XH: During this week’s Round Table, we got to discuss a really popular South Korean TV drama, 来自星星的你. During the discussion, we got to talk about what exactly a soap opera is. ‘Cuz obviously John, you don’t think this show falls into the category of a soap opera. So, what exactly is a soap opera?

JA: Well, a soap opera is characterized by having a large, large cast of characters, and storylines that, basically, never end and just over-the-top acting and melodrama. I would say that来自星星的你 definitely does not actually fit that all. In fact, we have a clip of some American, and even a Mexican, soap opera to give you a taste of what a soap opera actually is.

[clip]

XH: Okay, so I got a brief idea. 所以说肥皂剧就是那种特别冗长似乎永远也播不完的。

And also, it sounds like from the soundbite we were just listening to, they’re really dramatic.

JA: Yes, very dramatic

XH: And not that well made.

JA: Well, production value is actually quite low because soap operas are actually… They’re broadcast 5 days a week, usually sometime in the afternoon. And so the production cycle has to be very, very short, just because they pretty much don’t take any breaks. They might take a couple of seasonal breaks around the summer and the winter, otherwise they just keep going all year.

XH: 所以美国意义上的肥皂剧是那种日播的肥皂剧，可能会一播播好多年, right?

JA: Oh yeah, like “All My Children” for example, my mother, she’s been watching that since she was a teenager and it’s still on ABC. Like, if you go to the United States right now, you can go and still watch “All My Children.”

XH: Yeah. Final question: so something like来自星星的你, what category would it fall into?

JA: I would say it’s more like a romantic drama or something like a romantic comedy to a certain degree just because the premise is quite, um, it’s a little bit too fantastic, I would say. But, in general, it’s definitely not a soap opera. That being said, I think a lot of Chinese shows can actually fit into part of the definition of soap opera.

XH: In that it is bad?!

JA: It’s, well, there is that, but also just in terms of over-the-top emotions that we see half the time in a lot of these popular Chinese TV dramas you also see similar types of things in American soap operas.

XH: I got it. So if we make those dramas longer and on daytime television, they will be soap operas.

JA: Exactly.

XH: Alright, that’s good to know!