Why Soap Operas Were So Insane In the 80s and 90s (More Crazy Storylines Included)

Soap operas in the '80s and '90s were absolutely insane, and I gave some examples of all that craziness in a recent video. From cloning to underground cities and even demonic possession, the soap world went all out. But as many of you pointed out in the comments, there was so much more madness that I didn’t cover, which means... follow-up time!
Hey, I’m Natalie, and welcome to my channel, My So-Called Gen X Life. Today, in honor of our beloved moms, aunts, grandmas, and babysitters in the 80s who couldn't get enough of these stories… we’re diving into even more insane soap opera storylines from the golden age of soaps.
We’ll also take a look back at some soap backstory from that era, and I’ll tell you where you can stream some of these legendary shows if you're up for a rewatch.
One Life to Live
Viki in Heaven (1987)
• One Life To Live Viki ...
Days of Our Lives
Carly Buried Alive (1993)
• Carly Buried Alive
General Hospital
Prometheus Disk (1981)
• GH Prometheus Disk 1
One Life to Live
Buchanan City 1888 (1988)
• Buchanan City 1888 (Pa...

[@PancakeFatty]

Hyped for part 3! Hi,from Australia.

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Thank you so much!!!

[@bretalleman9352]

@@mysocalledgenxlife hi could u please show when days of our lives had the knifer and kayla going deaf thank you

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

@@bretalleman9352 already did Kayla going deaf. The knifer? I’ll have to look into that.

[@mistyharris7463]

Can you imagine these weren't every week, but 5 days a week?! I don't know how the actors did it.

[@seanm6215]

And some actors have been on their shows for 40+ years with big storyline almost every year.

[@flazada]

@@mistyharris7463 I heard they were paid in 🥜 too

[@Not_Always]

@@flazada They started at $500 an episode, going all the way up to $5000 depending on their popularity. Considering soaps were every day, that can be some serious cash. I wouldn't call that peanuts.

[@Not_Always]

Not every actor was in every episode.

[@SuperMarioBrosIII]

@@Not_Always The actors only had 2 weeks off per year when they were on the Soaps! Sad but true due to the continuous work schedule. Actors could take a day or two off at a time LOL! They wouldn't take it all at once!🤔🧐🤯📆

[@doodlekaboodel]

I am soooo glad this came up on my feed! Hearing about soaps is like a warm cup of cocoa on a winter's day for me. lmao

[@nikhollywoodg7901]

I was OBSESSED with the AMC Janet storyline!! lol, I was captivated that summer 😂❤

[@Jessie-w5f]

And her twin evil sister Natalie who kidnapped her and threw her down a well. Then Travis wound up falling in love with her after! God I lived for AMC! 😂

[@6ftsweet]

Janet was the evil, crazy one! ​@@Jessie-w5f

[@jenniferwellman5311]

Oh yes, Janet from another planet. Lol who could forget Janet? L O L😂

[@blacksnakeproductions5875]

ALL THAT SUMMER!

[@MoonStruckBunnyIRL]

I know Y&R didn't do sci-fi alot but having Michael Baldwin stalk, assault, and try to murder Cricket, to only turn around and open a law practice together is extremely Soapy, him and Paul becoming good friends was just the cherry on top.

[@Shanny417]

Don't forget Jack raping Kayla on Days and now they are inlaws

[@RoseRose-hp4rq]

Remember when John Kimball got plastic surgery to make himself look different and then started dating Nina’s mom? I remember that vaguely from my childhood.

[@windwest4D]

The Natalie and Janet storyline was one of the best in All My Children.

[@rlfolder5437]

3:35 soooo white, this soap world.

[@SailorVision]

Dark Shadows had the craziest storylines. Every single episode of Passions was crazy

[@SaltySweetCaroline1]

I was too young to catch Dark Shadows in it's original run, but I vaguely recall Barnabas halloween costumes when I was a kid. 😆 I have recently binged the series on Tubi, and it was really fun! It's clear Passions was trying to resurrect the gotic horror soap thing, but their stuff came off more camp to me. The thing about DS which set it apart, was that it was like watching a theater play, and they taped live, not stopping when someone messed up their lines . It's incredible that this weird soap was saved in it's entirety, yet there's no other soaps storyline on streaming now.

[@SageWhite-Rose]

YES! Dark Shadows next please.

[@euodiaclitterhouse4726]

That show is a pillar of my personality

[@MikeStoneJapan]

The main thing I remember about DS was that the intro freaked me tf out. Every single time

[@scripturalcontexts]

Passions was probably the greatest soap opera ever made.

[@Judah98]

The Natalie and Janet storyline was awesome 👍🏾

[@SuperMarioBrosIII]

@Judah98 Yes I have the AMC DVD box set best of the 90's 30 DVD set!💽🤗📦👍

[@paulvoorhies8821]

I liked it.

[@paulvoorhies8821]

Even my father loved the KILLER plastic surgery reveal!

[@cdhill17]

Janet from another planet.

[@amytheshihtzumom]

@@SuperMarioBrosIIII didn't know they were out on DVD's. I may have to watch that if that's available. Wow, 30 DVD's!

[@kitkatt24]

I remember a crazy story on One Life to Live there was this character named Todd. The original actor left the show, and a new guy came in and told everyone he was Todd. He had all of Todd's memories, so no one really questioned his claim. He truly believed he was Todd and lived Todd's life. He raised his kids, remarried his wife and even ran his newspaper for eight years. Then towards the end of the shows run the old actor came back and claimed to be the real Todd. Turns out, the new guy was Todd's twin brother named Victor and was kept a secret from everyone by his mother. He was brainwashed into believing he was Todd by their mother for I believe money reasons. She gave his plastic surgery so that the people that were after him wouldn't recognize him. The real Todd was in some bunker getting tortured until he escaped. I remember this one scene where the real Todd dressed up as Spider-Man and kidnapped one of the kids. Then the mother somehow brainwashed the real Todd into killing Victor.

[@fashiondiva6972]

I’d love to hear more about Another World, Santa Barbara (I was an NBC soaps girl) and one no one ever mentions that was groundbreaking, for me and generally-Generations🤷🏾‍♀️ It was the first predominantly Black cast on daytime TV then or to date. While it was only a 30 min show, it was one I’ll always remember❤️

[@battlegirldeb]

Yes, the Santa Barbara Christmas shows alone are priceless.

[@hollyh314]

I loooooved Another World. Anne Heche's character Vicky was my fave!!!

[@lananieves4595]

On GL, Holly was secretly The Nursery Rhyme Stalker and started collecting all the kids from Springfield who were being neglected by their oversexed parents. And then, after she was in a mental ward for a little while, people were all, "I miss Holly. This town just ain't the same without that woman who kidnapped our kids and kept them in a basement." She was, of course, accepted back with open arms.

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Omg. This one’s going on the list for part 3.

[@daniellemaroney2931]

And now she's back on the canvas in 2024❤

[@heatherspears1985]

Yes! Vivian burying Carly alive! One of the highlights of my childhood. Little 8 year old me couldn't get enough of. It, along with Marlena's possession, are what I most point to when calling out the insanity in soaps..

[@cocoaorange1]

Vivian was a cruel hot mess! I am glad Carly survived.

[@heatherspears1985]

@cocoaorange1 Yeah, Vivian was evil, but I loved watching her scheme with Ivan anyway. They were a great pair.

[@missliss312a]

Same, except I was 7.

[@hollyh314]

I sooo remember this!! I could not get enough of it LOL!!

[@drewzuhosky6826]

_The Simpsons_ had a *GREAT* parody of soap operas. The subplot of _Bart's Dog Gets an F_ (1991) features Lisa out sick from school with the mumps and as Marge is teaching her to sew a quilt, they watch a soap opera together. Marge says she doesn't watch everyday (only watching that day because Brandy would be emerging from a coma.) After a couple decide to get intimate, they're interrupted by a priest who was thought dead _(he was!)_ Said priest only shows up for that _one_ line.

[@amandaredd3057]

It blows my mind the horrid acts soap characters forgive eachother for. For instance, in the early 2000s, on The Bold And The Beautiful, they had mom Brooke carry on an affair with her son in law then birthing his progeny. Her beloved daughter finds out as dear ole mom goes into labor. She MAD (as one would be) but a week later all is forgiven. I mean WTF?! Yikes and gadzooks!

[@nujeru99]

That's the fun of it for me. You get to suspend disbelief and move on to the next storylines! Soaps would be boring if they went by real-life morality standards lol

[@alexandrakimbink3198]

I think the Luke and Laura story on GH is worse. Luke raped Laura in the late 70s and still they were made a couple later. 🤮

[@MoonStruckBunnyIRL]

And this was AFTER she had listened to her daughter loosing her virginity to him. That phone scene lives in my head.

[@avsfan73]

Well this is why they are soaps but what I don’t get is the whole Luke and Laura phenomenon. He raped Laura how they ever got away with that I don’t know. Look Tony great guy but Luke outright raping Laura and then marring him and having 2 kids is sick. The whole having an affair with your sister or daughter’s husband is scandalous but that’s what soaps are but rape is not scandalous it’s a crime

[@katierowen3166]

How about on Young and the Restless where Michael tries to rape Cricket, Scott shoots Michael to save Cricket and then years later Cricket, Scott, Michael and Abigail (? not 100% sure) are happily having dinner together!!

[@kristalrose29]

OMG I was crazy about Days and GH back in the 80’s and 90’s!! I programmed our family VCR to record Days and watched it in a big binge over the weekends. Remember when John DeLance (Q from Star Trek TNG) played Eugene? And Sami Jo stole her own baby sister, Marlena’s baby? And oh! I had forgotten about Holly on GH! My favorite “Super Couple” was Frisco & Felicia. I had their wedding cover from Soap Opera Digest up in my room like a poster. He was a rock star turned cop, she was some sort of Spanish Princess??

[@seantaylor424]

It sounds like soap operas are sometimes like comic books, only with characters you wouldn't expect to be dealing with mad scientists and government agencies. As a life-long superhero fan, this intrigues me and it sounds like I might get a kick out of General Hospital...A sentence I never thought I would type until now. Thank you for opening my eyes and including the streaming info!

[@srichardf]

Y&R had other crazy storylines despite having more reality focused storylines. There was the original Shelia storyline of her switching babies. The storyline where Brad Carlton's crazy ex locked him in a cage. The Katherine Chancellor/Marge storyline. The Matt Clark storyline.

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Oh those are good ones! Y&R clips are the hardest to find, but I will definitely see what I can do for part 3.

[@SailorVision]

I remember during the David storyline in Y&R, David was faking being in a coma. Jill and Catherine visit him, but do not believe he’s really in a coma. So, Jill reaches under the blanket and squeezes his, um, family jewels. The whole time, we hear David’s thoughts and he starts screaming in his mind. It was hilarious.

[@lyrialzander]

Natalie vs Janet was peak Soap Opera. All My Children was my Mom's favorite. Also the first place I saw Sarah Michelle Geller as Kendall Hart. Erica's adopted teen pregnancy, who came back to seduce her husband and stab him.

[@jacobj297]

As one naturally does when you find your biological mother.

[@pika23]

Omg janet from another planet!!!

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Oh yes…she will be making another appearance in part 3. 😊

[@mikealan1984]

They treated Amanda horrible because her mom was Janet smh

[@pika23]

My poor husband is so psyched for the return of the wall my children tv movies on lifetime! He's like....I hope the resurrect Ray Gardener! He remembers him from when his mom would watch as a kid, and his antics were so laughably villainous.

[@pika23]

Ok I remember the Joe Reilly thing with Vicky! My mom mom and mom were fan girling over Joe Reilly coming back.

[@pika23]

Oh crap Vicki and Nicki! How could I have forgotten😢!😅

[@keeganthorpe]

I was a usual CBS soap fan but the AMC story of Natalie and Janet got me switch over for a while. Guiding Light is still my favorite soap ever and I remember the Brent/Marion storyline. I hated that Brent killed Nadine.

[@cocoaorange1]

The cross dressing killer sl was a trip! I am surprised he did not win an Emmy!

[@missjoshemmett]

So glad you mentioned Vicki's many personalities. She was one reason I kept watching the soap. Her acting was superb. Erica is the daughter of Tony Award Winner Walter Slezak who made many movies, stage plays and TV shows. If you had been able to watch the acting she did for the many personalities, you would have been fascinated by her memorable acting.

[@1977TA]

Wow I forgot how crazy soaps were back in the day! My mom was a huge fan of All My Children and One Life to Live. The storylines were so over the top you couldn't help but keep coming back every day to see how the current storyline would play out. I learned so much about story writing from watching soaps. The concept of the evil twin and so much more. Speaking of twins, there was an All My Children storyline I remember from the early1990s that I really enjoyed. Tad Martin and Dixie were dating at the time when a guy name Clyde kidnapped Dixie and heled her hostage. Tad came to the rescue, the details are sketchy but I think he chased Clyde onto a bridge that was wired with explosives. The explosion sent Tad and Clyde falling into the river below where the current carried them away. Clyde's body was recovered. Tad was presumed dead even though his body was not found. Distraught Dixie got into a relationship with Tad's twin Ted. Several weeks later it was revealed that Tad survived the fall from the bridge but suffered memory loss. I believe he was taken in by a random character who nursed him back to health. He returned to Pine Valley and started a new life but then his memory came back. Eventually he was able to get Dixie from Ted and marry her. If I'm wrong about any of the details its because this was like 30 years ago. Tad Martin was my favorite All My Children character. He was played by actor Michael E. Knight who ended up marrying David Hasselhoff's ex-wife Catherine Hickland. Ironically Hasselhoff played a character named Michael Knight in the 1980s tv show Knight Rider.

[@heartsstillbeating1110]

Your last soap video brought me to your channel, & this one (as well as your other, fun, nostalgia-provoking vids) are what's keeping me here.😊 I hope you make more soap videos!

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Oh thank you so much! There will definitely be more soap videos coming. And other 80s/90s topics, too. I have big plans! 😊

[@heartsstillbeating1110]

🎉❤😊 ​@@mysocalledgenxlife

[@maryroberts2099]

I’ve watched Days since 1976. The 80s was definitely the best

[@iamcasihart]

Ohhh, you did it! You included the Carly buried alive storyline!!! I’m sorry that I’m 3 days late, good Gen X sis. I’m going to turn on notifications! ❤

[@travismiddleton8218]

Damn these storylines sound wild! Soap operas in the 80s and 90s were built different.

[@havok6280]

I was shocked that the buried alive story from Days didn't make the first video. Vivian put an intercom in the coffin to taunt Carly. That's hilarious...😂

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Yeah, I was so focused on Marlena and had so many Days stories in the video, I cut it. But it made a great anchor for the follow up!

[@KevinPayton-fq8gd]

I was watching AMC long before the Natalie/Janet storyline but that's one of the best the show ever had. It also introduced the character of Dimitri Marick.

[@cozyrobot]

I'm so looking forward to your upcoming Passions video. I used to watch it every day after school!

[@ahem....bullsheet3720]

Same passions was my favorite and there's so much material to talk about.

[@citizennancy]

I still remember the ABC soap Loving when it went off the air with a serial killer offing most of the town!

[@amyadams656]

My very first Soap Opera memory ever was Katherine's facelift on Y&R. Freaked me out. I was, after all, 4 years old. But I was hooked, and watched soaps up until ATWT and GL went off the air.

[@janleonard3101]

I was about the same age when my sister and I started watching AMC with our mom. I think she got tired of sending us back to our rooms and missing her soap, lol. The earliest thing I remember was being fascinated by the mean way Erica treated her mother Mona. I would never! We grew up watching mostly the ABC soaps, but also Days for a while in the Patch and Kayla years. I used to know everyone's soaps and remember some girls in college scheduling their classes around their soaps.

[@amyadams656]

@@janleonard3101 I grew up in a CBS household, but I started watching Days around that same time. Jack and Jennifer are one of my absolute favorite couples ever

[@gmanandhislady]

I literally only watch GH now for Maura West. I grew up on only the CBS soaps, and ATWT and GL were our favorites!

[@janleonard3101]

@@amyadams656 I remember Jack and Jennifer! Good times. ☺

[@amyadams656]

@@gmanandhislady I'm assuming she's as good on GH as she was on ATWT. I mentioned above that Jack and Jennifer were one of my favorite couples, but they are second only to Jack and Carly from World Turns.

[@rikkiwear853]

There was a funny storyline on Days where Marlena's patient Stella threw her down a pit. It was around Thanksgiving and Stella tossed a turkey down the pit to her. 😂

[@SaltySweetCaroline1]

I loved the pit storyline, it led to John & Marlena's affair. Absolutely must see tv back in the early 90s.

[@Veelasiren]

I remember seeing a show featuring bloopers from different tv shows, and they included soap operas. That scene with the turkey had to be reshot because that turkey bouncing around set the actresses off in fits of giggles. There was another blooper after Marlena was rescued and Stella was fatally injured where Marlena dramatically flings herself at Stella screaming that she CAN'T die! She hasn't given Marlena the turkey recipe!!!

[@amytheshihtzumom]

@@SaltySweetCaroline1I wonder which came first AMC Natalie in the well or this? Maybe it was the summer every soap threw someone in a pit/well. LOL

[@SaltySweetCaroline1]

@amytheshihtzumom Good question, and even though I had stopped watching AMC by then (stopped in HS after Jenny got killed on a jetski) my neighbor watched it faithfully, and i do remember her talking about Natalie in a well!

[@SaltySweetCaroline1]

@Veelasiren I saw that! Deidre and the lady who played Stella got on really well and became lifelong friends after she left the show.

[@kwest5171]

Vivian was truly diabolical. I remember watching those episodes in the 80s and damn if it still doesn't make me hyperventilate.

[@boone3477]

Oh my goodness! Janet from another planet. God I loved All My Children. Thank you for waking up this amazing reminder of childhood. 😂

[@Kassie637]

I was 12 years old when I found my mother in front of the TV so distressed. I asked what was wrong. She was watching Days of Our Lives, and she explained how this lady was buried alive and was being taunted by Vivian who had her buried. I sat and watched that episode with her and never looked back. I was a Days fan well into the 2000s and lost touch when I eventually went to college.

[@missladyanonymity]

I maybe started getting into days when belle black, chloe...and the teens were on.

[@petedunne_2544]

I started watching Days at Jack and Jennifer's wedding..and petered out around 2000ish..

[@acsaudiodramas]

I really liked how you blended in the suggestions in the comments. That was a nice touch

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Thank you! 😊 there were a few I didn’t remember, so I wanted to give credit to those who suggested them.

[@iamcasihart]

I may be a rare bird, but I actually loved Robert Kelker-Kelly as Bo Brady! He had this alluring essence and he was so gorgeous.

[@naturistfred]

He was the best recast of a huge fan favorite.

[@gabeybabyful]

You’re not alone. I loved Robert Kellker Kelly too! Not gonna lie, when Peter Reckell reprised the role, I was a lil disappointed. ☹️

[@iamcasihart]

@@gabeybabyful Same here. I like Peter just fine, but he lacked range and the kind of sensual, dreamy, quiet charisma that made his Bo Brady so much more intriguing, fun, and sexy.

[@iamcasihart]

@@naturistfred He really was one of the best recasts I’ve seen, too.

[@dawggirl]

Too bad he was a child predator.

[@lynseybowe8693]

I used to love watching these on sick days in the 90s and 2000s. The storylines were so cheesy but entertaining.

[@m.a.4838]

My mom used to watch Passions and it always scared me a little. But she was and still is way more into Days of our lives. I remember the plot line about Marlena being a serial killer and how crazy Days gets at times.

[@Not_Always]

I was starting my last year of middle school when Passions aired. Even back then we all knew how stupid and poorly acted that soap was. I watch old episodes just to shout how dumb everyone is.

[@acsaudiodramas]

Those shows could compete with the wildest telenovelas and were still crazier! I would have loved them! Sad that I didn't grow up with this kind of shows. We had our own national soaps that were rather grounded in reality which were boring for me as a kid. Instead I made up my own crazy soaps with doppel gangers, time travel and people coming back from the death to forgive their murderers.

[@mikealan1984]

The amc and oltl baby switch storyline was soooooo good It was the first time I saw to soaps cross over

[@sammireyoung]

Wow. Thanks for the childhood reminders of how insane soaps actually are despite how they pretend to be "normal." Whatever that is. Looking forward to the Passions retrospective, but surely you MUST do Port Charles next. Vampires Ghosts Witches and Angels causing insanity by falling in forbidden love affairs with Humans. Its a supernatural spin off of General Hospital that was relatively short lived. Only early to mid 2000s i believe that began around the same time as Passions but only half the life span sadly. I came across it by accident at the time. PLEASE consider this next. Would love to hear your thoughts on it as the next wackiest soap 2nd only to Passions supernatural insanity. 🙏

[@aaronlumberger4318]

"Janet from another planet" & "Uncle Pork chop" eventually married

[@KevinPayton-fq8gd]

They did. Robin Mattson, best known for portraying Heather Webber on GH, took over the role of Janet. Janet had gotten plastic surgery and changed her ways.

[@laalaag2auntyayag776]

I was born the day Luke and Laura got married. I grew up hearing how my mother refused to miss it, and would grit her teeth through the contractions . Then the Soap network aired a 30th anniversary special for it on November 16th 2011, so i OF COURSE had to watch it!

[@christopherfeeney1962]

But, something I never got ... Didn't Luke actually r*pe Laura at the disco? WHY would she ever marry him?!

[@maryroberts2099]

My high school recorded Luke and Laura’s wedding and had scheduled showings. They didn’t want students calling in sick just to watch it

[@Not_Always]

🤣🤣

[@Petsura]

😂 Reminds me when our alpine star Ingemar Stenmark (I'm in Sweden) competed, our teacher rolled in a tv in the classroom so we all could watch. Good times!

[@KevinPayton-fq8gd]

😆😆

[@MrCraigblaze]

Thanks!

[@tiggerthetosh]

I swear Viki Buchanan is a David Lynch character. 😄

[@NostalgiaBrit]

NGL, _'Sunset Beach'_ was, and forever will remain, my all-time favourite soap of all time! When it came here to the UK, on our Channel 5, I literally never missed a single episode! It _still_ shreds my soul apart, that it’s never been released on DVD!

[@SageWhite-Rose]

I can't wait to see the Passions video! 💋

[@KreativeKerri]

Team Theresa 4 life

[@JananEverett]

All I can say is: WONDERFUL video! You covered some amazing stories that blew the soap world out of the kitchen and living room settings! If you are interested, i have a few stories that were probably forgotten by most viewers, but what can i say? I love the soaps and the craziness draws me in. (And please do not think this is me being a jerk, but the Brent Lawrence dressing as Marion Crane storyline on GL was bot influenced by MRS. DOUBTFURE, but by Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece PSYCHO. Janet Leigh's character is actually named Marion Crane.)

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Yeah…the joke was the Mrs doubtfire line. Which was in the article I sourced to help write out the script. The storyline happened not long after that movie came out. I later said he went full psycho Norman bates. I know Marion Crane was the characters name. For some reason, I decided not to explain that.

[@daniellemaroney2931]

First of all let me start off by saying I love your channel. I am a gen xer I grew up in the 80s and early 90s watching All My children, One Life to live, General Hospital, & Days of our lives. I got to say I am a bit envious of your channel because growing up I was obsessed with the soaps. Especially with GH, and Days of our lives. I wish I would have came up with this channel first. Sick and tired of these millennials and gen z's getting all the attention in this day and age. Thank you for recognizing our generation. Keep gen X alive.❤

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Oh thank you so much! Are there any future video topics you’d like to see? I’m taking suggestions. I’m about to go full time doing this and starting a discord/patreon to do live streams and watch parties!

[@AB2B]

The AW Cass, Felicia, and Wallingford story lines are always top tier crazy in my list. I'll always remember Felicia and Wallingford trapped in a cage with a gorilla named Carolyn while they were investigating David Thatcher's murder. Crashing a semi into a restaurant. Caught in a cat house raid. So much convoluted fun! Legend has it those three were the reason AW stopped ever using real booze, because they actually got drunk while filming a commiseration drinking scene on the Tops set.

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Oh that’s a good one…going in part 3!

[@AB2B]

@@mysocalledgenxlife I hope you're able to find clips of the Carolyn incident; I've only been able to find one very sort clip on KZbin. Since they were all separate incidents (usually embroiled in other crazy story lines), they might be easier to find. Yeah, I miss AW's heyday.

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

I am currently rewatching Another World in chronological order from 1980-1999! Currently in June 1981. I am thinking about starting a discord/patreon and do live streams watching old episodes. Here is the playlist for 1980-1989. kzbin.info/aero/PLAg2DUkk2Tt77QEz6H6VufgSnoTUAj30p&si=v_l4iGMgcbqf_65P

[@AB2B]

@@mysocalledgenxlife Saved! I didn't have this one. The ones I have are a bit willy-nilly. I'm doing a happy chair dance you can't see! lol If you ever need a break from US craziness, I highly suggest you check out some Korean Drama insanity; the revenge dramas, especially the long ones, remind me of the 80's-90's soaps. Meanwhile, I'll be looking forward to the live streams, because we all need a bit of follow along fun and chat.

[@JohnWilliams-bb8gs]

Cass as Crystal Lake was hilarious!

[@danielherrin]

I learned how NOT to treat people from watching soap operas.

[@cocoaorange1]

Same here.

[@mrsBurchett22]

I used to love another world too. There are a lot of episodes on here I watch sometimes

[@tresboujay]

Only 1 minute in but I so remember Carly being buried alive and Vivian Alamain wallowing over her grave. I was one of those a brand new SAHM hooked on the soaps. 😂

[@jeffpagan7735]

General hospital was off the chain. So much Elizabeth Taylor was on it. It blew up!

[@hollyking2580]

Loved One Life to Live! Great memories. Thanks for the video.

[@PancakeFatty]

Thank you for another fun upload. These soaps were cookoo 😂😂. KZbin recommended me your other video a few weeks back and they recommended me this one today. I don't know if these soaps aired here in Australia. I do remember watching Days,Passions,The Bold & The Beautiful,Y&R. I also started Passions back up in the beginning of the year and i stopped at 270 to take a break. Somebody over at Facebook has given me access to Sunset Beach & Passions for a small fee. He also has Days < Which I would love to visit these whacky plots.

[@JohnWilliams-bb8gs]

I started watching OLTL when Alex Olanov went off the rails and tried to kill Cassie in a canoe at Loon Lake. Alex went on to become a fantastically insane villain on the show.

[@KevinPayton-fq8gd]

Alex was obsessed with Bo at that time.

[@btetschner]

A+ video! LOVE IT! Awesome storylines!

[@octaviasandridge2955]

Thanks to you I'm watching Passions at 40+ yrs old since I was too busy watching TRL back in the day 😂. Great video! So glad you popped into my algorithm!

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Yay! I’m doing a passions deep dive video that will hopefully be out in the next month. Thanks for watching 😊

[@barbaraayarza5352]

OMG... So many memories unlocked 🤣🤣🤣 I'm loving your content

[@gabeybabyful]

I’m loving this channel and your content! I just stumbled upon it the other day, subscribed and have been binging like crazy lol. ❤️ Thank you for including the David Kimble storyline in your video. I remember that trash compactor death SO vividly. I was a freshman in HS when that aired, and at the time, was probably the most insane and violent death I’d ever scene on a soap opera. Keep up the great work, and thank you again for the nostalgia trip! ❤ GenX and proud!

[@noturbiz2827]

Sorry, I'm late to the party, I can't believe I just found your channel, as a fellow GenXr, your channel is everything, you have a new subscriber!

[@mlj5748]

Thanks for the Sunset Beach mention. Not a fan of the "jewel" storyline. But loved the "Ben and Meg" storylines with the evil twin and long lost wife plots.

[@Pinkranger87]

The baby swap storyline was incredible

[@naturistfred]

Agreed. Great writing and great acting by everyone on both soaps.

[@nicholebowden2513]

I was riveted as a teen by the Natalie/Janet storyline on AMC.

[@avsfan73]

Carly and Bo were my favorite 90’s couple. Loved them

[@hollyh314]

Soooooo happy your channel came up on my feed!! I was born in 1977 as well. And i see from your uploads that we were watching the same stuff. I cant wait to binge watch your channel ❤😊

[@jennifer_m.8613]

I still say they could have had a better way to bring back Bobby Ewing on DALLAS. I vote for malfunctioning equipment and buried alive, took him a year to return due to medical issues from lack of oxygen from being buried alive Y&R, the only weird story lines I have followed were in 2008 or so 1) Katherine Chancellor and a poor waitress named Marge are in an accident, Marge dies and Katherine survives - and is believed to be Marge. She is taken in by Marge's gentleman friend, with whom she eventually falls in love and marries. 2) Paul's fiancee and evil Patti switch places in prison. I remember someone asking how he can't tell the difference of his wife under the sheets

[@MrJacobrabbit]

Santa Barbara also great plots

[@understatedhysteric7646]

Santa Barbara was so good, they had some pretty wild plots! I miss that show. (Cruz and Eden forever❤)

[@naturistfred]

Surprised Santa Barbara wasn't on there. Eden's rape is still burned into my memory. Her rape scenes lasted an entire week and not to mention the horrific reveal of who her rapist was.

[@MrJacobrabbit]

@@naturistfred ikr

[@cheffanie1752]

Guiding Light LuJack love story ❤

[@newcreatureinchrist5087]

I used to watch Santa Barbara, Days of Our Lives, Young and the Restless, Bold and the Beautiful, As the World Turns and Guiding Light. I gave them all up one day.

[@iChristyD]

I loved me some Y&R, DOOL, Another World & Santa Barbara!! I got out half days in high school to work, but got to go home first and watch my soaps first then work. I started watching these shows when I was in grade school in the 80s.

[@Missunderstood103]

Oh my gosh,I'd 4gotten about Janet from another Planet!🛸🌌 This was awesome.

[@JustJ.]

Anyone remember the Days Of Our Lives When Shane, alongside his housekeeper Peaches, was a secret agent? He kept it from his beloved Kimberly Brady, (who was into drugs and was a prostitution offender) who was carrying either Shanes or Victors baby? It’s been too long, I don’t recall who the daddy was..lol 😂

[@mmolenda8141]

The Cruise of Deception storyline was just crazy during the 1990s .Victors affair with Isabellas mother whom Victor nemesis Ernesto who everyone thought was dead faked his death then came back to exert revenge and try to kill his step daughter Isabella by poisoning her slowly. Everything leading up to the cruise was all connected the key, Marinas death, and Isabellas moms diary.

[@krystalbernier234]

I am still expecting Stepheno to pop up somewhere. Can't remember how many times that man died and came back. I wasn't a regular watcher of Days, but I am darn sure it was in the 20s or 30s in my spotty viewership.

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

He was all over my first video. I gave him a break in this one. 😂😂

[@Thewood35]

A childhood friend mom used to tape a weeks worth of Days and we'd watch them on the weekend with her

[@sertorrhenclegane]

Loved that you covered the Brent Lawrence story. As for the buried alive story on Days, I remember the promos and wondering if Days was actually a horror story in disguise...Come to think of it, I probably thought the whole daytime genre was a horror movie in disguise. Years later, Joy Behar's continued career proved that it was. I also can't wait to see your video on Passions.

[@amytheshihtzumom]

I spent an entire summer waiting for Natalie to get out of that well where Janet threw her. I could not believe that Trevor couldn't tell the difference, and then later married Janet. Every day that summer, I got up thinking, is Natalie going to get out of the well today? I remember later when Natalie was played by a different actress, the character was blind and somehow got her eyesight back on Christmas. One thing that bothers me about AMC in the 90's is that they had a gay character, I think named Brad, who was only there briefly and then was murdered. This kind of thing happened so often in TV that it was a trope. They so often killed off the gay characters. Lastly, I remember when Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy) and Kelly Ripa were on AMC.

[@amysusan100]

Thank you for sharing. Loved it

[@KatAdVictoriam]

These are like comfort food as others mentioned. I'd watch soaps while on the phone with friends in high school. In the summer we would be glued. Sometimes the whole family and my grandparents. We would record them and binge watch the week on weekends. I love these and wish there was a streaming network giving us all of them.

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

I am gonna start a discord/patreon soon where I livestream watching old soaps and game shows. I’ve found quite a few storylines free on KZbin…and there are a few series that have been completely archived. My plan is to get started in the next couple of months.

[@wandaborowy9400]

That storyline from OLTL is crazy.

[@martinhennigan1113]

Early Passions had this incredibly tasteless storyline where Sheridan almost died like Princess Diana and was then visited by her ghost. Passions was top of the heap trash.

[@amyecorbin]

There was also the storyline in GL (year 1996) where Dina Marler married Roger Thorpe and they both end up hating each other's guts enough to where they try to make each other go insane. Dinah does it by gaslighting (while banding with her husband's son) and Roger literally poisons Dinah's drinks (with a spy drug called Lonatrat) to make her brain turn to mush.

[@cuteiswhatIaimfor]

The Janet from Another Planet storyline was extremely scary to me as a kid.

[@TheSweetieDarling]

I don’t know how you did it because some of those plots had me like 🤯

[@mgpmbass3616]

When I was a kid, my mom watched the big 3 on ABC, All My Children, One Life To Live and General Hospital and they all had some crazy death scenes. One famous one I remember is when Jenny Gardner was killed in a jetski explosion.

[@janu10048]

Luke and Laura’s story started in 1979 and went through early 1982.

[@mysocalledgenxlife]

Yes, I talked about that in the first video. 1981 was the year that they became a big deal in the media.

[@Lei-AICPhD]

I remember in the 90s being like 7 watching DOOL with Sammy tricking Lucas? Or Nick? I can’t remember exactly his name into being the father of her baby. Also, Marlena being possessed. And the Evil Stefano of course! Bo and Hope!

[@PATRIOT904]

I was in my early 20's when i walked in when my newly married wife was watching Days of our lives. There was a mystery Lady in White and Swamp Girl was making an appearance. I was for some reason hooked. I couldn't stand and made fun of soaps up to then. I kinda lost interest but then Marlana became a succubus and i was hooked for months again. I never watched any other soap but i'm sure they had hooks with fans as well. Soaps definitely had magic keeping viewers everyday for ever.

[@cindimams4394]

I remember Loving had a crazy storyline with Allie and Cooper. Allie morphed in to Cooper’s ancestor 😂God I miss the golden soap era.

[@radfordkelly]

I used to love Sunset Beach. I loved Annie and Virginia.

[@victoriapagac]

i miss passions

[@Pastel_Dreams]

4:17 Beauty and the Beast??? ❤❤🎉

[@deanahicks6744]

One life to live was my show and I was devastated when it was canceled 😞 I remember when Clint went thru it 😂😂😂😂

[@ajourney50]

My friends and i watched them all. We were masters at flipping the channels.

[@COMPFUNK2]

OK, it wasn’t in this list either, so let me talk about it… On OLTL, there was a storyline where the character whom everyone thought was Bo Buchanan was actually an evil doppelgänger named Patrick London (both characters were portrayed by Robert S. Woods). The real Bo was in prison (I don’t remember why) with his girlfriend Dee Dee (sp?). Patrick then went back to prison to taunt Bo while he was standing not far from some sort of high voltage contraption that was simply attached to the wall with no protective case or anything. During all this, Dee Dee pushed Patrick into the contraption but then she forgot to let go, so they both got electrocuted and died.

[@KevinPayton-fq8gd]

I remember that too. Of all the women that Bo had, she was my favorite next to Nora.