Soaps Opinion: Are Bad Bad Boys of Soaps Today, Really just ‘Sad’ Boys? Where Did the True Bad Boys?

Bad boys in soaps who don’t fit the mold.

There’s a bad boy with a new face in The Young & the Restless’s Genoa City. His name is Ashland Locke—but doesn’t he look a bit like that Josh Lewis fella over in Springfield? Maybe he got a new haircut. Anyway, the ruthless media mogul has bamboozled Victoria Newman into marriage and has his eyes on her father Victor Newman’s empire.

Ashland has a typical – if somewhat convoluted – bad boy backstory involving a dead friend, switched identities and stealing money from his wealthy wife’s cat charity. I think Ashland’s story may come to a fatal end, but we’ll have to stay tuned and find out.

It got me thinking: who are the next bad boys of soap opera? Are there any? Anti-heroes like Ashland are a daytime staple — romancing naïve heroines, making bad choices and ultimately either mending their ways in the name of love or getting an epic comeuppance.

The newest batch of troubled leading men on Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital and Young and the Restless don’t exactly fit the mold. From tots who tattle to possessed preppies, this latest crop is in no hurry to fall in love or to walk the straight and narrow.

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What do you think? Do you love the latest bad boys of daytime or are you all about the good guys? Will Douglas Forrester fade into the background or is he the next bad seed?

Should we be worried about Noah Newman’s mental health? Will someone finally get Peter August good and done? Can Johnny DiMera be saved from Satan or is his new rich jerk personality permanent? Are the bad boys of the day really just a pale and sad comparison of what they once were in the bad boy heyday?

Fave current bad boy in soaps?

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Comment below about your thoughts on the current bad guys and sad guys and some of your favorites from the past.

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