Although soap is not a rare commodity in this world, occasionally some do stand out.
Having seen many many soaps over the years, and having dropped most after a few shows I can say that only a very few are both memorable and watchable.
Although this isn't the best of the three that would make up my complete list of good soap operas, I would say that it is the only one still in production.
What it takes to make a good soap opera is writing and although there are daily flaws in the writing of Family Affairs, over all it wins. It wins not only because the cast and the players are so heavily embedded within their part [hell they make five episodes per week they can't help it] but because of the perspective from which the writing takes place.
The writers Know they can't have a plane crash or and Ebola outbreak every week and so they make the smaller stories that do occur affect characters on a more intimate and personal level. Things occur to characters, the characters do appear to have lives. Admittedly on occasion just for viewing figures things go totally out of whack, but on the whole the writers do keep things based on the lives of the characters.
That's what makes this show great.
Oh and in case your wondering the other two shows are, A Country Practice [exceptional characters and writing, all under a limited budget] and Prisoner Cell Block H [yes it was more than just a bunch of ugly chicks doing each other, it had many of the same writers as A Country Practice but with harder stories].
