Television series have been part of people’s lives for a very long time. After the invention of television, watching television became more popular than going to the cinema. In the process of increasing interest in television series, the types of these programs also increased. Thus, many genres of TV series appeared, as well as genres owned by movies. Soap operas and science fiction series are two of the most popular types among these genres. Soap operas are about romantic events and cliche situations. Science fiction series are mostly about supernatural things and unusual adventures. Although these two types contain different kinds of stories, there are a few parts that make people love both. These two genres of television series have got several similarities and differences in many aspects.
There are two similarities between soap operas and science fiction series. For one thing, although it is much more prominent in soap operas, romantic relationships are seen in science fiction series as in all genres. For instance, even though The 100 is a science fiction series, it includes lots of romantic and emotional relationships. For another thing, both genres have good characters and bad characters in them. In addition, these characters can be normal humans or, for science fiction series, supernatural creatures. To exemplify, some of these villains are very well known, such as Peter from Teen Wolf, Klaus from The Vampire Diaries, and J.R. Ewing from Dallas. All in all, romantic relationships and character types are two significant similarities between science fiction series and soap operas.
Despite these similarities, science fiction series differ from soap operas in terms of the consumer group, the number of episodes, and the broadcasting platform. First of all, people who watch these two particular types of television series usually have completely different personalities. For example, while soap operas are mostly preferred by romantic and emotional people, science fiction series are preferred by people who love adventure and supernatural things. Also, soap operas usually have many more episodes than science fiction series. What is more, soap operas’ episodes are by far longer than science fiction series episodes. Lastly, soap operas are usually broadcast on television channels, but science fiction series are commonly known as digital platform series. To illustrate, the television series which we watch on television every night in Turkey can count as soap operas. However, famous science fiction series like The X Files and Stranger Things broadcast on digital platforms, such as Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. In brief, science fiction series and soap operas have differences in audience preferences, episode numbers, and the platforms we watch them.
To sum up, even if there are a few similarities between these two species, there are also many differences. These differences mostly about how they are broadcasting and the characteristics of those who prefer. On the other hand, these audience characteristics we are talking about are not absolute judgments and some people prefer both genres. I believe that no matter how different soap operas and science fiction television series are, they can be combined with each other and with other genres to create new and interesting productions.