docusoap

[dok-yuh-sohp]

noun

1. a television series that chronicles the purportedly real lives of an interconnected group of people, often in a melodramatic way.

Word History and Origins

Origin of docusoap¹

First recorded in 1990–95; docu(mentary) + soap (opera)

Example Sentences

Their surprise split made headlines just as Stause and the rest of the Oppenheim Group agents were filming Netflix’s first English-language docusoap.

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"House of Ho" isn't necessarily unique in the "rich folks" docusoap genre, but it's the first to show an American family of Southeast Asian descent and everything that entails – from sibling rivalries and going Christmas shopping to wearing the traditional áo dài and celebrating the Lunar New Year.

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But how the problems were addressed on the show – and the subsequent resolutions – certainly feel more transformative for its participants than for most in the docusoap genre.

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For something a little more upbeat, there's "Full Bloom," a floral design competition, Meryl Streep's latest, "Let Them All Talk," and the new "docusoap," "House of Ho."

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HBO Max joins the trend with "House of Ho," an eight-episode "docusoap" following the intergenerational culture clashes of the Houston-based Vietnamese multibillionaire Ho family.

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