The Soap Opera Genre.
Soap operas, like films also use specific genres. One related genre is melodrama, with which it shares such features as moral polarization, strong emotions, female orientation, unlikely coincidences, and excess. British soaps often use other genres in their debt to a social realist tradition (e.g. ‘kitchen sink’ dramas) and an emphasis on contemporary social problems.
Reoccuring events in soap opera include courtships, marriages, divorces, deaths and disappearances. Gossip is a key feature in soaps (usually absent from other genres): in part it acts as a commentary on the action.
Broadcast serials have the advantage of a regular time-slot (often more than once a week), but even if some viewers miss it they can easily catch up with events by recording on sky, using virgin media or even watching it online. Any key information which might have been missed is worked into the plot when necessary.
Reoccuring events in soap opera include courtships, marriages, divorces, deaths and disappearances. Gossip is a key feature in soaps (usually absent from other genres): in part it acts as a commentary on the action.
Broadcast serials have the advantage of a regular time-slot (often more than once a week), but even if some viewers miss it they can easily catch up with events by recording on sky, using virgin media or even watching it online. Any key information which might have been missed is worked into the plot when necessary.