History Main / SoapWithinAShow

* ''{{SCTV}}'''s ongoing soap opera parody ''The Days of the Week'' was a surprisingly understated example of this trope.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Jetsons: The Movie]]'': Jane, Rosie and Astro are watching "All My Androids". All three are in tears as "Galaxina threatens to pull the plug on her romance".

* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Roger watches what's supposed to be ''{{Dynasty}}'', but the only scene we ever see is the two main women slapping each other and calling each other "bitch" in turn. The scenery changes sometimes, but they are always doing the same thing.

* Season 5 of ''[[RupaulsDragRace Rupaul's Drag Race]]'' included a Telenovela challenge where the queens had to act out scenes from a mock Latin soap, ChewingTheScenery like there's no tomorrow.

* One ''AsTheWorldTurns'' fanfic has Luke and Reid as fans of a soap which is [[{{Expy}} pretty much]] ''As The World Turns'' with the names changed. The two originally meet on a message board that is definitely not Soap Central and argued over their preferred pairings: Luke wants the expy Luke/Noah pairing, while Reid is an expy Luke/Reid shipper. The story pokes a lot of fun at the ShipToShipCombat / DieForOurShip and FanDumb seen on the ''[=ATWT=]'' message boards.

* ''Series/TwinPeaks'' had one called ''Invitation to Love'' in which the action closely mirrored the story of the show. A lot was filmed, but most was cut away in post production.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has ''All My Parents' Offspring'' (parody of ''AllMyChildren''), ''Kissy Kissy Goo Goo'' and ''All My Biceps'' (Jorgen's favorite show starring Wanda's identical but somehow hotter sister Blonda).

** Joey is a crappy actor (who gets a teensy bit better with time) and gets a role in a soap that is not strictly fictional (being ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'') but the ShowWithinAShow stuff we see fits perfectly anyway... It's outlandish even for a SoapOpera (brain transplants?!) Notably, during Joey's original tenure on the show (and when it was revisited in Season 6's "what if?" episode), the real sets and actors from ''DOOL'' were used. When he returned to the show in the last few seasons it became a completely fictionalized version.
--> '''Rachel:''' (discussing how Joey may not win a soap opera award) Come on Joey. You're going up against the guy who survived his ''own'' cremation!

* Joey's soap in ''Series/{{Friends}}'' is not strictly fictional (being ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'') but the ShowWithinAShow stuff we see fits perfectly anyway... It's outlandish even for a SoapOpera (brain transplants?!)...
** Not that outlandish to anyone whoever watched ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'' regularly.
** Some other gem lines:
--> '''Rachel:''' (discussing how Joey may not win a soap opera award) "Come on Joey. You're going up against the guy who survived his ''own'' cremation!"
** An early episode also featured the gang watching a telenovela and making their own story as they didn't know what was going on. The scene had two women fighting and ended with one of them being thrown down a flight of stairs.
** In "The One Where the Monkey Gets Away", Rachel is watching a nameless soap opera with Marcel and explaining the gist of the plot to him.
** Notably, during Joey's original tenure on the show (and when it was revisited in Season 6's "what if?" episode), the real sets and actors from ''DOOL'' were used. When he returned to the show in the last few seasons it became a completely fictionalized version.

* The telenovela in ''UglyBetty'', which has the added bonus in that non-Spanish speakers will have an even harder time understanding what's going on.

** Master Splinter has picked it up in [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 the 2003 toon]]. It's briefly {{lampshaded}} in the CGI movie (made doubly funny with VA Mako's delivery), and ''TurtlesForever'' starts with him watching a man say "I'm not your stepbrother - I'm your ''[[UnsettlingGenderReveal half-sister]]''!"

# [[SayMyName Oh, John! Oh, Marsha!]] (a reference to the classic StanFreberg routine)

* ''Series/RedDwarf'' has a ''{{Neighbours}}'' parody with androids.

* ''Cobbers'', another ''{{Neighbours}}'' parody in ''Literature/JohnnyAndTheDead'', enjoyed by Johnny's grandad and the ghosts.

* Conan O'Brien's ''TonightShow'' has ''Noches de Pasión con Señor O'Brien''.

When a SoapOpera appears as a ShowWithinAShow in another genre, it is nearly always done as an [[StylisticSuck over-the-top parody]] of the genre or at least as a quick portrayal of cliched forms of its tropes, including [[SoapWheel (but by no means limited to)]]:

* ''[[TheJetsons Jetsons: The Movie]]'': Jane, Rosie and Astro are watching "All My Androids". All three are in tears as "Galaxina threatens to pull the plug on her romance".

* In ''Series/SonnyWithAChance'', one of the main characters is the star of a DawsonsCreek-esque soap opera called ''Mackenzie Falls''.

** Later on, [[spoiler: Peridot]], of all people, ends up hooked on a camp-based show called ''Camp Pining Hearts''. Or rather, hooked on [[UpToEleven one episode for 78 hours]]. Steven wisely decides not to tell her there's more than one. Eventually, she watches more, as she and Steven agree that season 5 was terrible.

* ''Moody's Point'' on ''Series/TheAmandaShow''. Bonus points for ending on a never-resolved CliffHanger.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Kid TV" has Phil and Lil act out a soap opera titled, ''The Teeny and the Tiny''. The plot of the story shown apparently involves Lil preparing to have her brain removed, while Phil tries to talk her out of the operation. Angelica mistakes this for a different kind of {{opera}}, and plays a singing waitress dressed as a {{Valkyrie|s}}.