You Gotta Have Friends – But Do Soap Operas?

Soap operas are known for their super-couples of the romantic kind. But there are also a few true blue friendships. There’s Phyllis (Gina Tognoni) and Michael (Christian J. LeBlanc) on The Young and the Restless.

There used to be Gabi (Camila Banus) and Abigail on Days Of Our Lives. But that went south via a combination of jealousy, mental illness, and an unfortunate stint in prison due to some perjured testimony.

The Bold and the Beautiful had Nicole (Reign Edwards) and Sasha (Felisha Cooper), who were as close as sisters. Surprise! They turned out to be biological sisters! Thanks, Dad!

And then there’s General Hospital’s Carly (Laura Wright) and Jason (Steve Burton). They are “ride or die” friends. Which is not at all healthy for either of them.

Should soaps focus more on friendship in addition to romantic relationships? Here’s what over 14,000 fans told us:

That’s What Friends Are For
It’s a landslide, as 95% of you agree that more friendship could only benefit soaps. And not the kind we just saw on YR, where Kerry (Alice Hunter) was only pretending to be Phyllis’ friend so she could steal the company for Ashley (Eileen Davidson). More like Lauren (Tracey Bregman) sticking by Phyllis — until the fate of her own company was on the line.

You want more friendships along the lines of Traci (Beth Maitland) still visiting Lily (Christel Khalil), her late daughter Colleen’s, best friend in prison.

Or how GH’s Liz (Rebecca Herbst) was with the late Emily. But, you know, without one of the members needing to be dead.

Friends On Your Own Time
Only 5% of the audience doesn’t want friendship stealing airtime from love and romance. That’s what you watch soaps for, after all. If you wanted to watch friends, you’d watch… Friends.