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.
Example:
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.