Best prime time soaps of the 2010's?

[Michael Torrance]

Most shows revolve around families and/or a company. Most (all) shows revolve around people having relationships.
I am just lost!

DALLAS and DYNASTY vanished after the 80s, but they had already infused serialization into prime time, both dramas and sitcoms. Before, and even in early DALLAS, episodes were stand-alone or two-parters at most. I can see the confusion because the 80s soaps reshaped the landscape so that now an ongoing narrative is the rule and stand-alone episode series the exception. Networks used to be wary of such formats because it was harder to run them in syndication, but first with DVD and now streaming, it is actually preferred by many people for binge watching. In short, you are justified in feeling lost.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

The 2010's have been filled with soaps that I watched for one or two seasons before throwing in the towel. Revenge was so good in the first part of the first season before it started coming apart rapidly in season two. Empire, which had been so good in it's early episodes, was unravelling by the end of season one for me. It's second season was a a mess,yet I stuck it out until early season three before quitting. Dallas TNT never really sat right with me. I stuck with it for a bit but all that techno based horse shit like JR stealing Bobby's data via a dog meme and Christopher causing earthquakes or whatever was needless. The original cast were great but I didn't really care for a lot of the new additions.

The one soap that I did love which I thought was so underrated was Deception on NBC in 2013. I was quite cynical about it before it launched, reckoning it was just a Revenge ripoff (which on paper, it really did appear to be). But when it aired, I found it was much better than that. The murder mystery premise is one that's been done countless times before but the writing was sharp and the cast were good.

 

[Barbara Williams]

Nashville, Revenge, Deception, Parenthood, Empire, One Tree Hill, The new Dynasty, The Mountain, Whistler, The L.A. Complex, Dirty Sexy Money, Desperate Housewives, Army Wives, Betrayal, Blood and Oil,

Not saying they were all good but had some not been cancelled prematurely they may well have gathered more of an audience and had a chance to develop

 

[Michael Torrance]

Not saying they were all good but had some not been cancelled prematurely they may well have gathered more of an audience and had a chance to develop

While networks sometimes/often cancel shows prematurely, just as often or too often shows are given every chance and squander it. Revenge is such a case. When it premiered, ABC gave it a cushy Wednesday time slot it had an established history with in the previous decade, and critics hailed it as a clever guilty pleasure, with one review even calling it Dynasty-esque. Ratings grew stronger and stronger until the mid-season revelation and then tapered off a little, because it was obvious that people expected the gimmick to pay off and not be just that, plus its early red sharpie formula was forgotten. Still it endured with viewers that year (this particular viewer was hooked), until it lost its way with the Initiative in the second season and it became obvious that like its ABC Wednesday time-slot predecessor, its creators were just lost.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The 2010's have been filled with soaps that I watched for one or two seasons before throwing in the towel.

It's been the same story for me. Revenge and TNT Dallas each had me for a season and a half and I just didn't want to go on.

I still can't decide if it's down to the way series are structured or if I've lost my soap stamina over the years and aren't trying hard enough to commit.

 

[Soaplover]

My Top 5 2010s primetime soaps...

1) Ringer.... a mix of hitchcock, mystery and soapy fun. A 3 season outline that sadly didn't get completed.

2) Jane the Virgin.. a great adaptation of a telenovela to an American audience. It has the main character who isn't all good (Jane).. a villianess that isn't all bad (Petra)... twists and turns.. mystery.. family drama.. and a good haves and have nots (where both are shown in positive or negative lights).

3) Riverdale.. a great mix of Twin Peaks (season 1 pre-supernatural turn), teen angst, and an intersting look at the right and wrong side of the tracks.

4) Dynasty.. a work in progress... Alexis has livened things up

5) Greenleaf.. The dysfunctional family that turns a mega church.

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

New DALLAS all the way for me, followed by New DYNASTY then EMPIRE (in fairness, I only saw the first season of that and can't really remember much except I really liked it). I gave up on REVENGE halfway through the first season, but I wouldn't mind giving it another go.

Is RIVERDALE a proper soapy soap?

THE CROWN isn't a soap in the same way, but is still brilliant soap opera (among other things).

RIVERDALE is very soapy and I think you'll enjoy it @James from London, I know you love PEYTON PLACE so see this as its youngest grandchild.

 

[James from London]

RIVERDALE is very soapy and I think you'll enjoy it @James from London, I know you love PEYTON PLACE so see this as its youngest grandchild.

Ooh great - that's going straight on my list!

 

[ArchieLucasCarringtonEwing1989]

The trouble I find with soaps in the 2010s (in fact I have a lot of gripes with this decade) is that streaming on Netflix and 7-10 episode seasons takes the fun out of prime time soaps, NuDynasty has thankfully decided on longer seasons as has Riverdale because you need at the most 22-24 episodes to get a proper beginning, middle and end, to flesh out each character.

The best soap of this decade is RIVERDALE by far, it has all the excellent ingredients for a great soap:

- The small town setting

- couples

- gothic families and powerful mafia families

- the hero and heroine

- serial killers

- campy moments particularly between mothers and daughters

 

[MarkSinacori]

Grey's Anatomy would win here as would Desperate Housewives again. Revenge was good (even though I stopped watching it halfway through season 1...I even got pneumonia working at the 2nd episode of the series and I was sort of featured for a sec on that, but not like when I was on other shows). The crappy 90210 and even crappier Melrose Place on the CW, Dallas on TNT, Dynasty on CW.