Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Lever Brothers as sponsors^[1] and producers.^[2] These early radio serials were broadcast in weekday daytime slots when mostly housewives would be available to listen; thus the shows were aimed at and consumed by a predominantly female audience.^[1]

The term soap opera has at times been generally applied to any romantic serial,^[1] but it is also used to describe the more naturalistic, unglamorous UK primetime drama serials such as Coronation Street.^[3] A crucial element that defines soap opera is the open-ended nature of the narrative, with stories spanning several episodes. The defining feature that makes a program a soap opera, according to Albert Moran, is "that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative. Each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is to be continued in another episode".^[4]

Soap opera stories run concurrently, intersect and lead into further developments. An individual episode of a soap opera will generally switch between several different concurrent story threads that may at times interconnect and affect one another or may run entirely independent of each other. Each episode may feature some of the show's current storylines but not always all of them. Especially in daytime serials and those that are screened each weekday, there is some rotation of both storylines and actors so any given storyline or actor will appear in some but usually not all of a week's worth of episodes. Soap operas rarely bring all the current storylines to a conclusion at the same time. When one storyline ends there are several other story threads at differing stages of development. Soap opera episodes typically end on some sort of cliffhanger.

Evening soap operas and those that screen at a rate of one episode a week are more likely to feature the entire cast in each episode, and to represent all current storylines in each episode. Evening soap operas and serials that run for only part of the year tend to bring things to a dramatic end-of-season cliffhanger.

In 1976, Time magazine described American daytime television as "TV's richest market," noting the loyalty of the soap opera fan base and the expansion of several half-hour series to a full hour in order to maximize ad revenues.^[5] The article explained that at that time, many prime time series lost money, while daytime serials earned profits several times more than their production costs.^[5] The issue's cover notably featured its first daytime soap stars, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives,^[6][7] a couple whose onscreen and real-life romance was widely covered by both the soap opera magazines and the mainstream press.^[8]

Plots and storylines

The main characteristics that define soap operas are "an emphasis on family life, personal relationships, sexual dramas, emotional and moral conflicts; some coverage of topical issues; set in familiar domestic interiors with only occasional excursions into new locations".^[3] Fitting in with these characteristics, most soap operas follow the lives of a group of characters who live or work in a particular place, or focus on a large extended family. The storylines follow the day-to-day activities and personal relationships of these characters. "Soap narratives, like those of film melodramas, are marked by what Steve Neale has described as 'chance meetings, coincidences, missed meetings, sudden conversions, last-minute rescues and revelations, deus ex machina endings.'" These elements may be found across the gamut of soap operas, from EastEnders to Dallas.^[9]

In many soap operas in particular daytime serials in the United States, the characters are frequently attractive, seductive, glamorous and wealthy. Soap operas from Australia and the United Kingdom tend to focus on more everyday characters and situations, and are frequently set in working class environments.^[10] Many Australian and UK soap operas explore social realist storylines such as family discord, marriage breakdown, or financial problems. Both UK and Australian soap operas feature comedy elements, often by way of affectionate comic stereotypes such as the gossip or the grumpy old man, presented as a sort of comic foil to the emotional turmoil that surrounds them. This diverges from US soap operas where such comedy is rare.^[4] UK soap operas frequently make a claim to presenting "reality" or purport to have a "realistic" style.^[11] UK soap operas also frequently foreground their geographic location as a key defining feature of the show while depicting and capitalising on the exotic appeal of the stereotypes connected to the location. So EastEnders focuses on the tough and grim life in London's east end; Coronation Street invokes Manchester and its characters exhibit the stereotypical characteristic of "Northern straight talking".^[12]

Romance, secret relationships, extramarital affairs, and genuine love have been the basis for many soap opera storylines. In US daytime serials the most popular soap opera characters, and the most popular storylines, often involved a romance of the sort presented in paperback romance novels. Soap opera storylines sometimes weave intricate, convoluted, and sometimes confusing tales of characters who have affairs, meet mysterious strangers and fall in love, and who commit adultery, all of which keeps audiences hooked on the unfolding story twists. Crimes such as kidnapping, rape, and even murder may go unpunished if the perpetrator is to be retained in the ongoing story.

Australian and UK soap operas also feature a significant proportion of romance storylines. In Russia, most popular serials explore the "romantic quality" of criminal and/or oligarch life.

In soap opera storylines, previously-unknown children, siblings, and twins (including the evil variety) of established characters often emerge to upset and reinvigorate the set of relationships examined by the series. Unexpected calamities disrupt weddings, childbirths, and other major life events with unusual frequency.

Much like comic books—another popular form of linear storytelling pioneered in the US during the 20th Century—a character's death is not guaranteed to be permanent. On The Bold and the Beautiful, Taylor Forrester (Hunter Tylo) was shown to flatline and have a funeral. When Tylo reprised the character in 2005 a retcon explained that Taylor had actually gone into a coma.

Stunts and complex physical action are largely absent, especially from daytime serials. Such story events often take place offscreen and are referred to in dialogue instead of being shown. This is because stunts or action scenes are difficult to adequately depict visually without complex action, multiple takes, and post production editing. When episodes were broadcast live, post production work was impossible. Though all serials have long switched to being taped, extensive post production work and multiple takes, while possible, are not feasible due to the tight taping schedules and low budgets.

United States

Daytime serials

Soap operas have been a staple of daytime television in the United States since the early 1950s. Along with game shows, reruns of situation comedies, and talk shows, the soap opera was traditionally a fixture in the American broadcast networks' broadcast schedules. Newer broadcast networks since the late 1980s, such as Fox and cable television networks, have largely ignored the format in favor of reruns. The older networks have been reducing their soap opera output in the 2000s.

The American soap opera Guiding Light started as a radio drama in January 1937 and subsequently transferred to television in June 1952. With the exception of several years in the late 1940s when Irna Phillips was in dispute with Procter & Gamble, Guiding Light was heard or seen nearly every weekday since it started, making it the longest story ever told in a broadcast medium. With the cancellation of Guiding Light in 2009, the current oldest soap on television is As the World Turns. It will end its run in September 2010 after 54 years on television, leaving Coronation Street as the longest running serial.

Traditionally serials were broadcast as fifteen minute installments each weekday in daytime slots. In 1956 As the World Turns debuted as the first half-hour soap opera. All soap operas broadcast half-hour episodes by the end of the 1960s. With increased popularity in the 1970s most soap operas expanded to an hour (Another World even expanded to ninety minutes for a short time). More than half of the serials had expanded to one hour episodes by 1980. As of 2010, six of the seven US serials air one hour episodes each weekday. Only The Bold and the Beautiful airs 30 minute episodes.

Soap operas were originally broadcast live from the studio, creating what many at the time regarded as a feeling similar to that of a stage play. (As nearly all soap operas were filmed at that time in New York, a number of soap actors were also accomplished stage actors who performed live theatre during breaks from their soap roles.) In the 1960s and 1970s, new serials such as General Hospital, Days of our Lives, and The Young and the Restless were produced in Los Angeles. Their success made the West Coast a viable alternative to New York–produced soap operas, which were becoming more costly to perform.

By the early 1970s, nearly all soap operas had transitioned to being taped. As the World Turns and The Edge of Night were the last to make the switch, in 1975.

Port Charles used the practice of running 13-week "story arcs", in which the main events of the arc are played out and wrapped up over the 13 weeks, although some storylines did continue over more than one arc. According to the 2006 Preview issue of Soap Opera Digest, it was briefly discussed that all ABC shows might do telenovela arcs, but this was rejected.

For years, soap operas were never rerun. On January 20, 2000 the SOAPnet network began retransmitting programs originally aired on ABC, NBC and CBS.

Actors

See List of longest-serving soap opera actors

Due to the longevity of these shows it is not uncommon a single character to be played by multiple actors. The key character of Jill Foster Abbott on The Young and the Restless has been played by several different actors.

Conversely several actors have remained playing the same character for many years. Helen Wagner played Hughes family matriarch Nancy Hughes on As the World Turns from its April 2, 1956 debut through her death in May 2010. She is in the Guinness Book of World Records[1] as the actor with the longest uninterrupted performance in a single role. Fellow As the World Turns actors, Eileen Fulton and Don Hastings who play Lisa Grimaldi and Dr. Bob Hughes, respectively, played their roles nearly as long, both having joined the show in 1960. Rachel Ames played Audrey Hardy in General Hospital from 1964 until 2007, and returned in 2009. Susan Lucci has played Erica Kane in All My Children since the show's debut in January 1970. Ray MacDonnell played Dr. Joe Martin in that series from the show's 1970 debut until 2010.

Starting from the 2000s it had become increasingly common for long-term regular cast members to be dropped from contract status to recurring status, a part of contract negotiations largely restricted to U.S. soap operas. As recurring players they are paid only for those episodes in which they appear this can be more cost effective for the series in the case of performers making sporadic or occasional appearances.

Other actors have played several characters on different shows. Veleka Gray, Robin Mattson, Lenore Kasdorf, Roscoe Born, Judith Chapman, David Canary, Jeanne Cooper and Michael Sabatino have played multiple soap roles.

Traditional serials

Many early US soap operas found their niche telling stories in particular environments. The Doctors and General Hospital, in the beginning, told stories almost exclusively from inside the confines of a hospital. As the World Turns dealt heavily with Chris Hughes' law practice and the travails of his wife Nancy who, tired of being "the loyal housewife" in the 1970s, became one of the first older women on the American serials to become a working woman. Guiding Light dealt with Bert Bauer (Charita Bauer) and her alcoholic husband Bill, and their endless marital troubles. When Bert's status shifted to caring mother and town matriarch, her children's marital troubles were showcased. Search for Tomorrow mostly told its story through the eyes of Joanne Gardner (Mary Stuart). Even when stories revolved around other characters, Joanne was frequently a key player in their storylines. Days of our Lives initially focused on Dr. Tom Horton and his steadfast wife Alice. The show later branched out to focus more on their five children. The Edge of Night featured as its central character Mike Karr, a police detective (who later became an attorney), and largely dealt with organized crime.

In contrast, Dark Shadows (1966–1971) featured supernatural characters and dealt with fantasy and horror storylines. Its characters included the vampire Barnabas Collins, the witch Angelique, and various ghosts and goblins, both friendly and malevolent.

Evolution of the daytime serial

For several decades most US daytime soap operas concentrated on family and marital discord, legal drama, and romance. The action rarely left interior settings, and many shows were set in fictional, medium-sized Midwestern towns.

Exterior shots, once a rarity, were slowly incorporated into the series Ryan's Hope. Unlike many earlier serials which were set in fictional towns, Ryan's Hope was set in real location, New York City, and outside shoots were used to give the series greater authenticity.

The first exotic location shoot was made by All My Children, to St. Croix in 1978. Many other soap operas planned lavish storylines after the success of the All My Children shoot. P&G-produced soaps Another World and Guiding Light both went to St. Croix in 1980, the former show culminating a long-running storyline between popular characters Mac, Rachel and Janice, and the latter to serve as an exotic setting for Alan Spaulding and Rita Bauer's torrid affair.

Search for Tomorrow taped for two weeks in Hong Kong in 1981. Later that year some of the cast and crew ventured to Jamaica to tape a love consummation storyline between Garth and Kathy.

During the 1980s, perhaps as a reaction to the evening drama series that were gaining high ratings, daytime serials began to incorporate action and adventure storylines, more big-business intrigue, and an increased emphasis on youthful romance. Serials also focused on developing supercouples.

One of the first and most popular supercouples was Luke Spencer and Laura Webber in General Hospital. Luke and Laura helped to attract both male and female fans. Even Elizabeth Taylor was a fan and at her own request was given a guest role in Luke and Laura's wedding episode. Luke and Laura's popularity led to other soap producers striving to reproduce this success by attempting to create supercouples of their own.

With increasingly bizarre action storylines coming into vogue Luke and Laura saved the world from being frozen, brought a mobster down by finding his black book in a Left-Handed Boy Statue, and helped a Princess find her Aztec Treasure in Mexico. Other soap operas attempted similar adventure storylines, often featuring footage shot on location - frequently in exotic locales.

During the 1990s, the mob, action, and adventure stories fell out of favor with producers due to generally declining ratings for daytime soap operas at the time, and the resultant budget cuts. In the 1990s soap operas were no longer able to go on expensive location shoots overseas as they had in the 1980s. In the 1990s soap operas increasingly focused on younger characters and social issues, such as Erica Kane's drug addiction on All My Children, the re-emergence of Viki Lord's Multiple Personality Disorder on One Life to Live, Katherine Chancellor's alcoholism on The Young and the Restless and Stone and Robin dealing with AIDS and death on General Hospital. Other social issues included cancer, homophobia, and racism.

Some shows of the 2000s incorporated supernatural and science fiction elements into their storylines. One of the main characters in US soap opera Passions is Tabitha Lenox, a 300-year-old witch. Port Charles has featured vampires and an angel. Frequently these characters are isolated to one of the ongoing story threads to allow a fan to ignore them if they do not like that element.

Traditional grammar of daytime serials

Modern U.S. daytime soap operas largely stay true to the original soap opera format. The duration and format of storylines and the visual grammar employed by US daytime serials set them apart from soap operas in other countries and from evening soap operas. Stylistically, UK and Australian soap operas, which are usually produced for early evening timeslots, fall somewhere in-between US daytime and evening soap operas. Similar to US daytime soap operas, UK and Australian serials are shot on videotape, and the cast and storylines are rotated across the week's episodes so that each cast member will appear in some but not all episodes. UK and Australian soap operas move through storylines at a faster rate than daytime serials, making them closer to US evening soap operas in this regard.

American daytime soap operas feature stylistic elements that set them apart from other shows:

• Actors in the foreground are often noticeably back lit. The back light is a standard component of the traditional three-point lighting set-up routinely used in film and television. Accentuated back lighting can serve to lift actors out of the background, something that can be useful in programs generally shot on videotape in small interior sets as soap operas generally are. The backlight is frequently more subtle on filmed productions shot on location and in larger sets.
• The rooms in a house often use deep stained wood wall panels and furniture, along with many elements of brown leather furniture. This creates an overall "brown" look which is intended to give a sumptuous and luxurious look to suggest the wealth of the characters portrayed. Daytime serials often foreground other sumptuous elements of set decoration; presenting a "mid-shot of characters viewed through a frame of lavish floral displays, glittering crystal decanters or gleaming antique furniture"^[3]
• Most US daytime soap operas do not routinely feature location or exterior-shot footage (Guiding Light began shooting many of its scenes outdoors in its final two seasons). Often an outdoor locale is recreated in the studio. Australian and UK daily soap operas invariably feature a certain amount of exterior shot footage in every episode. This is usually shot in the same location and often on a purpose-built set, although they do include new exterior locations for certain storylines.
• The visual quality of a soap opera is usually lower than prime time US television drama series due to the lower budgets and quicker production times involved. This is also because soap operas are recorded on videotape using a multicamera setup, unlike primetime productions which are usually shot on film and frequently using the single camera shooting style. Because of the lower resolution of video images, and also because of the emotional situations portrayed in soap operas, daytime serials make heavy use of closeup shots. As of 2009, The Young and the Restless and General Hospital are the only US daytime serials shot in High Definition. All My Children and One Life to Live plan on transitioning to High Definition starting in 2010, upon moving to new studios (AMC to a new production facility in Los Angeles, and OLTL to All My Children's current Manhattan studios).
• Soap operas have idiosyncratic blocking techniques. In one common situation, a romantically involved couple start a conversation face-to-face, then one character will turn 180° and face away from the other character while conversation continues. Both characters can appear together in the same shot, both directly facing the audience. This is unrealistic in real life and is not frequently seen in film or on television outside US daytime serials, but it is an accepted soap opera convention.
• In US daytime soap operas, when a scene is about to reach a temporary conclusion and the episode is to cross to a new scene or take a commercial break, one character in the currently concluding scene will often be shown in extreme closeup and deliver a jarring announcement. No other character will respond and there will be no dialogue for several seconds while the music builds before cutting to a commercial or a new scene. This kind of segue is referred to in the industry as a "tag."
• A construct unique to US daytime serials is the format where the action will cut between various conversations, returning to each at the precise moment it was left. This is the most significant distinction between US daytime soap operas and other forms of US television drama, which generally allow for narrative time to pass, off-screen, between the scenes depicted.^[4]

Decline

Soap opera ratings have fallen drastically in the U.S. since the 1990s. A daily average of 6.5 million viewers watched soaps during the 1991-92 TV season, while just 1.3 million watched in 2009-2010.^[13] No new daytime soap opera has been created since 1999, while many have been cancelled. At the end of 2010, there will be six daytime soap operas on the three major networks, down from 12 in 1990 and a high of 19 in 1970.

Guiding Light was cancelled in 2009. Guiding Light premiered in 1937 and became the world's longest-running drama in television and radio history. However by 2009 it barely reached 1.5 million viewers each day.

As the World Turns was canceled later in 2009. In December 2009 it was announced As the World Turns would air its final episode in September 2010. As the World Turns was the last of the twenty soap operas produced by Procter & Gamble, the company that gave soap operas their name.^[14]

Disney announced in May 2010 that decade-old cable channel SOAPnet, which largely airs soap opera reruns, will cease operating in 2012.^[15]

Beginning in the 1970s, as women increasingly worked outside of the home, daytime television viewing declined. New generations of potential viewers were not raised watching soaps with their mothers, leaving the long and complex story lines foreign to younger audiences. The rise of cable television and the Internet have also provided new sources of entertainment during the day. Part of the genre's recent decline has even been attributed to reality programming as a source of melodrama,^[16] with events in the Big Brother house or on Survivor Island drawing large ratings and buzz. Compounding the financial hardship of ratings losses has been an advertising recession resulting from the financial crisis, causing shows to reduce their casts and make other money-saving moves.^[17]

The primetime serial

Primetime serials were just as popular as those in daytime. The first real prime time soap opera was ABC's Peyton Place (1964–1969), based in part on the original 1957 movie (which was itself taken from the 1956 novel). The popularity of Peyton Place prompted rival network CBS to spin off popular As the World Turns character Lisa Miller into her own evening soap opera entitled Our Private World (originally titled "The Woman Lisa" in its planning stages) in 1965. Our Private World ended in the fall and the character of Lisa returned to As The World Turns.

The structure of the Peyton Place with its episodic plots and long-running story arcs would set the mold for the prime time serials of the 1980s when the format reached its pinnacle.

The successful prime time serials of the 1980s included Dallas, Dynasty, Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest. These shows frequently dealt with wealthy families and their personal and big-business travails. Common characteristics were sumptuous sets and costumes, the presence of at least one wealthy, promiscuous and passionate villain such as J. R. Ewing, Alexis Colby, Abby Cunningham or Angela Channing in the cast of characters, and spectacular disaster cliffhanger situations. Unlike daytime serials which are shot on video in a studio using the multicamera setup, these evening series were shot on film using a single camera setup and featured much location-shot footage, often in picturesque locales. Dallas, its spin-off Knots Landing, and Falcon Crest all initially featured episodes with self-contained stories and specific guest stars who appeared in just that episode. Each story would be completely resolved by the end of the episode and there were no end-of-episode cliffhangers. After the first couple of seasons all three shows changed their story format to that of a pure soap opera with interwoven ongoing narratives that ran over several episodes. Dynasty featured this format throughout its run.

The soap opera's distinctive open plot structure and complex continuity also began to be increasingly incorporated into major American prime time television programs. The first significant drama series to do this was Hill Street Blues. This series, produced by Steven Bochco, featured many elements borrowed from soap operas such as an ensemble cast, multi-episode storylines and extensive character development over the course of the series. It and the later Cagney & Lacey overlaid the police series formula with ongoing narratives exploring the personal lives and interpersonal relationships of the regular characters.^[18] The success of these series prompted other drama series, such as St. Elsewhere, and situation comedy shows to incorporate soap opera style stories and story structure to varying degrees.

The prime time soap operas and drama series of the 1990s, such as Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, and Dawson's Creek, focused more on younger characters. In the 2000s, ABC began to revitalize the primetime soap opera format by premiering shows such as Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, and Private Practice. These shows managed to appeal to wide audiences not only because of their high melodrama but also because of the humor injected into the scripts and plot lines. One of the most popular and talked-about serials, Lost, is also an ABC show. It also led to rival NBC picking up its own serials, including Heroes and Friday Night Lights.

United Kingdom

See List of longest-serving soap opera actors

In the United Kingdom, soap operas are one of the most popular genres, most being broadcast during prime time. In comparison to US serials which frequently portray romantic storylines in sumptuous and glamorous locales, most UK soap operas focus on more everyday, working-class communities.

The most popular soaps are Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks, Doctors, and the Australian produced Neighbours and Home and Away. The first three of these are consistently among the highest-rated shows on British television.

The 1986 Christmas Day episode of EastEnders is often given as the highest-rated UK soap opera episode ever, with 30.15 million viewers (in 2007, the UK had approximately 54 million viewers). The figure of 30.15 million was actually a combination of the original broadcast which had just over 19 million viewers, and the Sunday omnibus edition with 10 million viewers. The combined 30.15 million audience figure often sees it attributed as the highest-rated program in UK television for the 1980s, comparable to the records set by the 1970 splashdown of Apollo 13 (28.6 million viewers), and Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 (32.1 million viewers).^[19]

Coronation Street and EastEnders are popularly known as the "flagship" soaps, as they are the highest rating programmes for ITV and the BBC respectively. Poor ratings for a UK flagship serial sometimes brings with it questions about the associated channel. The soaps are so popular they are not routinely scheduled against each other. Episodes of serials have clashed only on isolated occasions when extended episodes have been screened.

Origins and evolution

Soap operas began on radio and consequently were associated with the BBC. The BBC continues to broadcast the world's longest-running radio soap, The Archers, which has been running nationally since 1951. It is currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and continues to attract over five million listeners, or roughly 25% of the radio listening population of the UK at that time of the evening.

An early television serial was The Grove Family on the BBC. 148 episodes were produced between 1954 to 1957. The series was broadcast live and only a handful of recordings were retained in the archives.

In the 1960s Coronation Street revolutionised UK television and quickly became a British institution. Other soap operas of the 1960s included Emergency Ward 10, on ITV. The BBC also produced several serials. Compact was about the staff of a women's magazine. The Newcomers was about the upheaval caused by a large firm setting up a plant in a small town. United! ran for 147 episodes and focused on a football team. 199 Park Lane was an upper class serial that ran for just 18 episodes in 1965. None of these serials came close to making the same impact as Coronation Street. Indeed most of the 1960s BBC serials were largely wiped.

During the 1960s Corrie's main rival was Crossroads, a daily serial that began in 1964 and was broadcast by ITV in the early evening. Crossroads was set in a Birmingham motel and while the series was popular, its purported low technical standard and bad acting was much mocked. By the 1980s its ratings had begun to decline and several attempts to revamp the series through cast changes and later, expanding the focus from the motel to the surrounding community, were unsuccessful, and Crossroads was cancelled in 1988. (A new version of Crossroads was later produced, running from 2001 until 2003.)

A later rival to Corrie was ITV's Emmerdale Farm (later renamed Emmerdale) which began in 1972 in a daytime slot and had a rural Yorkshire setting. Increased viewing figures saw Emmerdale being moved to a prime-time slot in the 1980s.

Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) is a Welsh language serial produced by the BBC since October 1974. It is the longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC. Pobol y Cwm was originally transmitted on BBC Wales television between 1974 and 1982. It then transferred to the Welsh language television station S4C when it opened in the November 1982. The series was occasionally shown on BBC1 in London during periods of regional optout in the mid-late 1970s. Pobol y Cwm was briefly shown in the rest of the UK in 1994 on BBC2, with English subtitles. It is consistently the most watched programme of the week on S4C.^[20]

The 1980s

Daytime soap operas were non-existent until the 1970s because there was virtually no daytime television in the UK. ITV introduced General Hospital, which later transferred to a prime time slot, and Scottish Television had Take the High Road, which lasted for over twenty years. Later, daytime slots were filled with an influx of older Australian soap operas such as The Young Doctors, The Sullivans, Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice, Richmond Hill and eventually, Neighbours and Home and Away. These achieved significant levels of popularity. Neighbours and Home and Away were moved to early-evening slots and the UK soap opera boom began in the late 1980s.

When Channel 4 began in 1982 it launched its own soap, the Liverpool based Brookside, on its first day. Over the next decade Brookside re-defined soap. The focus of Brookside was different to previous soaps. The setting was a middle-class new-build cul-de-sac, unlike Coronation Street and Emmerdale Farm which were set in established working-class communities. The characters in Brookside were people who had advanced themselves from inner-city council estates, or the upper middle-class who had fallen on hard times. Brookside started in a post-watershed slot and unlike other soaps of the time the dialogue regularly included expletives such as 'fuck' and 'bollocks'. The soap was also heavily politicised. Bobby Grant (Ricky Tomlinson), a militant trade-unionist anti-hero, was the most overtly political character. Storylines were often more sensationalist than on other soaps and were staged more graphically with violence (particularly, rape) being often used.

In 1985, the BBC's London based soap opera EastEnders debuted and was a near instant success with viewers and critics alike, with the first episode attracting over 17 million viewers. Critics talked about the downfall of Coronation Street, but Coronation Street continued successfully. In 1994 when the two serials were scheduled opposite each other, and Corrie won the slot. For the better part of ten years, the show has shared the number one position with Coronation Street, with varying degrees of difference between the two.

A scene from EastEnders on Christmas Day 1986, watched by 30.15 million viewers. The story, where Den Watts served his wife Angie with divorce papers, was the highest-rated soap episode in British history, and the highest-rated programme in the UK during the 1980s

In the late 1980s ITV acquired the Australian soap opera Prisoner, which was produced between 1979 and 1986. It was screened around the country in differing slots usually around 11pm, under the title Prisoner: Cell Block H. The series was immensely successful which led to it being repeated after the series had reached its conclusion in the Midlands. Rival network Five also acquired repeat rights for a full rerun of the series, starting in 1997.

The 1990s

In 1992 the BBC launched Eldorado to alternate with EastEnders but it only lasted a year; however, this failure did not stop the ever-increasing prominence that soap operas would have in UK schedules. In 1995 Channel 4 introduced Hollyoaks, a soap with a youth focus. When Five began in March 1997 it came with its own soap opera, Family Affairs, which debuted as a five-days-a-week soap.

Throughout the 1990s the long-running soap operas in Britain continued to flourish. Each increased the number of weekly episodes transmitted by at least one, further defining soap opera as the leading genre in British television of the period.

The 2000s

Since 2000 new soap operas have continued to be developed. Daytime drama Doctors began in the spring of 2000, preceding Neighbours on BBC1. In 2002, as the ratings continued to fall for Scottish serial High Road, BBC Scotland launched River City. River City proved popular and effectively replaced High Road when it was cancelled in 2003. The long-running serial Brookside ended in November 2003 after 21 years on air, leaving Hollyoaks as Channel 4's flagship serial.

A new version of Crossroads featuring a mostly new cast was produced by Carlton Television for ITV in 2001. It did not achieve satisfactory ratings and was cancelled in 2003. In 2001 ITV also launched a new early-evening serial entitled Night and Day. This series too attracted low viewing figures and after being shifted to a late night time slot was cancelled in 2003. Family Affairs, which was broadcast opposite the racier Hollyoaks, and never achieved significantly high viewing figures leading to several dramatic revamps of the cast and marked changes in style and even location over its run. This eventually saw the show gain a larger fan base and by 2004 the series won its first awards, however Family Affairs was nevertheless cancelled in late 2005.

ITV launched the new soap opera The Royal Today in 2008. The Royal Today was a daily spin-off of popular sixties drama The Royal, which had been running in a primetime slot since 2002. Just days later soap opera parody series Echo Beach premiered alongside its sister series, the comedy Moving Wallpaper. Both Echo Beach and The Royal Today ended after their initial first season. Due to poor viewing figures neither were picked up for a second run.

In 2004, BBC created a radio soap opera for the BBC Asian Network called Silver Street, but poor ratings and criticism against the series led to its cancellation in 2010.

A rumored upcoming British Soap Opera known as Everwoods is due to be released some time between 2010 and 2011.^[21]

Format

UK soap operas for many years usually only aired two nights a week. The exception was the original Crossroads, which began as a five-days-a-week soap opera in the 1960s, but was later reduced. Brookside began in 1982 with two episodes a week, this increased to three in 1990. In 1989, things started to change when Coronation Street began airing three times a week (later expanding further to four in 1996), a trend which was soon followed by rival EastEnders in 1994 and Emmerdale in 1997. Family Affairs debuted as a five-days-a-week soap in 1997 and regularly ran five episodes a week its entire run. The imported Neighbours screens as five new episodes a week, which are shown once at 1:45 pm and repeated at 5:30 pm on Five each weekday.

Currently Coronation Street (which began screening two episodes on Monday nights in 2002) and Hollyoaks both produce five episodes a week, while EastEnders screens four. In 2004 Emmerdale began screening six episodes a week. Doctors screens five episodes a week. It is the only soap without a weekend omnibus repeat screening.

In a January 2008 overhaul of the ITV network the Sunday episodes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale were moved out of their slots. Coronation Street added a second episode on Friday evenings at 8:30 pm. Emmerdale's Tuesday edition was extended to an hour, putting it in direct competition with rival EastEnders.

In July 2009 the schedules of these serials were changed again. Starting 23 July 2009 Coronation Street moved from the Wednesday slot it held for 49 years, to Thursday evenings. Emmerdale's reverted to screening just one thirty minute episode on Tuesday evenings and the other thirty minute installment was moved to Thursday evenings.^[22]

Today's UK soap operas are mainly shot on videotape in the studio using a multicamera setup. UK soap operas usually feature a proportion of outdoors shot footage in each episode. This is laregly shot on a purpose built outdoor set that represents the community the soap focuses on.

Australia

See List of longest-serving soap opera actors

Australia has had quite a number of well known soap operas, some of which have gained cult followings in the UK and other countries. The majority of Australian television soap operas are produced for early evening or evening timeslots. They usually produce two or two-and-a-half hours of new material each week, either arranged as four or five half-hour episodes a week, or two one-hour episodes. Stylistically they most closely resemble UK soap operas in that they are nearly always shot on videotape, mainly in the studio using a multicamera setup. The original Australian serials were shot entirely in the studio. During the 1970s, occasional filmed inserts were used to incorporate outdoor-shot sequences in soap operas. Outdoor shooting later became commonplace and starting in the late 1970s it became standard practice that there will be some location-shot footage in each episode of any Australian soap opera, often to capitalise on the attractiveness and exotic nature of these locations for international audiences.^[23] Most Australian soap operas focus on a mixed age range of middle-class characters and will regularly feature a range of locations where the various, disparate, characters can meet and interact, such as the café, the surf club, the wine bar, or the school.^[23]

Early serials

The genre began in Australia, as in other countries, on radio. One such radio serial, Big Sister, featured actress Thelma Scott in the cast and aired nationally for five years from 1942. Probably the best known Australian radio serial was Blue Hills which ran from 1949 to 1976. With the advent of Australian television in 1956 daytime television serials followed. The first Australian television soap opera was Autumn Affair (1958). Each episode of this serial was fifteen minutes and it screened each weekday on the Seven Network. The series failed to secure a sponsor and ended in 1959 after a run of 156 episodes. This was followed by The Story of Peter Grey (1961). Again this was a Seven Network series screened weekdays in a daytime slot, with each episode fifteen minutes in duration. The Story of Peter Grey had a run of 164 episodes.

The first successful wave of Australian evening soap operas started in 1967 with Bellbird produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This rural-based serial screened in an early evening slot in fifteen minute installments and was a moderate success but built-up a consistent and loyal viewer base, especially in rural areas, and enjoyed a ten-year run. Motel (1968) was Australia's first half-hour soap opera. Screened in a daytime slot the series had a short run of 132 episodes.

1970s hit soaps

The first big soap opera hit in Australia was the sex-melodrama Number 96 which began in March 1972, screening on Network Ten in a nighttime slot. Number 96 brought such rarely explored topics as homosexuality, adultery, drug use, rape-within-marriage and racism into Australian living rooms en masse. The series became famous for its sex scenes and nudity and for its comedy characters, many of whom became cult heroes in Australia. By 1973 Number 96 had become Australia's highest-rating show. In 1974 the sexed-up antics of Number 96 prompted the creation of The Box, which rivaled it in terms of nudity and sexual situations and screened in a nighttime slot. Produced by Crawford Productions, many critics considered The Box to be a more slickly produced and better written show than Number 96, and in its first year it was extremely popular. Meanwhile in 1974 the Reg Grundy Organisation created its first soap opera, and significantly Australia's first teen soap opera, Class of '74. Its attempts to hint at the sex and sin shown more openly on Number 96 and The Box along with its high school setting and early evening time slot meant it came under intense scrutiny of the Broadcasting Control Board who vetted scripts and altered whole storylines. By 1975 both Number 96 and The Box, perhaps as a reaction to declining ratings for both shows, de-emphasised the sex and nudity moving more in the direction of comedy. Class of '74 was renamed Class of '75 and also added more slapstick comedy for its second year, but the revamped show's ratings dwindled and it was cancelled in mid-1975.

A feature film version of Bellbird entitled Country Town was produced in 1971 not by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation but by two of the show's stars, Gary Gray and Terry McDermott. Number 96 and The Box also had feature film versions, both of which had the same title as the series, released in 1974 and 1975 respectively. As Australian television was in black and white until 1975 these theatrical releases all had the novelty of being in colour. The film versions of Number 96 and The Box also allowed more explicit nudity than could be shown on television at that time.

Launched on the Nine Network in late 1976 was The Sullivans, a series chronicling the affects of World War II on a Melbourne family. Produced by Crawford's this show was a ratings success and attracted many positive reviews. At around the same time Grundy's created a new teen-oriented soap, The Young Doctors, which also screened on Channel Nine starting late 1976. This show eschewed the sex and sin of Number 96 and The Box instead emphasising light-weight storylines and romance. It was also popular but unlike The Sullivans it was not a success with critics. Meanwhile in 1977 Number 96 would re-introduce nudity, with several much-publicised full-frontal nude scenes featured in an attempt to boost the show's plummeting ratings.

Rise of the Grundy Organisation serials

Bellbird, Number 96 and The Box were all cancelled in 1977. All had been experiencing declining ratings since 1975 and various attempts to revamp the shows with cast reshuffles or spectacular disaster storylines had proved only temporarily successful. Late that year they were replaced by such successful new shows as the Crawfords Produced Cop Shop (1977–1984) on Channel Seven, which was a meld of soap opera and police drama, and The Restless Years (1977–1981) on Channel Ten, which was another teen soap produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation.

The Reg Grundy Organisation subsequently reached even higher levels of success with women's-prison drama Prisoner (1979–1986) on Network Ten, and melodramatic family saga Sons and Daughters (1981–1987) on the Seven Network. Both shows achieved high ratings in their first run, and unusually, found success in repeats after their original runs ended.

The Young Doctors and The Sullivans ran on Nine until 1982. Thereafter Channel Nine attempted many new soap operas, several produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, including Taurus Rising, Waterloo Station, Starting Out and Possession, along with Prime Time produced by Crawford's. None of these programs were successful and most were cancelled after only a few months. The Reg Grundy Organisation also created Neighbours, a suburban-based daily serial devised as a sedate family drama with some comedy and lightweight situations, for the Seven Network in 1985.

Produced in Melbourne at the studios of HSV-7, Neighbours rated well in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, but not in Sydney. Sydney was the only city where it was shown in the earlier 5.30 p.m. timeslot which put it up against hit dating game show Perfect Match on Channel 10 so Neighbours had low ratings in Sydney, and Seven's Sydney station ATN-7 quickly lost interest in the show. HSV-7 in Melbourne lobbied heavily to keep Neighbours going but ATN-7 managed to convince the rest of the network to cancel the show and instead keep ATN-7's own Sydney-based dramas A Country Practice and Sons and Daughters.

After the network cancelled Neighbours it was immediately picked-up by Channel Ten. They revamped the cast and scripts slightly and from January 20, 1986 aired the series in the 7.00 p.m. slot. It initially attracted low viewing figures however after a concerted publicity drive Ten managed to transform the series into a major success, turning several of its actors into major international stars. The show's popularity eventually declined and it was moved to the 6.30 p.m. slot in 1992, yet the series retains consistent viewing figures in Australia and is still running today, making it Australia's longest-running soap opera.

The success of Neighbours prompted the creation of somewhat similar suburban and family or teen-oriented soap operas such as Home and Away (1988-) on Channel Seven and Richmond Hill (1988) on Channel Ten. Both proved popular, however Richmond Hill emerged as only a moderate success and was cancelled after one year to be replaced on Ten by E Street (1989–1993).

Meanwhile Nine had still failed to find a successful new soap opera. After the failure of family drama Family and Friends in 1990 they launched the raunchier and more extreme Chances in 1991. Chances resurrected the sex and melodrama of Number 96 and The Box in an attempt to improve the show's chances of ratings success. However Chances achieved only moderate ratings, although the increasingly bizarre storylines were much-discussed. The series continued into 1992, albeit in a late-night timeslot, and was cancelled in 1992.

Australian Soaps Internationally

Several Australian soap operas have also found significant international success. In the UK starting in the mid 1980s daytime screenings of The Young Doctors, The Sullivans, Sons and Daughters and Neighbours achieved significant success. Neighbours was subsequently moved to an early-evening slot. Grundy's Prisoner began screening in the United States in 1979 and achieved high ratings in many regions there, however only the first three years of the series would be screened in that country. Prisoner was also screened in late-night timeslots in the UK beginning in the late 1980s, achieving enduring cult success there. The show became so popular in the UK that it prompted the creation of two stage plays and a stage musical based on the show, all of which toured the UK, among many other spin-offs. In the late 1990s Five repeated Prisoner in the UK. Between 1998 and 2005 Five ran late-night repeats of Sons and Daughters. During the 1980s the Australian attempts to emulate big-budget US soap operas such as Dallas and Dynasty had resulted in Taurus Rising and Return to Eden, two slick soap opera dramas with big budgets and shot entirely on film. Though their middling Australian ratings ensured they ran only a single season both programs were successfully sold internationally.

Other shows to achieve varying levels of international success include Richmond Hill, E Street, Paradise Beach (1993–1994), and Pacific Drive (1995–1997). Indeed these last two series were designed specifically for international sales. Channel Seven's Home and Away, a teen soap developed as a rival to Neighbours, has also achieved significant and enduring success on UK television.

Teen-oriented serials to the world

Since 1990 most new Australian serials have been based on the successful Neighbours formula of forgrounding youthful attractive casts in appealing locations. The main exception to this was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation produced Something in the Air, a rural-based serial examining a range of characters in a small country town. This series ran from 2000 until 2002.

Attempts to replicate the success of daily teen-oriented serials Neighbours and Home and Away saw the creation of Echo Point (1995) and Breakers (1999) on Network Ten. None of these programs emerged as long-running successes and Neighbours and Home and Away remained the most visible and consistently successful Australian soap operas in production. In their home country they both attract respectable although not spectacular ratings. By 2004 Neighbours was regularly attracting just under a million viewers per episode^[24] — low for Australian prime time television. By March 2007 Australian viewing figures for Neighbours had fallen to fewer than 700,000 a night, prompting a revamp of cast and graphics used on the show, and a deemphasis on the action oriented direction the series had moved in with a move to refocus the show on the family storylines it is traditionally known for.^[25] However, Neighbours and Home and Away both continue to achieve significant ratings in the UK. This and other lucrative overseas markets, along with Australian broadcasting laws that enforce a minimum amount of local drama production for commercial television networks, help ensure that both programs remain in production. Both shows get higher total ratings in the UK than in Australia (the UK has three times Australia's population) and the UK networks make a major contribution to the production costs.

It has been suggested that with their emphasis on the younger, attractive and charismatic characters, Neighbours and Home and Away have found success in the middle ground between glamorous, fantastic US soaps with their wealthy but tragic heroes^[3] and the more grim, naturalistic UK soap operas populated by older, unglamorous characters.^[23] The casts of Neighbours and Home and Away are predominantly younger and more attractive than the casts of UK soaps, and without excessive wealth and glamour of the US daytime serial,^[3] a middleground in which they have found their lucrative niche.

Neighbours, which is celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2005, was aired on the U.S. channel Oxygen in March 2004, however it attracted few viewers, perhaps in part because it was scheduled opposite well-established and highly-popular US soap operas such as All My Children and The Young and The Restless, and due to low ratings it was cancelled shortly afterwards.

New Australian serial headLand premiered on Channel Seven in November 2005. This new series rose from the ashes of a proposed Home and Away spinoff that was to have been produced in conjunction with the UK's Channel Five, which screens Home and Away. The spin-off idea was cancelled after Channel Five pulled out of the deal, which meant that the show could potentially screen on a rival UK channel, so Five requested that the new show developed as a stand-alone series and not feed off a series they own a stake in. The series premiered in Australia on November 15, 2005 but was not a ratings success and was cancelled January 23, 2006. The series broadcast on E4 and Channel 4 in the UK.

After losing the rights to screen Neighbours in the United Kingdom to channel five, the BBC commissioned new serial Out of the Blue as its replacement. Out of the Blue was produced in Australia. It began screening on BBC One on weekday afternoons on April 28, 2008^[26] but after lower than desired ratings figures it was shifted to BBC Two from May 19, 2008.^[27][28] Production on the series was not renewed beyond its first season.^[29]

Canada

Due to the economics of television production in Canada, relatively few daily soap operas have been produced on English Canadian television. Notable daily soaps that did exist included Family Passions, Scarlett Hill, Strange Paradise, Metropia, Train 48 and the international coproduction Foreign Affairs. Family Passions was an hour long, as is typical of American daytime soaps; all of the others were half hour programs. Short-run soaps, including 49th & Main and North/South, have also aired.

Notable prime time soap operas in Canada have included Riverdale, House of Pride, Paradise Falls, He Shoots, He Scores, Loving Friends and Perfect Couples, North of 60, and The City. The Degrassi franchise of youth dramas also incorporated some elements of soap opera.

On French language television in Quebec, however, the téléroman has been a popular mainstay of network programming since the 1950s. Notable téléromans have included Rue des Pignons, Les Belles histoires des pays d'en haut, Diva, La famille Plouffe, and the soap opera parody Le Cœur a ses raisons.

Europe

Remakes of Australian serials

Australian serial The Restless Years was remade in the Netherlands as Goede tijden, slechte tijden (first broadcast 1990) and in Germany as Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (since 1992): both titles translate to "good times, bad times". These remakes are still running although they have long since diverged from the original Australian storylines. They are the highest rated soap operas in their respective countries.

A later Australian serial, Sons and Daughters, has inspired five remakes produced under license from the original producers and based, initially, on original story and character outlines. These are Verbotene Liebe (Germany, 1995- ); Skilda världar (Sweden, 1996–2002); Apagorevmeni agapi (Greece, 1998); Cuori Rubati (Italy, 2002–2003) Zabranjena ljubav (Croatia, 2004–2008).

Both The Restless Years and Sons and Daughters were created and produced in Australia by the Reg Grundy Organisation.

Netherlands

Alongside Goede tijden, slechte tijden (1990–present), ONM (1994–2010) & Goudkust (1996–2001), US daytime serials As The World Turns and The Bold and the Beautiful have been broadcast in the Netherlands. They have aired since 2000, translated into Dutch.

Germany

Alongside Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten and Verbotene Liebe, soap operas in Germany include Marienhof, Unter Uns, Alles was zählt.

Belgium

In Belgium the two major soap operas are Thuis (Home) and Familie (Family).

Ireland

Television

In the early years of RTÉ they produced several dramas but had not come close to a long running serial. RTÉ's first Television soap was Tolka Row was based in urban Dublin. For a number of years both Tolka Row and The Riordans were produced by RTÉ, soon however the urban soap was drop for the more popular rural soap opera The Riordans - which began in 1965.^[30] Executives from Yorkshire TV visited the on location filming of The Riordans in the early 1970s and in 1972 began broadcasting Emmerdale Farm based on the successful format of the Irish soap opera. In the late 1970s The Riordans was dropped with great controversy. The creator of the series would then go on to produce the second of his "Agri-soap" trilogy Bracken starring Gabriel Byrne who's character had appeared in the last number of season of The Riordans. Braken was soon replaced by the 3rd "Agri-soap" Glenroe which ran until 2001. RTÉ wanted a drama series for Sunday nights rather than a soap opera, On Home Ground (2001–2002), The Clinic (2002–2009) and RAW (2010 - Date) replaced the agri-soaps of the previous decades.

In 1989 RTÉ decide to produce its first Dublin based soap opera since the 1960s. Fair City initially went out one night a week in the 1989/1990 season, and similar to its rural soaps much of the footage was filmed on location - in a suburb of Dublin City. In 1992 RTÉ made a major investment into the series by copying the on location houses for a on site set in RTÉ's Headquarters in Dublin 4. Carrickstown is the fictional setting of the series. By the early 1990s it was running two nights a week and it was broadcast for 35 weeks a year. With competition from the UK soap operas RTÉ choose to begin a three night week in 1996, with one night a week during summer, soon this became four nights a week and two nights during the summer. Until the early 2000s when RTÉ had the series produced 52 weeks of the year with four episodes a week. In 2009 Fair City celebrated 20 years on the air. Fair City airs Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8.00 pm GMT on RTÉ One. With broadcasts of Coronation Street on rival network TV3 moving to Thursday night, the Wednesday night episode of Fair City broadcasts at 7:30pm each week.

TG4 is the only other Irish broadcaster to produce a soap opera. The Irish language soap Ros na Run. Ros na Run is set in a tiny village near the city of Galway called "Ros Na Run". It runs twice a week for 35 weeks of the year. "Ros na Run" translates as Headland of the Secrets or Headland of the Sweethearts. It was originally broadcast on RTÉ One in the early 1990s before the existence of TG4. Ros na Run airs Tuesday and Thursday nights at 8:30pm GMT on TG4.

Although Ireland has access to international soaps, such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Eastenders, Home and Away, Neighbours etc., Fair City continues to out perform them all, and is Ireland's most popular soap-opera, with the show peaking at over 700,000 viewers.

Radio

On radio RTÉ Radio produced its first radio soap Kennedy's of Castleross which began broadcasting on April 13, 1955 and ran until 1975.^[31] In 1979 RTÉ long running TV soap The Riordan's moved to Radio until December 24, 1985.^[32] In the mid-1980s RTÉ began a new radio soap entitled Harbour Hotel until the mid-1990s. Riverrun was a short lived radio soap followed in 2004 by Driftwood.^[33] RTÉ do not run any radio soaps, however during their night schedule on RTÉ Radio 1 they still broadcast radio dramas.^[34]

France

France had no real tradition of daytime series, until the creation of Plus belle la vie in 2004 for French public television channel France 3. It airs every weekday at 8.00 pm. After initial poor ratings, the show became a huge success and has been one of the most highly rated series on the network. Other attempts were made by competitors to create soaps (including Seconde Chance, Cinq soeurs and Paris 16ème) but have not achieved success.

Greece

In Greece there have been several soap operas.

ANT1

An early serial was Sti skia tou hrimatos (Money Shadows) (1990–1991). September 1991 saw the debut of Lampsi (the Shining) by Nicos Foskolos. This series would become Greece's longest running soap opera. After the success of Lampsi came the short lived To galazio diamandi (Blue diamond) and Simphonia siopis (Omertà).

Lampsi was canceled in June 2005 due to declining ratings. It was replaced by the new soap opera Erotas (Love) which ran from 2005 to 2008. After that ANT1 abandoned the soap opera genre and focused on comedy series and weekly dramas.

Greece's second longest running soap is Kalimera Zoi (Goodmorning Life). It premiered in September 1993. It was cancelled June 2006 due to unsatisfactory ratings.

MEGA

Mega Channel began soap opera production in 1990 with the prime time serial I Dipsa (The Thirst). This series had a run of 102 episodes. Their daytime shows included Paralliloi dromoi (1992–1994) and by Haravgi (Daylight) (1994–1995). The ratings of both shows were low.

Other serials include Apagorevmeni Agapi (Forbidden Love) 1998–2006; Gia mia thesi ston Ilio (A Spot Under the Sun) 1998–2002; Filodoxies(Expectations) 2002–2006; Vera Sto Deksi (Ring On The Right Hand) 2004-2006. Vera Sto Deksi proved a successful rival to Lampsi, causing its ratings to decline.

Ta Mistika Tis Edem (Edem Secrets) debuted in 2008. This new serial was created by the producers of Vera Sto Deksi, and it has eclipsed that show's success. Its ratings place it constantly on the top three daytime programs.

ERT

IENED (renamed ERT2 in 1982) was responsible for the first Greek soap operas I Kravgi Ton Likon and Megistanes. ERT also produced long running soap O Simvoleografos.

Since 2000 and with the introduction of private TV, ERT produced further daily soap operas, but these failed to achieve high ratings and were canceled shortly after their premiere. These included Pathos (Passion), Erotika tis Edem (Loving in Eden), Ta ftera tou erota (The wings of love).

ALPHA

Alpha produced Kato apo tin Acropoli (Under the Acropolis) which ran two and a half years.

Cyprus

Weekday shows

The first daytime soap opera made by a Cyprus channel was LOGOs TV Odos Den Ksehno ('Don't Forget' Street) which premiered on January 1996 but was canceled by December the same year. It was followed by To Serial which was also broadcast for one year from September 1997 to June 1998. CyBC created the third weekday soap which was Anemi Tou Pathous (Passion Winds) beginning January 2000 and finishing June 2004. It was followed on the CyBC daytime timeslot by I Platia (The Square) which premiered on September 2004 and finished on July 2006. On Sigma TV their first weekday show was the comedy Sto Para Pente which was shown from September 1998 until June 2004 and is the longest weekday show in Cyprus history. Other Sigma TV weekday shows include Akti Oniron (1999–2001), Vourate Geitonoi (2001–2005) (which is the most successful weekday show achieving ratings up to 70%), Oi Takkoi (2002–2005), S' Agapo (2001–2002), Vasiliki (2005–2006), Vendetta (September 2005 - December 2006), 30 kai Kati (2006–2007), Mila Mou (September 2007 - January 2009). Its current soap opera is Se Fonto Kokkino shown since September 2008. ANT1 Cyprus aired the soap I Goitia Tis Amartias in 2002 which was soon canceled. Dikse Mou To Filo Sou followed (2006–2009) and now they air Gia Tin Agapi Sou (premiered on September 2008 and expected to be completed by June 2009).

Weekly shows

The longest running weekly show on Cyprus television is Istories Tou Horkou (CyBC) which was premiered on March 1996 but was canceled on June 2006. Second is Manolis Ke Katina (1995–2004). Most controversial is To Kafenio which premiered on CyBC on 1993 as a weekly show, moved to MEGA Channel Cyprus 6 years later i(1999) as a weekday show and then to ANT1 Cyprus on 2000 where it was canceled a year later. Plans of moving back to CyBC again as a weekly show for a 8th season, in 2001, with the original cast never realised. Currently the most successful weekly show in Cyprus is Aigia Fuxia by ANT1 Cyprus (premiered in 2008) and Oi Genies Tis Siopis by CyBC (premiered in 2007).

Soap opera parodies

A few soap opera spoofs have been made. Two of the most famous U.S. spoofs were Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Soap. Fresno was a 1986 spoof of the primetime serials of the period. Australia also produced a spoof of glamorous beach-side soap operas in the form of Shark Bay, which featured many former Australian soap stars from Sons and Daughters, Prisoner, Home and Away and Neighbours. From 1990 to 1994, Australian medical dramas, such as A Country Practice and The Young Doctors as well as other soaps, were spoofed in Let The Blood Run Free set in St. Christopher's Hospital. During 2000–2001, Grosse Pointe ran on the now-defunct WB, self-spoofing creator Darren Star's behind the scenes experiences of producing nighttime soaps, notably Beverly Hills, 90210.

South African comedian, Casper de Vries produced a soap opera parody Haak en Steek based on South African soaps like Egoli: Place of Gold.

The Carol Burnett Show was most notable for a recurring skit, As the Stomach Turns, that spoofed the popular soap opera of the time, As the World Turns. it is basically a story that contains many situations in the middle or beginning of a story then they are all tied up with with solution.

See also

• Daytime Emmy Award
• List of longest-serving soap opera actors
• List of soap operas
• List of radio soaps
• Love in the Afternoon
• Mobile soap opera
• Radio theater
• Soap Opera Digest
• Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome
• Supercouple
• Telenovela
• Soaplife
• British Soap Awards

References

External links

• The OTRR Library The internet's largest site for FREE downloads of otr programs.
• The Old Time Radio Researchers The internet's largest group of old time radio fans.
• Soap Opera overview - Museum of Broadcast Communications
• SoapCentral.com - Portal for US soap operas
• Soapdom.com - Portal for US soap operas
• SoapOperaDigest.com - Portal for US soap operas
• Soaps.com - Portal for US soap operas
• Soaps of the Past page on MySpace (US soap operas)
• What's on TV - Portal for UK soap operas
• The Aussie Soap Archive - Classic Australian soap operas
• The Soap Show Interviews and news on UK and Australian soaps