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Saturday, April 18, 2015

Strange Plot Devices Used In Daytime Television

You know, if there's anything that I have learned in this life, it's that when something terrible happens, it makes you re-evaluate your life a lot more.  And certainly, the news about someone passing away certainly causes one to think about how they live their lives.

And one thing that I've been reflecting on is trying to make a living doing something that I love.  Not that I don't love mixing paint at a hardware counter.  That's actually kind of fun.  But after writing a blog for four years, having something published recently, and having thoughts of starting up a sign making business, it's got me thinking...life is way too short to keep procrastinating about making dreams come true.

So, I've been trying to come up with a way that I can keep my dreams alive, and I'm thinking that starting a short story is a great way to do that.  And if I'm really in the groove, I think that I could turn that short story into a novel.

But sometimes one of the hardest things that one can do is come up with the storyline behind the novel.  Coming up with a plot can be one of the most difficult things in the world, especially when you consider that you have to make the plots work with the rich character development that you give to your main protagonists and antagonists.  Believe me, it's a lot harder than you think.

In fact, I want to show you one tool that I've used in recent weeks.



This is a site called "The Writer's Plot Idea Generator", and what it does is simple.  Click the button on the site, and it will come up with a random plotline.  Go on.  Try it!  Here.  I've already done one below.



Yikes!  That sounds really outlandish, don't you think?  I mean, a manipulative nanny preparing a bankrupt holiday resort that is apparently set to get blown up real good anyway?  Why, that's even more outlandish than some of those plot lines that you see on soap operas!

Say.  That's a fantastic idea for a plot...ahem...blog topic!  In fact, let's play a little bit of a game here. 

I'll post a list of...oh...let's say...a dozen plot lines.  And you will have to make a decision as to whether the plot line really happened, or if it's just a figment of my own imagination.  I'll reveal the answers at the end of this blog, just so I don't keep you hanging like a Friday cliffhanger.

And trust me...it might be a challenge.  After all, soap operas are getting stranger and stranger.

Okay, let's begin.  And remember.  All you have to do is tell me whether the plot is true or false.

1.  In the spring of 1995, a plot unfurled on one soap opera which saw one of the show's main characters become possessed by the devil himself.  Or, should I say...the devil HERself.

True or False?

2.  Have you ever wondered what one of the strangest ways to die on a soap opera is?  Well, how about getting crushed to death by a gigantic letter "c"?  The death took place in the last half of 1986.

True or False?

3.  In August 1979, one soap opera made history by having two children tie the knot with each other.  Apparently arranged marriages begin really young on this sudser.  The bride and groom were both only ten years old at the time!

True or False?

4.  In the summer of 1999, a soap opera made its debut, and two of the stars of the show were a three hundred year old witch and her companion...a talking doll named Timmy.

True or False?

5.  How does one cope with the news that their sister is really their mother, and that their father was their uncle who raped her mother when she was just thirteen years old?  It's a family affair as one teenager finds out that her sister is her mother and her uncle is her father in the autumn of 2001.

True or False?

6.  One soap opera supercouple (who were united through a rape, surprisingly enough) had to do whatever it took to save their city from being completely frozen over by a madman.  The final confrontation happened in September 1981, and by November they were married.

True or False?

7.  What do you do when your wife is presumed dead in a plane crash?  Well, you take some of the eggs that she harvested for IVF and create an exact clone of her.  The storyline aired throughout 1998, and it likely was inspired by the sheep cloning incident that made everybody exclaim "Hello, Dolly!"

True or False?

8.  It certainly was a spectacle on one soap opera during the winter of 2012 when a character not only came back from the dead, but also brought home a pet dinosaur!

True or False?

9.  One of the most controversial storylines of 1996 involved a fashion model who posed for pictures, smiled for the camera, and became involved with a man she had a crush on in high school.  The only thing that could go wrong?  If people discovered she was born a man.

True or False?

10.  Someone probably didn't tell this woman one cardinal rule.  Never chase after your daughter's husband.  But she did, and the daughter found out about their tryst after overhearing a conversation between the two of them over a baby monitor!  To make this scandal even more shocking?  Mother became pregnant with son-in-law's baby.  Talk about keeping it in the family.

True or False?

11.  Welcome to the year 2003, a year in which a teenage girl fell in love with an Internet pervert and contracted an STD.  Teenage girl's best friend ends up confronting pervert, and he locks friend in a walk-in cooler at a restaurant and sets the place ablaze.  To make this story even more unbelievable, ten years later, Internet pervert ends up being an assistant to the city's police force!

True or False?

And finally...

12.  What does one do when a show is set to end?  How about flood the entire town and kill off some of the dead weight in the process?  After all, if the show is being cancelled, why keep the sets around?  The show wrapped up its soggy run around the Christmas season in 1986.

True or False?

Okay, I'll give you a few moments to think about it a little.

Time's up.  Let's see how you did.



1.  The storyline is TRUE.  In 1995, "Days of our Lives" made history by possessing the character of Dr. Marlena Evans.  Don't believe me?  I have proof!



2.  This is also TRUE.  1986 saw the death of Mary Duvall on the soap opera "Santa Barbara" by having a letter C fall on top of her.  I don't see this scene being shown on "Sesame Street" any time soon.

3.  Sorry.  This plotline never happened.  It's FALSE.



4.  This is TRUE.  Mind you, "Passions" was always known as the show that never really made sense during its whole run.  But the Tabitha/Timmy plotline was one of the show's first, and it ran until actor Josh Ryan Evans passed away in 2002.



5.  You may have gotten stumped with this one.  It is absolutely TRUE.  This plot featured Kat and Zoe Slater on the international show "EastEnders".  Have a look.



6.  Yep, this was the storyline that aired just before Luke and Laura's 1981 wedding.  And yes, Mikkos Cassadine really did plan on freezing the whole world on "General Hospital".  Mark this one as TRUE.



7.  Cloning may seem farfetched.  But Josh Lewis really did try to clone his deceased wife Reva on "Guiding Light".  It's 100% true.  Of course, Reva ended up surviving anyway, and the clone...well...you'll have to see for yourself how that ended.

8.  No soap opera has ever had a dead character bringing back a dinosaur with them when they come back from the dead.  FALSE!

9.  This storyline did happen.  Though "The Bold & The Beautiful" is currently doing a transgender storyline, "The City" was the first soap to tackle the issue, which saw fashion model Azure C have her past life exposed...as average male Lee Chen.



10.  And speaking of "The Bold & The Beautiful", this plot happened on this show which saw Brooke Logan have an affair with Deacon Sharpe, who was married to her daughter Bridget.  That love affair produced Brooke's daughter, Hope.

11.  Once upon a time on "The Young and the Restless", Lily Winters fell in love with Kevin Fisher.  Kevin gave Lily an STD, Lily's friend Colleen told him off, and Kevin set a restaurant on fire with Colleen still inside.  Now, Kevin works for the police (!!), Lily married someone else, and Colleen died.


12.  Finally, this plot is TRUE.  And you have to admit, flooding the whole town is definitely one way for "Search for Tomorrow" to go out!

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