Should Soaps Tell Social Issue Stories With Vets or Newbies?

Soaps have told plenty of social issue stories in the past, ranging from Phil being presumed dead in Vietnam on All My Children to General Hospital’s (GH) dual breast cancer and AIDS stories, to Days Of Our Lives (DOOL) current tale of Theo’s shooting by cop JJ.

But social issue stories frequently have unhappy endings. Which means fans need to decide, do they want them told with vets you know and love, or newbies you won’t miss once they’re gone… Here’s how over 4,000 viewers voted.

To Know Them Is To Love Them
Familiar faces for sure, insist 82% of you. For a story to have power, you have to care about the people affected.

For instance, on The Young and the Restless (YR), Dina (Marla Adams) has been on and off the Genoa City canvas for over 30 years, which is why her present-day mental deterioration is hitting fans as hard as it’s hitting Jack (Peter Bergman) and Ashley (Eileen Davidson).

On the other hand, while the fate of wounded veterans and prescription drug addiction is certainly an important social issue, nobody knows or cares about GH’s Chet (Chris von Etten), so the story isn’t really landing.

Bad News For Others
On the other hand, 17% are perfectly happy to wish a tragic fate… on people who mean nothing to them. Aw, Crystal is being sex-trafficked on Y&R. That’s so, so sad. But better her than Faith (Alyvia Alyn Lind).

Coco (Courtney Grosbeck) and RJ (Anthony Turpel) got hurt due to texting and driving on The Bold and the Beautiful (BB). Thank you for the public service announcement, but you’re not going to be shedding too many tears.

There’s a reason GH’s Stone died from AIDS in the early 1990s… while Robin (Kimberly McCullough) is still living with HIV today. It’s because the fans wanted it that way!