Lost

The Walking Dead

Other

I never made a poll before. Question still stands.

The most notable before those was the original Dallas and Dynasty.

Dallas

Other than Dallas and Dynasty I have to throw in the vote for Melrose Place. A real throwback to the first 2.

I'll add Knots Landing and the original 90210. They're worth mentioning.

Most notable overall: Dallas

Biggest impact on television series that followed it: Twin Peaks

I started to say Dallas, but I think that Peyton Place was probably even more important to the form, since it influenced Dallas in many ways.

Yeah, a friend of mine lives in Camden and she says tons of people come to their town because of Peyton Place to this very day.

From the 80's
Dallas > Dynasty > Knots Landing > Falscon Crest

From the 90's
Beverly Hills > Melrose Place > Dawson's Creek (although I like DC the most)

Never watched Desperate Houses et al from the 90's

Dawson's Creek

It was the first of it's kind that spawned countless clones and launched the careers of many big stars. Surprisingly Vanderbeek ended up being the least famous of stars.

Dallas. Not even close if you're talking notable. Close the thread.

Dallas and Soap

I'd say Dallas by far.

DING DING DING

We have our winner. No more calls.

I got go with Dallas for 80s primetime soaps. For me, it would be tie between BH:90210 and Melrose Place for the 90s.

I can't see any definition of soap opera where Lost and The Walking Dead would be included.

I wondered why it took 16 posts for someone to point this out. Serialized television does not necessarily mean it's a "soap opera"

Most notable primetime soap for 2015:

How Lost ever got mentioned as a soap is beyond me.

It all begins and ends with Dallas. Kids today will never understand how big that show was in its prime, the television environment has completely changed since those days.

Even though I was just a baby at the time, I still know about the pop culture insanity the "Who shot JR.?" story line caused. I can't think of another example of the TV audience being that crazy about a show since. Maybe The M*A*S*H or The Sopranos finales but I don't think they even match the frenzied Summer people waited to find out the conclusion to the cliffhanger.

I think I even had a "Who shot JR?" T-shirt when I was little without even knowing what it was referencing.

I wasn't born at that point and even I've at least heard about the "who shot JR" storyline. It seems to have cast a big shadow, TV Guide was always talking about it as the biggest cliffhanger of all time.

The OC was big with teens when I was in high school, but probably doesn't count

I suspect the mention of Lost and The Walking Dead was just an attempt to get in a dig at those shows. Which doesn't work given there is nothing wrong with a really well done soap.

Obviously nothing will likely ever touch Dallas and 90120 for the younger generation.

What shows on now be considered soaps? Once Upon A Time seems to be a given. Not sure about any others, even those I don't watch. Seems to be a forgotten genre.

I only watched one episode of Dallas in my lifetime and it was the damn JR reveal because of all the hype.

I watched Desperate Housewives and it probably had three really good seasons over its run. I hated myself for watching the last few but couldn't stop at that point.

I first heard of DC from all the hype surrounding whatever music they played that week, then started watching it on DVD in time to catch the end of the run on the air. But yeah, after all these years Van Der Beek is playing himself.

Dallas, the Ewing family, Southfork Ranch -- even casual viewers were aware of how massive this show was back in the day.

I suspect that has as much to do with the novel and movie, though. The TV show is little more than a footnote after them.