Novel for television. Soap operas brought the continuing story format to television and have had the arena largely to themselves throughout most of its history. They are a constantly growing and evolving entity dating back to the heyday of radio. Fantasy and Community Soap operas are ultimately about the daily lives of people and the troubles they face. They provide escapism for viewers, inviting fans to get lost ina world where the problems are all so much greater than their own and are thankfully happening to someone else.
Soap operas invite fantasy and build communities, both on the show andoff.
It's these characteristics, as well as the combination of daily life and epic storylines, that made Babylon 5 as much a soap opera as it was a space show. Virtually every soap opera features stories of unrequited love, romantic triangles, people returning from the dead, and as much anguish and suffering the writers can possibly inflict on their characters. Though Lennier was never a serious challenger to Sheridan for Delenn's affections, his obsession provided an important bump in the road for the couple when he was tempted to allow Sheridan to die in a shipboard accident. Security Chief Zack Allen never did much about his feelings for telepath Lyta Alexander, who remained almost completely unaware of them. In a twist that combined both soap opera anguish and SF plotting, Zack's one baring of his heart occurred when a Vorlon-induced compulsion left Lyta completely oblivious.