I'm not sure how old I was when I watched my first soap opera. 9 or 10? I didn't grow up in a soap household, but at one Grandma's house, we weren't allowed to pour our own cereal or milk, but we were allowed to watch whatever we wanted on TV.
I'd watched "Mad Max" and "Are You In the House Alone?" before I hit double digits.
There was that sad mid day event that all children used to know about: when cartoons ended and the TV was full of boring talk shows, game shows, and news. But All My Children caught my attention and I was enthralled and impressed. Five days a week? A new hour long show? Wow, those actors are amazing!
I'd sneak in a peek of Santa Barbara after school. I'd watch AMC and One Life to Live on days I was sick. But the one show that has held my attention and love far into the years of adulthood is General Hospital.
I did quit all soaps when my son was a baby, reasoning that his baby brain was processing more than I knew and Sesame Street might be better for him than love triangles and long lost never knew about psycho killer brothers.
When the kids hit school age and I had some kid free days, I'd go in waves of watching. There are months of time, even years, when I do not watch at all. Then I see a clip and I catch a story and suddenly I am into it again.
I am late on the TV news front though. I just now figured out that Jason getting killed wasn't part of an elaborate story ruse for him to take some vacation. He has really left the show.
I had no idea I was one of those kinds of watchers. Pass the tissues. I think I'm going to cry.
When you've done with the box pass it back :'-)
ReplyDeleteOh I know, I know. I've cried many a tear of the soaps, especially the past few years as they have dwindled off the air. I grew up with my Mom watching As The World Turns, Guiding Light and The Edge of Night and I've held on to the tradition but sad to say I think their at the end over the next few years.
ReplyDeleteI was a CBS soap kid, having inherited my watching habits from my grandmothers on both sides and my mom. I went over a decade without watching any of them because of work schedule, but then...I got a DVR and thought I'd check in just for giggles and found myself hooked all over again. Turns out I got myself reattached just in time for Guiding Light and about a year later, As The World Turns to be cancelled. Talk about tissue issues!
ReplyDeleteAll that's left over at CBS is The Bold and the Beautiful, which is really just an upstart since it premiered in the '80s, I've never really been into it, and The Young and the Restless, which I still religiously DVR and watch.