Bring On the Funny: Do Fans Want More Humor On Their Soaps?

Soaps are known for romance! Soaps are known for drama! Soaps are known for tears! Should soaps be known for humor, too? There’s a long history of humor on daytime. But how do fans really feel about laughs in the afternoon? Here’s what over 27,000 told us:

Make ‘Em Laugh
There is just so much crying one can do, and then you want to chortle, giggle, and guffaw, 77% instruct. Sure, Leo (Greg Rikaart) is a monster on Days Of Our Lives. But he’s a darn entertaining one. (On the other hand, put a pin in Hattie and Bonnie. They – and we – are DONE.)

What would General Hospital be without Franco’s (Roger Howarth) quips now… or Luke’s (Anthony Geary), back in the day.

The Young and the Restless benefits from Jack’s (Peter Bergman) sarcasm, and The Bold and the Beautiful needs Pam (Alley Mills) and Charlie (Dick Christie) to Be The Goofy and the Silly.

Remember DOOL’s Eugene (John DeLancie) and Calliope (Arlene Standford)? Even GH’s Spinnelli (Bradford Anderson) has his moments. Comedy is a soap staple and should be a priority.

We want to laugh with the characters, not at them. “You got that, writers?” (Hat-tip, Victor Newman, natch.)

Stick To What You Do Best
You know the saying, dying is easy, comedy is hard. Well, comedy is really, really hard. It’s hard to write, it’s hard to perform. Especially on the soaps, where everything has to happen so quickly. Stick to the sturm, stick to the drang, 33% of you beg.

Otherwise, the results can be painful. You end up with material only hours of rehearsal and precision timing could make funny… and soaps don’t have that kid of time. So they go broad. And it gets painful. Really, really painful. Light sexy banter is fine. Slapstick is not.