Do Soaps’ ‘Back From The Dead’ Stories Need To Be Laid To Rest?!

While it’s usually a joy to see characters you thought had died on soaps, is it becoming a case of too much of a good thing?

Should any death be taken seriously on a soap anymore? It used to be that the only onscreen death to take seriously was if the actor portraying that character had passed, but Days of Our Lives (DOOL) turned that on its ear with the ‘Stefano may be alive’ storyline.

That case aside, it does feel like more and more characters are becoming the walking dead: On General Hospital (GH), pretty much the entire Spencer clan has been thought dead at one time or another, including grandma Lesley (Denise Alexander)!

Even The Bold and the Beautiful (BB) – a soap normally drawing in the lines when it comes to outlandish stories – has done it a couple of times… most notably with Taylor (Hunter Tylo). The Young and the Restless had a great story with Kay (Jeanne Cooper), that led to her great love with Murphy.

Soap Hub wondered if viewers are tiring of these stories. Here are the results.

Dead Again
For 57% of you, you’re used to it and have no problem characters returning from the beyond. It’s a soap staple after all!

Without them, DAYS wouldn’t have had that great story this past year with the return of Chandler Massey as Will and because of it, you got to see Alison Sweeney (Sami) and Eileen Davidson (Susan) again.

Of course, GH fans are thrilled to have Steve Burton back as Jason. That one even had the role recast and now it’s spun out even more story for Billy Miller’s Drew, who thought he was Jason there for a while… and even married his wife!

Day of the Dead
The other 43% are tired of these stories. You invest in soaps because it’s a slice of life and not too many people come back from the dead in real life. You prefer your soaps more down to earth. Once in a blue moon is okay but this continuous stream can get a bit tiring.