Soap Operas from Radio to Television

The Rise of the Soap Opera.

Gilbert Seldes writes that "the daytime serial was the great invention of radio." Three "women's serial dramas"—daily radio programs intended for an audience of women, featuring a stable cast and a melodramatic, domestic story which advanced slowly-—premiered in 1931. The three were "Clara, Lu and Em"; "The Goldbergs"; and "Myrt and Marge." The shows, in the beginning only fifteen minutes long, soon became a staple on radio. By 1939 the number of shows had grown to sixty-one. In 1950 the four television networks—NBC, CBS, ABC, and Du Mont—devoted seventy-five hours per week to daytime serials.

Importance of the Sponsor.

From the early years of the serials, most were sponsored by soap manufacturers who were interested in advertising their products to women. The daytime serials became so associated with the sponsors that in 1939 some wag coined the term soap opera to describe...

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