Drama Queens Present- Soap Operas
In the Beginning…
Written by Melissa McManus
In the past fifty years, the television-viewing
world has experienced drama, romance, and attraction through the eyes of soap
opera writers, creators, producers, and actors. Soap operas, also known as daytime dramas have been around and
the talk of the town for more than half a decade. It all started in radio in the earlier part of the 1900s, then
the excitement moved to television. The
first television soap opera was “Guiding Light” and it began airing on
radio stations in the 1930s. In 1956,
it crossed over to television. The CBS
radio station knew it had a hit on hits hands and decided to take a chance on
television success (Jameson 35).
Listeners accepted the trends, and soon more and more soap operas made
their debut on television.
Soap
operas were better known from the beginning to be for stay at home moms, who
cooked and cleaned all day. Their name,
“soap opera” came from the origins of the sponsors that created the shows. In the beginning, the shows were extended
advertisements for the soaps that the housewives would use. Once the dramas moved to television, they
began to take on a larger audience. Today everything from birth control pills,
laundry detergents, and children’s toys are advertised during the soap opera
viewing hours (Pagewise, Inc.).
Millions of viewers; college students, mothers, fathers, stay at home
moms and dads, retirees, teenagers and the elderly are hooked on daytime drama
between the hours of twelve and four waiting for their shows to come on. There has been such a change in audience and
growth in the viewing since the dawn of soap operas on television: soap operas constitute a very large part of
network daytime viewers.
From the evil stepmother to
the pretty blonde girl, soaps do not change much over the years. Even the latest drama, “Passions” has
some of the same plot elements as the original “Guiding Light.” Soap operas still use good, evil, sex,
scandal, and relationships as basic plot elements. Some good things never
change. Daytime dramas will be around
for years to come. Mothers pass soap
opera stories on to their daughters, and the obsession continues to grow.
Today, soap operas have
become multimedia events. Many people prerecord
their favorite soap operas for later viewing.
The Internet offers a great deal of resources on any questions one has
about soap operas, or missed episodes.
Shows are no longer on radio, they have moved from radio in the 1920s,
to television, to including video and the Internet in the 2000s. The cycle of drama TV will continue through
another fifty years plus.
“Guiding Light Stars” (oldest running show)
www.cbs.com
Logo copyright www.abcmedianet.com
Know Your ABCs
Written by
Jennifer Minda
The ABC Network started in the 1920s as a radio
network flagged with problems. In 1954,
ABC invested money into Disney. In
1960, Disney had made enough money to turn around and buy the network. Three years later, in 1963, General
Hospital made its debut on ABC. One
Life to Live followed in 1968, followed by All My Children in 1970, Loving
in 1983, The City in 1995, and finally Port Charles in 1997. Loving and The City are no
longer on the air, but four of ABCs soap operas are still extremely popular: General
Hospital, One Life to Live, All My Children, and Port Charles are
still going strong (Soap City).
General Hospital logo,
www.abcmedianet.com
General Hospital was created by writers
Doris and Frank Hursley and had its beginning on April 1, 1963 (Warner, GH). The show is filmed in Los Angeles,
California, as is Port Charles.
None of the original cast members are still forerunners on show, but
there are still many strong characters on the show. The most famous characters on General Hospital, and maybe
even the most famous characters of all time on a soap opera, are the team of
Luke and Laura Spencer. The couple is
played by Anthony Geary and Genie Francis.
The couple was so popular in 1980s that they even made the cover of Newsweek
magazine. Their wedding day in 1981
was one of the most highly rated soap opera viewing days in history (Warner, GH). Today, the Quartermaines are the patriarchal
and largest family on the show.
As the title implies, the show does often revolve around the General
Hospital setting. Not as many of
the plots today take place in the hospital, the hospital setting has mostly
been moved to General Hospital’s sister show Port Charles. General Hospital takes place in Port
Charles, New York (ABC Medianet). Two
of the show’s unique characteristics are its features of the Cassadines, a
Greek family, the addition of many teenage related stories on the show, and the
portrayal of mob ties and organized crime.
Out of all of ABC’s soap operas, General Hospital has won the
most Emmy Awards, as can be seen later (Soap Opera Central, Emmy Archive).
One
Life to Live icon, www.abcmedianet.com
One Life to Live, an Agnes Nixon created soap opera, debuted
in 1968 (Warner, OLTL). Over 30
years later, the show is still going strong.
Very few of the original cast members remain, but the most notable is
actress Erika Slezak. She plays
Victoria Lord Buchanan. The show takes
place in Llanview, Pennsylvania. The
Banner is a fictitious newspaper that appears on the show, and is rivaled by
The Sun (newspaper), another major part of the shows history (ABC Medianet).
One Life to Live opening shot, www.abc.com
The show is
filmed in New York City, along with All My Children. The major storylines revolve around the Lord
and Buchanan families, along with a richly diverse cast of characters (Warner, OLTL). One Life to Live tries hard to
portray different ethnic backgrounds, including African Americans, Asians, and
Latinos, making them strong characters rather than background additions.
All My Children logo, www.abcmedianet.com
All My Children debuted on January 5, 1970, with Agnes Nixon
(creator of One Life to Live) as its creator. Thirty-two years later, three of the original cast members still
remain: Susan Lucci, Ray MacDonnell,
and Ruth Warrick (Warner, AMC). Susan
Lucci is the frontrunner and main headline of the show, which takes place in
Pine Valley, Pennsylvania.
All
My Children’s major stars today, including Susan Lucci (center)
www.abcmedianet.com
Major media
buzz surrounded the fact that Susan Lucci was nominated for 18 Emmys in a row
before finally winning on her 19th nomination in 1999 (Soap Opera
Central, Emmy Archive). As with
other soap operas, there are a few major families that are the root of the town
and the root of most of the storylines.
The Chandlers, Montgomerys, and Martins are core families that feed into
the storylines. Like One Life to
Live, All My Children is also filmed in New York City.
Port
Charles logo, www.abcmedianet.com
Port Charles is the only half hour soap opera on the ABC
network. It replaces a time slot filled
by the now cancelled Loving, and later on, The City. Port Charles is a spin off of General
Hospital, featuring Dr. Kevin Collins and Lucy Coe who crossed over from
the original show (ABC Medianet). The
show takes place in the same locale as General Hospital, and is also
filmed in California. Port Charles
made its debut in a two-hour primetime special on June 1, 1997. From its beginning, the show revolved around
groups of medical students in the hospital setting. There were no feature families, only the two well known
characters from General Hospital; the show basically started from
scratch and built on new ideas (ABC.com).
In 2000, Port Charles introduced a new and innovative
concept. From then on, the show was
divided a series of 13-week story arcs.
Each section of the series would be called a book, as though it were a
chapter in a novel.
Major storyliners Lucy Coe and
Kevin Collins www.abcmedianet.com
So far, the
story arcs have been titled “Fate”, “Time in a Bottle”, “Tainted Love”,
“Tempted”, “Miracles Happen”, “Secrets”, “Superstition”, “Torn” and “Naked
Eyes” (Soap City). Although Port
Charles usually fares last in the ratings, the show has a strong fan base
and will probably continue into the future.
Eye on CBS 
The
new CBS logo from www.CBS.com
Written by Ashley Moran
The Central Broadcasting
System (CBS) has, and continues to air many great Soap Operas. This station currently airs Young and the
Restless, Bold and the Beautiful, As the World Turns, and Guiding
Light (www.CBS.com). As most soap
operas began back in the radio era of daytime dramas, then moved to television,
CBS airs the only one famous enough to have made the switch and survived. The only soap opera to move from radio to
television that is still on the air is Guiding Light (Jameson 36).
www.CBS.com, The Young and The Restless
In 1973, The Young and the Restless
premiered. It was quite
successful. The storyline began with
the Newman and the Abbott families battling it out in the boardroom, in the
corporate world. I spoke with a woman
named Betty who has watched the show since it first aired in 1973, there are
many loyal viewers from the beginning.
Storylines were much simpler back in the 70’s, before the onslaught of
so many new characters, but the story is still enjoyable to this day. Males
often enjoy the Young and the Restless for other reasons. As with many other soap operas, the females
on the show hold together the entire show and draw many male viewers. The Young and the Restless has won
more Emmy awards than any other daytime drama on television currently (Soap
Opera Central, Emmy Archive).
The Bold and the Beautiful is a half hour show drama,
therefore contains a much simpler plot line.
The Forrester and Spectra families are the main focuses in this show.
They are both families that battle in the high fashion business, again in the
corporate world. The plot revolves
around the battles of each family to gain control over the other. The latest
tragedy on any soap opera is always big news in the entertainment world, and
the most current tragedy on The Bold and The Beautiful is the death of
Taylor Forrester, who was shot and killed by Sheila (CBS.com).
As The World Turns
As the World Turns has a different spin on the
typical CBS storylines. The story takes
place in Oakdale. In this drama, many of the characters are either police
agents or incredibly wealthy. The
incredibly wealthy characters are often typical on soap operas, but law
enforcement adds a different spin. Some
of the most current news on this drama includes the marriage of characters Jack
and Carly, the return of a wicked ex-wife
As the World Turns, www.CBS.com
in town to ruin the happiness, claims of a man
having fathered a baby, and as always on soap operas, marriage and relationship
troubles
Guiding Light
Guiding
Light is the longest running drama on CBS. Before it was on television, it
was popular on the radio for 15 years.
The story of Reva and Josh is what drew many new viewers to the show
most recently, but what is really rich is the shows history. Kim Zimmer, who plays Reva on the show, is
very popular with fans, and has won many fan favorite and industry awards
(Jameson).
2 of the most
popular actors from Guiding Light,
One thing that keeps CBS dramas on the air is their sadly romantic stories. No matter how horrible life is, viewers can turn on the television and find someone else’s life that is even worse. Soap operas have a way of making you forget your own life. It is enjoyable and entertaining to just relax and forget about reality. Some people think that soap operas are an endangered species, but with so many highly rated and popular dramas on the air, CBS would disagree. As long as people are still looking for ways to forget about reality and CBS provides for fans, the soaps will continue to be watched.
NBC logo from www.nbc.com
A Peacock’s Walk –NBC
Written
by Sara Moore
NBC has been a television station for many years. Though there are only two soap operas on this station at this time, they are both very well known and well liked. There have been other daytime dramas on the station before, but they have since been cancelled. Days of our Lives has drawn the hearts and lives of many men and women alike, and while Passions is a newer drama to the network, it too draws millions to the television during the hours of one o’clock to three o’clock weekdays (NBC.com).
logo from
www.SoapCity.com
Days of Our Lives has been one of the most favored soap operas throughout the years. Since the day it began, November 8th, 1965, people have been drawn into the lives of the actors and actresses in the city of Salem. Thanks to the creators of Days of Our Lives, Ted and Betty Corday, Irna Philips, and Alan Chase, viewers have had a home away from home on the television. In this make believe world, viewers can see the imperfections in peoples lives who aren’t their own. The soap opera idea for Days of Our Lives was sold to Screen Gems in the early 1960s. Screen Gems later became Columbia Tri-Star Television, which is owned by Sony. The production company took the idea for Days of Our Lives to NBC, and the rest is history. The next step was the hiring of a well-known film actor for the starring role of Tom Horton, who is played by Macdonald Carey. He played this role until his death recently, and only two of the original cast members remain on the air today (Soap City). Not only do the stars of today make viewers feel at home on the screen, but they also make everyone on set feel at ease. When talking about an original cast member and her reasons for not leaving the show after all these years, Soap Opera Digest quotes Days of Our Lives executives as saying, “The friendly atmosphere is part of why Storms wasn’t ready to break her ties with the show when her contract expired this summer” (Sony Pictures).
Some of the actors on
Days of Our Lives today. www.SoapCity.com
Even though Days
of Our Lives has changed quite a bit over the years, it is still going
strong almost 40 years after its debut.
Days of Our Lives has received many awards over the years,
including Soap Opera Digest Awards and Emmy Awards, as well as other
miscellaneous awards. “More and more
honors are being given out each year by esteemed groups like TV Guide, and Days
has won some of their top awards” quotes Soap City, an online source (Soap
City).
Passions
logo, www.NBC.com
Passions is one of the newer soap operas on NBC. The show replaced the short-lived Sunset Beach drama immediately prior to its debut. I remember when Passions debuted in the spring of 2000. Ever since that day it has been the talk of the town. It was an easy trasition for fans to pick up the show, because they were able to be there right from the beginning of all the storylines, and be a part of its history. Passions’ odd and supernatural storylines and plots have grabbed the attention of many. Though some may say that Passions is too hard to believe because of its tendency to stretch reality, it has still been able to gain viewers, especially those of a younger status (Katz 33). The original plot has remained the same since day one due to the short lifespan of the drama. One criticism I have heard about she show is the fact that the actors and actresses playing the roles on Passions change quite often, so it’s hard to keep up with actor and storyline changes. Though this is one of the more far-fetched soap operas, it attracts many teenagers and even college students including myself.
Sheridan and Luis from NBC’s Passions.
www.NBC.com
Plots such as, “Ethan is about to propose to Gwen when they are interrupted by news of a medical crisis. A horrified Theresa watches as Eve struggles to help her baby, who has a high fever” are quite typical of this daytime drama quotes Soap City. Passions has fun new characters and an upbeat story line.
NBC has found two great soap operas to air during the afternoons each day. NBC’s daytime drams world is a nice escape for people all over the world and makes people feel like maybe the world they live in isn’t so bad. Hopefully these great soap operas will continue to entertain throughout the years.
Special Daytime Drama Information
Written by Jennifer Minda
The Daytime Emmy Awards
The
Emmy statue Opening Credits Emmy winners
All courtesy of www.soapcentral.com
The Daytime Emmys are the awards show where daytime dramas (soap operas) have their chance to shine and show their talents. There are awards for Best Show, Best Male and Female Actress, Best Producers, and many other acting and technical awards. The awards are usually held in Los Angeles, California each year and are much like the Primetime Emmys. The Daytime Emmys deal with daytime talk shows, game shows, and daytime dramas as well. The following is a list of how many Emmy awards each soap opera that is CURRENTLY on the air has won. The total network tally is also taking into account awards won only for shows currently on the air. There have been many soap operas in the past on various networks that have won awards that are no longer on the air. In order to keep the information current, the listings are for what awards the current soap operas have won and the network comparison is based on adding up all of the awards for each show on that network (Soap Opera Central, Emmy Archive).
Daytime Emmy Awards Won By Each Show