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Soap operas have been known for decades for their moving love stories, twists and turns, and nail-biting cliffhangers. On top of all of that, every once in a while, daytime will take it a step further and give the viewers something more serious to endure.
From groundbreaking LGBTQ storylines to the aftermath of cyber-bullying to a controversial facelift, soap operas have taken daytime by storm for their progressive approaches to serious issues over the last seven decades on television.
Young And The Restless Tackled An On-Screen Facelift
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In 1984, actress Jeanne Cooper — known for playing Katherine Chancellor (and sometimes Marge Cotrooke) on Young and the Restless for four decades — decided she wanted to get a facelift.
The actress took it a step further, convincing Y&R that her character should also get a facelift, and get it done live in an episode. The episode made history as the first-ever televised facelift, capturing Cooper's first moment after the procedure and her reaction to the result.
Bold And The Beautiful Tackled Coming Out As Transgender
Bold and the Beautiful holds the title for having the very first transgender regular character in daytime during a groundbreaking 2015 storyline when Maya Avant came out as a transgender woman.
The B&B producers teamed up with GLAAD to create the storyline of a woman keeping a secret until it all finally came out that Maya was born Myron, and had to navigate her relationships with those around her who had been kept in the dark.
General Hospital Tackled Bipolar Disorder Twice
When General Hospital vet Maurice Benard was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he decided that his GH character Sonny Corinthos should be as well.
Sonny has dealt with the effects of bipolar disorder since the 90s, and a couple of decades later in 2015, Sonny's young adult son Morgan was diagnosed as bipolar. It allowed Morgan's portrayer Bryan Craig to act alongside Benard and perform a heartwrenching storyline of a young man struggling with his mental health that eventually ended in his character's death.
Days Of Our Lives Tackled Internalized Homophobia
When Will Horton came out as gay on NBC's Days of Our Lives in 2012, it was the result of a year-long storyline that tackled the struggles of internalized homophobia.
Will fought his inner demons publicly and privately, with several heart-to-heart therapy sessions with his grandmother Marlena and enlightening conversations with his future husband Sonny Kiriakis, often lashing out and refusing to admit the truth about his sexuality despite always considering himself an LGBTQ ally.
One Life To Live Tackled Cyber-Bullying
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Toward the end of One Life To Live's run on ABC, the soap took its teenage cast and showcased the potential consequences of cyber-bullying on the internet.
Rex and Gigi's son Shane became the victim of cyber-bullying at the hand of his classmate Jack Manning, devastating the teen to the point where he went up to the roof and was about to commit suicide until his parents arrived to talk him down.
Guiding Light Tackled African-American Equality
Guiding Light was one of CBS' biggest soap operas, airing for 57 years until its cancellation in 2009, but the show's legacy lives on as the first-ever soap to regularly feature African American characters.
In the late 60s, GL brought on the characters Dr. Jim Frazier and his wife Martha Frazier, played by Billy Dee Williams and Cicely Tyson before later being replaced by two more known actors, James Earl Jones and Ruby Dee.
General Hospital Tackled HIV
One of General Hospital's most memorable storylines involved the tragic love story of Robin and Stone, which ended in Stone's death and Robin's HIV diagnosis.
Airing in the 90s during the AIDS epidemic, this storyline touched the hearts of viewers for Stone's death due to an AIDS-related illness and Robin's struggles throughout her adulthood being HIV positive, later becoming the basis of GH's annual Nurses Ball celebration to raise funds for HIV and AIDS research both on and off-screen.
As The World Turns Tackled Male-Male Kisses
While same-sex romances have become common on soap operas in recent years, in 2007, viewers witnessed a rare moment in daytime when As The World Turns showed their same-sex supercouple share a kiss.
It was the first male-male kiss to ever air on a soap during a spicy cliffhanger between Luke and Noah, sparking a lot of backlash from its audience over the decision to take the LGBTQ storyline a step further and air a kiss.
All My Children Tackled Daytime's First Same-Same Marriage
Long before Will and Sonny on Days of Our Lives and Mariah and Tessa on Young and the Restless, Bianca and Reese were the first same-sex couple to get married on daytime.
The wedding happened in 2009 when the couple exchanged vows during a Valentine's Day ceremony, earning All My Children a GLAAD award despite some initial backlash to the couple making their way down the aisle.
General Hospital (Subtly) Tackled The COVID-19 Vaccine
Few television shows addressed the COVID-19 pandemic on-screen, and General Hospital found a way to positively reinforce vaccination in a subtle way.
Set in a hospital, after all, one 2021 episode prominently showed a sign advertising COVID-19 vaccinations in the background while two characters had a conversation by the nurses station. The scene came as the GH studio mandated COVID vaccines for its workers, resulting in the letting go of two of its actors.