Today in Soap Opera History (April 2)

1956: As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiered on CBS.
1971: ABC aired the final episode of Dark Shadows.
1978: Primetime soap opera Dallas premiered on CBS.

"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...

1951: Hawkins Falls, a primetime dramedy in 1950 returned as 15-minute five-days-a-week daytime soap opera on NBC titled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, created by Roy Winsor and Doug Johnson. Its large cast of "townspeople" included Frank Dane, Bernadine Flynn, Ros Twohey, Hope Summers and Barbara Berjer. Produced and directed by Ben Park, it ran four years.

Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner  pose
for a photo in March 1956 as CBS prepared
to launch ABC.

1956: Procter & Gamble's As the World Turns, the first 30-minute daytime soap opera, premiered on CBS. The show starred Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner as Chris and Nancy Hughes, roles they would both play until their real-life deaths (Wagner had some time off in the early 1980s). Wagner said the first line in ATWT history, "Good morning, dear." Other original cast members included Rosemary Prinz, Ruth Warrick, Les Damon, Wendy Drew, William Lee and Hal Studer..  Read creator Irna Phillips' original story bible for the fictional Oakdale-based soap (As the World Turns) here.

ATWT became the top-rated daytime soap for much of the first two decades and ran more more than 54 years. CBS aired the final episode on September 17, 2010. The final line was, fittingly, "Goodnight."

Today in Soap Opera History (April 2)

1951: A daytime version of Hawkins Falls premiered.
1956: As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiered
on CBS. 1971: ABC aired the final episode of Dark Shadows.

"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...

1951: Hawkins Falls, a primetime dramedy in 1950 returned as 15-minute five-days-a-week daytime soap opera on NBC titled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, created by Roy Winsor and Doug Johnson. Its large cast of "townspeople" included Frank Dane, Bernadine Flynn, Ros Twohey, Hope Summers and Barbara Berjer. Produced and directed by Ben Park, it ran four years.

Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner  pose
for a photo in March 1956 as CBS prepared
to launch ABC.

1956: Procter & Gamble's As the World Turns, the first 30-minute daytime soap opera, premiered on CBS. The show starred Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner as Chris and Nancy Hughes, roles they would both play until their real-life deaths (Wagner had some time off in the early 1980s). Wagner said the first line in ATWT history, "Good morning, dear." Other original cast members included Rosemary Prinz, Ruth Warrick, Les Damon, Wendy Drew, William Lee and Hal Studer..  Read creator Irna Phillips' original story bible for the fictional Oakdale-based soap (As the World Turns) here.

ATWT became the top-rated daytime soap for much of the first two decades and ran more more than 54 years. CBS aired the final episode on September 17, 2010. The final line was, fittingly, "Goodnight."

Today in Soap Opera History (April 2)

1951: A daytime version of Hawkins Falls premiered.
1956: As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiered
on CBS. 1971: ABC aired the final episode of Dark Shadows.

"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...

1951: Hawkins Falls, a primetime dramedy in 1950 returned as 15-minute five-days-a-week daytime soap opera on NBC titled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, created by Roy Winsor and Doug Johnson. Its large cast of "townspeople" included Frank Dane, Bernadine Flynn, Ros Twohey, Hope Summers and Barbara Berjer. Produced and directed by Ben Park, it ran four years.

Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner  pose
for a photo in March 1956 as CBS prepared
to launch ABC.

1956: Procter & Gamble's As the World Turns, the first 30-minute daytime soap opera, premiered on CBS. The show starred Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner as Chris and Nancy Hughes, roles they would both play until their real-life deaths (Wagner had some time off in the early 1980s). Wagner said the first line in ATWT history, "Good morning, dear." Other original cast members included Rosemary Prinz, Ruth Warrick, Les Damon, Wendy Drew, William Lee and Hal Studer..  Read creator Irna Phillips' original story bible for the fictional Oakdale-based soap (As the World Turns) here.

ATWT became the top-rated daytime soap for much of the first two decades and ran more more than 54 years. CBS aired the final episode on September 17, 2010. The final line was, fittingly, "Goodnight."

FLASHBACK: Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets (Part 1)

Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets

The Soap Box
Vol. V No. 9 September 1979
by Linda Susman

Like parents raising their offspring, soap opera writers have the awesome responsibility of creating and nurturing their show's characters and personality so that when it goes out into the world of daytime television, audiences will like it enough to become loyal friends.

Unlike a book, play or film that builds towards its conclusion with a prescribed set of circumstances in a specific period of time, the nature of the soap's continuing format puts it on a different plane. Henry Slesar, Edge of Night's super-sleuth, notes that "the key word in a soap is 'organic.' It has its own inner growth, and it changes because of the nature of the ingredients. Watching for change makes a soap more exciting and unique."

Behind that uniqueness, the philosophy and outlook of the writers provide the framework within which characters come to life and storylines achieve validity. For Edge, Slesar says, the personality is "suspense. We are definitely more related to the mystery magazine than to the confession magazine. We have a harder edge than most soaps because we are more plot-oriented. We must have the element of surprise and suspense that comes from very careful story planning." Slesar adds that his show is not without its share of inter-relationships. "There's no way of avoiding them--they are at the core of drama."

Today in Soap Opera History (April 2)

1951: A daytime version of Hawkins Falls premiered.
1956: As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiered
on CBS. 1971: ABC aired the final episode of Dark Shadows.

"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...

1951: Hawkins Falls, a primetime dramedy in 1950 returned as 15-minute five-days-a-week daytime soap opera on NBC titled Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel, created by Roy Winsor and Doug Johnson. Its large cast of "townspeople" included Frank Dane, Bernadine Flynn, Ros Twohey, Hope Summers and Barbara Berjer. Produced and directed by Ben Park, it ran four years.

Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner  pose
for a photo in March 1956 as CBS prepared
to launch ABC.

1956: Procter & Gamble's As the World Turns, the first 30-minute daytime soap opera, premiered on CBS. The show starred Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner as Chris and Nancy Hughes, roles they would both play until their real-life deaths (Wagner had some time off in the early 1980s). Wagner said the first line in ATWT history, "Good morning, dear." Other original cast members included Rosemary Prinz, Ruth Warrick, Les Damon, Wendy Drew, William Lee and Hal Studer..  Read creator Irna Phillips' original story bible for the fictional Oakdale-based soap (As the World Turns) here.

ATWT became the top-rated daytime soap for much of the first two decades and ran more more than 54 years. CBS aired the final episode on September 17, 2010. The final line was, fittingly, "Goodnight."

FLASHBACK: Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets (Part 3 of 3)

Revealed! Serial Writers' Secrets

The Soap Box
Vol. V No. 9 September 1979
by Linda Susman

(continued from Part 2)

While Slesar doesn't specify "repition," he notes that, "after 11 years, you find yourself using story elements you said you'd never use, things that are dictated by logic. I always said I'd never bring anyone back from the dead; but when Maeve McGuire (ex-Nicole Drake) wanted to come back to the show, I managed to turn it into a good storyline." Slesar says he'd "write about anything interesting and entertaining" and likes to avoid "cliche subjects."

Part of the individuality of each soap lies in the names of its characters. Slesar feels that "if you are going to introduce a character with a personality, the name should be appropriate so it helps the audience define the person." For 'Raven,' Slesar envisioned a flashy, dark-haired dangerous kind of woman; young, with as yet unsharpened claws--the predatory bird. He knew a 'Draper' many years ago, who was "a dashing, boyish personality. The name also connotes sartorial splendor and, coincidentally, so does Tony Craig, who plays the part." 'Steve Guthrie's masculine, with a western sound, while 'Brandy Henderson' was to be a memorable woman, feminine yet strong. Since she was an attorney, Slesar named her after Justice Brandies.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 2)

"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...

1951: HAWKINS FALLS, a primetime dramedy in 1950 returned as 15-minute five-days-a-week daytime soap opera titled HAWKINS FALLS: A TELEVISION NOVEL.

Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner  pose
for a photo in March 1956 as CBS prepared
to launch ABC.

1956: Procter & Gamble's AS THE WORLD TURNS, the first 30-minute daytime soap opera, premiered on CBS. The show starred Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner as Chris and Nancy Hughes, roles they would both play until their real-life deaths (Wagner had some time off in the early 1980s). Wagner said the first line in ATWT history, "Good morning, dear." Other original cast members included Rosemary Prinz, Ruth Warrick, Les Damon, Wendy Drew, William Lee and Hal Studer..  Read creator Irna Phillips' original story bible for the fictional Oakdale-based soap (AS THE EARTH TURNS) here.

ATWT became the top-rated daytime soap for much of the first two decades and ran more more than 54 years. CBS aired the final episode on September 17, 2010. The final line was, fittingly, "Goodnight."

Today in Soap Opera History (April 2)

On this date in...

1951: HAWKINS FALLS, a primetime dramedy in 1950 returned as 15-minute five-days-a-week daytime soap opera titled HAWKINS FALLS: A TELEVISION NOVEL.

Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner  pose
for a photo in March 1956 as CBS prepared
to launch ABC.

1956: Procter & Gamble's AS THE WORLD TURNS, the first 30-minute daytime soap opera, premiered on CBS. The show starred Don MacLaughlin and Helen Wagner as Chris and Nancy Hughes, roles they would both play until their real-life deaths (Wagner had some time off in the early 1980s). Wagner said the first line in ATWT history, "Good morning, dear." Other original cast members included Rosemary Prinz, Ruth Warrick, Les Damon, Wendy Drew, William Lee and Hal Studer..  Read creator Irna Phillips' original story bible for the fictional Oakdale-based soap (AS THE EARTH TURNS) here.

ATWT became the top-rated daytime soap for much of the first two decades and ran more more than 54 years. CBS aired the final episode on September 17, 2010. The final line was, fittingly, "Goodnight."

Today in Soap Opera History (April 2)

On this date in...

1956: AS THE WORLD TURNS, the first 30-minute daytime soap opera, premiered on CBS. Read Irna Phillips' original story bible here.

1956: THE EDGE OF NIGHT premiered on CBS and would run until 1984, switching networks to ABC in 1975.

1971: The original DARK SHADOWS soap opera on ABC aired its final episode.