The Nightly – "The Wildest Soap Opera Plot Twists Ever"

Host: Jacques and Matt | Guest: Ira Madison III
Date: December 16, 2025

Episode Overview

In this cozy, late-night episode of The Nightly, hosts Jacques and Matt are joined by cultural critic and podcaster Ira Madison III for a hilarious and nostalgic slumber party chat. The trio dives deep into the wildest, most unhinged plot twists in soap opera history, shares their own sleep routines, and reminisce about generational rituals of watching daytime TV. Pillow fort energy abounds as they swap outrageous stories from American and British soaps, recalling everything from supernatural possessions to memory-mapped twins, all with infectious enthusiasm and humor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Getting to Know Ira & Reality TV Adventures

• Ira recounts his stint as a contestant on the reality game show The Floor (02:00–04:41). He planned to dominate the "Real Housewives" category but was blindsided by a cunning opponent:
  • Quote:
    “I was scammed, bamboozled by an ally on the show. I guess it prepared me, if I do any other show, to trust no one. But you know what? It was still pretty fun.” — Ira Madison III [02:24]
  • The experience was memorable as it was filmed in Dublin on his birthday.

2. Sleep Rituals & the Art of Napping

• The group discusses their love of naps and how sleep schedules evolve with creative work and adulthood (04:41–09:13).
  • Ira’s take:
    “The evenings that are best for me with regard to sleep are the days where I get up early… But you know, I also, like, take naps during the day too. So I—my relationship with sleep is I love it any.” — Ira Madison III [05:05]
  • Jacques and Matt share their guilty pleasure of dozing off during afternoon sports, highlighting the subtle joys of background noise, relaxation, and generational traditions:
    • Jacques: Cubs games as a nap ritual [07:06].
    • Matt: Drifting through Sunday football [08:11].
    • Ira: Falling asleep during subtitled movies, “becoming my grandmother” [08:29].

3. Soap Opera Fandoms: General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, and Beyond

• Origins in soap watching for all three, with stories of getting hooked by grandmothers (09:14–11:48):

  • Ira is a lifelong Days of Our Lives fan, with industry friends now on the show.

  • Jacques reveals he's a dedicated General Hospital watcher for over 15 years.

  • Quote:
    “It’s so weird… It’s weirder than watching, you know, being friends with someone who’s on a sitcom you like or a movie. Right. It’s like you are truly in my home every day.” — Ira Madison III [10:15]

4. What Makes Soap Operas So Unhinged?

• Days of Our Lives explained: From its modest 1960s beginnings to supervillains, brainwashing, international adventures, and literal demonic possession—a progression into increasingly wild terrain (12:00–13:50).

  • Notably: The character Stefano, notorious for “dying and coming back to life many times.”

  • Quote:
    “…in the 90s, one of the characters, Dr. Marlena Evans, was possessed by the devil.” — Ira Madison III [13:08]

5. Comparing American & British Soaps

• Matt contrasts American soap wildness with the everyday drama of British soaps, but Ira calls out UK classic Hollyoaks for its own share of explosions, plane crashes, and tangled relationships (14:11–15:14).

  • Quote:
    “Hollyoaks is a very, very incestuous kind of… It’s kind of like General Hospital. Everybody slept with everybody.” — Jacques [15:14]

6. Soap Operas as Generational Rituals

• Discussion about the daytime TV tradition: why soaps are structured as they are, and the origins of the “soap” in soap operas (16:47–17:44).

  • Ira explains how soaps were designed for multitasking housewives, with repetition and overt exposition to help even distracted viewers follow the action.

  • Memorable Moment:
    “Every year, it’s a lot of—everybody is their first and last name all the time, because you have to know who they are.” — Jacques [17:44]

7. The Most Unhinged Soap Plotlines

[18:46–23:33: Main Feature Segment]

• Days of Our Lives:

  • Dr. Wilhelm Rolf returns Lexi Carver from the dead; embryos are routinely swapped and lives intertwined in jaw-dropping ways.

  • Passions:

    • A character’s embryo is implanted into herself after knocking out a surrogate. When she gives birth, everyone bursts into song, literally singing the show’s theme.

      • Quote:
        “When she gave birth… they all burst into singing the theme song.” — Ira Madison III [20:04]

• General Hospital:

  • The saga of Jason Morgan: Car crash, amnesia, actor swaps, reconstructive surgery, memory-mapping, and the revelation that “Jason” is actually Jason’s long-lost twin, who has all of Jason’s memories due to science-fictional memory mapping.
    • Actor Steve Burton left, came back, the storyline conveniently recast Jason's identity.
    • Ultimately, the “other Jason” is revealed to be evil, because “one of them had to be evil eventually.” [22:55]

• Ultimate Plot-Twist Winner:

  • Days of Our Lives’ town-wide serial killer twist: Half the town is “killed off”—only to be revealed alive, held captive on an island replica of their hometown called “New Salem” (Salem spelled backwards) [23:03–23:27].

  • Quote:
    “…there was a serial killer who killed everyone in town. And then it turns out that they were not actually murdered. They were taken to a secret island called the Last One, which is New Salem written backwards.” — Ira Madison III [23:03]

8. Closing Reflections: The Joy of Soaps

• The trio reflect on the comfort, creativity, and enduring appeal of the soap format as bedtime ritual and lifelong habit.

  • Ira thanks the hosts and plugs his essay collection, Pure Innocent Fun, where he discusses soap operas and the show Passions in detail.

  • Quote:
    “…I would love to say goodnight to my grandmother who got me into soap operas in the first place.” — Ira Madison III [24:20]

Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “I was scammed, bamboozled by an ally on the show. I guess it prepared me, if I do any other show, to trust no one. But you know what? It was still pretty fun.” — Ira Madison III [02:24]
• “My relationship with sleep is I love it any… Nighttime, daytime, anytime. I love some sleep.” — Ira Madison III [05:54]
• “It’s so weird... you are truly in my home every day.” — Ira Madison III [10:15]
• “…in the 90s, one of the characters, Dr. Marlena Evans, was possessed by the devil.” — Ira Madison III [13:08]
• “When she gave birth... they all burst into singing the theme song.” — Ira Madison III [20:04]
• “…there was a serial killer who killed everyone in town. And then it turns out that they were not actually murdered. They were taken to a secret island called the Last One, which is New Salem written backwards.” — Ira Madison III [23:03]
• “…I would love to say goodnight to my grandmother who got me into soap operas in the first place.” — Ira Madison III [24:20]

Notable Segments & Timestamps

• [01:43] – Ira’s reality TV adventure on The Floor
• [04:41] – Sleep routines and power of naps
• [09:14] – Soap opera origin stories & generational fandom
• [11:48] – What Days of Our Lives is all about
• [14:11] – Wild UK vs. US soap comparisons
• [16:47] – Why soap operas repeat names and product placements
• [18:46] – The craziest soap opera plots ever
• [23:33] – Roundtable wrap-up and bedtime goodnights

Tone & Style

Conversational, playful, and full of late-night warmth; the hosts and Ira exude affection for the absurdities and comforts of soap operas, while weaving in personal stories and plenty of cross-generational references. The episode is perfect for unwinding, laughing, and rediscovering the delightfully unhinged world of soaps.

Recommended for

Fans of pop culture, reality TV, or anyone nostalgic for soap operas—plus night owls in need of lighthearted, comforting company before bed.

Guest Plug:
Check out Ira Madison III’s essay collection Pure Innocent Fun for more passionate writing on soap operas and pop culture.
Closing Goodnight:
“I would love to say goodnight to my grandmother who got me into soap operas in the first place.” — Ira Madison III [24:20]