What makes a popular soap opera?

Résumé du document

A soap opera is a work of fiction taking the form of a serial, generally televised or radio phonic. They made their appearance with the radio in the Thirties. When the large networks started to develop, naturally these series followed .This designation comes from the fact that the first American radio phonic serials were sponsored by American laundry soap companies like Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Pepsodent. The term opera comes from the fact that operas tell a story, just as the soaps do. These serials were diffused in week during the day, aiming at the audience of the housewives. The soap is a particular kind in the field of the series because it does not answer any traditional diagram of construction of a series. Their great force lies in the fact that they manage to allure the lasting public for astronomical periods which can go up to 50 years for the oldest still broadcast (Guiding Light, 1952, radio soap).

Extraits

[...] ( Which are the main characteristics of the soap? - Diffusion and production throughout the year (the episodes are not gathered per seasons) - A consequent number of episodes (approximately 250 a year) - A consequent number of main characters - Not or few turnings outside: turnings in studio as for the sitcoms - A well defined number of places of action - The format goes from thirty minutes to an hour, Soap stories are usually in the form of an a long-term story that plays out over a few months, and then leads to another to keep the story going. [...]

[...] The success and popularity of Coronation Street has been due to, "the mixture of social realism of the North and the language of the stand-up comic". Remarkably, it seems that the soaps such as EastEnders and Home & Away which contain these 'social realist conventions' attract the attention of the soap viewer, who gains a lot of pleasure from watching soap opera that portrays so many things that are happening today, and doesn't shrink away from real life, but instead, faces us with the problems that do happen. [...]

[...] How to deal with that subject: popularity of soap opera appears to rest on its undemanding nature and its preoccupation with everyday concerns”, Livingstone puts in. According to an article from the Guardian by Alexandra Topping, interviewing Lesley Henderson British author specialist on social issues connected with programme makers have an enormous social responsibility. Since, soaps are hugely significant in shaping public views”. Yet, they insist that their job is to entertain and not to educate. As a scriptwriter puts in: the end, we are drama. We are not a sociological documentary if we always stuck to the absolute facts we'd have no drama”. [...]

[...] Another reason of the popularity of soap opera is that the texts are “opened”. It means that there is no start, no middle and no end; it is continuous and it goes on the next episode. Livingstone puts in: “there's no single answer, and the viewer has to resolve the issue himself”. Therefore the openness of soap opera gives the viewer an active role, and leaves him wanting to watch the next episode. Viewers try to guess the outcome of the plot, and they feel proud of themselves when they were right. [...]

[...] What makes a popular soap opera? Introduction Definition of the subject: - What is soap? - The main characteristics How to deal with that subject I. Soap as an entertainment The main reasons The influence of soaps in society II. Soap as an educative programme Soaps as a social identification programme Soap as a gendered programme III. The French example: Plus Belle La Vie Conclusion References Introduction Definition of the subject: A soap opera is a work of fiction taking the form of a serial, generally televised or radiophonic. [...]