serialized melodramatic presentations on broadcast television of true-to-life circumstances centering around romance and family life and its problems and tragedies. Begun as 15-minute segments on radio in the 1930s, the presentations were affectionately named "soaps" (which later became "soap operas"), because they were sponsored by soap manufacturers, particularly Procter & Gamble. The creator of the format was a woman named Irna Phillips, who began the genre in Chicago in 1930 with "Painted Dreams," the story of an Irish widow and her family. The longestrunning soap opera (actually the longest-running drama in broadcast history) is "Guiding Light," which began on radio in 1937 and continues today as a full-color one-hour drama on the CBS Network. Many famous actors and entertainers have made their way to stardom through the ranks of soap operas.
Today these dramas appear on daytime television on all networks, as well as some local stations, in at least three different languages, and are primarily sponsored by soap manufacturers and companies specializing in home-care products. Additionally, the soap opera format has been adapted for prime-time programming in shows such as Felicity and Melrose Place.
