If Soap Operas Return With No Kissing or Brawls, Would You Even Watch?

Would you deal with anything to get your soap opera back?

When Bold and Beautiful, General Hospital, and Young and Restless get the go-ahead to start filming new episodes, things might look very different and present a whole host of challenges for cast and crew…and viewers. Though Days of our Lives has enough new episodes to run through fall, at some point they will need to begin taping again under new guidelines as well. Soaps.com looked to how Australian soap opera Neighbours is making it work as they returned to the set, to see how it might unfold behind-the-scenes and onscreen.

Obviously, with actors having to remain 6 feet apart, there would be no scenes with kissing or physical intimacy, and no fighting or getting up close into a rival’s face for intimidation purposes, however, the crew would be able to use camera tricks and creative angles to make it appear as though characters were in fact close onscreen. The go-to for Neighbours has been to cut away right before a kiss or punch is about to take place…leaving viewers to use their imaginations. Actors are also shooting a lot of scenes on their own, which are later spliced together to make it look as though the characters were gathered together.

Still, it leaves a lot of questions as to how soaps will handle key moments and whether it will ‘work’ for viewers. For example, what will it look like when Days of our Lives’ Abigail confronts the person who drugged her while self-distancing, or how would Bold and Beautiful’s Sally deal with an unconscious Flo when she can’t touch her? Imagine Young and Restless’ Sharon going through breast cancer with no hugs, and Willow and Michael’s honeymoon on General Hospital with no intimacy? Soaps.com wants to know if, as a fan, you would be willing to tune in to your favorite soap opera regardless, or whether you feel it wouldn’t be worth it without the traditional type of scenes. Vote in the poll below to let us know where you stand.