On 12/21/2019 4:55 PM, Bruce wrote:
> On Sat, 21 Dec 2019 14:47:12 -0700, jay > wrote:
>
>> On 12/20/19 3:43 AM, Bruce wrote:
>>> On Fri, 20 Dec 2019 10:37:58 GMT, Pamela >
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 06:45 20 Dec 2019, Bruce > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:25:08 GMT, Pamela >
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 19:25 19 Dec 2019, Dave Smith > wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It has all the characteristics of a soap opera. There is a cast of
>>>>>>> characters coming in and out of the series, some of them evil, some
>>>>>>> somewhat admirable, parallel sub plots, love stories, romance and sex,
>>>>>>> betrayals, disappearances and deaths. Some of the characters are down
>>>>>>> right evil while others are shown to be capable of doing bad.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I suppose even Breaking Bad could be called a soap although that may not
>>>>>> the best description.
>>>>>
>>>>> Of course not. Not that I'm a huge fan, but BB has nothing to do with
>>>>> a soap.
>>>>
>>>> You wouldn't call the subplot of Walter's domestic life and its marital
>>>> crises pure soap?
>>>
>>> That's not enough to call the whole show a soap. Not by a long shot.
>>
>>
>> If they advertise soap it can be called a soap opera. duh
>
> "A soap opera is a radio or television serial dealing especially with
> domestic situations and frequently characterized by melodrama and
> sentimentality." (Wiki)
>
> It's not a soap opera.
>
You have to consider the origins of the term. It is used generically
now for many serial shows. P & G should have copyrighted the name and
allowed it to be used only when advertised by their products. .

Wiki:
Originally serials were broadcast as fifteen-minute installments each
weekday in daytime slots. In 1956, As the World Turns and The Edge of
Night, both produced by Procter & Gamble Productions, debuted as the
first half-hour soap operas on the CBS television network. All soap
operas broadcast half-hour episodes by the end of the 1960s.