Today in Soap Opera History (March 31)

"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."
"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...

1955: On Hawkins Falls, Dr. Floyd Corey (Maurice Copeland) dealt with fallout from the interview he gave to the local newspaper.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 8)

1965: Days of our Lives premiered on NBC.

"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...

1965: On Another World, Bill (Joseph Gallison) pressed Missy (Carol Roux) to marry him while they were at the Kopper Kettle, but she declined.

1965: On Peyton Place, after the interrogation of Kim, Stella (Lee Grant) was called to the witness stand.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 31)

"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...

1955: On Hawkins Falls, Dr. Floyd Corey (Maurice Copeland) dealt with fallout from the interview he gave to the local newspaper.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 8)

1965: Days of our Lives premiered on NBC.

"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...

1965: On Another World, Bill (Joseph Gallison) pressed Missy (Carol Roux) to marry him while they were at the Kopper Kettle, but she declined.

1965: On Peyton Place, after the interrogation of Kim, Stella (Lee Grant) was called to the witness stand.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 31)

"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...

1955: On Hawkins Falls, Dr. Floyd Corey (Maurice Copeland) dealt with fallout from the interview he gave to the local newspaper.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 8)

1965: Days of our Lives premiered on NBC.

"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...

1965: On Another World, Bill (Joseph Gallison) pressed Missy (Carol Roux) to marry him while they were at the Kopper Kettle, but she declined.

1965: On Peyton Place, after the interrogation of Kim, Stella (Lee Grant) was called to the witness stand.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 31)

"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...

1955: On Hawkins Falls, Dr. Floyd Corey (Maurice Copeland) dealt with fallout from the interview he gave to the local newspaper.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 8)

1965: Days of our Lives premiered on NBC.

"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...

1965: On Another World, Bill (Joseph Gallison) pressed Missy (Carol Roux) to marry him while they were at the Kopper Kettle, but she declined.

1965: On Peyton Place, after the interrogation of Kim, Stella (Lee Grant) was called to the witness stand.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 31)

"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...

1955: On HAWKINS FALLS, Dr. Floyd Corey (Maurice Copeland) dealt with fallout from the interview he gave to the local newspaper.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 8)

1965: Days of our Lives premiered on NBC.

"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...

1965: On Another World, Bill (Joseph Gallison) pressed Missy (Carol Roux) to marry him while they were at the Kopper Kettle, but she declined.

1965: On Payton Place, after the interrogation of Kim, Stella (Lee Grant) was called to the witness stand.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 31)

1961: ATWT's Betty & David worried about Ellen's claim on
Danny. 1972: BRIGHT PROMISE ended. 1980: RH's Prince Albert
dropped Delia. 1993: A classic GH theme was used for the final time.

"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: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, David Stewart (Henderson Forsythe) and his wife Betty dealt with the aftermath of Ellen Lowell's (Patricia Bruder) revelation that Danny was her son.

Alan Coleman Dead at 76

Alan Coleman, who was executive producer of Australia's NEIGHBOURS and also worked on PRISONER and THE YOUNG DOCTORS, has died at age 76.

Coleman died on December 9 on the NSW Central Coast, his agent Darren Gray said.

Considered a pioneer of Australian soap opera, Coleman was born in Birmingham, England and worked as the first director on CROSSROADS, the UK's first ever five nights a week serial.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 8)

1965: DAYS OF OUR LIVES premiered on NBC.

"History is a vast early warning system."
― J. 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...

1965: On ANOTHER WORLD, Bill (Joseph Gallison) pressed Missy (Carol Roux) to marry him while they were at the Kopper Kettle, but she declined.

1965: On PEYTON PLACE, after the interrogation of Kim, Stella (Lee Grant) was called to the witness stand.

Today in Soap Opera History (March 31)

On this date in...

1965: On ANOTHER WORLD, Pat (Susan Trustman) found a seedy motel after running away.

1967: ABC aired the final episode of daytime soap opera THE NURSES. The show was a continuation of a CBS serialized primetime drama originally titled THE NURSES when it premiered in 1962 (later renamed THE DOCTORS AND THE NURSES). Mary Fickett and Melinda Cordell were among the stars.

1972: The final episode of NBC's BRIGHT PROMISE, created by Frank and Doris Hursley, aired after a two and a half year run. Dabney Coleman and Anthony Geary were among the stars of BRIGHT PROMISE which was replaced in the lineup by RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE.

Today in Soap Opera History (November 8)

On this date in...

1965: On ANOTHER WORLD, Bill (Joseph Gallison) pressed Missy (Carol Roux) to marry him while they were at the Kopper Kettle, but she declined.

1965: On PEYTON PLACE, after the interrogation of Kim, Stella (Lee Grant) was called to the witness stand.

1965: Ted Corday's DAYS OF OUR LIVES premiered on NBC starring Macdonald Carey and Frances Reid as Tom and Alice Horton.  Read "The Complete Story of DAYS" from 1965 to 1973 here. Watch the first episode below:

Today in Soap Opera History (March 31)

On this date in...

1965: On ANOTHER WORLD, Pat (Susan Trustman) found a seedy motel after running away.

1967: ABC's THE NURSES aired its final episode. The show was a continuation of a serialized primetime drama which aired on CBS originally called THE NURSES when it premiered in 1962, later called THE DOCTORS AND THE NURSES. Mary Fickett and Melinda Cordell were among the stars.

1972: NBC's BRIGHT PROMISE, created by Frank and Doris Hursley, aired its final episode after two and a half years. It was replaced in the lineup by RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE. Dabney Coleman and Anthony Geary were among the stars.

Classic Soap Clip of the Day

The Young Doctors
The best bits from the final-ever edition of Grundy's classic soap, The Young Doctors.