Here's the deal, my mother watched it everyday when I was younger (followed by Another World) and I just seemed to watch it with her. I had a break at 1:00 in college and started watching it again (same people and nothing changed). Recently, I checked it out again and the same damn people are still in it and they look the same. How is that possible?
I got addicted to General Hospital the same way; my mother had it on EVERY day. I used to have such a crush on Tristan Rogers, LOL -- then I found out he smacked his wife around, and that ended that.
I used to LOVE Days of our Lives in college; I had a break at 1:00, too, and lots of people in our dorm would grab a quick lunch at the student union and race back to the dorm lounge to watch it.
I see ads on SoapNet for these shows, and you're right: The actors look almost exactly the same! It's eerie. I saw an ad a few days ago for GH and the character Heather and I swear she looks the same as she did 30 years ago.
Back to work....when I have more time I'll properly respond to the list.