I am an avid watcher of NBC Daytime Soaps! I love to watch Days of Our Lives and sometimes Passions. I will tape them every day and watch them later so that I can fast forward through the commercials. One of the ways that I keep up with my soaps is by reading Soap Opera Weekly. There are many Soap magazines out there but this is one of the best I think.
Soap Opera Weekly
Each week Soap Opera Weekly has a different feature cover varying from the different Soaps on TV. And across the very top of each magazine you will always see in red letters on a small white background “Soap Opera Weekly”.
There will always be on the cover as well, pictures of the different Soap Stars and something from the article to get your attention. For example the week of July 9, 2002 for Days the caption read “Out of this world” New story! With a picture of Shawn Brady and Bell Black. But Days doesn’t always have a cover story so they are not always there. Some week the NBC soaps don’t make the cover at all, but that’s okay I still read the magazine.
On the inside you will always find the Contents, which is always on the left hand side of the first page. Those Contents are: The News, Features and Departments. And under each of those are various articles that run different week to week.
The magazine is about 45 or so pages and is always full of colorful pages. No black and white pages, unless Soap Opera is doing a special feature, they will sometimes use black and white. For instance if they do a feature on one of the soaps that have been around a very long time or one of the soaps no longer on, they may use black and white photos.
The News:
This part always gives me what I want to know about my favorite soap, IF there is a big story line. Well “gives me” are strong words, they don’t always let the “cat” out of the bag, but they do tell me enough to keep me guessing. And sometimes I can guess right off just from the article.
I also read the other soaps stories to see what is going on with their story lines. And believe me, they all have something different going on. They are all about the “ratings” that’s for sure.
I also like looking at the Neilson ratings, which is always in a different place each week. But it’s very easy to spot. The ratings are usually on the bottom of a page, sometimes about halfway through the magazine, then other times within a few pages into the magazine. It is interesting to see just how many people watch Day Time Drama and from what age groups! There are a lot of Soap fans out there!!!
Features:
This section always has the “Feature” stories. Most times there are at least two, sometimes more. The stories told here are always about a current Soap Star or a past Soap Star. I like the information on the past Soaps Stars because I can find out where my favorites are at now and what they are doing and what they have done.
The Departments:
This section has a lot of variety. One of my favorites, if not my favorite is always the “Dressed for Success” because I can see what these Stars wear outside of the Soap world. During the awards all kinds of pictures are taken and then I can see what all the beautiful gowns looked liked. And sometimes some of these people should have stayed home!!!
The fans of the magazine are always encouraged to go online to https://soaps.about.com/soapoperaweekly and vote for their favorite dressed and worse dressed soap actor/actress. I like to see the results for this one each week. Of course the ones I voted for don’t always make the list, but it’s interesting to see who does!
Some More of My Favorites
I also like reading “Revolving Door” because it tells me who’s coming, who’s going, who’s coming for a visit, who’ re-contracted and who’s rumored. These are very informative.
I also love the “Last Week” and “Sneak Peeks” and it’s the “Sneak Peeks” that will sometimes let the cat out of the bag!!! Also on this page you will find “Red Letter Days” which informs you specifics on specific days of the week for your favorite soap.
I truly enjoy the “Winners and Losers” for the week. This is a section that the fans voice their opinions about their soap scenes for the week. They always have the “winners” one side and “losers” on the other side, with a “featured” picture from one of the soaps. Again this very interesting to see what people think!
And sometimes you will read here what a specific Star has done outside the Soap World. For instance, USA® Today ran a story on one of the Stars and their charity work, which the fans really loved, so that was posted under this section. That is always heart warming for me.
And of course on of my most favorites is the “Real Life” which is information about our soap stars and what they do outside of the Soaps. For instance each week various Soap Stars are featured here telling us about charity work they did or do, who they are dating or married to or getting married to, their children, their clothes and so much more. I could write many pages on this magazines but I will wound it down. You will have to buy a copy to see for yourself how great it is!
How I Feel
Well I think you all can figure out that I really like this magazine. There are so many wonderful articles from start to finish. There is not one thing, one article, one feature story, one poll; that I don’t enjoy in this magazine.
And I can always go to https://soapoperaweekly.com anytime and take the online polls and voice my opinion on the clothes the Stars wear outside their jobs.
I love the colorful pages and I love to see how the Stars get together after hours and work together with various charities. This always makes me feel good. They can be normal people after all! You can buy single copies at any check out stand in any store or you can subscribe, like I do.
I paid 19.97 for 26 weeks. Doubled for 52 weeks. And sometimes you can get the subscription a little cheaper depending on where you order. But that is rare.
I like being able to read the true stories of the various Soap Stars whether they are from Days of Our Lives or Passions or the other ones because you can really see what kind of people they are. They have problems just like the rest of the world, face cancers, problems with the teens and other things just like the real people. That is always great to find out. Although my heart does go out to them when I read about diseases in their families, but they are inspiring to help us go on.
So if you are a Soap fan and want a way to see what is going on with your favorite soaps and actors/actresses this is the magazine for you!
I hope that this has helped in some kind of way.
God Bless!
©LKD 2002