2007-09-13 11:12:45 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Television ➔ Soap Operas
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 longest-running 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
2007-09-13 11:25:32 · answer #1 · answered by pipi08_2000 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
The soap part is because the early shows were all sponsored by soap manufacturers like Proctor and Gamble. The opera part is because it is drama.
j
2007-09-13 11:21:34 · answer #2 · answered by The man 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
They shows were sponsered procter and gamble, who were the bigg soap maufacturers of the day. They aimed the soap ads at the houswives who stayed home and watched tv.
2007-09-13 11:20:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
started on radio, operas are stories and soap companies bought ads during their airtime to cater to housewives
2007-09-13 13:11:30 · answer #4 · answered by ♥Jen♥ 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
From nowhere.
2007-09-13 12:25:44 · answer #5 · answered by FP 6 · 0⤊ 5⤋