Moat soap operas take the form of the Hypodermic Needle Theory which involves the programme requiring a passive audience. A lot of viewers take comfort in soap operas as they feel they can emphasise with the characters and it's a touch of normality that they can follow which does not require decisions or interaction from them. As the viewers of a soap opera are passive it means they are directly affected by what they view, people automatically accept the story lines and soaps message without considering its merits. Another name for this theory is the 'Magic Bullet Theory' as the information is shot at the audience like a 'magic bullet' and directly penetrated into the viewers mind. Soap operas are long-running serials concerned with everyday life. The serial is not to be confused with the series, in which the main characters and format remain the same from programme to programme but each episode is a self-contained plot. In a serial at least one storyline is carried over from one episode to the next. A series is advertised as having a specific number of episodes, but serials are potentially endless. Soap Operas also take an episodic structure which means that although over a couple of episodes a storyline may be gradually resolved a new one in the meantime has been started (or a number of story lines) there for the soap opera is ongoing and ideal for regular viewers or working class people that use their evenings to relax out of routine. For this reason also there is often a weekend 'omnibus' for soap operas so that if an episode is missed it can be reviewed sometime after it was shown. This is especially important as if a vital part of a storyline is missed it can be re-seen for enthusiastic viewers.
references; http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/TF33120/soaps.html
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