10 Best Modern Soap Operas, Ranked According To IMDb

Soap operas have been around for a long time on TV and some of the greatest are from the past decade. Here are the best modern soap operas.

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Synonymous with melodrama, TV soap operas used to be far more popular than they are today. With a few long-running exceptions that are still on the air today, the format became most prevalent in the 1950s and ’60s with such beloved daytime titles as Guiding Light, As the World Turns, All My Children, One Life to Live, and many more.

Nowadays, only four daytime and six primetime soap operas remain on the air. However, several soaps have concluded their series finale over the past half-decade or so, including such beloved fare as Dallas, Scandal, Empire, Nashville, and the like.

10 Grand Hotel (2019) – 7.1/10

The newest soap to make the list includes ABC’s Grand Hotel, in which melodramatic palace intrigue is brought to a family-operated Miami Beach resort.

With 13 episodes and counting, the story revolves around The Riviera Grand Hotel, the only family-owned hotel remaining on the beach. When the hotel’s chef Sky (Arielle Kebbel) is kidnapped during a hurricane, The Mendoza family must figure out what happened to her while struggling to maintain ownership of the hotel.

9 Mistresses (2013-2016) – 7.1/10

Created by K.J. Steinberg, Mistresses is a dramatic mystery soap that follows the lives of a quartet of diabolical female friends who indulge in a series of illicit relationships in Los Angeles. The show is a remake of the British soap of the same name.

The players include Savi (Alyssa Milano), her younger half-sister Josselyn (Jes Macallan), and their best friends April (Rochelle Aytes), and Karen (Yunjin Kim), all of whom try to heal old wounds while pursuing new romances and juggling their professional demands.

8 Dynasty (2017-) 7.3/10

Dynasty is a reboot of the popular soap opera of the same that ran for 9 seasons from 1981 to 1989. In a tale of Shakespearean rivalry, the melodrama centers on the warring factions between two of the most opulent families in America.

When energy heiress Fallon Carrington (Elizabeth Gillies) disapproves of her billionaire father’s new finance, she teams with his chief rival to bring him down. This sets off a chain of backstabbing betrayal, familial infighting, and a mysterious murder that has lasting ramifications for generations to come.

7 Empire (2015-2020) – 7.4/10

Winner of the 2016 AFI Award for TV Program of the Year as well as a Golden Globe for star Taraji P. Henson for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama, Empire is a soap that is adored by fans and critics alike.

Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, the melodrama focuses on Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), the successful CEO of Empire Records who is forced to choose a successor among his children after being diagnosed with ALS. However, when Lucious’s ruthless ex-wife Cookie (Henson) returns from prison, she shakes things up like no other.

6 Saints & Sinners (2016-) – 7.5/10

With five seasons and counting, Saints & Sinners is a southern-set soap opera in which melodrama swirls around the Greater Hope Baptist Church and its sinful parishioners.

Set in a rural hamlet in Georgia, the series revolves around the furtive beauty queen Lady Ella Johnson (Vanessa Bell Calloway), choir director Miles Calloway (Keith D. Robinson), and the sordid lives of churchgoers who struggle to control their transgressions. While many episodes revolve around mysterious murder cases, the show chronicles humanity’s greed, envy, wrath, lust, sloth, gluttony, and pride.

5 The Royals (2015-2018) – 7.5/10

Set in modern-day London, The Royals peers into the public and private lives of a fictitious regal British family led by Queen Helena Henstridge (Elizabeth Hurley).

When Helena’s eldest son and heir to the throne, Robert (Max Brown), is mysteriously killed, the entire family is upended. The crown falls on the unprepared head of Helena’s son, Prince Liam (William Moseley), whose wild twin sister Princess Eleanor (Alexandra Park) threatens to undermine the palatial protocols.

4 Grey’s Anatomy (2005-) – 7.6/10

Created by Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy is ABC’s longest-running soap opera to date. Since 2005, the medical melodrama has been on the air for 17 seasons and 376 episodes.

Centered on the personal and professional life of Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the show charts the evolution of the character from a resident intern to becoming the head of general surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital. With an emphasis on Grey’s closest friends, colleagues, and romantic interests, the show has won three Golden Globes and four Primetime Emmy Awards to date.

3 Nashville (2012-2018) – 7.7/10

Somewhat inspired by the 1975 Robert Altman film of the same name, Nashville traces the tragedies and triumphs of several country western musicians in Nashville, Tennessee.

With 6 Seasons and 124 episodes, much of the melodrama concerns Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton), an iconic country music star in her 40s dealing with past fame and future uncertainty. As her star begins to fade, Jaymes forges an intense rivalry with Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), a budding superstar singer-songwriter.

2 Scandal (2012-2018) – 7.7/10

It’s no overstatement to say that Shonda Rhimes is the queen of contemporary soap operas. After creating Grey’s Anatomy, she produced Scandal, a political melodrama that won a 2014 AFI Award for TV Program of the Year.

The series centers on Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington), a savvy politico and skilled fixer who starts her own crisis abatement firm to help a series of troubled Washington shakers and movers. As she tries to help her professional clients, Olivia’s personal life becomes dangerously compromised.

1 Devious Maids (2013-2016) – 7.8/10

According to IMDb, the highest-rated modern soap opera is Devious Maids, Lifetime’s soapy series about four ambitious Latina housekeepers in Beverly Hills.

With a campy comedic bent, the series follows Marisol (Ana Ortiz), Rosie (Dania Ramirez), Carmen (Roselyn Sanchez), and Zoila (Judy Reyes), a quartet of housemaids who scheme their way into making their fantasies come true. While dealing with their rich employers, the foursome also attempts to solve mysteries that include murder, hidden love affairs, old family secrets, and the like.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-modern-soap-operas-ranked/