A History Of Daytime Soaps
Ah, the soap opera – that palliative balm to housewives the world over. The evolution of the daytime soaps is a pretty fascinating story, spanning nearly a hundred years of popular entertainment, and in this article I’m going to take you back to the very beginning to see how this unique narrative medium grew into the staple it is today. So let’s climb into the Wayback Machine and trace the history of the daytime soaps! It may surprise you to know that the first daytime soap to hit the American airwaves is still on today – Guiding Light debuted in 1937 as a radio drama, and aside from a brief break in the 1940s has remained on the air ever since, earning it the title of the longest-running fictional narrative in history. Starting out as the tale of a caring small-town preacher and the troubles of his flock, it has grown into the model of the daytime soap – a multi-threaded story with all sorts of dramatic undertones. Sadly, 2009 will be Guiding Light’s final season, drawing one of the greatest accomplishments in television history to a close.