Some signs that you're watching a soap opera:
-You're watching it between the hours of 10 AM and 2 PM.
-It looks like it was shot on a camcorder.
-The acting is extremely melodramatic and over-the-top.
-The quality of the writing makes you realize, "
Hey, maybe the second season of Heroes wasn't so
bad after all."
-The cast was picked solely for their looks, not because they have any real acting
talent (which they usually
don't).
-Somebody just came back from the dead in a totally unbelievable manner.
-Everybody is related to
one another in some convoluted fashion.
-Everybody is having sex with
one another, even if they're related (and
don't know it).
-Are years of backstory getting in the way of the show's ever-more-outrageous plotlines? No problem. Just retcon it all away.
Soap operas only exists to give work to the actors, writers and directors who couldn't make it on primetime
television, and to give
stay-at-home soccer moms something to do during the
day.