The 40 most popular soap TV shows, ranked. Click any show for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Felicity
1998 · US
Felicity Porter, a sensitive and intelligent girl from the San Francisco Bay Area, decides to give up a slot at Stanford University's pre-med program to follow her long time crush to college in New York City. Things get even more complicated when she meets her dorm's resident advisor and they fall in love.


Deep Waters
2022 · ZA
The club belongs to Gys Swarts, whose sons Rossouw and Jacques are involved in the family enterprise. Gys's grandchildren Karla and Johan also swim for the club, bringing the demands of training and competition directly into the family circle. Can Gys keep ownership, family expectation and sporting ambition from pulling the club in different directions?


Young Hearts
1995 · BR
Malhação is a Brazilian television series for the teenage audience. The soap started in 1995, and was set in a fictional Gym Club called Malhação on Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro. Through the years the location varied slightly. Although the name of the soap remains the same, it is now set in the Múltipla Escolha High School.


Binnelanders
2005 · ZA
A South African Afrikaans soap opera. It is set in and around the fictional private hospital, Binneland Kliniek, in Pretoria, and the storyline follows the trials, trauma and tribulations of the staff and patients of the hospital.


Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden
1990 · NL
Goede tijden, slechte tijden, also known as GTST, is the longest-running Dutch soap opera, revolving around the lives of the families Alberts, Sanders, De Jong, Van Houten and Bouwhuis. It all takes place in the fictional town of Meerdijk.


Tomorrow Is Ours
2017 · FR
The story revolves around the people of Sète, France. Their lives are punctuated by family rivalries, romance and scenes from daily life, but also by plots involving police investigations, secrets and betrayals.


Coronation Street
1960 · UK
The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them through regular social and family interactions at home, in the workplace, and in their local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. Britain's longest-running soap.


Sturm der Liebe
2005 · DE
These are the stories of relationships taking place in the fictional five-star hotel Fürstenhof, located in Feldkirchen-Westerham near Rosenheim with the plot revolving around members of the family room area, the hotel owners, and employees.


Ici tout commence
2020 · FR
This television drama series is centered around the prestigious culinary school of renowned chef Auguste Armand. The show follows the lives of students and staff as they navigate the challenges and pressures of the culinary world—delving into their personal and professional lives, revealing secrets, rivalries, and complex relationships.


7de Laan
2000 · ZA
7de Laan is an extraordinary microcosm where good and bad, evil and wholesome characters find themselves forming part of a wholesome community where no matter what – everyone counts and everyone cares…


EastEnders
1985 · UK
The everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.


Chronicles of the Sun
2018 · FR
Claire is surprised when she gets arrested for the murder of her childhood friend after she returns to Montpellier.


Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten
1992 · DE
Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten is a long-running German television soap opera, first broadcast on RTL in 1992. The programme concerns the lives of a fictional neighborhood in Germany's capital city Berlin. Over the years the soap opera tends to have an overhaul of young people in their late teens and early twenties; targeting a young viewership.


Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
2000 · IN
A mother-in-law's struggle to put up with her three bahu's. The three bahu's have grown up sons. The bahu's sons start to get involved with having girlfriends and the bahu's try and break their relationships up.


Family Affairs
1997 · UK
Focuses on the lives of residents in the fictional London suburb of Charnham.


Passions
1999 · US
Passions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008. Passions follows the lives and loves, and various romantic and paranormal adventures of the residents of Harmony. Story-lines center around the interactions among members of its multi-racial core families — the African American Russells, white Cranes and Bennetts, and half-Mexican half-Irish Lopez-Fitzgeralds — as well as the supernatural including town witch Tabitha Lenox. Created by writer James E. Reilly and produced by NBC Studios, the series was subsequently picked up by direct broadcast satellite service DirecTV, which broadcast new episodes airing on its exclusive channel The 101. In December 2007, DirecTV decided not to renew its contract for the series, and the studio was unable to sell the show elsewhere. The final episode aired on DirecTV on August 7, 2008.


CentoVetrine
2001 · IT
The series tells the stories of some of the characters who work or are related to an imaginary shopping center Centovetrine, located in the center of Turin. There are many stories of love and passion, but also struggles for power and dynastic quarrels in the telefilm.


Dark Shadows
1966 · US
Dark Shadows is an American gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began. The series became hugely popular when vampire Barnabas Collins appeared a year into its run. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel, and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles; indeed, as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor. Major writers besides Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.


Strawberries with Sugar
2003 · PT
Across several generations, groups of young Portuguese people navigate school life and summer holidays while dealing with friendships, first loves, rivalries, family conflicts and decisions that shape their future. Each season introduces new protagonists, schools and challenges, exploring themes related to adolescence, identity, responsibility and belonging. Sport, music, dance and other forms of expression accompany their journeys of growing up, marked by dreams, choices and ever-changing relationships.


Egoli: Place of Gold
1992 · ZA
A South African television soap opera created by Franz Marx which revolves around the daily ups, downs, trials and tribulations of a handful of families in and around Johannesburg (which is often referred to as eGoli - the City of Gold)


Holby City
1999 · UK
Drama series about life on the wards of Holby City Hospital, following the highs and lows of the staff and patients.


El cor de la ciutat
2000 · ES
El cor de la ciutat is a TVC television soap opera first broadcast on TV3 on 11 September 2000 and last broadcast on 23 December 2009. The show is the most watched fiction program in Catalonia, Spain, especially among female audiences, drawing around 28-33% of the audience with as much as 40% during season finales. El cor de la ciutat follows the lives of the people who live and work in the neighbourhood of Sants and Sant Andreu in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.


All My Children
1970 · US
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC for 41 years, from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network since April 29, 2013 via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and iTunes. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia which is modeled on the actual Philadelphia suburb of Rosemont.


Secret Lives
1999 · FI
Salatut elämät (Secret Lives) is a Finnish television soap opera that premiered on MTV3 on 25 January 1999. The series' storylines follow the daily lives of several families who live in the same apartment block in Helsinki.


Home and Away
1988 · AU
Home and Away is set in the fictional town of Summer Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales, and follows the personal and professional lives of the people living in the area. The show initially focused on the Fletcher family, Pippa and Tom Fletcher and their five foster children Frank Morgan, Carly Morris, Steven Matheson, Lynn Davenport and Sally Keating, who would go on to become one of the show's longest-running characters. The show also originally and currently focuses on the Stewart family. Home and Away had proved popular when it premiered in 1988 and had risen to become a hit in Australia, and after only a few weeks, the show tackled its first major and disturbing storyline, the rape of Carly Morris; it was one of the first shows to feature such storylines during the early timeslot. H&A has tackled many adult-themed and controversial storylines; something rarely found in its restricted timeslot.


Rote Rosen
2006 · DE
Rote Rosen is a German telenovela produced by Studio Hamburg Serienwerft Lüneburg and broadcast by Das Erste since November 6, 2006. The show is a complex telenovela, who tells one love story every season about women in their forties.


Casualty
1986 · UK
Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.


In All Friendship
1998 · DE
German soap opera about the staff of the fictional hospital "Sachsenklinik" in the city of Leipzig.


Dallas
1978 · US
The world's first mega-soap, and one of the most popular ever produced, Dallas had it all. Beautiful women, expensive cars, and men playing Monopoly with real buildings. Famous for one of the best cliffhangers in TV history, as the world asked "Who shot J.R.?" A slow-burner to begin with, Dallas hit its stride in the 2nd season, with long storylines and expert character development. Dallas ruled the airwaves in the 1980's.


Getroud met Rugby: Die Sepie
2016 · ZA
Getroud met Rugby: Die Sepie is a South African soap opera based on the feature film and later drama series Getroud met Rugby by Deon Opperman, which is set amongst a rugby-playing community.


Melrose Place
1992 · US
Follow the lives of a group of young adults living in a brownstone apartment complex on Melrose Place, in Los Angeles, California.


Suidooster
2015 · ZA
Suidooster is a South African television soap opera produced by Suidooster Films which revolves around a matriarch, her family, friends and the people of Suidooster, a small shopping and business centre in the fictional Cape Town suburb of Ruiterbosch.


Com si fos ahir
2017 · ES
A group of high school friends meet again after 25 years to attend the funeral of a mutual friend, and from that point on they try to recover their friendship.


Floribella
2006 · PT
No overview available


Wedding Ring
2008 · RU
No overview available


The Ladies' Paradise
2015 · IT
Follow Teresa Iorio, a young woman who leaves her rural Sicilian hometown for Milan to find work--and much more--at a newly opened department store: The Ladies' Paradise.


Best Friends
2007 · NL
Best Friends follows the life of a group of friends at their high school ‘Spangalis College’. Inside and outside of school exciting and challenging experiences take place. Growing up is never easy; every character has its own, unique story of love, friendship, loneliness, sorrow, discovery. There is drama and joy in school, family, teachers, parents, divorce, bullying, and always dreams for the future.


Ulice
2005 · CZ
Ulice is a Czech soap opera produced and broadcast by Nova. In the Czech language Ulice means street. The show describes the lives of the Farský, Jordán, Boháč, Nikl, and Liška families and many other people that live in Prague. Their daily battle against real problems of living in a modern world like divorce, love, betrayal and illness or disease. Ulice often shows crime.


El Señor de los Cielos
2013 · US
Set in the 1990s, these are the life and times of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, a man who became the head of the Juárez cartel. Nicknamed “El Señor de los Cielos” (Lord of the Skies) because of the large fleet of airplanes he used to transport drugs, he was also known for washing more than $200 million through Colombia to finance his huge fleet. He is described as the most powerful drug trafficker of his time.


Falcon Crest
1981 · US
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the Californian wine industry. Jane Wyman starred as Angela Channing, the tyrannical matriarch of the Falcon Crest Winery, alongside Robert Foxworth as Chase Gioberti, Angela's nephew who returns to Falcon Crest following the death of his father. The series was set in the fictitious Tuscany Valley northeast of San Francisco.
Soap opera is television's most enduring form — continuing serials built on relationships, reversals, and an audience that returns for decades. Its storytelling grammar quietly underpins most modern serialized drama.