Long before he was slaying werewolves and vampires as Dean Winchester on Supernatural, Jensen Ackles was a soap opera star. He was Eric Brady in Days Of Our Lives, a role he totally rocked- while it was relevant, of course.
The term Soap Opera was coined in the 1930’s, with the debut of Painted Dreams on Chicago radio station WGN. Soap commercials were usually played between the show, which aired daily, five days a week. Usually, listeners were housewives, which is why they were usually of melodramatic nature- like an opera show. Thus, the term “Soap Opera” was born.
They were a widespread success, and by the 1950’s, they dominated daytime television. Their strange, nonsensical, yet captivating storylines engrossed housewives across the nation, as they did their ironing.
It’s 2017 though, and since the 1980’s, more and more women have abandoned the housewife career in favor of independence. Soap operas effectively lost their target audience, because young women were too busy studying for college finals to watch another convoluted episode of The Young and the Restless.
So to the beloved soap opera: just face it. You aren’t what you used to be. Make room for reality television.

Cover image pulled from: https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-tv-soaps-image7307281