In a way, Las Vegas already feels like a quantified movie set. The bright lights, the cinematic horizons, the buzz. It all feels like it was made for the stars of Hollywood, forming the perfect backdrop to every show and every movie there’s ever been.
Well, it’s not quite that. Despite the lavish mystique, Las Vegas is just another city in the United States. Famed for its luxury hotels and numerous casinos, of course, but also the home of over 600,000 people who, in their experience, will describe life in the city as perfectly ordinary.
But it’s on the surface where things get glitzy, and as we all know, in movies and television, it’s what’s on the surface that counts. That’s why it really has formed the backdrop of so many productions over the last few decades.
Some of these productions, of course, are our favourite soap operas. It doesn’t matter where the soap opera is set, whenever directors want to breathe a new lease of life into a show, Las Vegas always seems to be the first port of call. Of course, that might be because it’s a paid vacation, and there are a number of casinos there to take advantage of! But you can get the same number of casinos anywhere these days, and claim thousands in bonuses while doing it, so we don’t think it’s that!
No, this is all about the drama and glamour that Vegas provides. So with this in mind, we wanted to take a look at some of these soap opera episodes and what made Las Vegas such a perfect setting. Starting with something a little left field.
Friends
Okay, hear us out. You’re likely shouting ‘but Friends wasn’t a soap opera’ at your computer screens, and yes, you’re probably right. But Friends wasn’t a sitcom, either. In many corners of the internet, Friends is described as a soapcom – a soap opera masquerading as a situation comedy – and in our opinion, that couldn’t be more accurate.
Friends was a truly unique show that merged both genres, and never did it do this so well as when the crew jetted off to Las Vegas for a quick weekend getaway. While this was full of laughs and silly situations, it was also a soap opera of the highest order.
Ross and Rachel got married out of nowhere, Chandler and Monica had a big blow up over Monica’s dinner date with an old fling – before obviously getting back together – and Joey tried and failed at getting his first real movie role. The soap opera influences were all over the wall, and Las Vegas – with all its drama and theatrics – was the perfect backdrop to emphasise it.
Days of Our Lives
Something else that proves Friends was a soap opera in disguise was its kindred partnership with the real soap opera, Days of Our Lives, which Joey Tribbiani was a lead actor in. This is one of the longest running soap operas in the US, having been on television since 1965 to 2022 – and even now, DOOL is streaming new episodes exclusively on Peacock.
One of the best episodes, however, has to be the 2010 episode in which Chloe Lane and Philip Kirakis visit the city during a tumultuous time in their relationship. It was full of twists and turns – and yes, many of those turns take the form of a spinning roulette wheel – that left both the in-world plot and viewers reeling, and it certainly helped that it was led mainly by two of the most beloved characters in the show.
General Hospital
Las Vegas isn’t all about parties and gambling. In many ways, it’s also the certified ‘city of love’ for Americans – coming second only to Paris! This was proved by the General Hospital episode where Jax and Courtney take a spontaneous trip to Vegas and end up getting married there.
Although the glitz and glamour of the city play a big part in the story, it’s also used to emphasise the whirlwind aspect of their romance, forming the perfect setting for the storyline to play out. We all knew it wouldn’t last, of course. Nothing says ‘forever’ like an impulsive wedding surrounded by Elvis impersonators, but it was still a nice story while it lasted, and it’s one we look back particularly fondly on.
The Bold and the Beautiful
Another Vegas episode, another wedding. We’re beginning to sense a theme here. While The Bold and the Beautiful isn’t the most hyped soap opera in the US, this episode certainly showed it had style. It starts with Ridge Forrester and Shauna Fulton deciding to spice things up and get married, but in true soap opera style, things quickly get thrown off course – not helped by the fact it was a secret wedding, filled with enough drama to fit all Las Vegas’s countless stages.
Once again, the city itself is the real star, here. Not only does it look beautiful, but it serves as a unique and sunny backdrop to a wedding that could have been all sunshine and daisies, but very quickly spirals out of control. Not unlike Las Vegas when the sun goes down!
Passions
Remember Passions? That’s probably a soap opera you haven’t heard about in a while, but when Passions was on, it was a hit daytime show for so many people. Essentially, it was NBC’s funky, goofy, daytime romp that they shoved onto our screens without much thought or care – almost as if they had to fill a void between one show and the next.
But while it did get many people scratching their heads – the soap opera genre meets magic and witches? – it quickly became one of those shows you simply had to get home for. The Las Vegas episode was no exception.
Because of the city’s unpredictable and somewhat wild nature, it actually made the ideal setting for a show that thrived on the bizarre and unexpected, adding another layer of chaos to Theresa and Julian’s relationship as they attempted to ‘Vegas it up’ and tie the knot. Passions ended in 2008, of course, but there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t wish it’ll return to our screens. Perhaps with another Las Vegas show to eek some more vibes out of the city!
Santa Barbara
If we’re talking soap operas that you’ve probably forgotten about, we have to mention the epic Santa Barbara, which aired on NBC between 1984 to 1993. While it wasn’t the longest lasting soap opera, it certainly made an impact when it was on our screens, and the Las Vegas episode was one of the best when it came to pure shocks and revelations.
The city played a great host to Gina and Keith’s misadventures, giving us some humorous and more light-hearted moments that were contrasted with some heavy drama. Unlike Passions, we’re not exactly begging for this show to come back, but we certainly don’t mind going back to watch the Vegas episode every now and then!
The Young and the Restless
You’re probably getting the picture that Vegas is a very popular spot for soap opera production crews, but we might as well leave you with one of the most well known American shows: The Young and the Restless, which had its own Vegas episode in 2019.
Said to be one of the best episodes of the show’s run, this story revolved around the character Adam, who had previously been presumed dead. Once again, in true soap opera fashion, Adam was in fact living under the alias ‘Spider’ and playing poker in the underground gambling scene for a living.
The episode itself was packed with mystery and suspense, with dramatic confrontations and some emotional moments, as Victor Newman struggles to bring Adam back to Genoa City. We loved it. The world loved it. And we can’t wait to see what happens when the show inevitably visits Las Vegas again!
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