The Great American Soap Opera: How Many Times Can One Person Get Married?

Ah, the American Daytime Drama. How I love them. Still, I sometimes find myself talking back to the television. Yet I'm not asking Nick how he could possibly cheat on Sharon, but remarking at the impossibility of the plotline.

Sure, I understand soap operas are supposed to be fun, over-the-top, "out there" with characters that are larger than life. But come on. Sometimes, they go too far.

As a writer, I understand the concept of Suspension of Disbelief. This concept is the basis for all fiction. In simple terms, suspending disbelief means that the viewer or reader releases their natural inclination to disbelieve either the actions of an individual are true to form, or that such-and-such event couldn't happen. Instead, the viewer or reader gives the story the benefit of the doubt, if you will. The viewer or reader joins in the fun of the story and makes the conscious decision to believe what he normally might find unbelievable.

For instance, in my favorite soap opera, The Young and the Restless, many of the main characters have recently ended up in the hospital. Kevin went into the hospital, got patched up, and then released to police custody. Colleen, who Kevin is accused of attempting to murder (for the second time) is on a breathing machine after getting rescued from a burning refrigerator. Again, for the second time. Drucilla has voluntarily checked into the psych ward in the same hospital. But to top it off, Lily, Dru's daughter is sitting on a hospital bed getting stitches in her head. I ask you...how many times have you ended up in the hospital with your mother going into the psych ward of the same hospital? Personally, I've only seen the inside of a hospital less than five times and that count is spread over several decades. These people should have stock in the hospital and a direct Hot Phone from the hospital to their cell phone number. Shoot, they should, as a matter of every day life, check in with hospital staff to see which of their loved ones has gotten shot, stabbed, knocked over the head, run over, or fallen ill with a mysterious disease. In fact, how do these people get health or life insurance?