Today in Soap Opera History (March 10)

1961: Finale of daytime soap opera Full Circle aired on CBS.
1981: GH's Susan was shocked to learn PJ was Steven Lars.
1994: Another World's "Kate" introduced herself to John.
1997: B&B's Stephanie and Eric made love.

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent 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...

1961: CBS aired the final episode of daytime soap opera Full Circle. The half-hour series starred Dyan Cannon as Lisa Crowder and Jean Byron as Kit Aldrich.  It was the first soap opera to be broadcast live from Hollywood. The opening credits below are from the July 1, 1960 episode.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 10)

1961: Finale of daytime soap opera Full Circle aired on CBS.
1981: GH's Susan was shocked to learn PJ was Steven Lars.
1994: Another World's "Kate" introduced herself to John.
1997: B&B's Stephanie and Eric made love.

"Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."
― Machiavelli

"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...

1961: CBS aired the final episode of daytime soap opera Full Circle. The half-hour series starred Dyan Cannon as Lisa Crowder and Jean Byron as Kit Aldrich.  It was the first soap opera to be broadcast live from Hollywood. The opening credits below are from the July 1, 1960 episode.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 10)

1961: Finale of daytime soap opera Full Circle aired on CBS.
1981: GH's Susan was shocked to learn PJ was Steven Lars.
1994: Another World's "Kate" introduced herself to John.
1997: B&B's Stephanie and Eric made love.

"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...

1961: CBS aired the final episode of daytime soap opera Full Circle. The half-hour series starred Dyan Cannon as Lisa Crowder and Jean Byron as Kit Aldrich.  It was the first soap opera to be broadcast live from Hollywood. The opening credits below are from the July 1, 1960 episode.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 10)

1961: Finale of daytime soap opera Full Circle aired on CBS.
1981: GH's Susan was shocked to learn PJ was Steven Lars.
1994: Another World's "Kate" introduced herself to John.
1997: B&B's Stephanie and Eric made love.

"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...

1961: CBS aired the final episode of daytime soap opera Full Circle. The half-hour series starred Dyan Cannon as Lisa Crowder and Jean Byron as Kit Aldrich.  It was the first soap opera to be broadcast live from Hollywood. The opening credits below are from the July 1, 1960 episode.

FLASHBACK: A Complete, Concise Yearly History of TV Soap Operas - 1947 to 1977 (Part 4)

Patricia Allison and Jacqueline Courtney starred in Our Five Daughters
as Barbara and Ann Lee.

A Complete, Concise Yearly History of TV Soap Operas

The Soap Box
Vol. III No. 10 September 1978
by John Genovese

(continued from Part 3)

1959
Two anthology serials made their appearances this year. One was For Better or Worse, seen on CBS from June 29, 1959 to June 24, 1960, which presented one marital case a week from the files of the show's narrator, sociology professor James A. Peterson. Produced by John Guedel (Art Linkletter's House Party) and directed by Hal Cooper (Maude), it proved that anthology doesn't work in the daytime.

NBC attempted The House on High Street which was based on juvenile cases and starred Philip Abbott as probation officer John Collier. It began September 29, 1959 and ended February 5, 1960.

1960
Nobody had tried a daytime serial about a drifter until Full Circle, a CBS failure with Robert Fortier as traveler Gary Donovan who came to a Maryland town. Dyan (then Diane) Cannon, John McNamara, Jean Byron and Byron Foulger (the late father of General Hospital's Rachel Ames) were supporters. Born: June 27, 1960. Died: March 1, 1961.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 10)

1961: Finale of daytime soap opera Full Circle aired on CBS.
1981: GH's Susan was shocked to learn PJ was Steven Lars.
1994: Another World's "Kate" introduced herself to John.
1997: B&B's Stephanie and Eric made love.

"Mankind are so much the same, in all times and places, that history informs us of nothing new or strange in this particular. Its chief use is only to discover the constant and universal principles of human nature."
― David Hume

"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...

1961: CBS aired the final episode of daytime soap opera Full Circle. The half-hour series starred Dyan Cannon as Lisa Crowder and Jean Byron as Kit Aldrich.  It was the first soap opera to be broadcast live from Hollywood. The opening credits below are from the July 1, 1960 episode.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 10)

1961: Finale of daytime soap opera Full Circle aired on CBS.
1981: GH's Susan was shocked to learn PJ was Steven Lars.
1994: Another World's "Kate" introduced herself to John.
1997: B&B's Stephanie and Eric made love.

"There is no present or future, only the past happening over and over again - now."
- Eugene O'Neill

"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...

1961: CBS aired the final episode of daytime soap opera FULL CIRCLE. The half-hour series starred Dyan Cannon and Jean Byron, and was the first soap opera to be broadcast live from Hollywood. The opening credits below are from the July 1, 1960 episode.

NEWS: HEROES Comeback? Prospect Park's Rich Frank's Message To Fans

MSN/Xbox Eye HEROES Revival
MSN, which is making a big push into original programming via Xbox, is in talks to revive NBC’s superhero drama Heroes, TVLine is reporting. Details remain sketchy, but sources confirm that MSN is interested in relaunching the once red-hot NBC Universal franchise with new stories and heroes, while mixing in cameos from the original series’ cast (schedules and interest permitting). The talks are said to be in the preliminary stages.

Prospect Park's Rich Frank's Message To Fans
Prospect Park co-chief Rich Frank tells Soap Opera Digest that a big advertising push will help attract viewers to the relaunches of ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE on April 29th ("You'll see ads in print and on television") but hopes that fans will help spread the word, as well. "We would hope that all of them would call their friends to make sure they watch them! The way to ensure that this is going to work, because we're really totally advertiser-supported is, is that we've got to get the eyeballs to be watching this. They've done it before; it's just a matter of rallying the troops and getting them to watch. That's all I could ask them to do at this point. We're going to try to give them the best we've got and if they will support us and tweet and Facebook and use all the social media and everything just to make sure that everybody knows that on the 29th, we're going to be back, that would be great."

DirecTV Orders Original Scripted Series FULL CIRCLE
The show, from screenwriter Neil LaBute, follows a group of 11 people whose lives are intertwined without their knowledge.

Retiree’s specialty is artificial critters, made to order
At 69, Joe Morgan has hand-molded more than 250 types of artificial critters, a line of specimens so popular worldwide that they have appeared in a dinosaur museum in Germany, at a poison control centre in Utah and — most triumphantly — in an episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS. The producers of ATWT needed an eastern diamondback rattlesnake to perch — just for a flash — on an unsuspecting character’s car seat during an island vacation episode. Morgan never saw it, but his sister did.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 10)

On this date in...

1961: CBS daytime soap opera FULL CIRCLE aired its final episode. Watch the show's opening sequence below.