SOAPnet

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SOAPnet (stylized from 2000 to 2002 as SoapNet) is an American cable television channel. It has been broadcasting current and past soap operas since January 1, 2000.

1 The history of SOAPnet
2 Current daytime soaps
3 Former primetime soaps
4 Former daytime soaps
5 Original shows
6 External link

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The history of SOAPnet

In the beginning, the network only aired current ABC soap operas in the evening and early morning, so people who worked could watch at their convenience. The programming was inclusive in the beginning as the network is owned by ABC. The channel has high cable coverage due to Disney's aggressive policy of pulling ABC affiliates and the highly-viewed ESPN networks from cable companies if they wouldn't agree to also carry SOAPNet; this was the main reason for WABC (Channel 7) being pulled from Time Warner Cable in Manhattan for two days in May 2000.

There were plans by Sony Pictures Entertainment to launch a competing channel and website called SoapCity when SOAPNet was announced, which would air all of the CBS soap operas and NBC's Days of Our Lives that Sony had rights to. The plans were later abandoned early in 2000 for the cable channel after failing to acquire cable carriage, though the website component remained.

The channel's inaugural lineup aired current soaps such as All My Children, One Life to Live, General Hospital, and Port Charles, plus cancelled daytime and nighttime soaps such as Falcon Crest, The Colbys, Hotel, Sisters, and Ryan's Hope.

As the years went on, SOAPnet tried its hand at original programming, like Soap Center and Soap Talk, the latter of which has been nominated for many Daytime Emmy awards, most recently in 2006 for Best Talk Show Host(s). Soap Center, which debuted the same day as Soapnet in early 2000, initially hosted by former soap stars Brooke Alexander and David Forsyth, but a year later, they were replaced by unknowns, one to discuss East Coast soaps and another to discuss West Coast soaps. By 2003 the show only had one host and soon after ceased filming original material. Other original series include 1 Day With, a half-hour of General Hospital star Wally Kurth interviewing soap actors, I Wanna Be a Soap Star, which gives 12 young actors the opportunity to compete for a contract on an ABC daytime soap and Soapography, which airs on two soap opera actors for 30 minutes on their life and which soap their in.

In 2004, SOAPnet added highly-requested programming such as reruns of Another World and same-day episodes of Days of Our Lives. Replacing Falcon Crest, The Colbys, Hotel, Sisters and Knots Landing were coveted reruns of Dynasty, Melrose Place, Dallas and Beverly Hills 90210.

Ryan's Hope, which had not been seen in syndication since it was cancelled in 1989, aired the episodes from its debut in 1975 until the late 1981 episodes. At this time, many viewers who did not have SOAPnet at its inception petitioned to rerun the show from the very beginning. In 2003, the network aired the first episodes starting on St. Patrick's Day. Currently, the episodes being run are from 1980.

From time to time, the network airs past episodes in thematic format, such as Daytime's Most Unforgettable Weddings, spotlighting the best episodes of popular couples on the ABC soaps. Other thematic blocks of episodes aired include the Sonnylicious! marathon, showcasing the best of Maurice Benard in his role on General Hospital, and the Tad the Cad marathon, with classic episodes of All My Children from the 1980s, in which the character Tad Martin, played by Michael E. Knight, beds Liza Colby and then her mother, Marian, in quick succession.

Since the network is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney corporation, special deals have been made to broadcast events from the annual ABC Super Soap Weekend, which is held every November at Walt Disney World, and in the summer at Disney's California Adventure. Lisa Rinna and Ty Treadway from Soap Talk have hosted question and answer sessions at the events, allowing fans to ask questions to their favorite soap stars.

In January 2005, the network began to air the FOX dramas Beverly Hills 90210 and in the spring of that year aired repeats of short-lived nighttime soaps The Monroes and Skin (in 2004 they reran a short-lived '80s soap, Paper Dolls. In July 2005 Soapnet picked up the FOX primetime soap Pasadena, including nine episodes not aired during the show's initial run which debuted in the fall.

Some viewers complained about what they viewed as an overabundance of primetime programming, some of which (90210 and Melrose Place) had only been out of original broadcast for a few years and had been repeated on other networks. These fans also object to the large amount of new episodes of the ABC lineup and Days, and have repeatedly requested rebroadcast of old daytime soaps such as Loving (which ABC/Disney have the rights to) and Santa Barbara. SOAPnet is reportedly working on a second channel which will broadcast older soaps, but the channel has yet to materialize.

On March 16, 2006, SOAPnet announced that it had finally acquired the rights to daytime ratings winner, The Young And The Restless and would begin airing in April — making it the first CBS network soap to air on the network.

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