era Edge of Night and I love it. I’d definitely recommend it but check it out online first, as it’s not your standard daytime soap. As @ChrisSumner said, the focus is more on crime, with personal lives & romantic entanglements mixed in.

There’s an official B&B YouTube channel that has uploaded everything from 1987 to 2020.
Hi Carrie - do you have a link to the B&B channel you mentioned?
 
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