Jimmy Lydon Olive Stacey First Hundred Years 1951

''The First Hundred Years'' is the first ongoing TV

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

that began as a daytime serial, airing on CBS from December 4, 1950 until June 27, 1952. A previous daytime drama on NBC, '' These Are My Children'', aired in 1949 but only lasted one month, and NBC's ''

Hawkins Falls ''Hawkins Falls, Population 6200'' is an American television soap opera that was broadcast in the 1950s, live from Chicago. Though it was not the first original (non-radio-derived) soap opera on American TV, it was the first to be successful, run ...

'' began in June 1950 as a primetime "soap" and didn't move to daytime until April 1951. The show began with the wedding of Chris Thayer and Connie Martin, which lasted for the first week of episodes. The couple settled down in a huge, unkept

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, sch ...

mansion, a present from Connie's father. The series did not succeed due to very low viewership, as few American households had television sets, and fewer still watched during the afternoon. The series was replaced with the television version of ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'', which would prove to be much more successful, airing for 57 years (72 years total when its 15-year run on radio is taken into account).

References

External links

* American television soap operas CBS original programming 1950 American television series debuts 1952 American television series endings Television series by Procter & Gamble Productions Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows {{US-drama-tv-prog-stub

See also

References

External links