I was 11 years old when Scandal! (not to be confused with Shonda Rhimes’ hit show) first came on air. Back then, soapies weren’t just shows, they were part of life.
Marjorie Langa plays Gloria on Scandal!. Source: eTV.
They told our stories, structured our evenings, and gave us something to talk about the next day. Now, as Scandal! prepares for its final curtain call in June 2026, I can’t help but think about what its future absence means. For my generation, millennials, it leaves only one familiar companion still standing: Generations: The Legacy.
The soapie as a timekeeper
As a child, I measured time not with the clock but with soapies. 7de Laan omnibaas on Sundays meant homework was behind me and the dread of school the next day started to prevail. Scandal! meant supper was ready. And when Muvhango started at 9pm, it was time to go to bed while the adults found out what Vho Makhadzi or Doobsie were now up to. These shows were a rhythm, a way of life, woven into the background of our growing up.
Soap operas were once South Africa’s collective imagination. They introduced us to characters we loved and loathed, sparked debates in taxis and classrooms, and reflected social realities that other media often ignored.
Generations as the last link
It’s strange to think Generations: The Legacy (which is technically not the original Generations) is the last survivor of that golden line-up. Its persistence is a reminder of how much has changed — not only in television, but in the way we consume stories. It has been a tough few years for South African soapies: Rhythm City was cancelled in July 2021 after 13 successful years, Isidingo was taken off air in 2019 after 21 years, and 7de Laan ended in 2023.
Today, audiences are glued to Netflix, YouTube, or TikTok, where stories are faster, shorter, and easy to binge. Yet research shows we are also circling back to basics, with global streamers reviving the old rhythm of soapies by dropping one episode a week to build anticipation and conversation. The slow-burn drama of a soapie, however, is a different creature altogether — unfolding over years rather than seasons. The end of Scandal! is proof that audience habits have shifted, but it also raises the question of whether South African television can reinvent the communal magic that soapies once provided.
New life
Even the long-running American soap The Bold and the Beautiful has found new life on Netflix, where South African audiences can stream its endless twists and turns on demand. It’s a curious trend— a show that epitomised traditional daytime television now sits comfortably on a modern streaming platform. Its presence there suggests that while the format of the soapie may feel old-fashioned, the for melodrama, cliffhangers, and sprawling storylines hasn’t disappeared. What’s changed is how and where we choose to watch.
I do believe there is an appetite for monetising nostalgia, but the question is how and whether these shows will remain relics of the past, fondly remembered but rarely revived.
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