Soap opera plots are not restricted to the 30 or 60 minute segment. This use of time leads to different events and actions, modes of characterizations, and values than found in most of television. The result is that we get a better idea of what TV art can be through an analysis of soap operas than other program types. We must be willing to look beyond our negative view of soap operas. Nothing is more apparent in daytime soap operas than their essential physical cheapness.
Sets are thin, walls sometimes quiver when doors are slammed.
We know we are entering a hospital from the outside when the camera offers a closeup of the sign identifying the building. The lighting remains the same indoors or out. Most importantly, no attempt is made to hide these facts. We are always clearly in a TV studio, on location in the world of soap opera. As a result, place is defined by function.