While the daytime hours were once full of soap operas, the last few decades have not been kind to daytime dramas. As of 2024, there are only four soap operas still airing new episodes with only three of those four actually airing on air now that Days of Our Lives has moved to Peacock.
We absolutely love the four remaining soaps still on air and they each bring so many unique narratives with something for all fans; however, we'd be lying if we didn't say we don't miss the many soaps that once aired alongside them... or at least most of them.
In fact, I'm honestly shocked that some of the current soaps managed to outlive their canceled comrades. That's not to say that the shows still on air aren't amazing, because they all most certainly are, it's just that at the time of their cancellations, there were certain soaps that seemed to have more to give.
Thankfully, many of the canceled soaps had the chance to build toward their final farewell. However, given the nature of daytime, these goodbyes were designed to feel more like a until next time rather than final goodbyes. This was done by design to allow fans to imagine their favorite characters continuing their stories, but it also technically left the door for us to one day return to the shows.
If given the chance, there is nothing we'd love more than to be able to bring back a few of the soaps that signed off the air in recent years.