A Different Kind of soap opera

Daytime soap operas were first performed and listened to on radio in the 1930s and ’40s. They made the transition to television in 1949 when the first 15-minute episode of These Are My Children aired on a Chicago TV station.

In the early days of television, even into the early 1970s, episodes were performed live, giving each broadcast the feeling of a stage play. Ensemble casts learned their lines and played their parts five days a week. These serialized programs were named soap operas because they were sponsored by makers of cleaning products