What Can We Learn From Soap Operas?

I'm writing a Christian web drama, not a soap opera, however, lately I've been very interested in what makes the soap opera so alluring. Did you know that there's a soap opera with over 18,000 episodes?!? There are a few with over 13,000.

A little research: Soap operas began in the 1930s as radio dramas, built around cleaning product advertisements. Most fictional works start with a story, but soaps were formed with the sole purpose of keeping housewives listening to soap commercials. And how did they do that?

Drama.

Soaps are known for their over the top dramatic storyline tropes like amnesia, multiple personalities, coming back from the grave, long lost children, evil twins, coma patients, kidnapping and more. But I think the really addictive part (at least in my opinion) is the confrontation. Most of us aren't the get-in-your-face and tell you what's what kind of people. (We're trying to be good people after all.) But when we see someone else do it and we feel like it's perfectly justified we cheer.

Loudly.

Sometimes we yell at the TV. I don't watch soaps but for a short time in my twenties I did. I'm amazed at how addictive they were. (Especially when they're so poorly written.)

Why do you think people are so sucked in by them? And is there anything Christian authors can learn from their success?