Today in Soap Opera History (July 15)

1968: Agnes Nixon's One Life to Live premiered on ABC.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1940: On The Guiding Light, Rose Kransky (Ruth Bailey) and Charles Cunningham had dinner together after a chance meeting on the street.

The episode opened with the following narration: "Where we are free to act, we are also free to refrain from acting. And where we are able to say no, we are also able to say yes. And yet it seems so strange that so many times what we will to be, and what the facts strictly are contrary one to the other."

Today in Soap Opera History (July 15)

1968: Agnes Nixon's One Life to Live premiered on ABC.

"All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1940: On The Guiding Light, Rose Kransky (Ruth Bailey) and Charles Cunningham had dinner together after a chance meeting on the street.

The episode opened with the following narration: "Where we are free to act, we are also free to refrain from acting. And where we are able to say no, we are also able to say yes. And yet it seems so strange that so many times what we will to be, and what the facts strictly are contrary one to the other."

Today in Soap Opera History (July 15)

1968: Agnes Nixon's One Life to Live premiered on ABC.

"History is a vast early warning system."
― Norman Cousins

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1940: On The Guiding Light, Rose Kransky (Ruth Bailey) and Charles Cunningham had dinner together after a chance meeting on the street.

The episode opened with the following narration: "Where we are free to act, we are also free to refrain from acting. And where we are able to say no, we are also able to say yes. And yet it seems so strange that so many times what we will to be, and what the facts strictly are contrary one to the other."

Today in Soap Opera History (July 15)

1968: Agnes Nixon's One Life to Live premiered on ABC.

"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree."
― Michael Crichton

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1949: The final episode of John Haggart's A Woman to Remember aired on the DuMont Television Network.

1966: On Dark Shadows, the Collins family learned Roger had been in an accident.

1968: The Agnes Nixon daytime soap opera One Life to Live premiered on ABC. The original planned title for the series was Between Heaven and Hell. This was still the plan as of late April, and Don Wallace was expected to be the executive producer.

The original cast included Ernest Graves as Victor Lord, Paul Tulley as Dr. Larry Wolek, Trish Van Devere as Meredith Lord, Gillian Spencer as Victoria Lord, Antony Ponzini as Vince Wolek, Doris Belack as Anna Wolek, Ellen Holly as Carla Benari (Gray), Lee Patterson as Joe Riley, Niki Flacks as Karen Martin, Terry Logan as Dr. Ted Hale, Allan Miller as Dave Siegel, Lillian Hayman as Sadie Gray, Donald Moffat as Dr. Marcus Polk, Thalmus Rasulala as Lt. Jack Neal, Patricia Roe as Eileen Siegel, and Thurman Scott as Dr. Price Trainor.

One Life to Live aired on ABC until January 13, 2012. It premiered online via Prospect Park's The OnLine Network on April 29, 2013, and ran for one season before being canceled again.

Check out a montage of OLTL opening sequences during the ABC years below.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 15)

1968: Agnes Nixon's One Life to Live premiered on ABC.

"History never looks like history when you are living through it."
― John W. Gardner

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1949: The final episode of John Haggart's A Woman to Remember aired on the DuMont Television Network.

1966: On Dark Shadows, the Collins family learned Roger had been in an accident.

1968: The Agnes Nixon daytime soap opera One Life to Live premiered on ABC. The original planned title for the series was Between Heaven and Hell. This was still the plan as of late April, and Don Wallace was expected to be the executive producer.

The original cast included Ernest Graves as Victor Lord, Paul Tulley as Dr. Larry Wolek, Trish Van Devere as Meredith Lord, Gillian Spencer as Victoria Lord, Antony Ponzini as Vince Wolek, Doris Belack as Anna Wolek, Ellen Holly as Carla Benari (Gray), Lee Patterson as Joe Riley, Niki Flacks as Karen Martin, Terry Logan as Dr. Ted Hale, Allan Miller as Dave Siegel, Lillian Hayman as Sadie Gray, Donald Moffat as Dr. Marcus Polk, Thalmus Rasulala as Lt. Jack Neal, Patricia Roe as Eileen Siegel, and Thurman Scott as Dr. Price Trainor.

One Life to Live aired on ABC until January 13, 2012. It premiered online via Prospect Park's The OnLine Network on April 29, 2013, and ran for one season before being canceled again.

Check out a montage of OLTL opening sequences during the ABC years below.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 15)

"History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies."
- Alexis de Tocqueville

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1949: The final episode of John Haggart's A Woman to Remember aired on the DuMont Television Network.

1966: On Dark Shadows, the Collins family learned Roger had been in an accident.

1968: The Agnes Nixon daytime soap opera One Life to Live premiered on ABC. The original planned title for the series was Between Heaven and Hell. This was still the plan as of late April, and Don Wallace was expected to be the executive producer. The show aired on ABC until January 13, 2012. It premiered online via The OnLine Network on April 29, 2013, and ran for one season before being canceled again. Check out a montage of ABC opening sequences below.

Today in Soap Opera History (July 15)

On this date in...

1925: Actor Philip Carey was born. The actor played Asa Buchanan in ONE LIFE TO LIVE for many years. Among his many credits was a memorable first season appearance as Archie's gay friend in ALL IN THE FAMILY, an episode that also featured Anthony Geary. Carey died on February 6, 2009.

1949: The final episode of John Haggart's A WOMAN TO REMEMBER aired on the DuMont Television Network.

1966: On DARK SHADOWS, the Collins family learned Roger had been in an accident.

1968: ONE LIFE TO LIVE premiered on ABC. The original planned title for the Agnes Nixon soap opera was BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL. This was still the plan as of late April, and Don Wallace was expected to be the executive producer. The show aired on ABC until January 13, 2012. It premiered online via The OnLine Network on April 29, 2013. Today the show debuts on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network.  Check out a montage of the show's opening sequences below.

Mixing Comedy & Soap: A History of the Serialized Situation Comedy

Mixing Comedy & Soap: A History of the Serialized Situation Comedy
By Doug Prinzivalli

As one of the producers of the hit web series PRETTY - a parody hybrid of reality TV and soaps - I thought it would be a fun idea to take a brief look at the long history of the serialized situation comedy. The idea of mixing comedy with soap elements is not a new one - in fact it started over 60 years ago.

THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS (CBS 1950-52) was a mildly humorous daily soap about newlyweds who are gifted with a bat-infested Victorian mansion. Sounds pretty wacky to me. After less than two years, it was replaced by something called THE GUIDING LIGHT.


THE EGG & I (CBS 1951-52) Based on a book by Betty MacDonald and the 1947 film (starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray) that followed, this show followed the misadventures of city folk who move to the country to run a chicken farm. The popular characters of Ma & Pa Kettle originated here. This 15-minute daily failed to catch on, but undoubtably later inspired the successful 1960s CBS sitcom GREEN ACRES.