In Television: A History, Francis Wheen states: Both soap operas and primetime series cannot afford to allow their leading characters to develop, since the shows are made with the intention of running indefinitely.
I Television: A History, fastslår Francis Wheen at, "Både sæbeoperaer og prime time-serien kan ikke tillade deres hovedkarakterer at udvikle sig, eftersom programmerne er lavet med den hensigt, at skulle køre på ubestemt tid.