Today in Soap Opera History (December 4)

1950: The First Hundred Years premiered.
1981: Falcon Crest premiered.
2000: Port Charles kicked off the "Fate" arc.
2009: Venice premiered.

"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...

1933: After its August 14 debut on local station WLW in Cincinnati, radio soap opera Ma Perkins graduated to the NBC Red network in the 3 p.m. ET timeslot. The show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, the prolific team responsible for numerous radio dramas including Just Plain Bill, Backstage Wife and Young Widder Brown.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 4)

1950: The First Hundred Years premiered.
1981: Falcon Crest premiered.
2000: Port Charles kicked off the "Fate" arc.
2009: Venice premiered.

"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...

1933: After its August 14 debut on local station WLW in Cincinnati, radio soap opera Ma Perkins graduated to the NBC Red network in the 3 p.m. ET timeslot. The show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, the prolific team responsible for numerous radio dramas including Just Plain Bill, Backstage Wife and Young Widder Brown.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 4)

1950: The First Hundred Years premiered. 1981: Falcon Crest
premiered.  2000: Port Charles kicked off "Fate."
2009: Venice premiered.

"More and more, I tend to read history. I often find it more up to date than the daily newspapers."
― Joe Murray

"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...

1933: After its August 14 debut on local station WLW in Cincinnati, radio soap opera Ma Perkins graduated to the NBC Red network in the 3 p.m. ET timeslot. The show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, the prolific team responsible for numerous radio dramas including Just Plain Bill, Backstage Wife and Young Widder Brown.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 4)

1950: The First Hundred Years premiered. 1981: Falcon Crest
premiered.  2000: Port Charles kicked off "Fate."
2009: Venice premiered.

"The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect is already in the cause."
― Henri Louis Bergson

"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...

1933: After its August 14 debut on local station WLW in Cincinnati, radio soap opera Ma Perkins graduated to the NBC Red network in the 3 p.m. ET timeslot. The show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, the prolific team responsible for numerous radio dramas including Just Plain Bill, Backstage Wife and Young Widder Brown.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 4)

1950: The First Hundred Years premiered. 1981: Falcon Crest
premiered.  2000: Port Charles kicked off "Fate."
2009: Venice premiered.

"Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years."
― Will Durant

"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...

1933: After its August 14 debut on local station WLW in Cincinnati, radio soap opera Ma Perkins graduated to the NBC Red network in the 3 p.m. ET timeslot. The show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, the prolific team responsible for numerous radio dramas including Just Plain Bill, Backstage Wife and Young Widder Brown.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 4)

1950: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS premiered. 1981: FALCON
CREST made its debut.  2000: PORT CHARLES kicked off
"Fate." 2009: VENICE premiered.

"That is the supreme value of history. The study of it is the best guarantee against repeating it."
- John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir

"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...

1933: After its August 14 debut on local station WLW in Cincinnati, radio soap opera MA PERKINS graduated to the NBC Red network in the 3 p.m. ET timeslot. The show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, the prolific team responsible for numerous radio dramas including JUST PLAIN BILL, BACKSTAGE WIFE and YOUNG WIDDER BROWN.

FLASHBACK: The Hummert Radio Soap Opera Mill 1939

Radio: Hummerts' Mill

TIME
January 23, 1939

One of the oddest outfits in the very odd business of radio is Blackett-Sample-Hummert Inc. Not only is the company the No. 1 buyer of radio time, it is the No. 1 producer of radio material—and, incidentally, a big source of professional exasperation.

Figures available last week showed that in 1938 B-S-H had placed orders for $9,000,000 worth of air time. This was about one-eighth of all money paid for radio network time and over $3,700,000 more than B-S-H's nearest competitor spent. The commission on this sale was about $1,350,000 for B-S-H.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 4)

On this date in...

1933: Radio soap MA PERKINS moved to the NBC Red network. It had debuted on August 14 on WLW in Cincinnati. The show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, the prolific team responsible for numerous radio dramas including JUST PLAIN BILL, BACKSTAGE WIFE and YOUNG WIDDER BROWN.

In his New Yorker essay “O Pioneers!,” James Thurber discussed how the Hummerts recognized the potential that the serials that aired in the evenings would have if they were broadcast during the day instead. This simple move acknowledged that women at home were the primary decision makers when it came to purchasing, and rightly recognized that a women’s household routine might be supplemented with narrative escapism. Radio historian and biographer Jim Cox noted that the pair did even more: they “intended to seize the housewives’ attention and alter the pattern of their daily existence.” For sponsors and the female audience, it proved a match made in heaven.

1950: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS premiered on CBS. It was the first show on television to use the new invention known as a teleprompter. Pictured to the right are two stars of the early TV soap, Nana Bryant (Mrs. Martin) and Olive Stacey (Connie Martin Thayer). The show was replaced in 1952 by a TV version of radio soap THE GUIDING LIGHT.

1974: On ANOTHER WORLD, Ada (Constance Ford) told Sam (Jordan Charney) she wasn't sure Rachel would ever get over Steve.

1981: FALCON CREST premiered.  The show's cast included Jane Wyman, Robert Foxworth and Susan Sullivan.   DALLAS moved to the Friday 9 p.m. ET timeslot (one hour earlier) to provide a strong lead-in for the new primetime soap.

Today in Soap Opera History (December 4)

On this date in...

1933: Radio soap MA PERKINS moved to the NBC Red network. It had debuted on August 14 on WLW in Cincinnati. The show was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, the prolific team responsible for numerous radio dramas including JUST PLAIN BILL, BACKSTAGE WIFE and YOUNG WIDDER BROWN.

In his New Yorker essay “O Pioneers!,” James Thurber discussed how the Hummerts recognized the potential that the serials that aired in the evenings would have if they were broadcast during the day instead. This simple move acknowledged that women at home were the primary decision makers when it came to purchasing, and rightly recognized that a women’s household routine might be supplemented with narrative escapism. Radio historian and biographer Jim Cox noted that the pair did even more: they “intended to seize the housewives’ attention and alter the pattern of their daily existence.” For sponsors and the female audience, it proved a match made in heaven.

1950: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS premiered on CBS. It was the first show on television to use the new invention known as a teleprompter. Pictured to the right are two stars of the early TV soap, Nana Bryant (Mrs. Martin) and Olive Stacey (Connie Martin Thayer). The show was replaced in 1952 by the TV version of THE GUIDING LIGHT.

1981: DALLAS moved to the Friday 9 p.m. ET timeslot with FALCON CREST premiering after at 10 p.m.