The Low-Down on Soap Operas

All of us at one time or another have probably become slightly addicted to at least one soap opera. Maybe it was during a boring summer school break, or in between jobs, or maybe you were laid up with an illness. Whatever your excuse may be, I bet that you've tuned in to a soap opera more than once.

For those of you that have been living in a (remote) cave, soap operas are serials that contain open-ended storylines at the end of each episode. In other words, each episode of a soap opera ends in a cliffhanger. Soap opera storylines can become very convoluted. Murders, kidnappings, and evil twins are common in soap operas. Lots of skeletons exist in the closets of soap operas. Death isn't even necessarily permanent on soap operas.

Soap operas got their start on the radio during the 1930s. The term "soap opera" comes from the early sponsors of the programs. Soap companies were the sponsors of the early radio shows, since the programs were aimed at housewives available to listen during the day.

The first television soap operas were broadcast live. Taped soap operas came into being during the 1960s. By the 1970s, almost all televised soap operas were taped. The only holdouts were As the World Turns and The Edge of Night. By the mid 70s, they, too, had started taping their episodes.

At first, soap operas were broadcast for fifteen minutes Monday through Friday. Soap operas were lengthened to half an hour in length by the mid 1960s. Soap operas were insanely popular during the 1970s, which is when soap operas were increased to an hour long. Today, there is only one half hour soap opera in the United States, The Bold and the Beautiful.

The oldest running soap opera is Guiding Light. Guiding Light got its start on the radio in 1937. Guiding Light has been on radio or television almost continuously since then. The only time Guiding Light was disrupted was when the writer, Irna Phillips, had a dispute with the program's sponsor, Procter & Gamble, during the 1940s.

Film reel- such as used for taping soap operas

Credit: Pam Roth

Copyright: Pam Roth