Today in Soap Opera History (October 20)

1930: Irna Phillips' soap opera Painted Dreams premiered.
1987: General Hospital's Duke and Anna were married.
1994: All My Children's Edmund faced the press.
1998: The Young and the Restless' Sharon was hit by a car.

"The best prophet of the future is the past."
― Lord Byron

"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...

1930: The soap opera was born! Irna Phillips’ radio soap Painted Dreams premiered on WGN Radio in Chicago. The show is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the very first soap opera. The show ran on WGN and later CBS Radio until July 1943.

Today in Soap Opera History (October 20)

1930: Irna Phillips' soap opera Painted Dreams premiered.
1987: General Hospital's Duke and Anna were married.
1994: All My Children's Edmund faced the press.
1998: The Young and the Restless' Sharon was hit by a car.

"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...

1930: The soap opera was born! Irna Phillips’ radio soap Painted Dreams premiered on WGN Radio in Chicago. The show is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the very first soap opera. The show ran on WGN and later CBS Radio until July 1943.

Today in Soap Opera History (October 20)

1930: Irna Phillips' soap opera Painted Dreams premiered.
1987: General Hospital's Duke and Anna were married.
1994: All My Children's Edmund faced the press.
1998: The Young and the Restless' Sharon was hit by a car.

"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...

1930: The soap opera was born! Irna Phillips’ radio soap Painted Dreams premiered on WGN Radio in Chicago. The show is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the very first soap opera. The show ran on WGN and later CBS Radio until July 1943.

Today in Soap Opera History (October 20)

1930: Irna Phillips' soap opera Painted Dreams premiered.
1987: General Hospital's Duke and Anna were married.
1994: All My Children's Edmund faced the press.
1998: The Young and the Restless' Sharon was hit by a car.

"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."
― Maya Angelou

"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...

1930: The soap opera was born! Irna Phillips’ radio soap Painted Dreams premiered on WGN Radio in Chicago. The show is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the very first soap opera. The show ran on WGN and later CBS Radio until July 1943.

Today in Soap Opera History (October 20)

1930: Painted Dreams premiered. 1987: GH's Duke &Anna
were married. 1994: AMC's Edmund faced tough questions from
the press. 1998: Y&R's Sharon was hit by a car.

"History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future."
― Robert Penn Warren

"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...

1930: The soap opera was born! Irna Phillips’ radio soap Painted Dreams premiered on WGN Radio in Chicago. The show is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the very first soap opera. The show ran on WGN and later CBS Radio until July 1943.

Today in Soap Opera History (October 20)

1930:  PAINTED DREAMS premiered. 1987: GH's Duke &Anna
were married. 1994: AMC's Edmund faced tough questions from
the press. 1998: Y&R's Sharon was hit by a car.

"The man for whom history is bunk is almost invariably as obtuse to the future as he is blind to the past."
― J. Frank Dobie

"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...

1930: The soap opera was born! Irna Phillips’ radio soap PAINTED DREAMS premiered on WGN Radio in Chicago. The show is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the very first soap opera. The show ran on WGN and later CBS Radio until July 1943.

Today in Soap Opera History (October 20)

On this date in...

1930: The soap opera was born, with the debut of the first episode of Irna Phillips’ PAINTED DREAMS on WGN Radio in Chicago. The show is widely recognized by broadcast historians as the very first soap opera. The show ran on WGN and later CBS Radio until July 1943.

Click here to read Rob Wargo's in-depth feature from the 80th anniversary of the show in 2010.